2009 Topps Series 2: The Quest Begins

Thanks to the efforts of the wife tonight, I was able to rip into some series 2 packs and finally quench the desire for some new cards. Outside of series 1 Topps and UD, I haven't bought packs of any new cards this year. A combination of budget and just dislike for much of what's out there has led to a fairly dry year. Thankfully, the venture into blogging has provided a number of new Angels cards which have more than filled in the gaps.

The wife was able to snag 8 packs at Target, so I figured I'd show off the Halos and Legends cards today and hopefully the rest of the highlights tomorrow.

The HALOS!

Sure, it's just a ToppsTown card, but at least it's a TT card of Vlad wielding imposing wooden stick of doom.


For once all of the unnecessary signage and clutter in dugouts today has paid off by revealing that this picture was taken in Cleveland. OK, so it's not much of a payoff, but I'm always a little bit curious of where the card pictures originated from.


I like the horizontal and feel like it's one of the best parts about this set, but couldn't Topps have found a picture from the regular season for Kendry. I realize cards like this happen for players new to the team like Abreu (below), but K-Mo deserved better.


Outside of Torii Hunter, Abreu has pretty much been the offensive highlight for the Angels this season. With his zero home runs, that should tell you a little something about the Halo offense. Even without the power, this signing has been really important for the Angels this season. Hopefully a healthy Vlad can start driving him in upon his return.


Love the angle that this photo was taken at. Matthews will never be a beloved Angel, but at least he has a card that I will look back on fondly on 55 million dollars later.


Vladdy the Legend. I hadn't looked through any of the checklists for Series 2 or glanced at many blogs lately, so this was a very cool surprise. It's easy to get frustrated watching Vlad swing wildly at balls in the dirt or over his head, but it's also nice to open a pack of cards and see one of the players from your team on a card designated for legends.

Speaking of legends...

Cy Young. Apparently this guy was good enough to have an award named after him.


Mel Ott. 511 home runs for a guy who stood 5'9" and weighed 170 pounds. Obviously it was a different game in Ott's era, but it's fascinating to look back at these accomplishments.


Campy. 10 seasons, 3 MVP awards. Campy was a man of efficiency.


Rogers Hornsby. The Career Best cards are interesting in that they show you the best a player did in each offensive category at some point in their career. The numbers on the back of the Hornsby card are incredible. A season with a .424 average, 250 hits, an OPS of 1.245, 42 homers, 152 RBIs, 47 doubles, 20 triples, 156 runs scored...and it goes on. Incredible.

And finally, the legendary SP

I really enjoy these SPs and wish I had the money to chase after them. While the legends cards in general are a highlight to me in 2009 Topps, these cards are even more interesting in that they just blend in with the set. My eyes did a double take when I realized this was a Jim Palmer card and unlike the Mickey Mantle cards of past years, these cards look natural and like they should be part of the set. This one really has me tempted to go after more.

That does it for part 1 of the 8 pack break. Some nice Halos and some even cooler Legends of the Game. While the photography for '09 has been lauded often, it's the Legends that put this set over the top for me. After opening packs I tend to spend another half hour on the internet looking up information on the players and reading various writeups. These cards make me feel better about baseball and that's always a good thing.

Part 2 tomorrow...hopefully.

Go Halos!

Getting a Card Fix From a Junkie

I've been in a bit of a funk lately, but nothing pulls you out of a funk quite like some free cards. These were courtesy of Jeffrey over at Card Junkie. First Jeff sent along some Angels cards as a thank you and then followed that up with a couple of cards from off of my 2009 Topps Series 1 Wantlist. These 2 cards put me just 8 away from finally putting to sleep Series 1.

First up, the 2009 Topps cards, both of the horizontal persuasion.

I'm thinking a more creative photo might have been in order for a card celebrating an MVP.


On the other hand, the Furcal cards is just plain sweet. Excellent use of the horizontal.

On to the Halos. Jeff sent a number of cards from various sets, so I'll hit you with a couple of highlights.

My first and maybe only 2009 Goudey card. The reviews have been poor and my budget is tight. Not a good combo for the boys at Upper Deck seeing my dollars. I've been itching to open some packs and Goudey has been at the Target for a couple of weeks, but even so I haven't been able to pull the trigger. Not a good sign.


I'm not the biggest 88 Fleer fan, but I like a lot about this card. The pure 80s spectators are nice, combined with the dirty uniform, real stirrups, the old orange railing that made any Anaheim Stadium background card instantly recognizable and the Schofield batting stance which looks to me like a guy who's a bit scared of the ball being thrown in his direction.


DiSar the prospect.


Polonia the superstar.


The highlight of all the cards. I have no idea what set this came from. It's numbered 537, so apparently there are a number of this set floating around, but outside of that it has no identification. Even the back only has a 3 paragraph write-up about the "Best Hitters in Baseball" and nothing else. Odd and wonderful.

Thanks for the cards Jeff, I really appreciate them.

Go Halos!

Rut

rut (noun) - a monotonous routine that is hard to escape

Example: I feel as if I have fallen into a rut because I find myself doing the same activities every day.

I'm not sure how to break from this rut, but I need to figure a way out because it's dragging me down. Tomorrow's a new day, hopefully one of inspiration and renewal.

Go Halos!

Whittling Away at Series One

Thanks to Ed at Roll out the Barrel, I am slowly making my way towards a completed series one Topps set. After reading my post about mistakenly getting Topps Throwback cards, Ed sent me an e-mail, offered up his cards for free and I received them within a couple of days. It doesn't get any better than that.

Ed sent along the above cards: 9, 14, 54, 60, 70, 73, 84, 121, 128, 148, 180, 230, 245, 274, 308 so now I'm only in need of:

7, 41, 63, 66, 105, 108, 137, 179, 200, 266

10 cards to go. It can be done.

Thanks again Ed, I really appreciate the help towards this goal. I'm working on something to send off as a thank you. Hopefully I'll finish this set off before becoming too overwhelmed by series 2.

Go Halos!

Matt Palmer: Halo Hero

With all of the injuries to the pitching staff to open the season, plus the untimely and unfortunate death of Nick Adenhart, the starting pitching of the Angels appeared to be the dimmest of spots for the team. Anthony Ortega has been pretty bad, Dustin Moseley has pitched like, well Dustin Moseley and Shane Loux hasn't been awful, but not terribly impressive either. On the other hand Joe Saunders and Jered Weaver have both stepped up huge and pitched wonderfully.

The biggest surprise of all has been Matt Palmer. 4 games started, 4 wins.
First start of the season? 7 innings against Detroit, surrendering 4 runs, but picking up the W.
2nd start at new Yankee Stadium against C.C. Sabathia? No problem. 1 ER, and the W.
3rd start against the 1st place Royals? Psssh, 1 ER and another W.

Then came the 4th start Wednesday night against the Red Sox. As a diehard fan I was starting to get excited about this guy and you have to love his story. 30 years old, on his way out of baseball, clears waivers from the Giants, heads to Venezuela for winter ball and suddenly he's in the Angels rotation. If you haven't read about Matt, do so now, I'll wait.

Are we good? Ok, you gotta love that right? "I was in the bullpen before the game in New York," Palmer said, "just moving around, looking around. I told myself, `You know, I love baseball.' It just came to me, and I felt good, calm."

So there he was Wednesday night facing the Sox after another bullpen implosion the previous night. 1st inning? Bad. 2 run home run to J. Bay. 2nd inning? Bad. 2 more runs. The familiar feeling of "Well, it was fun while it lasted" started to creep in. But then, Mike Scioscia showed why he's a managerial genius. After the second, he walked over to Palmer and said, "No more". Apparently that's all Matt needed to hear. The 30 year old rookie has learned to listen during his struggles in the minors because he heeded Scioscia's instructions and went on to let in no more. In fact, he retired the final 19 Red Sox hitters. Complete game Halo victory.

Obviously I want Matt to go on and dominate all season. I want him to flourish and become a front line starter, but if he falls apart after tonight, I'll still always remember Matt Palmer fondly. 2009 has already been a very memorable season for Angel fans, but most of those memories are not of the positive variety. This however will always be one of the highlights of the season.

Every time a new player is suspended for steroids or a new scandal arises people question why we love baseball. Why do we follow this sport so closely? Basically, why do we care? Well, I care because of Matt Palmer. I care because it's fun rooting guys like Matt. In this past week alone I've felt the excitement of a great pitching duel between Greinke and Saunders, felt the elation of Torii Hunter going a couple of feet over the wall to bring back a game tying home run in the 9th and felt the pure goodness of watching Matt Palmer throw his first career complete game against the Sox.

Damn, I love baseball. Thanks for being a part of that Matt.

Go Halos!

The Plight of the Middle Reliever

I'll readily admit that as a fan, I tend to dwell on the negatives a bit too often and not the positives. This is especially true of middle relievers. No matter how many years of flawless innings they produce, it's the subpar performances that lose game after game that drive me nuts.

I don't know how much more of Scot Shields I can take. At this point, each out her records is a celebration, quickly followed by the dreaded knowledge that he'll have to get another hitter out and that will most likely lead to heartache.

In an effort to change my spirits, I will begin to look at Scoty with fresh eyes. Each inning will be a new beginning and I will have faith in Scot and all of his mates in the bullpen. We'll see how this goes.

Go Halos!

Unexpected Awesomeness

After a long day of school today, I was really looking forward to getting away from students and coming home to relax. Sure, sitting on the couch watching King of Queens and waiting for the family to get home wouldn't cure all of my ills, but it was a start. I made the very wise decision of checking the mail on my way in and came across a bubble mailer. Happy happy, joy joy.

However, panic quickly sunk in. I haven't been on eBay in weeks, so barring a late night sleep walk purchase, it wasn't a card I bought. I've sent out some cards lately, but hadn't set up any trades, so again I was stymied. Perhaps I had set up a trade and completely forgotten about it. I would need to scour my e-mails and try to figure it out. In the end, a simple inspection of the mailer revealed that these cards were sent from the UK and that means one man. John from The Pursuit of 80's(ness).

What really made this package a bit of Unexpected Awesomeness is that it was completely unsolicited. John and I completed a trade back in February and this one was accompanied by a note telling me that he had accumulated another stack of Halos so he wanted to send them along. I of course, gladly accept.

Now just for you, here's an exclusive peak at the loot.


I love packages like this because I always end up with cards I don't have, but also cards from sets I've never gotten a card from. This Shawn Wooten Opening Day card is an example of that. I'm certain I've never opened a pack of Opening Day, mainly out of complete disinterest, but at the same time I really like getting these cards in trades and lots.


I've never really understood why a magazine gets its name slapped on a card like Sports Illustrated and Fleer did here or why ESPN had cards with Upper Deck. That being said, this is a pretty slick looking card, so I'm cool with it.


What was the obsession that Topps had with gold bordered cards for some time? I like the look of this, but that may be in part because of Percy's patented face clinch.


Seriously, the gold border thing was a little out of control. Awesome action photo of Jimmy Edmonds though.


Nothing brightens a day quite like floating heads.


This card is pure Mo. It combines his two loves, baseball and the shiny rainbow lights of a strip club.


This card is great on many levels. The high leg kick, the image being raised off the cardboard and the fact that I have no idea what Topps "tMB" is.


When did Bengie Molina transition from great defensive catcher who could hit for a decent average and was slower than a senior citizen to the best offensive player on his team?


I really, really, really miss Ersty. Really.

Thanks so much John for the Halos. After a long day, this was definitely a great way to soothe the pain.

Go Halos!

Fave 4: Los Angeles Dodgers

I've written more than a few times about my baseball experiences as a child and how growing up in Texas made me a fan of the Cubs on WGN, and the Angels and Dodgers because we would visit my grandpa every summer and he would take me to games of those two teams. Once we finally moved to California, I lived close to Anaheim and spent many more nights at the Big A watching the Halos than I did at Chavez Ravine watching the Dodgers. Even so, I've still always rooted for the Dodgers.

Most people probably think I'm nuts to root for two teams from the same area, but it's always been natural to me. And as I was growing up, there was no interleague play, so the only chance I had of my teams colliding and my loyalties being tested was a possible World Series showdown. If you watched the Angels in the 90s you'll realize why that was of little concern to me. So while my Halo fandom has continually risen and made me a huge supporter of the Halos, I'm still a Dodger fan deep down as well. So hopefully I'll do the Dodger fans out there some justice with this list spanning the last 25 years or so.

1. Ramon Martinez

1990 was the year my family finally made the move out to California and that just happens to coincide with the year Ramon Martinez pitched like a maniac. 20 wins, an ERA under 3, 12 complete games, over 220 strikeouts, and a 2nd place Cy Young finish. He was a generous 165 pounds and I was enthralled by his every pitch that season. I collected every card I could find with his name and image on it and could not get enough of the skinny phenom from the Dominican Republic. He went on to have some up and down years for the Dodgers, but I'll always remember him as the pitcher from the summer of '90.

2. Lenny Harris

Chalk this one up to the ghosts of 1990 as well, because Lenny Harris won me over that summer as well. I've already chronicled my love for the chubby ballplayers and Harris was certainly that. He always came across as a very likable underdog to me and no matter where he moved on to in his career, I always found myself rooting for him to succeed. Being the career leader in pinch hits is in some ways a dubious record to hold, but somehow it fits Harris perfectly. He was a guy who did whatever the team asked and did so without complaint. I've never been a huge autograph seeker at baseball games, but I still remember Harris being the first Dodger autograph I ever received at the stadium and also my last.

3. Raul Mondesi

During the run of Dodger rookie of the year winners in the '90s, Raul was undoubtedly my guy. I liked the others, but there was something different about Mondesi. As baseball fans it's easy to be attracted to the great power hitters or strikeout pitchers, but sometimes it's a rarely seen skill that captures our attention. If you've ever witnessed Raul Mondesi play the outfield then you probably remember his arm. Mondesi has an absolute canon in right field and I can vividly remember rooting for opposing players to get hits to right field in hopes that it would lead to Raul uncorking one to cut down a runner advancing. Mondesi would go on to get a reputation as a bit of a cranky guy, but I always appreciated the huge turns he would take at first base on every hit and the effort he showed in the outfield.

4. Matt Kemp

It was difficult to not make this a list of solely late '80s, mid '90s players, but I had to include my favorite current Dodger. As a Dodger fan, it's hard not to be giddy about the young core of this team. Talent on the infield, in the outfield and on the mound is abundant, but for me Matt Kemp stands above them all. Matt Kemp just looks like a baseball player, whether it's roaming center field or up to bat, he has a fluid look about himself. It's hard to explain Matt Kemp, you need to watch him on a regular basis to really appreciate him. His triple to deep center a couple of weeks ago against the Giants in the 9th inning almost seemed effortless and just summed up his skills to me. I'm looking forward to how the young guys progress over the years, but more than anything I can't wait to see how Kemp's career unfolds.

Honorable Mentions:

Tommy Lasorda

If you like the Dodgers, you love Tommy. Those of you who don't like the Dodgers probably loathe Tommy. His constant espousing about his love for baseball can probably be tiresome at times, but I can't get enough of the guy.

The young guys (Martin, Ethier, Loney)

As a pure a baseball player as there is in the league. You can't help but like the guy if you watch him.

Of all the young guys, Ethier is probably the best pure hitter.

I was skeptical of Loney at first, but he has won me over in a big way.

Orel Hershiser

1988. Nothing more need be said.

Kirk Gibson

1988. Nothing more need be said.

Mike Piazza

I was stunned when Piazza was traded and although most people today probably think of him as a Met, it never quite seemed right to me.

Eric Karros

EK began the run of Dodgers winning the rookie of the year award. Karros was consistently a really strong run producer for the Dodgers and in some ways became the face of Dodgers especially after the departure of Piazza.

Mike Scioscia

A gritty catcher for the Dodgers. A World Series winning manager for the Angels. The best of both worlds.

Mike Sharperson

Times were lean for the Dodgers in 1992. Need evidence? Sharperson was the lone Dodger representative on the All-Star team.

Manny Ramirez

The suspension has put a damper on my Manny enthusiasm, but his presence last year in LA was huge. I'll never be able to view Manny in the same way and that makes me sad, but not outraged. I've sort of become numb to this stuff.

Vin Scully

He's not a player, but he is far and away my favorite part of Dodgers baseball. I have spent more hours listening to Vin Scully talk in my lifetime than I have my own parents, all my teachers and my daughter. That's saying something since my daughter hasn't stopped talking once over the last 2 years.

There they are, the number 2 team in my heart. It's by no means a perfect list and I know I've left off quite a few, but in the end I think this represents the Dodgers as I've known them over the last couple of decades.

Next up, the team that inspired the blog.

Go Halos!

The Best-laid Plans of Mice and Men

I hate when good deeds go wrong. Today my wife went out to run some errands and in an act of kindness stopped by the card aisle at Target and grabbed me a blaster of 2009 Topps. I still haven't completed my series 1 set despite a couple of blasters and a jumbo box, so I was happy to rip into these cards and see if I could pull any of the ones I needed.

I retreated to my office and began the pulling. Oh the horror!

As I cradled the cards in my hand I knew something wasn't right. From the tips of my fingers I could feel the difference and one quick glance up into the corner confirmed my suspicions.



Oh cruel Topps, why must you mock me?

It's not that I dislike the parallel all that much or even have a problem with this gimmick, but would have been so difficult to mark the boxes as being different, other than an obscure code that few if any baseball card wives are going to be looking for. I'm sure my wife would readily admit that even if it was written on the box, she'd probably miss it, but still.

So now I sit with a stack of throwback Topps and I'm no closer to finishing of series 1 and moving on with my life.

The good news, my wife still received the hug she deserved for her act of kindness.
The bad news, I am still in need of:

Base; 7, 9, 14, 41, 54, 60, 63, 66, 70, 73, 84, 105, 108, 121, 128, 137, 148, 179, 180, 200, 230, 245, 266, 274, 308,

Legends of the Game: LG3, LG5 LG7, LG9, LG14, LG15, LG17, LG18, LG19, LG22, LG24

Light Up The Halo!!

Double + Sacrifice Bunt + Sacrifice Fly + Hokie Joe's Left Arm + Huge Defensive Play by Figgy = Zack Greinke's First Loss

See how easy that is American League. You just have to send out your stud and have him throw an absolute gem. Then just mix in one well hit ball and a couple of sacrifices. Next thing you know, you put a stop to the newly crowned Best Pitcher in Baseball and give him his first loss since last August. Is that so hard?


Hokie Joe, you sir are a beast!

It's not often that games live up to the hype, but you would have thought this one was Walter Johnson vs. Cy Young the way the Angels announcers were selling it. Thing is, the game and the performances made the superlatives seem tame by the end of this one. In this era of steroids and our love of the long ball, this game was easily my favorite all season. 1-0 Halos. Complete game for Joe Saunders. Greinke's ERA balloons to 0.51.

1/2 game out of first. Slowly, but surely we're creeping back in this thing.

Go Halos!