The Slowest Box Break Ever, Hot Box Edition: Part 6, Packs 17-20

Ok, I left you guys with a teaser last time which was especially cruel since I was about to take a break for Thanksgiving. Well, that's just how the cards fell so to speak, I wouldn't have teased if all I got was a rainbow foil of Conor Jackson. So to recap, I'm a third of the way through the box and I've gotten two out of the three hits. Let's rip.

Pack 17:
146 Mark Teahen
SG-CC Carl Crawford
99 Robinson Cano
BHP10 Chris Carter
BHP4 Cesar Nicolas
235 Alex Gordon RC
163 Kevin Millwood
39 Craig Biggio

So... three out of three hits? This isn't right, There's only supposed to be one auto a box. Looks like Topps goofed up in a good way this time. If anyone out there got screwed out of an auto in their box, here it is. Crawford is part of Auto Group C, which means it is either 1:58 or 1:389 packs depending on whether they bungled the odds on the wrapper or not. Who cares, I got two autos in a box, even if it is the infamous ClCf scribble. I also bagged a future Hall of Famer, a nice Cano card and the Alex Gordon rookie. Not bad at all.

Pack 18:
30 Manny Ramirez
94 Kenny Rogers
PG-JE Juan Elpido Encarnacion
BHP51 Will Venable
BHP39 Mike Devaney
222 Andy Sonnanstine RC
199 Felix Hernandez
147 Juan Pierre

Ok, four out of three hits. Box is dead now, right? The second relic is one of Juan Encarnacion's bats. He doesn't use his all that much so I guess he can spare one. I'm not liking the design of these cards too much the more I look at them. The full name on the front is weird, and the logo that takes up 2/3rds of the card is just distracting. The more I look at it the more the silhouette of the guy batting in the logo looks like someone flipping off Juan. Still, I can't complain about getting a bonus insert and this is a really good pack. Manny, Max's kid and the non-SP of King Felix round out the pack.

Pack19:
97 Brian Giles
53 Bobby Abreu
PG-NS Nick Thompson Swisher
BHP6 Zach McAllister
BHP70 Vasili Spanos
223 Chase Wright RC
171 Jhonny Peralta
15 Brandon Webb

The box that was dead has come back to life! ZOMBIE HERITAGE! Another bat card of Nick Swisher gives me the fifth hit of the box. It's a good thing I didn't open this side of the box first and then dump the rest of the packs on eBay thinking the box was dead. I would have missed out on a Luis Gonzalez bat and Andrew Fie auto... um, maybe I should have dumped the packs. Nick's a good pull, he helped get my fantasy team into the playoffs last year when I traded him for Chad Cordero. Then the fool who I traded with dropped Swisher and I claimed him on waivers so I basically got a free closer. I blew the championship when I benched Brad Hawpe in favor of injured Jason Bay like an idiot. You don't give a crap about that though so I'll continue with the box break that's getting slower by the minute. The rest of the pack is all right, featuring Cy Webb and the 87th rookie Yankee pitcher I've pulled so far. The Swisher card broke up the perfect 'every three packs' run I had on no sig cards, but who cares.

Pack 20:
137 Austin Kearns
101 Andruw Jones
79 rainbow Richie Sexson
BHP98 Sam Fuld
BHP26 Mark Wagner
Checklist 2 of 3
219 Michael Bourn RC
63 Frank Thomas
139 Pat Burrell

Ok back to reality. Andruw Jones is nice, but I have a feeling Boras is going to make sure he's so overpriced he won't sign for months. The Braves will be screwed out of a draft pick since they'll be too scared to offer him arbitration for fear he'll accept. Then he'll sign with the Mets so I can hate him like death. Why not? I can't hate Tom Glavine anymore, sadly. I gotta have someone to hate and there aren't any obvious candidates right now. I'm hateless. Austin Kearns and Richie Sexson go into the "What the hell happened to you?" file. Frank Thomas looks weird in a Blue Jay uni. And Pat Burrell is just good 'ol Pat Burrell no matter how much the Phillie fans wish he was someone else.

Ok, just 4 packs to go and I'm gonna drag it out till forever most likely. You may scoff, but I've made this box last three weeks so far and I've enjoyed every minute of it. Till next time, I leave you with the first pair of sig/no sig variations I've pulled so far: King Felix. Don't strain your eyes looking for the difference.