2008 Topps Box Break - Packs 33-36 and wrap up

Time to kill this beast and sort out what all we got here.

Pack 33:
158 Jose Bautista
40 Miguel Tejada
153 Luis Mendoza
82 So Taguchi
296 Paul Konerko
201 Matt Capps
MHR534 Mickey Mantle Home Run #534
Rookie Cup ad
308 Felipe Lopez
169 Adam Lind
119 Jeremy Hermida

Ugh. I thought I was done with the Mantles. This is #534 so I'm dang close to the LAST MANTLE HOMER CARD EVAR. He only hit 536, folks. They can't make a #537. Although I wouldn't put it past Topps to do a Mantle Postseason Home Run set. And then a Spring Training Home Run Set. And then a "We created Mickey Mantle in MLB 2k9 and here are all the home runs he hit while we were playing in the break room" set. At least Topps finally has their "Rookie Cup" web page working now. Tejada is one of the more subtle photoshop jobs I've seen from Topps. The helmet is particularly good. I don't understand why all the sportswriters are so freaked out that the Astros traded for Tejada right before he ended up on the Mitchell report. I think one writer grading the offseason moves for each team gave the 'Stros an F minus minus. Who gives a flying fuck about the Mitchell report. Especially after the debacle on Capitol Hill this week. Clemens could have dropped his pants and waggled his needle punctured ass in their faces and no one would give a shit because he's Roger Clemens and he signed autographs for everyone's kids. Astros fans should be worried about his declining power numbers, not about a stupid report. I like Luis Mendoza's card. It looks like he missed photo day at school and they had to pose him in the principal's office so he could be in the yearbook. So Taguchi has quietly has a nice little career in St. Louis. Adam Lind has no business showing off a home run cut like that on his card. It was probably a pop up to right anyway. And sorry Steve, I've tried as hard as I can, but I will simply never be able to think of Paul Konerko without having "Dodger's prospect" be the first thing to pop up in my head. I know, I know... This will be his tenth year on the team. He's the anchor of the lineup. In 2025 he could end up in Cooperstown with a Sox cap on his plaque. Unfortunately the 8 billion rookie insert cards from the mid-90's all with him in a Dodgers uni have warped me for life.

Pack 34:
288 Classic Combos Ivan Rodriguez & Justin Verlander
25 Kaz Matsui Postseason Highlights
15 AL Batting Average League Leaders Magglio Ordonez, Ichiro & Placido Polanco
244 Adam Wainwright
144 Jerry Owens
312 Ramon Hernandez
YR10 Josh Beckett Year in Review
215 Gold Foil Bobby Jenks
Checklist 3
168 Phil Hughes
174 Julian Tavarez

Well the last insert out of the box will be a Year in Review card. Oh Goody. This one supposedly honors Josh Beckett and Josh Hamilton despite the fact that Hammy gets one sentence and no picture. Just give Hamilton his own card already. Don't get cute. There sure are a whole lot of Classic Combo cards where the players are getting really intimate with each other. Pudge and Verlander share a special moment on the mound. With 50000 people watching them. Exhibitionists. I'd forgotten about Kaz Matsui going ballistic in the Division series against the Phils. He was a measly single away from hitting the Cycle in game 2. Phil Hughes no longer has the RC logo on his card and is now officially a common until he actually does something. More White Sox mental blocks: I can't see the words "Bobby Jenks" without hearing them as "Bubba Jinx" in my noggin. In my defense, the guy kinds looks like a Bubba jinx. My third checklist number three gives me three checklist sets for the box. Not bad. At least it's marginally useful, unlike the nine Rookie Cup ad cards.

Pack 35:
145 Magglio Ordonez
223 Odalis Perez
289 Justin Ruggiano RC
198 Shannon Stewart
167 Jason Hirsh
185 Yunel Escobar
MHR532 Mickey Mantle Home Run #532
136 Robinson Cano
42 Corey Hart
176 Troy Patton RC

Magglio has rock star hair. Why does Justin Ruggiano have a card but not his meager ML statistics on the back? This might be the only chance we ever get to learn about his 3 hits in 14 at bats. Yunel Escobar! All right. Please, please, PLEASE God, let Yunel be the second coming of Rafael Furcal, and not of Andres Thomas. Hell, I'd even settle for Jeff Blauser part two. Another Mantle, yawn. Corey Hart hit a homer off of Smoltz last year in a game I was at against the Brewers. A BIG one too. The Braves lost but there were runs scoring like crazy so it was fun at least.

Pack 36: Last one -

208 David DeJesus
215 Bubba Jinx
327 NL Strikeout Leaders Jake Peavy, Aaron Harang & John Smoltz
265 Fredi Gonzalez
44 Jonathon Broxton
146 Aaron Hill
YR7 Alex Rodriguez Year In Review
209 Gold Foil Andy Phillips
David Wright TotC
137 Jamey Carroll
317 Cliff Lee

First card - Jeff Clement, last card - Cliff Lee. The final tally of useless filler cards: Checklists - 9, David Wright Top of the Class - 9, Rookie Cup - 9, Mantle Home Run History - 4. The gold foil cards screw me up again, I know I've pulled a DeJesus, but I don't remember if it's gold or silver and I can't remember if I've pulled an Andy Phillips at all. The Smoltz strikeout leaders card is pretty cool, 197 K's ain't bad for an old man. This box is mercifully over and goes out with a walk-off slam by A-Rod.

The Box is Dead, Long Live the Box.

FINAL TOTALS:

Base cards - 300
Checklists - 9
Dupes - 0

Parallels:
Gold Foil - 18 (1:2)
Gold #/2008 - 4 (1:9)
Black #/57 - 1 - 54 Victor Martinez 38/57 (1:95)

Inserts:
Own The Game - 6 - Howard, Webb, Penny, Berkman, Pena & Carmona (1:6)
Mantle Home Runs - 4 - 531, 532, 533, 534 (1:9)
Mantle History - 2 - 48, 49 (1:18)
Trading Card History - 6 - Santana, Mauer, Okajima, Votto, Reyes & Pence (1:12)
All Rookie Team - 7 - Anderson, Willis, Zimmerman, Powell, Ellis, Francoeur & Sheffield (1:5)
Year in review - 6 - Everett, Reyes, Kazmir, Monroe, Beckett & A-Rod (1:6)
Campaign 2008 - 4 - Obama, Kucinich, Paul & McCain (1:9)
Presidential Stamp Collection - 1 - GW5 George Washington (1:1950)
Future Stars - 1 - Kazuo Uzuki (who the hell knows)

Damn good box overall. 300 cards for the base set with no dupes, I nailed the ratiosfor all the common inserts and got double the amount of the Trading Card History cards I should have. Way cool, since I'm chasing that set. I also got a couple of longshot hits in the Black Victor Martinez and the sweet Stamp card. I didn't get the complete set, but that's ok, because I've already ripped a bunch more packs anyway. After seeing some of the jersey and auto cards from jumbo boxes, I'm glad I saved the money. Now I have a couple of weeks to catch my breath and it's time for HERITAGE!!! Awwwww yeah.