2008 Heritage Box Break - Part 3: Packs 10-14

Pack 10:
27 Greg Maddux
101 Carlos Ruiz
114 Orlando Cabrera
421 Jamie Moyer
379 Franklin Morales
210 JJ Putz
C46 chrome Barry Zito #0984/1959
330 Ty Wigginton

Maddog is a nice way to start the pack. The chrome is nice too, I still like Zito even though he had a bad year in '07. He looks really strange in anything other than an A's uniform. Nice grip on the ball from Barry. I was laughing at ancient Jamie Moyer's crowded stat line on the back of his card until I soberly realized the back of Maddux's card was just as crowded. Then I saw Greg had 127 more wins and I could laugh again. I did a triple take when I saw Orlando Cabrera in a Whie Sox uniform, but the cartoon on the back helpfully explained that Orlando was traded from the angels to the White Sox over the winter. There's lots of good stuff in these cartoons, did you know Carlos Ruiz calls an intelligent game? With a .259 batting average he better. The black back cards have gone from really good to blah in the last few packs. Maybe they will pick up. Oh one more thing:
AAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!
JJ Putz has the brick wall for his background. Topps photographers, Seattle division, you suck.

Set completion - 15%

Pack 11:
128 Kevin Hart RC
133 Radhames Liz RC
161 Josh Fogg
365 Adrian Beltre
284 Luis Gonzalez
21 Troy Tulowitzki
225 Pedro Martinez
69 black San Francisco Giants checklist 96-143

I got all excited about pulling a Pedro SP, but I checked the list on Beckett and he's not short printed. Basically, everything with a number 426 or higher is short printed except for five random low numbers that are short printed and five random high numbers that aren't. Thanks Topps, for making things difficult once again. Also Pedro's nickname is "Petey" according to cartoon nuggets of knowledge. Radhames Liz is apparently the God Zeus as he can throw lightning bolts. Tulowitzki's cartoon rubs his triple play against the Braves in my face again. The lame black cards continue, this time with a Giants checklist card. I think Topps printed up a proof set and threw it up into the air and chose the ones that landed face up for their Black back checklist. There's some really random names on there. The only Brave BB's are Tim Hudson and Chucky James. Also no short print black backs either which sucks. If there's going to be a stupid parallel set it could at least be a help in filling out those short prints. Oh one more thing: Adrian Beltre, Seattle Mariners. Argh.

Set completion - 16.6%

Pack 12:
160 Jack Wilson
240 Carlos Gomez
284 Raul Ibanez ARGH
106 Troy Glaus
413 Edwin Jackson
333 Kevin Kouzmanoff
CONGRATULATIONS You are due to receive a certified Real One Autograph of

Of who? Minnie Minoso? Yogi Berra? Joba? WHO??

Oh goody. Freddy Sanchez.

265 black Aaron Rowand.

Well, at least I got a hit. That's something. Other than that this was a pretty scroungy pack of cards. Kouzmanoff? Gomez? Wilson? Blech. Xes on a checklist all of them. Ibanez is yet ANOTHER Mariner who had to stand up against the firing squad wall. That wall is in the background of every single Mariner I have pulled. Six for six. They should be putting the GM up against the wall for that Horacio Ramirez trade, not the players. I have a pile of high priced Edwin Jackson rookies that are now pretty much worthless. I should probably throw them out so Edwin can have a career year in '08. Arron Rowand looks miserable on his pink-bordered card. I don't care how good a player he is, the only thing I'll ever associate him with is the last out of the 2007 All Star game. The saving grace of this pack is the cartoon on Carlos Gomez's card. It looks like he's going to try to light his farts.

Set completion - 18%

Pack 13:
151 Sammy Sosa
199 Russell Martin
349 Erik Bedard
164 Gil Meche
311 Jeff Suppan
424 Juan Uribe
179 Austin Kearns
94 black Chicago White Sox checklist 141-191

Slammin Sammy! This pack is much better than the last one even though I got another black back team card. Russel Nathan Coltrane Jeanson Martin helped to win me a fantasy title last year. He was a consolation prize for missing out on McCann too... It helped I got Miguel Cabrera in the eighth round (yes I said eighth) due to a weird autodraft setting. Fantasy ball is looking bleak this year, work banned it, my regular NL-only league just turned into to an auction style pay league, and I got banninated from another league for some reason. (by the time I finished this post I got unbanninated) Someone please join Chemgod's league already so we have more than 6 teams! Eric Bedard is still an Oriole on his card so he didn't get stood up against the wall (against... the... wall...). Bedard and Meche have identical cartoons, Erik's is just cropped a little more tightly. Suppan I don't care about... Uribe's stats are terrible (although his cartoon is hilarious) and Austin Kearns is the man. I like the Nationals. It's easy to root for a division rival when you know they'll suck. One thing that disturbs me is that I haven't gotten an SP in a while now. If a crappy redemption card replaced an SP I'll be pissed. I better get 8 in this box. I haven't gotten a Brave in a while either... Ennui is starting to set in.

Set completion - 19.6%

Pack 14:
410 Mark Buehrle
72 Zach Duke
238 Todd Helton
113 Orlando Hernandez
162 Garrett Atkins
344 Michael Bourn
450 CHIPPER LARRY WAYNE MICKEYFICKEY JONES SHORT PRINT!!!
415 black Freddy Sanchez

MUCH BETTER. Chipper short print baby. This box is officially a winner. The rest is allowed to suck, I got Chipper. the funniest thing from the Braves vs. Dodgers game on ESPN on Friday was the drunk guy screaming LARRY! during the fifth inning or so. That's his name, don't wear it out! I'm completely distracted now... I guess I should talk about the rest of the pack... I got Freddy's card so I can get a preview of his signature. Ya know what, this is one of those times I hope Freddy doesn't bother to sign his cards and I end up with a replacement. It won't happen, but I can hope. I also pulled Michael Bourn, the bane of Mario's existance. There's also Buehrle... Helton... aw who cares. CHIPPER!

Set completion - 21.2%

The box so far:
106 base cards (common, black back & SP's)
14 black backs
5 Short prints
2 Chrome
1 Flashback
1 News Flashback
1 Buyback
1 auto redemption card