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Monday, June 8, 2009

2009 Topps Series Two Hobby Packs - Jackie vs. Mickey - Card 2

Jackie Drew first blood, but there are 9 cards to go. I'm going to do my best to get through this by the end of the week, but you never know.

Jackie Robinson pack card 2:
TRAVIS HAFNER

Card front: Awesome pic of Pronk sliding into first on a pickoff play. Hafner is dirty, the first baseman is dirty, his cleats are dirty, dirt is flying up in the air, this is a filthy card.

Card back: I thought Pronk would have more home runs, but due t injuries the past couple of years he's only up to 152 for his career. Hafner does have the honor of being the Indians' all time RBI leader for a DH. Doesn't sound like much until you hear that he passed Andre Thornton on the list last year. Somebody out there is as impressed by that as I am.

Mickey Mantle pack card 2:
ADAM WAINWRIGHT

Card front: Good pic of Wainwright in the middle of his delivery. The shot isn't as good as Hafner's but it's not a bad photo. Topps did a really good job color coordinating the borders. Most of the cards I've seen so far have borders that match the photo very well. Not an earth shattering observation but it's a nice touch.

Card back: Adam missed about half the season in '08 but he pitched pretty dang well when he was in there. 11-3 with a 3.20 ERA ain't too shabby. I'm disapppointed by the stat crawling along the top border. It features Adam's Lowest career average against by count. Good stuff, Adam is lethal with an 0-2 count (obviously) but surprisingly gives up a .313 average on the first pitch. Unfortunately Topps left out the 0-1 and 1-1 counts for some reason.

VERDICT:

This one's tough. Travis has been a hell of a hitter in the past, but he's been injured lately and is starting to get into that mid-30s danger zone for sluggers. Wainwright hasn't blossomed into the ace he was projected to be yet, but he's still a solid pitcher and is just now entering his prime. If this was a fantasy draft I'd pick Wainwright in a hearbeat. This is a pack war though and Pronk has got the better card.

Jackie Robinson 2, Mickey Mantle 0

3 comments:

madding said...

Booooooooo! You're just bitter that your Braves ended up with J.D. Drew!

Motherscratcher said...

Yaaaaayyyyy! Absolutely the correct call. It's not even close.

Hey Madding, talk to me when Wainright gets his own candy bar.

And Dayf, I'm equally impressed. Indian's fans recollect Andre Thornton as a slugger just slightly worse than Babe Ruth, but not much.

madding said...

Wait... what? Why the hell does Travis 1/2ner have a candy bar? This isn't 1991 and his name isn't Ken Griffey and Pacific Trading Cards isn't in charge of the world, right?