2009 Allen & Ginter Box Break Packs 16-18

(Still scanning the cards, it'll be just a moment...)

Six more packs to go and I'm done with this crap I've finished the box! It seems like only a month ago since I first opened it...

Pack 16:
204 Casey Blake
182 Jose Reyes
257 Heinrich Hertz
255 Aramis Ramirez
285 George Kottaras RC
284 Kenshin Kawakami RC +1 point
82 Justin Verlander mini
NP40 Hideki Matsui NP -1 point

Pack 17:
275 Vlad Guerrero
190 BJ Upton
31 Nick Markakis +2 points
145 Todd Wellemeyer
156 Jayson Werth
AGHS21 David Price sketch +3 points
HH81 Charles Ponzi Crooks and Motherfu#@%! +5 points
NP38 Mariano Rivera NP -2 points
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Pack 18:
9 Luke Hochevar
233 John Lackey
244 Carlos Beltran
55 Alex Rios
ɔɹ uoʇʇɐd pıʌɐp 56
sıunbɐz 1ǝıɹɐɯ 212
350 Jimmy Rollins mini SP +7 points
NP34 Nick Markakis NP +4 Points

The Japanese players canceled each other out in the first pack. Luckily Markakis came through to make sure I got a few points this go-round. I initially balked at knocking myself a point for a great player like Mariano Rivera but then I remembered 1996 and 1999 and I docked myself two points. I freakin' love Jimmy Rollins' mini card. It might be the best looking card in the set. Here's how good it is: it just bumped ADAM LAROCHE out of my mini binder. You gotta be good to do that in my binder. I was going to go on a big tirade on the Ponzi card about how I love hoaxes and there's all these awesome hoax cards like the Cottington Fairies and π out there and my two hoax cards ended up to be crummy common criminals but I got the Wisconsin Capitol card and my heart wasn't in it anymore. I am going to refer to that insert set as the slightly altered Frank Zappa bootleg album title seen above from now on however.

Oh if you're wondering what the hell is going on with the Patton and Zagunis cards in the list, that's how the cards showed up in the pack. Upside down and backwards. I have never ever seen that happen in a pack of Allen & Ginter cards before (and I've opened a hell of a lot of packs) and I felt it deserved a proper commemoration.