It's that time of the year for a draft

No, not a fantasy draft, Tribe Cards' Giveaway From Outer Space Thingy. Basically David from Tribe Cards is an inveterate pack ripper but doesn't want to have all that junk cluttering up the house. David's going to rip a pack of cards every day during the season. Then he gave us all an opportunity to select players in a fantasy draft format and if that player is pulled he'll send 'em to us after the season's over. If ya missed it, sorry. I mentioned it on Twitter at least twice and you should already be following Tribe Cards anyway! Here's the list of my picks mainly because it's an excuse to show off some Braves on the blog.

Initial Draft - #1 Pick Jason Heyward

True facts: Jason was not my #1 choice. That was Chipper Jones and he went #2 overall and was so popular he even got picked twice. I am quite happy with Heyward as my backup #1 choice though. I actually did pretty well considering there were over 40 people in the draft. Got 6 out of my overall Top 10 and three of those I missed went in the first round. You want to know who was the overall #1 pick in the draft? Dontrelle Willis. Not even kidding.

#2 Pick - Hank Aaron

If you're going to pick a legendary player early in the draft you may as well go large. Hank is in a surprising number of sets, at least as an insert.

#3 Pick - Kris Medlen

You know how loopy I am about Heyward? Kris is the pitching version of that obsession. I'm still kicking myself for not completely wiping out Check Out My Cards last summer when his cards cost pennies.

Pick #4 - Phil Niekro

Phil was my favorite pitcher as a kid and my first lesson in Baseball Is A Business as the Braves let him walk away to the Yankees to win his 300th game. He's also in a whole bunch of junkwax and Legends sets.

#5 Pick - Freddie Freeman

I've been so laser focused on my Heyward and Chipper and Medlen collections I've been neglecting Fab Five Freddie. I need to correct this before he goes off and becomes the premier first baseman in the NL.

#6 Pick - Reggie Jackson

Blogger ate my Reggie quip and I can't remember what I wrote now. Probably something about killing the queen.

#7 Pick - B.J. Upton 

Justin is probably the better player but I just like Bossman Junior better. Maybe it's because he used to play for the Rays and I like them a whole lot better than the D-Backs. Maybe it's because I pulled a whole bunch of B.J.'s cards back in the day and I hardly ever pull Justin Upton cards. Maybe it's because B.J. has a mustache and Justin doesn't. Yeah, that's it, I'm going with the mustache theory.

#8 Pick - Satchel Paige

There is a shameful lack of contemporary Satchel Paige cards out there but if David manages to pull one I WANT IT. Best pitcher ever in the history of the game period full stop no arguments.

#9 Pick - Justin Upton 

I don't want to say anything or even think it because I'm terrified of jinxing it but the way Justin looks this spring training he could have a monster season. Wait, no! I didn't just say that! I mean... he might turn into a monster and become a werewolf! And get suspended for eating an umpire during a night game under a full moon! (please be Sam Holbrook) And ruin the Braves' season like Braves seasons are always ruined because Braves fans deserve ruining AND I JINXED NOTHING DAMMIT, NOTHING

Here's my entire draft lineup, I'm kinda surprised I got as many as I did, Especially since Bip was a second round pick.

Mascot Supplemental Draft - Rangers Captain

When David did the pack rip giveaway last year, I wasn't very interested in cards at the time but I wanted to participate. Of course I requested all pony cards. Can you believe I actually got one? I chose Captain again because Chief Noc-a-Homa is no longer socially acceptable nowadays and the cheap Mr. Met knockoff the Braves have now just makes me sad.

Second Chance Draft

David did a short 6-pick second chance draft for anyone who missed the initial offering. I got five out of six, missing out only on Warren Spahn.

Pick #10 - Andrelton Simmons

Before last year's spring training, I was all "I guess Pastornicky's the new shortstop". Then after last year's spring training I was all "why isn't Simmons out opening day shortstop?" Then around the All-Star break I was all "Pastornicky who?" and now after seeing him utterly dominate the shortstop position I'm all "Rafael Furcal who? Ozzie Smith who? Honus Wagner who??" Yeah, I know, I'm Jinxey McJinxerson today.

#11 Pick - Julio Teheran

Having three blue chip prospects is a nice problem to have. Trading away two of the prospects and keeping the right one is even better than that. It's funny to see Julio plummet down Top Prospect lists because he actually played in a Major League game and isn't fresh and new anymore. I don't care about that, Julio is damn good and that's all that matters.

#12 Pick - Mark Lemke

I left Mark off the original list because, really, who the hell besides me is going to pick Lemke? Seeing the number of Braves fans in the draft scared me straight. Gotta pick Lemmer.

#13 Pick - Bobby Cox 

Thanks to Topps' seemingly random decisions to include managers or no managers in their flagship, Bobby doesn't have as many cards as he probably should. Any Bobby's a good Bobby though.

#14 - Marquis Grissom

Marquis was a last minute addition to my draft list and why not? I was collecting Grissom cards back when he was an Expo. I'm thinking I need to build up my stash of cards of the only guy who caught the last out in a Braves World Series victory in my lifetime. We never shoulda traded Marquis. If the Braves are still shut out of World Series wins a hundred years from now the drought should be called The Curse of Marquis.

Contestants can still claim players throughout the season so I might pick up a player here and there. Who wants to bet I pay more attention to this thing than my actual fantasy team?