Dalkowski110's Big Box Break Thread!

[Dalkowski110]

I strongly considered putting this in the pack pull thread at the beginning, but what I'm doing is a whole different concept entirely, since I'm actually breaking four (eventually five) BOXES. After busting so many in one day that it would make my head spin, I figured why not break one pack a day from each box I bought and post the results in detail in this thread. Savor each box slowly and share the results. The boxes are two boxes of 2008 Bowman Draft, one 2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition, one 2008 Donruss Threads, and one 2008 Razor Signature Series I have on order that should arrive around December 15. So, onto the packs (and the format will be like this every day)...

2008 Bowman Draft (From Box A):

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: Jay Bruce MLBPA RC, Bryan LaHair MLBPA RC/FYC, Jason Donald PROS-1, Brett Anderson PROS-1

Chrome Cards: Nick Evans MLBPA RC/FYC, Ryan Chaffee FYC Refractor

Other: Gold Luke Hughes PROS-1

Card of the Pack: Nick Evans, because I'm a Mets fan.

2008 Bowman Draft (From Box B):

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: Bryan LaHair MLBPA RC/FYC (It figures I'd get a dupe), Matt Joyce MLBPA RC, Carlos Carrasco PROS-3, Dexter Fowler PROS-2

Chrome Cards: Edgar Gonzalez MLBPA RC, Adrian Nieto FYC

Other: Gold Jamie D'Antona MLBPA RC

Card of the Pack: Matt Joyce, since the Tigers are my AL team, with Adrian Nieto, a prospect I've followed for a long time, coming in a close second.

2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition:

Base Cards: Derek Norris PROS-1, Sawyer Carroll FYC, Dusty Coleman FYC, Neftali Soto FYC

Other: Lance Lynn FYC AUTOGRAPH!

Card of the Pack: The Lance Lynn auto. Derek Norris and Neftali Soto are close behind.

2008 Donruss Threads Baseball:

Base Cards (Veterans): Steve Garvey, Nolan Ryan

Base Cards (Prospects): Madison Bumgarner PROS-1, David Bromberg FYC

Other: College Greats Kirk Gibson (Michigan State Spartans)

Card of the Pack: If there was a tough one to choose the card of the pack, it would be this one. It could go to Ryan (I'm a big Ryan fan), Bumgarner (recently rated the second best left-handed pitching prospect in baseball), or Gibson (as I said in the pack pull thread, I'm one of about two dozen people that actually likes Big Ten Baseball). Ultimately, I'll go with Gibson because I really, really like the "College Greats" insert set.

Now, some scans!







I hope you all enjoy following this as much as I enjoy doing it! :D

[Dalkowski110]

2008 Bowman Draft (From Box A):

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: Elliot Johnson MLBPA RC, Chris Davis MLBPA RC, Braeden Schlehuber FYC, Eric Campbell FYC

Chrome Cards: Reid Brignac MLBPA RC, Matt LaPorta PROS-1

Other: Gold Clayton Kershaw MLBPA RC

Card of the Pack: An otherwise-difficult pack is made a bit easier by the fact that Eric Campbell is a Mets prospect. Although if he'd not been in it, I'd have chosen the Matt LaPorta PROS-1.

2008 Bowman Draft (From Box B):

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: Elliot Johnson MLBPA RC (yep, another dupe), Blake DeWitt MLBPA RC, Rick Porcello FYC, Tyler Sample FYC

Chrome Cards: Jeff Samardzija MLBPA RC, Benji Gonzalez FYC

Other: Gold Warner Madrigal MLBPA RC

Card of the Pack: Rick Porcello, considering he's my favorite pitching prospect outside of the Mets organization.

2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition

Base Cards: Clayton Cook, Mark Sobolewski, Eric Beaulac, Petey Paramore

Other: School Colors 0003/1500 James Darnell

Card of the Pack: The Mets fan in me wants to say Eric Beaulac, but I also got two plus prospects in Paramore and Darnell. Beaulac and Paramore are both base cards, but Darnell is a neat insert. I guess a toss-up between Beaulac and Darnell with a hat tip to Paramore.

2008 Donruss Threads Baseball:

Base Cards (Veterans): Ernie Banks, Frank Howard, Wade Boggs

Base Cards (Prospects): Josh Reddick FYC, Bryan Petersen FYC

Other: N/A

Card of the Pack: With base cards only to choose from, there's no easy tie-breaker in this very-strong pack. Consider that both prospects' cards are FYCs and that two of the veterans are Hall of Famers. Ultimately, my admiration for Ernie Banks wins him the pack, plus after looking at Bryan Petersen's numbers, he looks he could do some serious damage at an MLB level, giving him the tip of the hat.

Now for the scans!









Enjoy! I'll be back here tomorrow!

[Dalkowski110]

2008 Bowman Draft (Box A):

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: Gregorio Petit MLBPA RC/FYC, Greg Reynolds MLBPA RC, Xavier Avery FYC, Adrian Nieto FYC

Chrome Cards: Wes Bankston MLBPA RC, Clayton Shunick FYC

Other: Gold Nick Adenhart MLBPA RC

Card of the Pack: I'll give it to Xavier Avery, who has tremendous upside, though is a bit jumpy at the plate.

2008 Bowman Draft (Box B):

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: Greg Reynolds MLBPA RC ('nother one), Max Scherzer MLBPA RC, Wes Hodges PROS-1, Luke Hughes PROS-1

Chrome Cards: Nick Stavinoha MLBPA RC, Anthony Ferrara FYC

Other: Gold Jake Odorizzi FYC

Card of the Pack: It's tough, but I'll go with Jake Odorizzi, the second of three Brewers first round picks. He's a little raw, but has a ton of upside.

2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition:

Base Cards: Matt Harrison PROS-1, Danny Rams PROS-1, Mike Stanton FYC, Tyler Cline FYC, Hector Gomez FYC

Other: N/A

Card of the Pack: Mike Stanton FYC. No, not the former Braves/Yankees/Mets/Reds/whoever else LOOGY. This Mike Stanton is an outfielder, and an extremely promising one at that. In his first full professional season this year, he batted .293/.381/.611 with 39 homeruns.

2008 Donruss Threads Baseball:

Base Cards (Veterans): Paul Molitor, Dennis Eckersley, Bob Feller

Base Cards (Prospects): Stolmy Pimentel FYC, Bud Norris FYC

Card of the Pack: Bob Feller, whom I'm a big fan of. A tip of the hat goes to Stolmy Pimentel in what was a very strong pack.

**NEW FEATURE**

Card of the Day: 2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Mike Stanton FYC. For Day 1, the Card of the Day was 2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Lance Lynn FYC AU. For Day 2, it was 2008 Bowman Draft Rick Porcello.

And now, the scans!









And I'll be back on here tomorrow morning with more!

[Dalkowski110]

2008 Bowman Draft (Box A):

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: Mitch Boggs MLBPA RC, Edgar Gonzalez MLBPA RC, Scott Green FYC, Edgar Olmos FYC

Chrome Cards: Jeff Lanning FYC, Johnny Giavotella FYC Refractor

Other: Gold Brett Hunter FYC

Card of the Pack: In terms of FYC's, with Green, Lanning, Giavotella, and Hunter, this one was very strong. However, with Brett Hunter's very high upside, I'll give it to him, with a tip of the hat to Jeff Lanning and Scott Green (Detroit Tigers).

2008 Bowman Draft (Box B):

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: Carlos Gonzalez MLBPA RC, Carlos Carrasco PROS-3, Dexter Fowler PROS-2 (This leads me to believe I mixed up the packs from Box A and Box B on Day 1)

Chrome Cards: Clayton Kershaw MLBPA RC, Will Inman FYC

Other: Gold Matt Joyce MLBPA RC, Blue Jeff Lanning FYC (280/399)

Card of the Pack: Again, this was a pretty good pack. But I'll go with Will Inman, giving a tip of the hat to Matt Joyce, Clayton Kershaw, and Jeff Lanning.

2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition:

Base Cards: Josh Lindblom FYC, Charlie Blackmon FYC, Zeke Spruill FYC, Jesse Darcy FYC

Other: Aspirations Diecut Clayton Cook FYC (108/150)

Card of the Pack: It came down to the three top pitching prospects in this pack in Lindblom, Spruill, and Cook. Cook only gets the edge because he appears on a somewhat scarce insert card.

2008 Donruss Threads Baseball:

Base Cards (Veterans): Carl Erskine, Jim Rice, Don Larsen

Base Cards (Prospects): Mat Gamel PROS-1, Lars Anderson FYC

Card of the Pack: The only veteran in the pack that I find particularly interesting is Carl Erskine. However, the prospects in this pack make up for the relatively weak veterans (who are usually at least 2/3 Hall of Famers OR Hall of Fame caliber [Rose, Jackson]). Ultimately, I'll wind up giving it to Lars Anderson, especially since it's a FYC.

Card of the Day: 2008 Donruss Elite Aspirations Diecuts Clayton Cook FYC

Scans!







Enjoy, and I'll be back on here tomorrow!

[Dalkowski110]

2008 Bowman Draft (Box A):

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: Jonathan Van Every MLBPA RC, Brooks Conrad MLBPA RC, Clayton Richard PROS-1, Wilkin Ramirez PROS-1

Chrome Cards: Chris Volstad MLBPA RC, Eric Campbell FYC

Other: Gold Micah Hoffpauir MLBPA RC

Card of the Pack: The only FYC in this pack is of Eric Campbell, a Mets prospect outfielder. I'll let my card collecting homerism show and have him as the card of the pack once again, though I'll give a tip of the hat to Wilkin Ramirez, too.

2008 Bowman Draft (Box B):

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: Justin Christian MLBPA RC, Reid Brignac MLBPA RC, Cliff Pennington PROS-1, Fernando Martinez PROS-1

Chrome Cards: Justin Christian MLBPA RC, Clayton Richard PROS-1

Other: Gold Brett Gardner MLBPA RC

Card of the Pack: Wow, two Bowman Draft packs, ONE FYC. With that said, I got a bit better of a prospect selection in this pack, with the nod going toward Mets prospect outfielder Fernando Martinez.

2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition:

Base Cards: Curtis Petersen FYC, Tony Delmonico FYC, Tyler Chatwood FYC, Greg Halman FYC

Other: College Ties Joba Chamberlain/Aaron Pribanic (0611/1500)

Card of the Pack: THIS was a strong pack. Of all the players I got, only Petersen and Pribanic AREN'T considered top flight prospects (Well, Joba lost his prospect status, but "budding front-of-the-rotation guy" would work). With that said, I'm giving it to Greg Halman, who was only a few days ago named top prospect of the Seattle Mariners organization by Baseball America.

2008 Donruss Threads Baseball:

Base Cards (Veterans): Juan Marichal

Base Cards (Prospects): Sean Doolittle PROS-1, Josh Vitters PROS-1, Jordan Schafer PROS-1

Other: Century Legends Harmon Killebrew

Card of the Pack: Interestingly, this one bucked the pattern of giving me at least two veteran cards and two prospect cards. With the insertion of an insert card, it contained only one veteran. Despite this being a prospect pack (and a pretty good one), the veteran presence is made up for in quality what it lacked in quantity. The only thing preventing a toss-up between Marichal and Killebrew is Killebrew's insert status, so I'll give the nod to him with a tip of the hat to Marichal.

Card of the Day: 2008 Bowman Draft Futures Game Prospects Fernando Martinez PROS-1. Homerism? Yes. But it was my favorite (tip of the hat to 2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Greg Halman).

And now, the scans!







I'll be back here tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

2008 Bowman Draft (Box A):

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: Josh Banks MLBPA RC, Clayton Richard MLBPA RC, Cliff Pennington PROS-1, Fernando Martinez PROS-1

Chrome Cards: Chris Perez MLBPA RC, Kenny Wilson FYC

Other: Gold Brett Jacobson

Card of the Pack: Incredibly, this pack contained as its regular prospects Cliff Pennington and Fernando Martinez...whom I just pulled from Box B yesterday. Box B's prospects? That's right, Clayton Richard and Wilkin Ramirez, whom I pulled from Box A yesterday. How's that for rotten luck? Either way, the card of the pack goes to Tigers relief pitching prospect Brett Jacobson, both for being the better of the two FYC's and also being a Detroit Tiger.

2008 Bowman Draft (Box B):

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: David Robertson MLBPA RC/FYC, Nick Adenhart MLBPA RC, Clayton Richard PROS-1, Wilkin Ramirez PROS-1

Chrome Cards: Andrew McCutchen PROS-3, Wes Hodges PROS-1

Other: Gold Jay Bruce MLBPA RC

Card of the Pack: David Robertson, who appears on the pack's only FYC, gets it. He was likely rushed to the Majors and is almost certainly better than the stat line he posted last year.

2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition:

Base Cards: Clark Murphy FYC, Mark Cohoon FYC, Cole St. Clair FYC, Engel Beltre FYC, Omar Aguilar FYC

Other: N/A

Card of the Pack: This was a strong pack, with really only Aguilar that doesn't have a ton of upside. Although I'd rank him fourth out of the five guys I got, I'll go with New York Mets pitching prospect Mark Cohoon.

2008 Donruss Threads Baseball:

Base Cards (Veterans): Harmon Killebrew, Tony Gwynn

Base Cards (Prospects): Lucas Duda FYC, Yefri Carvajal FYC, Patrick Ryan FYC

Card of the Pack: Once again, a VERY strong pack. Of course, since Lucas Duda is a Mets prospect, he gets it.

Card of the Day: 2008 Bowman Draft Gold Brett Jacobson FYC

And now, the scans...







I'll be back here tomorrow, hopefully with better Bowman Draft packs!

[Dalkowski110]

2008 Bowman Draft (Box A):

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: Chris Davis MLBPA RC, Joe Mather MLBPA RC, Ryan Perry FYC, Isaac Galloway FYC

Chrome Cards: Taylor Teagarden MLBPA RC, Anthony Bass FYC

Other: Gold Robbie Grossman FYC

Card of the Pack: HUGE upgrade over the last Box A pack I opened. A three-way tie between Perry, Grossman, and Galloway is prevented by Perry being the Detroit Tigers' first overall pick of the 2008 draft, thus giving him Card of the Pack status.

2008 Bowman Draft (Box B):

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: Chris Perez MLBPA RC, Jeff Samardzija MLBPA RC, Scott Campbell FYC, Pablo Sandoval PROS-1

Chrome Cards: Carlos Gonzalez MLBPA RC, Jake Odorizzi FYC

Other: Gold Nick Stavinoha MLBPA RC/FYC

Card of the Pack: Again, big upgrade over yesterday. I'll give it to Scott Campbell, the Blue Jays' top prospect from New Zealand, as I've already given one of these to Jake Odorizzi.

2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition:

Base Cards: Jay Austin FYC, T.J. Steele FYC, Adam Mills FYC, Johnny Giavotella FYC, Brandon Waring FYC

Card of the Pack: Although this was a relatively weak pack by Donruss EEE standards, it did have two very good prospects in Johnny Giavotella and Brandon Waring. Waring, who was traded from the Reds to the Orioles just a few days ago, looks like he'll be the better of the two. I'll give it to him, then.

2008 Donruss Threads Baseball:

Base Cards (Veterans): Ryne Sandberg, Alan Trammell

Base Cards (Prospects): Luis Exposito FYC, Edilio Colina FYC

Other: Juan Ramirez Green Foil FYC (189/250)

Card of the Pack: Alan Trammell, since as I've said already, I'm a homer when it comes to opening up card packs. But I'll give hat tips to Colina, who really looks promising, as well as Juan "I hit 22 batters in 199 IP" Ramirez, who otherwise looks pretty good.

[Dalkowski110]

Forgot Card of the Day and scans!

Card of the Day: 2008 Bowman Draft Ryan Perry FYC

Scans...







Enjoy, and I'll be back here tomorrow! Oh, and a new feature...the Card of the Week. This week, I'll give it to the 2007 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Lance Lynn FYC autograph I pulled on Day 1.

[ThoseBackPages]

No Chrome Autos yet? Good Luck!

i ripped a case last week. i love BDP!

[Dalkowski110]

"No Chrome Autos yet? Good Luck!

i ripped a case last week. i love BDP!"

Bought the full set of Chome Autos on eBay except for the Signs of the Future AND the redemption cards for Jesus Montero and Wilmer Flores (the latter of whom I'm already waiting on for a Donruss Threads autograph redemption card I was given as a present). I'll be trading away any dupe autos I get, though the person I'm trading them to has already negotiated said trade for when I do find them. Incidentally, you wouldn't happen to have any dupes, would you? Once I'm done, I'm going to try and trade for any cards I've missed, albeit just as regular, non-Chrome Bowman Draft. Anyway, I'll also be adding the box of 2008 Razor Signature Series (10 packs) this afternoon, since it's scheduled to arrive via UPS then. Each pack contains one autograph. But onto the cards...

2008 Bowman Chrome (Box A):

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: Brad Ziegler MLBPA RC/FYC, Max Ramirez MLBPA RC, Ryan Mattheus FYC, Eduardo Morlan PROS-1

Chrome Cards: Jai Miller MLBPA RC, Devaris Strange-Gordon FYC

Other: Gold Trey Watten FYC

Card of the Pack: This pack was pretty darn good. Watten is the answer to the trivia question "which draft pick from the 2008 draft signed first?" although not much else. Devaris Strange-Gordon, the nephew of Tom Gordon, posted really good numbers in his first pro season. Ryan Mattheus looks like he'll be a really good reliever. But I'm giving to to Brad Ziegler, who has had the most MLB success.

2008 Bowman Draft (Box B):

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: Eric Hurley MLBPA RC, Jonathan Van Every MLBPA RC, Ryan Mattheus FYC (!), Eduardo Morlan PROS-1 (!!)

Chrome Cards: Matt Joyce MLBPA RC, Luke Hughes PROS-1

Other: Gold Shairon Martis FYC

Card of the Pack: Ouch. The prospects are literally no different from Box A. With that said, had I gotten someone totally different in the first pack, Ryan Mattheus would be close to getting it for this pack. But I'll give it to Shairon Martis, who looks like he'll be a member of the Washington Nationals rotation in 2009.

2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition:

Base Cards: Kyle Russell FYC, Cody Adams FYC, Mat Gamel PROS-1, Wilson Ramos FYC, Jeremy Beckham FYC

Other: N/A

Card of the Pack: I'll go with Kyle Russell, a top ten prospect in the Los Angeles Dodgers system. Hat tip to Mat Gamel, of course, but it's not his first year card.

2008 Donruss Threads Baseball:

Base Cards (Veterans): Bob Gibson, Brooks Robinson

Base Cards (Prospects): Abraham Almonte FYC, John Raynor FYC

Other: Dynasty Juan Marichal/Willie Mays/Willie McCovey

Card of the Pack: As a big Mays fan, I'll go with the Dynasty insert, which also gives us two more Hall of Famers in McCovey and Marichal. A tip of the hat to John Raynor, who really looks like a good prospect.

Card of the Day: TBD (Haven't opened the Razor Signature Series pack yet)

And the scans...







And the day isn't done! I'll be on later with the results of 2008 Razor Signature Series pack number one!

[Dalkowski110]

Got my box of 2008 Razor Signature Series, which I'll be adding into the mix from now on.

Base Cards: Ike Davis FYC, Robbie Ross FYC, Anthony Hewitt FYC

Exclusive Base Cards: Eric Hosmer FYC

Autographed Cards: Logan Forsythe FYC AU

Card of the Pack: This was a VERY strong pack, and my favorite base card is a toss-up between Ike Davis and Eric Hosmer. However, Logan Forsythe gets it due to the whole autographed thing. Forsythe, a Padres top prospect, signed late but projects to really be something.

Card of the Day: 2008 Razor Signature Series Logan Forsythe FYC AU

[Dalkowski110]

Scan...



Enjoy! I'll be back here tomorrow!

[Dalkowski110]

2008 Bowman Draft (Box A):

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: Brandon Boggs MLBPA RC, Brett Gardner MLBPA RC, Jason Donald PROS-1, Brett Anderson PROS-1

Chrome Cards: Shane Dyer FYC, Richard Bleier FYC (Refractor)

Other: Gold Andrew Liebel FYC

Card of the Pack: I'll go with Andrew Liebel, who has the highest ceiling of any of the non-dupe prospect cards I got (Dyer, Bleier, Liebel).

2008 Bowman Draft (Box B):

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: Jaime Garcia MLBPA RC, Josh Banks MLBPA RC, Rick Porcello FYC, Tyler Sample FYC

Chrome Cards: Wilkin Ramirez PROS-1

Other: Gold Casey Weathers PROS-1, Chrome Refractor Autograph Michel Inoa FYC Redemption

Card of the Pack: Michel Inoa, despite having to wait until March 28, 2009 to get him. It'll be worth the wait (I already have one of the very scarce regular cards of Inoa that made their way into packs).

Donruss Elite Extra Edition:

Base Cards: Mitch Abeita FYC, Ryan Pressly FYC, Bobby Lanigan FYC, Aaron Pribanic FYC, Jharmidy DeJesus FYC

Other: Collegiate Patches Lucas Duda FYC autograph

Card of the Pack: Lucas Duda is a Mets prospect and I got his best autographed card put out thus far. That says it all.

2008 Donruss Threads Baseball:

Base Cards (Veterans): Cal Ripken, Reggie Jackson

Base Cards (Prospects): Jon Still PROS-1, Jairo Heredia FYC

Other: Court Kings Derrick Rose

Card of the Pack: Well, you've already heard me rail about non-baseball cards in baseball card packs (Rose), so I won't go into it. Jairo Heredia is a nice prospect, but the two veterans are Hall of Famers. Although Jackson was obviously great, I'm going to go with Cal Ripken, whom I've always been a big fan of.

2008 Razor Signature Series:

Base Cards: Jake Jefferies FYC

Exclusive Base Cards: Brett Wallace FYC, Jason Castro FYC, Yonder Alonso FYC

Autographed Cards: Anthony Gose FYC

Card of the Pack: Anthony Gose. Of course, every single autograph I get is going to be the card of the pack, so I'll give out a hat tip for each pack. Today, it was tough between Alonso and Wallace but ultimately, Alonso's hitting in the AFL gives the hat tip to him.

Card of the Day: 2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Collegiate Patches Lucas Duda FYC AU. I could have given it to Michel Inoa, but I don't much like redemption cards.

And now, scans!









Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more cards (and the Court Kings card of basketball player Derrick Rose is up for trade)!

[Dalkowski110]

2008 Bowman Draft (Box A):

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: Max Scherzer MLBPA RC, Chris Perez MLBPA RC, Shane Dyer FYC, Brandon Crawford FYC

Chrome Cards: Michael Hollimon MLBPA RC, Graham Hicks FYC

Other: Gold Markus Brisker FYC

Card of the Pack: This was a nice pack, especially considering the low dupe rate. Considering Markus Brisker has proven the most in professional baseball, I thought it only fair to give the Card of the Pack to him.

2008 Bowman Draft (Box B):

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: Matt Joyce MLBPA RC, Brandon Boggs MLBPA RC, Mat Gamel PROS-1, Angel Villalona FYC

Chrome Cards: Matt Macri MLBPA RC, Lou Marson PROS-1

Other: Gold Scott Campbell FYC

Card of the Pack: Angel Villalona, the uber-prospect of the San Francisco Giants.

2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition:

-Base Cards: Caleb Gindl FYC, Kirk Nieuwenhuis FYC, Jack Egbert FYC, Sean Ratliff FYC

Other: College Ties Kenn Kasparek FYC/Cat Osterman (1092/1500)

Card of the Pack: Had Kenn Kasparek appeared with a baseball player, instead of a girl's softball pitcher, I might have given it to him. I usually really like that insert. However, it's counterbalanced with not one, but TWO New York Mets in the pack: Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Sean Ratliff. Although Ratliff has more power, Nieuwenhuis has better plate discipline. Therefore, I'll give it to Kirk Nieuwenhuis with a tip of the hat to Sean Ratliff (and another tip of the hat to Jack Egbert, a fine White Sox pitching prospect).

2008 Donruss Threads Baseball:

Base Cards (Veterans): Robin Yount, Mark Fidrych

Base Cards (Prospects): Luis Cruz FYC, Jovan Rosa FYC

Other: Donruss Diamond Kings Cal Ripken, Jr.

Card of the Pack: Breaking it down by individual player, this might be the strongest pack of Threads I've yet opened. Yount is a Hall of Famer, Fidrych is one of my favorite players, both prospects looks incredibly promising...and then there's that Diamond Kings card of Cal Ripken. I know this is going to sound silly, but even when I open a late 1980's or early 1990's pack of Donruss, the thing I look forward to more than anything is Diamond Kings. Yeah, Dick Perez isn't doing them anymore, but their artist is still pretty darn good. I'm giving it to Ripken with a BIG tip of the hat to Mark Fidrych. It's almost a toss-up.

2008 Razor Signature Series:

Base Cards: Beamer Weems FYC, Buster Posey FYC

Exclusive Base Cards: Robbie Weinhardt FYC, Garrison Lassiter FYC

Autographed Cards: Aaron Crow FYC (561/699)

Card of the Pack: Okay, so just how badly did I want the Aaron Crow card? Well, I bought him on eBay. Last night. Fortunately, 1) I'm only out $12.99, and 2) this allows me to keep both Michel Inoa cards that I have from 2008 Bowman Draft (both regular and Refractor) in the trade agreement I made with the guy I'm trading my dupes to. But still, considering just how much I wanted this specific Aaron Crow card, it EASILY wins the Card of the Pack as well as the Card of the Day. A hat tip goes to Buster Posey, incidentally.

Card of the Day: 2008 Razor Signature Series Aaron Crow FYC AU

And now...scans!









Enjoy! I'll be back on tomorrow!

[Dalkowski110]

2008 Bowman Draft (Box A):

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: Clayton Kershaw MLBPA RC, Nick Evans MLBPA RC/FYC, Mat Gamel PROS-1, Angel Villalona FYC

Chrome Cards: Gregorio Petit MLBPA RC/FYC, Brandon Crawford FYC

Other: Gold Tyler Cline FYC

Card of the Pack: Nick Evans, in a relatively weak pack (Gamel and Villalona are dupes from yesterday, Kershaw is also a dupe).

2008 Bowman Draft (Box B):

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: Taylor Teagarden MLBPA RC, Mike Aviles MLBPA RC, Polin Trinidad FYC, Casey Weathers PROS-1

Chrome Cards: Kyle Weiland FYC, Tyler Chatwood Refractor FYC

Other: Gold Kyle Weiland FYC

Card of the Pack: Thankfully, I'm a relatively big Kyle Weiland fan. He posted superb numbers at Low A ball and I'll give his Chrome card Card of the Pack status.

2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition:

Base Cards: Kyle Weiland FYC, Cody Satterwhite FYC, Zach McAllister PROS-2, Jeremy Farrell FYC

Other: School Colors Aaron Shafer FYC (0049/1500)

Card of the Pack: The School Colors Shafer card, with a tip of the hat to Tigers relief prospect Cody Satterwhite (and my THIRD Kyle Weiland card).

2008 Donruss Threads Baseball:

Base Cards (Veterans): Tony Perez, Johnny Pesky

Base Cards (Prospects): Alexis Oliveras FYC, Elvis Andrus PROS-2, Juan Ramirez FYC

Card of the Pack: Tony Perez, the lone Hall of Famer in the pack. The prospects look good, but are still a ways off, with the possible exception of Andrus.

2008 Razor Signature Series:

Base Cards: Welington Castillo FYC, Rolando Gomez FYC

Exclusive Base Cards: Aaron Hicks FYC, Stephen Fife FYC

Autographed Cards: Charlie Blackmon Black FYC (189/199)

Card of the Pack: Charlie Blackmon, who hit pretty well in 68 games in Low A ball in the Rockies organization. The hat tip goes to Aaron Hicks, followed by another to Stephen Fife.

Card of the Day: 2008 Razor Signature Series Black Parallel Charlie Blackmon FYC Autograph.

And now, the scans!











Enjoy! I'll be back with more packs tomorrow!

[Dalkowski110]

2008 Bowman Draft (Box A):

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: Michael Aubrey MLBPA RC, Joey Votto MLBPA RC, Matt LaPorta PROS-1, Jake Arrieta PROS-1

Chrome Cards: Mike Sheridan FYC, Miles Reagan FYC

Other: Gold Bobby Lanigan FYC

Card of the Pack: Bobby Lanigan, who did really well in his debut this year. Tips of the hat to Matt LaPorta and Joey Votto.

2008 Bowman Draft (Box B):

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: Brooks Conrad MLBPA RC, Brad Ziegler MLBPA RC/FYC, Matt LaPorta PROS-1 (!), Jake Arrieta PROS-1 (!!)

Chrome Cards: Scott Campbell FYC, Pablo Sandoval PROS-2

Other: Greg Golson PROS-1

Card of the Pack: On its own, this wouldn't have been a bad pack. But considering what else I've opened, it's quite weak. Add to that the fact that both regular prospect cards are dupes from the other pack I opened and you get a REALLY weak pack. It's saved by Scott Campbell, Pablo Sandoval, and Greg Golson. However, I had a Gold card of Campbell and a regular card of Sandoval. I had nothing of Golson. Therefore, Greg Golson gets Card of the Pack honors, with hat tips going to Campbell and Sandoval.

2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition:

Base Cards: Rolando Gomez FYC, Beau Mills PROS-1, Jose Duran FYC, Jericho Jones FYC, Tyler Yockey FYC

Other: N/A

Card of the Pack: I'll go with Beau Mills, despite not being an FYC, in a relatively weak pack (by Elite Extra Edition standards, anyway...).

2008 Donruss Threads Baseball:

Base Cards (Veterans): Will Clark, Dale Murphy, Mike Schmidt

Base Cards (Prospects): Nick Weglarz PROS-1, Jose Tabata PROS-1

Other: N/A

Card of the Pack: I'll go with Mike Schmidt, who was probably the greatest third baseman of all time.

2008 Razor Signature Series:

Base Cards: Cord Phelps FYC, Brad Holt FYC, Bryan Price FYC

Exclusive Base Cards: Ryan Flaherty FYC

Autographed Cards: Sawyer Carroll Black Parallel FYC AU (013/199)

Card of the Pack: Sawyer Carroll, with a tip of the hat to Mets pitching prospect Brad Holt.

Card of the Day: 2008 Razor Signature Series Black Parallel Autographs Sawyer Carroll FYC AU

Scans...









Enjoy, and I'll be back posting tomorrow!

[Dalkowski110]

2008 Bowman Draft (Box A):

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: Matt Macri MLBPA RC, Ryan Tucker MLBPA RC, Trevor Cahill PROS-1, Jamie D'Antona PROS-1

Chrome Cards: Greg Reynolds MLBPA RC, Jordan Danks FYC

Other: Gold Burke Badenhop MLBPA RC

Card of the Pack: I'll give it to Trevor Cahill with a tip of the hat to Jordan Danks.

2008 Bowman Draft (Box B):

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: Joe Mather MLBPA RC, Rich Thompson MLBPA RC, Devaris Strange-Gordon FYC, Mike Sheridan FYC

Chrome Cards: Jake Arrieta PROS-1

Other: Gold Chris Valaika FYC, Chrome Blue Nick Stavinoha MLBPA RC/FYC (83/99)

Card of the Pack: Chris Valaika, who really looks like he's on the way up.

2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition:

Base Cards: Brad Hand FYC, Josh Reddick FYC, Charlie Furbush FYC, Brandon Crawford FYC, Jeudy Valdez FYC

Other: N/A

Card of the Pack: Brad Hand, with a tip of the hat to Charlie Furbush and Josh Reddick.

2008 Donruss Threads Baseball:

Base Cards (Veterans): Pete Rose

Base Cards (Prospects): Brandon Hamilton PROS-1, Chris Carter PROS-1, Jeff Corsaletti FYC

Other: Century Stars Harmon Killebrew

Card of the Pack: Pete Rose, with hat tips to Harmon Killebrew and Jeff Corsaletti.

2008 Razor Signature Series:

Base Cards: Daniel Schlereth FYC, Jeremy Farrell FYC

Exclusive Base Cards: Tim Beckham FYC, Brett Marshall FYC

Autographed Cards: Eric Hosmer FYC AU (655/699)

Card of the Pack: Hosmer, with the tip of the hat going to number one overall pick Tim Beckham.

Card of the Day: 2008 Razor Signature Series Eric Hosmer FYC AU

Scans...









Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

2008 Bowman Draft (Box A)

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: Rich Thompson MLBPA RC, Chris Carter MLBPA RC, Braeden Schlehuber FYC, Eric Campbell FYC

Chrome Cards: Jason Corder FYC, Paul Demny FYC

Other: Gold Justin Bristow FYC

Card of the Pack: Paul Demny

2008 Bowman Draft (Box B): Nick Hundley MLBPA RC, Wes Bankston MLBPA RC, Bryan Anderson PROS-2, Chris Valaika FYC

Chrome Cards: T.J. Steele FYC

Other: Gold T.J. Steele FYC, X-Fractor Tyson Ross FYC (158/199)

Card of the Pack: Tyson Ross

2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition:

Base Cards: Gerardo Parra FYC, Brent Morel FYC, Justin Bristow FYC, Chris Davis PROS-2

Other: Waldis Joaquin FYC autograph (087/819)

Card of the Pack: Waldis Joaquin FYC AU

2008 Donruss Threads Baseball:

Base Cards (Veterans): Bob Gibson, Steve Carlton

Base Cards (Prospects): Yefri Carvajal FYC, Desmond Jennings PROS-1

Other: Green Foil Stolmy Pimentel FYC (194/250)

2008 Razor Signature Series:

Base Cards: Dennis Raben FYC

Exclusive Base Cards: Kyle Skipworth FYC, Brian Matusz FYC, Tim Beckham FYC

Autographed Cards: Tim Fedroff FYC AU (0649/1499)

Card of the Pack: Tim Fedroff, with a hat tip to Brian Matusz.

Card of the Day: 2008 Razor Signature Series Tim Fedroff FYC AU, with a big tip of the hat to the 2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Waldis Joaquin FYC AU.

Scans...









Enjoy! I'll be back here tomorrow!

[Dalkowski110]

2008 Bowman Chrome (Box A):

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: Jeff Samardzija MLBPA RC, Taylor Teagarden MLBPA RC, Jordan Danks FYC, Nick Romero FYC

Chrome Cards: Zeke Spruill FYC

Other: Gold Tyreace House FYC, Chrome Autographs Carlos Gutierrez FYC AU

Card of the Pack: Carlos Gutierrez, with hat tips to Zeke Spruill and Tyreace House.

2008 Bowman Chrome (Box B):

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: Brett Gardner MLBPA RC, Clayton Kershaw MLBPA RC, Trevor Cahill PROS-1, Jamie D'Antona PROS-1

Chrome Cards: Ryan Tucker MLBPA RC, Nate Schierholtz PROS-1

Other: Gold Brandon Boggs MLBPA RC

Card of the Pack: Nate Schierholtz, since he was the best non-dupe I got.

2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition:

Base Cards: Corey Young FYC, Max Ramirez PROS-2, Tim Federowicz FYC, Adam Moore FYC, Jon Mark Owings FYC

Other: N/A

Card of the Pack: Adam Moore, with a tip of the hat to Corey Young.

2008 Donruss Threads Baseball:

Base Cards (Veterans): Don Mattingly, George Bush

Base Cards (Prospects): Fernando Garcia FYC, Aneury Rodriguez FYC, Angel Villalona FYC

Other: N/A

Card of the Pack: Angel Villalona, who has a "sky-is-the-limit" type ceiling.

2008 Razor Signature Series:

Base Cards: Bobby Bundy FYC, Logan Forsythe FYC

Exclusive Base Cards: Che-Hsuan Lin FYC, Cutter Dykstra FYC

Autographed Cards: Rolando Gomez FYC autograph (149/699)

Card of the Pack: Rolando Gomez, with a tip of the hat going to Cutter Dykstra.

Card of the Day: 2008 Razor Signature Series Rolando Gomez FYC AU. It would have gone to Carlos Gutierrez, but I already have him and will be trading him (already claimed).

Scans...









Enjoy! I'll be back here tomorrow!

[Dalkowski110]

2008 Bowman Draft (Box A):

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: Evan Longoria MLBPA RC, Chris Volstad MLBPA RC, Devaris Strange-Gordon FYC, Mike Sheridan FYC

Chrome Cards: Mike Aviles MLBPA RC, Jeremy Beckham FYC

Other: Gold David Robertson MLBPA RC/FYC

Card of the Pack: Usually I go with an FYC, but with Evan Longoria already looking like a star, I'll go with him.

2008 Bowman Draft (Box B):

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: Max Ramirez MLBPA RC, Michael Aubrey MLBPA RC, Welington Castillo FYC, Juan Francisco FYC

Chrome Cards: Brandon Boggs MLBPA RC, Polin Trinidad FYC

Other: Gold Bryan LaHair MLBPA RC

Card of the Pack: I'll go with Polin Trinidad with a hat tip to Welington Castillo and Juan Francisco.

2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition:

Base Cards: Dennis Raben FYC, Graham Hicks FYC, Ryan Chaffee FYC, Sam Freeman FYC, Tyson Brummett FYC

Other: N/A

Card of the Pack: Dennis Raben

2008 Donruss Threads Baseball:

Base Cards (Veterans): Willie Mays

Base Cards (Rookies): Andrew LeFave FYC, Ryan Patterson PROS-1, Danny Carroll FYC

Other: Drew Miller FYC autograph (0623/1999)

Card of the Pack: Miller, with a tip of the hat to Willie Mays.

2008 Razor Signature Series:

Base Cards: Anthony Gose FYC, Quinton Miller FYC, Sawyer Carroll FYC, Petey Paramore FYC

Exclusive Base Cards: N/A

Autographed Cards: Exclusive Signatures Eric Hosmer FYC AU

Card of the Pack: Hosmer, with a hat tip to Petey Paramore.

Card of the Day: 2008 Razor Signature Series Exclusive Signatures Eric Hosmer FYC AU, with a tip of the hat to the 2008 Donruss Threads Drew Miller FYC AU

Scans...









Enjoy! And I'll be back here tomorrow!

[Dalkowski110]

2008 Bowman Draft (Box A):

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: Charlie Morton MLBPA RC, Justin Christian MLBPA RC, Gerardo Parra FYC, Jesus Montero FYC

Chrome Cards: Max Scherzer MLBPA RC, Nick Romero FYC

Other: Gold Blake Tekotte FYC

Card of the Pack: I'll go with Jesus Montero.

2008 Bowman Draft (Box B):

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: Chris Carter MLBPA RC, Evan Longoria MLBPA RC, Miles Reagan FYC, Dusty Coleman FYC

Chrome Cards: Jaime Garcia MLBPA RC, Welington Castillo FYC

Other: Gold Will Inman FYC

Card of the Pack: Will Inman

2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition:

Base Cards: Josh Harrison FYC, Carlos Peguero FYC, Kyle Hudson FYC, James Darnell FYC, Shane Peterson FYC

Other: N/A

Card of the Pack: I'll go with James Darnell over Josh Harrison, though it's VERY close.

2008 Donruss Threads Baseball:

Base Cards (Veterans): Don Sutton, Stan Musial, Carl Yastrzemski

Base Cards (Prospects): Ruben Tejada FYC

Other: Abraham Almonte FYC autograph (228/975).

Card of the Pack: The Abraham Almonte autograph. The hat tip is a tie between Ruben Tejada (Mets prospect) and Stan Musial.

2008 Razor Signature Series:

Base Cards: Tyler Chatwood FYC

Exclusive Base Cards: David Cooper FYC, Jemile Weeks FYC, Brett Marshall FYC

Autographed Cards: Exclusive Signatures Pedro Alvarez FYC AU

Card of the Pack: Pedro Alvarez, with a tip of the hat to Jemile Weeks, although even if this pack had no autographed cards, Pedro Alvarez would've been card of the pack. Not only that, but this is the last pack of 2008 Razor Signature Series I'll be opening until late January (bear with me; I'll still be on this thread). Yep, the box is up. The card of the box? 2008 Razor Signature Series Exclusive Signatures Pedro Alvarez. They did indeed save the best for last.

Card of the Day: 2008 Razor Signature Series Exclusive Signatures Pedro Alvarez FYC, with a hat tip to 2008 Donruss Threads Abraham Almonte FYC AU

Scans...









Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more cards!

[Dalkowski110]

Oh, btw, since the current boxes being busted are running low, I'll reveal the schedule for my next box busts...

2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Box B: December 29, 2008-January 17, 2009

2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Box C: January 18, 2009-February 6, 2009

2008 Bowman Sterling Box A: January 18, 2009-January 23, 2009

2008 Bowman Sterling Box B: February 4, 2009-February 9, 2009

2008 Razor Signature Series Box B: February 4, 2009-February 14, 2009

2008 Donruss Threads Box B: Mid February, 2009-Mid March, 2009.

[mybaseballcardspace]

Thank you for reminding me that out of the box break I did of 2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition baseball, the regular non-autographed rookies are still quite a find in there. I am going to have to look more at the ones I got in the box I opened. Good luck on your future box breaks.

[RuthMayBond]

Oh, btw, since the current boxes being busted are running low, I'll reveal the schedule for my next box busts...

2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Box B: December 29, 2008-January 17, 2009

2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Box C: January 18, 2009-February 6, 2009

2008 Bowman Sterling Box A: January 18, 2009-January 23, 2009

2008 Bowman Sterling Box B: February 4, 2009-February 9, 2009

2008 Razor Signature Series Box B: February 4, 2009-February 14, 2009

2008 Donruss Threads Box B: Mid February, 2009-Mid March, 2009.Dang, from Feb. 4-6, you got three boxes going CONCURRENTLY :bowdown::bowdown::bowdown:

[Dalkowski110]

Indeed, RMB! I am looking forward to that time! Now, onto today's cards...

2008 Bowman Draft (Box A):

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: Matt Harrison MLBPA RC, Daryl Thompson MLBPA RC, Welington Castillo FYC, Juan Francisco FYC

Chrome Cards: Collin Balester MLBPA RC, Dusty Coleman FYC

Other: Gold Wladimir Balentien MLBPA RC

Card of the Pack: Lot of dupes, few original players. VERY weak pack. I guess Dusty Coleman, since he's the strongest FYC I got.

2008 Bowman Draft (Box B):

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: Joey Votto MLBPA RC, Matt Harrison MLBPA RC, Henry Rodriguez PROS-1, Hector Rondon FYC

Chrome Cards: Brett Gardner MLBPA RC, Casey Weathers PROS-1

Other: Gold Andrew McCutchen PROS-3

Card of the Pack: Hector Rondon, who looks like he'll be pretty good starter in the future.

2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition:

Base Cards: L.J. Hoes FYC, Niko Vasquez FYC, Aaron Shafer FYC, Joba Chamberlain PROS-1

Other: School Colors Autographs Joba Chamberlain PROS-1 (06/25)

Card of the Pack: The Joba Chamberlain autograph. No explanation should be needed. Hat tip to the regular set card of Joba as well as L.J. Hoes, who really looks like he could be something.

2008 Donruss Threads Baseball:

Base Cards (Veterans): Fred Lynn, Tom Seaver, Brooks Robinson

Base Cards (Prospects): Michael Burgess PROS-1, Hector Gomez FYC

Other: Rookie Class Autographs Kyle Ginley FYC AU (Letter "N")

Card of the Pack: Kyle Ginley, with a hat tip to Tom Seaver.

Card of the Day: 2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition School Colors Autographs Joba Chamberlain PROS-1 AU

Scans...







Enjoy! I'll be back on tomorrow!

[Dalkowski110]

2008 Bowman Draft (Box A):

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: Nick Stavinhoa MLBPA RC/FYC, Henry Rodriguez PROS-1, Hector Rondon FYC

Chrome Cards: Mitch Boggs MLBPA RC, Scott Green FYC

Other: Gold Logan Schafer FYC, Blue Polin Trinidad FYC (015/399)

Card of the Pack: This pack produced only one new FYC player in Logan Schafer. However, I also didn't have Scott Green in Chrome or Polin Trinidad in the scarce Blue Parallel. I'll give it to Logan Schafer with a hat tip to Green and Trinidad.

2008 Bowman Draft (Box B):

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: Nick Evans MLBPA RC/FYC, Matt Macri MLBPA RC, Gerardo Parra FYC, Jesus Montero FYC

Chrome Cards: Charlie Morton MLBPA RC, Ramiro Pena FYC

Other: Gold Pablo Sandoval PROS-2

Card of the Pack: Ramiro Pena, who I didn't have before opening this pack (even worse dupe rate than the other Bowman Draft pack).

2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition:

Base Cards: Brett Jacobson FYC, Kenny Gilbert FYC, Chris Valaika FYC, Scott Green FYC, Edgar Olmos FYC

Card of the Pack: And once again, Donruss Elite Extra Edition cheers me up with its selection after Bowman Draft lets me down. Brett Jacobson and Scott Green are both excellent Detroit Tigers pitching prospects. I'll give it to Brett Jacobson, though, for posting a more dominant stat line this year.

2008 Donruss Threads Baseball:

Base Cards (Veterans): Tony Perez, George Brett

Base Cards (Prospects): Jon Still PROS-1, Austin Romine FYC

Other: Blue Foil Andrew Romine FYC (02/25)

Card of the Pack: I'm a huge George Brett fan, and I'll give it to him. Andrew Romine gets the tip of the hat.

[Dalkowski110]

Forgot a few things!

Card of the Day: 2008 Bowman Draft Blue Polin Trinidad FYC

Scans...









Enjoy! I'll be back here tomorrow!

[Dalkowski110]

2008 Bowman Draft (Box A):

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: Mike Aviles MLBPA RC, Nick Hundley MLBPA RC, Ryne White FYC, Kenny Wilson FYC

Chrome Cards: Micah Hoffpauir MLBPA RC, Trey Watten FYC

Other: Gold Eric Hurley MLBPA RC

Card of the Pack: Ryne White, who wasn't a dupe (and looks like a solid prospect). This pack was chock full of dupes.

2008 Bowman Draft (Box B):

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: Michael Hollimon MLBPA RC, Micah Hoffpauir MLBPA RC, Will Inman PROS-1, Lou Marson PROS-1

Chrome Cards: Kevin Pucetas FYC, Gorkys Hernandez PROS-1

Other: Gold Carlos Gonzalez MLBPA RC

Card of the Pack: Nice improvement over the first pack. Both Pucetas and Hernandez are cards I don't have. I had stated a little while ago, btw, that Will Inman was an FYC but I am wrong, he is a PROS-1 (he had a Bowman Signs of the Future card in 2007). Anyway, I'll give it to Kevin Pucetas with a hat tip to Gorkys Hernandez.

2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition:

Base Cards: Blake Tekotte FYC, Neftali Feliz FYC, Aaron Cunningham PROS-1, Wilmer Flores FYC

Other: Turn of the Century Autographs Hector Gomez FYC AU (041/320)

Card of the Pack: This was my final pack of '08 Elite Extra Edition from the first box (I have two more waiting to be busted, which I'll do starting on Monday). And it was worth waiting for. Hector Gomez gets the nod due to an autograph, but big tips of the hat go out to Wilmer Flores and Neftali Feliz. It was a great box, too. Instead of the promised three autographs and a game-used card, I simply got five autographs (no game-used, but I'll take autographs any day!). The Card of the Box Award goes to 2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition School Colors Autographs Joba Chamberlain AU PROS-1 03/25.

2008 Donruss Threads Baseball:

Base Cards (Veterans): Willie McCovey, Hank Aaron, Carlton Fisk

Base Cards (Prospects): Carlos Carrasco PROS-3, Danny Duffy FYC

Card of the Pack: Hank Aaron.

Card of the Day: 2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Turn of the Century Autographs Hector Gomez FYC AU

And now, scans!









Enjoy! And, as usual, I'll be back tomorrow!

[Dalkowski110]

2008 Bowman Draft (Box A):

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: Carlos Gonzalez MLBPA RC, Jay Bruce MLBPA RC, Chris Getz FYC, Taylor Teagarden PROS-1

Chrome Cards: Edgar Olmos FYC, Xavier Avery FYC

Other: Gold Matt Cerda FYC

Card of the Pack: Either Chris Getz or Matt Cerda. Since Cerda is a Gold card, I'll give it to him.

2008 Bowman Draft (Box B):

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: Burke Badenhop MLBPA RC, Warner Madrigal MLBPA RC/FYC, Jesus Delgado FYC, Elvis Andrus PROS-2

Chrome Cards: Bryan LaHair MLBPA RC, Greg Golson PROS-1

Other: Gold Gorkys Hernandez PROS-1

Card of the Pack: Jesus Delgado, a promising Marlins pitching prospect.

2008 Donruss Threads Baseball:

Base Cards (Veterans): Joe Jackson

Base Cards (Prospects): Alexis Oliveras FYC, Elvis Andrus PROS-2, Luis Exposito FYC, Sean O'Sullivan FYC

Other: Robin Yount Game-Used Jersey (064/500)

Card of the Pack: Yount, with a hat tip to Jackson.

BONUS!

FULL BOX of 2008 Razor Signature Series (my parents' gift to me)...

Base Cards: Zach Putnam FYC, Jay Austin FYC, Robbie Grossman FYC, Christian Friedrich FYC, Buster Posey FYC, Lance Lynn FYC, Mike Montgomery FYC, Ryan Perry FYC, Gordon Beckham FYC, Daniel Schlereth FYC, Jeremy Farrell FYC, Charlie Blackmon FYC, Andrew Cashner FYC, Ryan Chaffee FYC, Mike Montgomery FYC (Dupe), Cody Satterwhite FYC, Allan Dykstra FYC, Danny Espinosa FYC, Eric Berger FYC, Logan Schafer FYC, Jake Jefferies FYC, Mike Antonini FYC, Beamer Weems FYC

Exclusive Base Cards: Robbie Weinhardt FYC, Ross Seaton FYC, Casper Wells FYC, Brett DeVall FYC, Robbie Weinhardt FYC (Dupe), Garrison Lassiter FYC, Wade Miley FYC, Chris Smith FYC, Ryan Westmoreland FYC, Ethan Martin FYC, Pete Hissey FYC, Aaron Crow FYC, D.J. Mitchell FYC, Yonder Alonso FYC, Chris Smith FYC (Dupe), Matt Wieters PROS-1

Parallel Cards (Unsigned): Black Robbie Ross FYC (128/200)

Autographed Cards: Tyson Ross FYC AU (582/699), Dennis Raben FYC AU (1385/1499), Ross Seaton FYC AU (1172/1499), Allan Dykstra FYC AU (0773/1199), Zach Putnam FYC AU (0874/1199), Kevin Pucetas FYC AU (0945/1499)

Exclusive Autographed Cards: Brett Marshall FYC AU, Tim Melville FYC AU

Parallel Autographed Cards: Black Derrik Gibson FYC AU (061/199), Black Ryan Flaherty FYC AU (058/199)

Card of the Box: I'd say Tim Melville.

Card of the Day: 2008 Razor Signature Series Exclusive Signatures Tim Melville FYC AU.

And now the scans...these are going to take up multiple posts...











Continued on the next post...

[Dalkowski110]

More scans...









I'll be back on tomorrow with more cards!

[Dalkowski110]

2008 Bowman Draft (Box A):

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: Reid Brignac MLBPA RC, Jaime Garcia MLBPA RC, Julio Pimentel PROS-1, Jess Todd PROS-1 (Called "Jesse" on the card)

Chrome Cards: Ryne White FYC

Other: Gold Niko Vasquez FYC, X-Fractor Johnny Giavotella FYC (195/199)

Card of the Pack: I'd say Niko Vasquez, who really looks like he'll be something. Also, three non-dupe prospects in this pack.

2008 Bowman Draft (Box B):

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: Daryl Thompson MLBPA RC, Nick Stavinhoa MLBPA RC/FYC, Chris Getz FYC (!), Taylor Teagarden PROS-1 (!!)

Chrome Cards: Bryan Anderson PROS-2, Chris Valaika FYC

Other: Gold Wes Hodges PROS-1

Card of the Pack: Ugh. No new players. At all. Plus I got two dupes from yesterday. With that said, both Chrome cards were pretty nice. I'll give it to Chris Valaika, the Reds' shortstop prospect.

2008 Donruss Threads Baseball:

Base Cards (Veterans): Luis Aparicio, Gary Carter, Al Kaline

Base Cards (Prospects): Andrew Lambo PROS-1, Jesus Montero FYC

Other: N/A

Card of the Pack: A tough one. This pack managed to be excellent without any inserts, parallels, or whatnot. Three HoF'ers, two plus prospects. I'll say a toss-up between Carter and Kaline (tie), with Jesus Montero getting a hat tip as a prospect.

Card of the Day: TIE
-2008 Donruss Threads Gary Carter
-2008 Donruss Threads Al Kaline

Scans!







I'll be back tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

2008 Bowman Draft (Box A):

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: Jai Miller MLBPA RC, Collin Balester MLBPA RC, Miles Reagan FYC, Dusty Coleman FYC

Chrome Cards: Nick Hundley MLBPA RC, Kevin Dubler FYC

Other: Gold Anthony Capra FYC

Card of the Pack: Anthony Capra, who looks to be a good pitching prospect.

2008 Bowman Draft (Box B):

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: Chris Volstad MLBPA RC, Jai Miller MLBPA RC (!!!), Scott Green FYC, Edgar Olmos FYC

Chrome Cards: Juan Francisco FYC

Other Cards: Anthony Ferrara FYC Refractor, Gold Nick Evans MLBPA RC/FYC

Card of the Pack: Nick Evans, whose Gold card I didn't have. Anthony Ferrara's refractor was also nice, but otherwise, this was a VERY weak pack.

2008 Donruss Threads Baseball:

Base Cards (Veterans): Ryne Sandberg, Harmon Killebrew, Kirk Gibson

Base Cards (Prospects): Carlos Gonzalez PROS-2, Lucas Duda FYC

Other: Diamond Kings Signature Materials Madison Bumgarner PROS-1 Autograph/Dual Jersey Swatch (01/25)

Card of the Pack: Bumgarner, with a hat tip to Lucas Duda (a Mets prospect).

Card of the Day: 2008 Donruss Threads Baseball Diamond Kings Signature Materials Madison Bumgarner PROS-1 AU/Jsy

Scans!







Enjoy! I'll be back here tomorrow with the last packs of 2008 Bowman Draft from both boxes and the last Donruss Threads pack. 2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Box B I'll begin opening up on Monday.

[Dalkowski110]

2008 Bowman Draft (Box A):

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: Wes Bankston MLBPA RC, Benji Gonzalez FYC, Anthony Bass FYC

Chrome Cards: Bobby Lanigan FYC, Logan Schafer FYC

Other: Gold Tim Murphy FYC, Blue Greg Reynolds MLBPA RC (082/399)

Card of the Pack: Tim Murphy, since I didn't have him.

Card of the Box/Final Thoughts: The card of the box is the Carlos Gutierrez autograph I pulled from it. However, the box was plagued by dupes. With that said, the set itself is quite nice. But the coallation, especially of the prospect cards, was downright horrible.

2008 Bowman Draft (Box B):

Base Cards/Prospect Cards: Ryan Tucker MLBPA RC, Charlie Morton MLBPA RC, Julio Pimentel PROS-1, Jess Todd PROS-1 (Spelled "Jesse" on card)

Chrome Cards: Jesus Delgado FYC, Elvis Andrus PROS-2

Other: Gold Polin Trinidad FYC

Card of the Pack: I'll give it to Jesus Delgado.

Card of the Box/Final Thoughts: Also plagued by poor set coallation, Box B was doubly worse because the prospect cards were coallated the EXACT SAME WAY as Box A (did you notice how many times I got a pair of base prospect cards that both proved dupes?). It produced few non-dupes, though I did get a nice autograph (Michel Inoa refractor) from it, even if it was only a redemption card. The reason I got two boxes of this set was to hopefully complete it (at least having one example of each player). With regards to prospects, I'm still ten cards short and will wind up getting those on eBay. Bowman Draft gets high marks for set design and checklist, but the coallation and incredibly high dupe rate turned me off to it. I won't pick up any more boxes and likely not even any more packs.

2008 Donruss Threads Baseball

Base Cards (Veterans): Red Schoendienst, Eddie Murray, Tim Raines

Base Cards (Prospects): Wilber Bucardo FYC, Lou Marson PROS-1

Card of the Pack: Red Schoendienst

Card of the Day: 2008 Donruss Threads Baseball Red Schoendienst

Card of the Box/Final Thoughts: This was a terrifically executed, terrifically checklisted set that only took two boxes to almost completely build (still a few cards short). Despite that, the sheer number of autographs and parallels, as well as the possibility of TTM with the prospects, will have me coming back for more. You get anywhere from three to five autographs and a game-used card. The prospects from the US featured a lot of retreads (not all, but a lot) from Bowman Draft, especially '07 Bowman Draft, but the Dominican and Venezuelan prospects were almost exclusively first year cards. My only complaint with it was that it sometimes sacrificed insert cards of baseball players with basketball or non-sport cards. I'd give the card of the box to the card I pulled yesterday, 2008 Donruss Threads Diamond Kings Signature Matierals Madison Bumgarner (01/25). Incidentally, that's the first time I've ever pulled a card that was 1/something that was serial-numbered to more than 10.

[Dalkowski110]

Here are the scans...







Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow opening my first pack of 2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition from Box B.

[Dalkowski110]

For the next couple weeks, I'm only going to be breaking one pack a day of 2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition. If I don't list the manufacturer every time, that's why, but technically, this is Box B and here are the results of the first pack...

Danny Rams PROS-1, Mike Stanton FYC, Derek Norris PROS-1, Engel Beltre FYC, Omar Aguilar FYC

Card of the Pack/Card of the Day: Mike Stanton, the Marlins slugging outfield prospect with the astronomical ceiling. I'll be giving all of my "Card of the Day" designations to the Card of the Pack, by default.

And now, the scan!



See ya tomorrow!

[Dalkowski110]

Today's cards from 2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Box B...

Carlos Peguero FYC, Kyle Hudson FYC, Clayton Cook FYC, Hector Gomez FYC, Tyler Cline FYC

Card of the Pack/Card of the Day: Clayton Cook

Scan...



And more tomorrow!

[Dalkowski110]

Base Cards: Cody Satterwhite FYC, Matt Harrison PROS-1, Jack Egbert FYC, Sean Ratliff FYC

Other: School Colors Andrew Cashner FYC (0463/1500)

Card of the Pack/Card of the Day: This was a VERY strong pack, with Satterwhite, Ratliff, and Cashner all viable options to pick for the honor. However, since I already have the Elite Extra Edition cards of Satterwhite and Ratliff, I'll give it to Andrew Cashner.

[Dalkowski110]

Whoops, forgot...



See you all tomorrow!

[Dalkowski110]

Base Cards: Beau Mills PROS-1, Jose Duran FYC, Caleb Gindl FYC, Wilson Ramos FYC, Jeremy Beckham FYC

Other: Throwback Threads Cody Satterwhite Game-Used Jersey Swatch FYC (233/500).

Card of the Pack/Card of the Day: The GU card of Cody Satterwhite, with a tip of the hat to Caleb Gindl.

Scans...





I'll be back on here tomorrow!

[Dalkowski110]

Base Cards: Max Ramirez PROS-2, Tim Federowicz FYC, Gerardo Parra FYC, Neftali Soto FYC, Aaron Pribanic FYC

Card of the Pack: I'll go with Gerardo Parra, a great sleeper prospect who posts tremendous on-base percentages.

[Dalkowski110]

So here it is...



I'll be back here tomorrow!

[Dalkowski110]

Base Cards: Josh Reddick FYC, Charlie Furbush FYC, Kyle Weiland FYC, Jericho Jones FYC, Tyler Yockey FYC

Card of the Pack/Card of the Day: Jericho Jones FYC

Scan...



Enjoy! As always, I'll be back tomorrow!

[Silver Blaze]

You actually bought the joke that is Donruss Threads? With your feelings about Donruss' dubious history, I am ashamed of you.;)

[Dalkowski110]

"You actually bought the joke that is Donruss Threads? With your feelings about Donruss' dubious history, I am ashamed of you."

Considering most of the company's staff got sacked in 2006 and they completely reformed their operation (the before and after of which my former boss SAW firsthand), why not?

Anyway, onto the pack I got...

Base Cards: Brad Hand FYC, Brent Morel FYC, Justin Bristow FYC, Chris Davis PROS-3.

Other Cards: Isaac Galloway FYC autograph.

Card of the Pack/Card of the Day: 2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Isaac Galloway FYC AU

Scans...

[Silver Blaze]

"You actually bought the joke that is Donruss Threads? With your feelings about Donruss' dubious history, I am ashamed of you."

Considering most of the company's staff got sacked in 2006 and they completely reformed their operation (the before and after of which my former boss SAW firsthand), why not?



Well one good reason would be, not having the license, the team names are missing and the pictures all have the players covering up the names and logos. Seems like a poor baseball product to me.

[Dalkowski110]

"Well one good reason would be, not having the license, the team names are missing and the pictures all have the players covering up the names and logos. Seems like a poor baseball product to me."

To each his own. I like the card design and player selection. So long as they've stopped being fraudulent with regards to their game-used stuff (which they have) and careless about their autograph supervision (which they no longer are), I really don't care.

EDIT: If we continue our debate, can it be on a different thread like the pack pull thread? I'd prefer this to be for my boxbreaks only.

[Dalkowski110]

Base Cards: Mark Sobolewski FYC, Corey Young FYC, Sawyer Carroll FYC, Dusty Coleman FYC

Other: School Colors Lance Lynn FYC (0348/1500)

Card of the Pack/Card of the Day: 2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition School Colors Lance Lynn FYC (0348/1500)

Scan...



Enjoy! I'll be back here tomorrow!

[Dalkowski110]

I decided to break the box topper on the 2008 Bowman Sterling box I got today, too. Seeing as I expected it to contain only one card, I figured what the heck. But I got two cards...

Parallel Rookies: Hiroki Kuroda MLBPA RC/FYC Refractor (088/149), Kosuke Fukudome MLBPA RC/FYC Gold Refractor (34/50)

I'll give Card of the Pack honors to Hiroki Kuroda, who looks to be turning into a very solid pitcher.

[Dalkowski110]

Forgot my two scans...





Enjoy!

[Dalkowski110]

Opened two packs today...

Pack 1:

Base Cards: Josh Harrison FYC, Jeudy Valdez FYC, Zach McAllister PROS-2, Jeremy Farrell FYC

Other: Michael Beasley autograph 09/99

Card of the Pack: Josh Harrison. Seriously, the Beasley autograph was plain bad luck. There are only four basketball autographs in the whole set. I'll trade this for LITERALLY any TTM or certified baseball autograph, no matter how much of a Quad-A guy I get in return (so long as the autograph is not a dupe). Also ticked me off enough to open another pack.

Pack 2:

Base Cards: Kenny Gilbert FYC, Chris Valaika FYC, L.J. Hoes FYC, Adam Moore FYC, Jon Mark Owings FYC

Card of the Pack: Chris Valaika FYC

Card of the Day: Chris Valaika FYC

Scans...





Enjoy. I'll be back here tomorrow!

[Dalkowski110]

Base Cards: Tony Delmonico FYC, Dennis Raben FYC, Edgar Olmos FYC, Niko Vasquez FYC, Aaron Shafer FYC

Card of the Pack: Dennis Raben, a slugging Seattle Mariners prosopect.

Card of the Day: I'm also scheduled to get my other box of 2008 Bowman Sterling today and will open up the box topper. When I get that, I'll post whether or not it was Raben or one of the box topper cards.

Scan...



Enjoy! I'll be on later with the box-topper(s)!

[Dalkowski110]

Box Topper from the 2008 Bowman Sterling box...Rookie Variation Carlos Gonzalez MLBPA RC (374/399)..scan...



I'll call it the card of the day!

[Dalkowski110]

Base Cards: Graham Hicks FYC, Ryan Chaffee FYC, Blake Tekotte FYC, Joba Chamberlain PROS-1, Brandon Crawford FYC

Card of the Pack: Blake Tekotte

Scan...



Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

Base Cards: T.J. Steele FYC, Geison Aguasviva FYC, Neftali Feliz FYC, Aaron Cunningham PROS-1

Other: College Ties Mitch Abeita FYC/Joba Chamberlain PROS-1 (0424/1500)

Card of the Pack: Abeita/Chamberlain

Scan...



Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

I'm moving forward the dates on my box busts...they are as follows...

2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Box C: January 17-February 5

2008 Bowman Sterling Box A: January 17-January 22

2008 Bowman Sterling Box B: January 23-January 28

2008 Razor Signature Series Box C: January 29-February 7

[Dalkowski110]

Base Cards: Cody Adams FYC, Mat Gamel PROS-1, Curtis Petersen FYC, J.D. Alfaro FYC, Scott Green FYC

Card of the Pack/Card of the Day: Mat Gamel

Scan...



Enjoy! I'll be back on tomorrow!

[Dalkowski110]

Well, I decided to move my schedule up to tomorrow with regards to opening multiple packs per day. As such, I busted ALL SIX remaining packs in 2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Box B (Box C will begin to be busted tomorrow). Be assured that this is an isolated incident and that aside from this, it's basically going to be two to three packs a day from here on out (I'm also getting a box of 2008 Upper Deck Sweet Spot Update). But here they are, the six packs I busted...

Pack 1:

Base Cards: Charlie Blackmon FYC, Kyle Russell FYC, Jeremy Hamilton FYC, Tyler Ladendorf FYC

Other: College Ties Nick Schmidt PROS-1/Logan Forsythe FYC (0922/1500)

Card of the Pack: Schmidt/Forsythe

Pack 2:

Base Cards: Mark Cohoon FYC, Cole St. Clair FYC, Jay Austin FYC, Sam Freeman FYC, Tyson Brummett FYC

Other: N/A

Card of the Pack: Mark Cohoon FYC (Mets prospect)

Pack 3:

Base Cards: Ryan Pressly FYC, Bobby Lanigan FYC, Josh Lindblom FYC, Juan Carlos Sulbaran FYC, Zachary Stewart FYC

Other: N/A

Card of the Pack: I'll give it to Zachary Stewart, though it was close. For some trivia, Juan Carlos Sulbaran is the first player from Curacao to both play in the Olympics as well as be drafted (as opposed to signed vs. international free agency).

Pack 4:

Base Cards: Kirk Nieuwenhuis FYC, Clark Murphy FYC, Tyler Chatwood FYC, Greg Halman FYC

Other: Aspirations Die-Cuts Xavier Avery FYC (004/150)

Card of the Pack: Xavier Avery, with hat tips to Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Greg Halman.

Pack 5:

Base Cards: Mitch Abeita FYC, Adam Mills FYC, Johnny Giavotella FYC, Brandon Waring FYC

Other: Rayner Contreras FYC Autograph (0162/1349)

Card of the Pack: Contreras, with the hat tip going to Brandon Waring.

Pack 6:

Base Cards: Rolando Gomez FYC, Jharmidy DeJesus FYC, Zeke Spruill FYC, Jesse Darcy FYC

Other: Rick Porcello FYC Autograph (0838/1299)

Card of the Pack: Rick Porcello, whom I'd have given it to even if the card wasn't signed.

Card of the Box: 2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Autographs Rick Porcello FYC AU

Card of the Day: 2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Autographs Rick Porcello FYC AU

Interestingly enough, the Porcello card is a dupe. I wanted this particular card so bad that I got one off eBay. With that said, unless you give me a card of equal value, neither card is for trade. I'm a huge Porcello fan. Oh, and the scans...









Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with the first pack of 2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Box C and the first pack of 2008 Bowman Sterling Box A!

[Dalkowski110]

2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Box C:

Base Cards: Brad Hand FYC, Josh Reddick FYC, Scott Green FYC, Edgar Olmos FYC

Other: School Colors Jordy Mercer FYC (0262/1500)

Card of the Pack: School Colors Jordy Mercer FYC

2008 Bowman Sterling Box A:

Rookie Cards: Eric Hurley MLBPA RC

Prospects: Jordan Czarniecki FYC

Prospect Autographs: Jason Knapp FYC AU, Eric Hacker FYC AU

Veteran Game-Used: Mark Teixeira GU Bat

Card of the Pack: Jason Knapp FYC. I really like these packs, incidentally.

Card of the Day: 2008 Bowman Sterling Jason Knapp FYC AU

Here are the scans!





Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition:

Base Cards: Mark Sobolewski FYC, Corey Young FYC, James Darnell FYC, Shane Peterson FYC

Other: School Colors Chase d'Arnaud FYC (1274/1500)

Card of the Pack: Chase d'Arnaud, followed closely by James Darnell.

2008 Bowman Sterling (Box A):

Rookie Cards: Reid Brignac Refractor MLBPA RC (143/199), Taylor Teagarden MLBPA RC AU

Prospect Cards: Justin Snyder Gold Refractor FYC (40/50), Lonnie Chisenhall FYC AU, Carlos Carrasco PROS-3 AU/Jsy

Card of the Pack: Carlos Carrasco (good enough to be a Card of the Box most of the time, but with Sterling, we'll see), with hat tips to Taylor Teagarden and Lonnie Chisenhall, in that order.

Card of the Day: TBD (I'm also getting a box of 2008 Upper Deck Sweet Spot Update later today and will start opening that when I get it. It's gonna be awfully hard to beat Carlos Carrasco, though.)

Scans...





Stay tuned for the Upper Deck Sweet Spot pack!

[Dalkowski110]

Well, I got my hobby box of 2008 Upper Deck Sweet Spot. Sweet Spot was vastly improved this year, IMO, and is basically 2007 Bowman's Best with a better base card checklist, more memorabilia cards as opposed to autographs, and much, much nicer card design. To tell you the truth, the base cards remind me a lot of 2000 Topps Stadium Club with their borderless design. Each box contains six miniboxes, and each of these contains eight cards...one autograph or memorabilia card (2-3 of the former and 3-4 of the latter) and seven base cards (or six and a Yankee Stadium Legacy card). Here's my first minibox (of six)...

Base Cards: Robinson Cano, Ken Griffey, Jr., Ivan Rodriguez, Joe Blanton, Prince Fielder, Carlos Beltran

Yankee Stadium Legacy Cards: Babe Ruth (Game 245)

Autograph/Memorabilia Cards: Sweet Swatch Memorabilia B.J. Upton GU Jersey

Card of the Pack: B.J. Upton, with Carlos Beltran getting the runner-up (more homerism!).

Card of the Day: Still 2008 Bowman Sterling Carlos Carrasco PROS-3 AU/Jsy

Scans...





Enjoy! And I'll be back here tomorrow!

[Dalkowski110]

2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition:

Base Cards: Kenny Gilbert FYC, Chris Valaika FYC, L.J. Hoes FYC, Tyler Ladendorf FYC, J.D. Alfaro FYC

Other: N/A

2008 Bowman Sterling (Box A):

Rookie Cards: Masahide Kobayashi MLBPA RC/FYC, Adam Russell MLBPA RC AU

Prospect Cards: Mike Brantley FYC, Gordon Beckham FYC AU

Veteran Cards: David Wright Game-Used Bat Refractor (078/199)

Card of the Pack: David Wright, VERY closely followed by Gordon Beckham.

2008 Upper Deck Sweet Spot:

Base Cards: Andruw Jones, Victor Martinez, Dustin Pedroia, Ichiro, Michael Young, B.J. Upton

Yankee Stadium Legacy Cards: Waite Hoyt (Game 220)

Autograph/Memorabilia Cards: Sweet Beginnings Jonathan Van Every MLBPA RC AU (126/399)

Card of the Pack: Jonathan Van Every, followed closely by Dustin Pedroia.

Card of the Day: 2008 Bowman Sterling David Wright Refractor GU Bat, which barely beat out Gordon Beckham from the same pack.

Scans...







Enjoy! I'll be back on here tomorrow!

[Dalkowski110]

2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition:

Base Cards: Carlos Peguero FYC, Kyle Hudson FYC, Clayton Cook FYC, Aaron Cunningham PROS-1, Wilmer Flores FYC

Other: N/A

Card of the Pack: Wilmer Flores

2008 Bowman Sterling (Box A):

Rookie Cards: Jeff Samardzija Refractor MLBPA RC (011/199), Justin Ruggiano MLBPA RC/FYC AU

Prospect Cards: Greg Halman Black Refractor FYC AU (01/25), Fernando Martinez PROS-1 AU/Jsy, Jonathan Bachanov Refractor FYC (113/199)

2008 Upper Deck Sweet Spot:

Base Cards: John Smoltz, Robinson Cano, Ken Griffey, Jr., Ivan Rodriguez, Rich Harden, Carlos Pena, Jim Thome

Yankee Stadium Legacy Cards: Joe DiMaggio (Game 2134)

Autograph/Memorabilia Cards: Sweet Spot Signatures Blue and Red Stitch Hanley Ramirez AU (44/50)

Card of the Pack: Hanley Ramirez

Card of the Day: This was VERY tough, but being a Mets homer, I'll go with 2008 Bowman Sterling Prospects Fernando Martinez PROS-1 AU/Jsy. Coming in right behind him are 2008 Upper Deck Sweet Spot Signatures Blue and Red Stitch Hanley Ramirez AU and 2008 Bowman Sterling Prospects Black Refractors Greg Halman FYC AU.

Scans...







Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow!

[Dalkowski110]

Some nice pulls today...

2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition:

Base Cards: Brett Jacobson FYC, Juan Carlos Sulbaran FYC, Zachary Stewart FYC, Jeremy Hamilton FYC

Other: Turn of the Century Autographs Daniel Thomas FYC AU

Card of the Pack: Daniel Thomas

2008 Bowman Sterling (Box A):

Rookie Cards: Clayton Kershaw MLBPA RC, Evan Longoria MLBPA RC AU

Prospect Cards: Chris Johnson FYC, Josh Lindblom FYC AU

Veteran Cards: Ryan Braun Gold Refractor GU Jersey (14/50)

Card of the Pack: The Evan Longoria autograph.

2008 Upper Deck Sweet Spot:

Base Cards: Travis Hafner, David Ortiz, John Smoltz, Torii Hunter, Dan Uggla, Johan Santana

Yankee Stadium Legacy Cards: Johnny Mize (Game 2159)

Autograph/Memorabilia Cards: Sweet Swatch Memorabilia Jeremy Bonderman GU Jersey

Card of the Pack: Bonderman, with the best base card going to Johan Santana.

Card of the Day: 2008 Bowman Sterling Rookies Evan Longoria MLBPA RC AU

Scans...







Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

I'm not feeling well today...pretty under-the-weather...so I just finished opening all the Donruss Elite Extra Edition packs. Got some great stuff...here are the highlights...



Six autos in one box!

[Dalkowski110]

2008 Bowman Sterling (Box A):

Rookie Cards: Kosuke Fukudome MLBPA RC/FYC, Chris Getz Refractor MLBPA RC/FYC AU (078/199)

Prospect Cards: Niko Vasquez FYC, Carlos Santana FYC AU

Veteran Cards: David Ortiz GU Jersey

Card of the Pack: Carlos Santana, who was recently named number one prospect of the Cleveland Indians by Baseball America.

2008 Upper Deck Sweet Spot:

Base Cards: Carlos Zambrano, Jason Bay, Grady Sizemore, Felix Hernandez, Justin Verlander, Aaron Rowand

Yankee Stadium Legacy: Lou Gehrig (Game 195)

Autograph/Memorabilia Cards: Sweet Swatch Memorabilia Jake Peavy GU Jersey

Card of the Pack: Peavy, followed by Justin Verlander.

Card of the Day: 2008 Bowman Sterling Prospects Carlos Santana FYC AU

Scans...





Enjoy! I'll be back here tomorrow with the first pack of 2008 Bowman Sterling (Box B) and the last pack of 2008 Upper Deck Sweet Spot!

[Dalkowski110]

2008 Bowman Sterling (Box B):

Rookie Cards: Brett Gardner Refractor MLBPA RC (078/199), Armando Galarraga MLBPA RC/FYC AU

Prospect Cards: Lonnie Chisenhall FYC AU, Elvis Andrus PROS-2 AU/GU Jersey, Danny Duffy Refractor FYC (151/199)

Card of the Pack: Armando Galarraga.

2008 Upper Deck Sweet Spot:

Base Cards: Magglio Ordonez, Trevor Hoffman, Alex Rios, Scott Rolen, Joba Chamberlain, Daisuke Matsuzaka

Yankee Stadium Legacy Cards: Earle Combs (Game 170)

Autograph/Memorabilia Cards: Sweet Swatch Dual Memorabilia Miguel Cabrera GU Jersey/Dontrelle Willis GU Jersey

Card of the Pack: Cabrera/Willis, even if the trade stunk. The runner-up would be the base card of Magglio Ordonez.

Card of the Day: 2008 Bowman Sterling Rookie Cards Armando Galarraga MLBPA RC/FYC AU

Scans...





Enjoy! The card of Lonnie Chisenhall is a dupe, btw, and I am willing to trade it. I'll be back here tomorrow with more 2008 Bowman Sterling.

[Dalkowski110]

2008 Bowman Sterling (Box B):

Rookie Cards: Nick Stavinoha MLBPA RC/FYC

Prospect Cards: Ryan Morris FYC, Ike Davis FYC AU, Mark Melancon Refractor FYC AU (130/199)

Veteran Cards: Chien-Ming Wang GU Jersey

Card of the Pack/Card of the Day: 2008 Bowman Sterling Prospects Ike Davis FYC AU

Scan...



Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

2008 Bowman Sterling (Box B):

Rookie Cards: Nick Blackburn MLBPA RC/FYC, Seth Smith MLBPA RC AU

Prospect Cards: Gordon Beckham FYC AU, Chris Valaika FYC

Veteran Cards: Victor Martinez Refractor GU Jersey (169/199)

Card of the Pack/Card of the Day: Ordinarily, I'd go with Gordon Beckham. However, because he's a duplicate, I'm going with Seth Smith. Beckham is up for trade if you have the right package.

Scans...





Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

2008 Bowman Sterling (Box B):

Rookie Cards: David Purcey MLBPA RC

Prospect Cards: Jason Knapp FYC AU, Vin Mazzaro FYC AU, Jake Arrieta Refractor PROS-1 AU/GU Jsy (045/199), Brett Cecil PROS-1

Card of the Day: Jake Arrieta. Interesting note, by the way. Although Jason Knapp is technically a dupe, his signature is pretty different on this card as opposed to the first card I pulled of him. On the first card, he let his signature flow across the sticker. On this one, he shortened his last name in order to be able to include his jersey number, 25.

Scan!



Enjoy! I'll be back with more tomorrow!

[Dalkowski110]

2008 Bowman Sterling Prospects (Box B):

Rookie Cards: Brett Gardner MLBPA RC

Prospect Cards: Adam Moore FYC AU, Charlie Blackmon FYC AU, Graham Taylor FYC

Veteran Cards: Manny Ramirez Gold Refractor GU Jersey (38/50)

Card of the Pack: Adam Moore, whose signature I did not have.

Scans...





Enjoy! Last pack of 2008 Bowman Sterling (Box B) tomorrow! Then come ten packs of 2008 Razor Signature Series!

[Dalkowski110]

Wow. I've been doing this for 50 days. Seems like just yesterday I started up!

2008 Bowman Sterling (Box B):

Rookie Cards: Charlie Morton Refractor MLBPA RC (181/199), Chris Perez MLBPA RC AU

Prospect Cards: Quinton Miller FYC AU, Gorkys Hernandez PROS-1 AU/GU Jersey, Steve Tolleson Gold Refractor PROS-2 (07/50)

Card of the Pack/Card of the Day: Gorkys Hernandez.

Card of the Box: Tough to say. It was a good box. Either Armando Galarraga or Ike Davis, with Elvis Andrus, Jake Arrieta, and Gorkys Hernandez in the running, too.

Scan...



Enjoy! Tomorrow I start opening 2008 Razor Signature Series Box C!

[Dalkowski110]

2008 Razor Signature Series (Box C):

Base Cards: Jordy Mercer FYC, Derrik Gibson FYC, Bryan Price FYC

Exclusive Base Cards: Yonder Alonso FYC

Autographed Cards: Black Parallel Reese Havens FYC AU 136/199

Card of the Pack/Card of the Day: Reese Havens, the second overall player drafted in 2008 by the New York Mets. And not only do I get his autograph, but I get a parallel of his autograph! Yonder Alonso comes in a distant second.

Scan...



Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with another pack!

[Dalkowski110]

2008 Razor Signature Series (Box C):

Base Cards: Trey Haley FYC, T.J. Steele FYC, Bryan Price FYC

Exclusive Base Cards: Yonder Alonso FYC

Autographed Cards: Justin Smoak FYC AU (391/699)

Card of the Pack/Card of the Day: Justin Smoak, and it's not even close.

[Dalkowski110]

Since you saw Alonso and Price yesterday, I won't post them again. I'll be back tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

2008 Razor Signature Series (Box C):

Base Cards: Michael Antonini FYC

Exclusive Base Cards: Aaron Crow FYC, Eric Hosmer FYC, Aaron Hicks FYC

Autographed Cards: Black Parallel Joshua Fields FYC AU (057/199)

Card of the Pack: Fields, followed by Antonini.

Scan...



Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

2008 Razor Signature Series (Box C):

Base Cards: Kevin Pucetas FYC

Exclusive Base Cards: Wade Miley FYC, Aaron Hicks FYC

Parallel Cards: Black Carlos Gutierrez FYC (044/200)

Autographed Card: Lonnie Chisenhall FYC AU (350/699)

Card of the Pack: Chisenhall, whose autograph I now have five times on four different things. Carlos Gutierrez comes in second.

Scans...





Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

2008 Razor Signature Series (Box C):

Base Cards: Joshua Fields FYC, Robbie Grossman FYC

Exclusive Base Cards: Ryan Flaherty FYC, Cutter Dykstra FYC

Autographed Card: Ryan Flaherty FYC AU (1169/1199)

Scans...





Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

2008 Razor Signature Series (Box C):

Base Cards: Beamer Weems FYC

Exclusive Base Cards: Robbie Weinhardt FYC, Stephen Fife FYC, Brian Matusz FYC

Autographed Card: Destin Hood FYC AU (194/699)

Card of the Pack: Hood, followed by Brian Matusz.

Scan...



Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more! Incidentally, if you're wondering about my next three box busts since I only have four packs of Razor Signature Series left, they're going to be 2001 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres, 2002 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres, and 2003 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres, in that order. Each box contains 18 packs.

[Dalkowski110]

2008 Razor Signature Series (Box C):

Base Cards: Ryan Perry FYC, Sawyer Carroll FYC, Logan Forsythe FYC

Exclusive Base Cards: Casper Wells FYC

Autographed Card: Exclusive Signature Tanner Scheppers FYC AU

Card of the Pack: Scheppers, followed by Casper Wells.

[Dalkowski110]

Here...



Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

I opened up my three remaining packs of 2008 Razor Signature Series...here are the three autographs...

-2008 Razor Signature Series Exclusive Signatures Robbie Ross FYC AU
-2008 Razor Signature Series Pete Hissey FYC AU (0848/1199)
-2008 Razor Signature Series Garrison Lassiter FYC AU (1405/1499)

Picture didn't work. I'll try putting it up on the next post.

I'll start opening the 2001 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres tomorrow!

[Dalkowski110]

Here's the scan I left off my previous post.

[Dalkowski110]

So I got out the 2002 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres box and, to my great surprise, there was something rattling around inside. I opened the box up (but not the packs) and what should I find but a boxtopper! Since boxtoppers don't adhere to my 1 pack per day schedule, I opened it up. This particular boxtopper is called a "Quadcard" and is part of an uncut sheet (a four-card panel) of 2002 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres cards with a serial number (594/600) stamped on it. Since there are four cards per pack, I figure this is a pretty fair representation of what the average '02 pack is going to be like...



David Jensen, Ryan Williams, and Travis Hanson went nowhere. However, there is that guy Francisco Liriano whom we've a bit about...;)

Not quite the card of the day (that'd be Scheppers followed by the three other autos), but certainly the best unsigned thing I pulled.

[Dalkowski110]

After focusing extensively on players from the 2007 and 2008 drafts with my past few boxes, I decided to turn back the clock and focus on the 2001, 2002, and 2003 drafts, in that order. To do so, I purchased three boxes of Upper Deck Prospect Premieres, one from each year. Each box contains 18, 4-card packs and features one autograph and one game-used jersey. Because these cards featured no Major League players at the time, they were reassigned an XRC (Extended Rookie Card) designation as opposed to the usual RC (rookie card) designation. I'll be opening the boxes in chonological order, meaning that box number one is going to be 2001 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres. And here's the results of that pack:

Base Cards: Travis Foley XRC, Cole Barthel XRC, Noah Lowry XRC, Chris Neylan XRC

Card of the Pack: Noah Lowry, who still has some upside and could make a comeback this year. Travis Foley retired after the 2007 season. Cole Barthel's career in organized baseball came to an end after the 2004 season. So did Chris Neylan's.

Scan (note the similarity to regular 2001 Upper Deck)...



Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

2001 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres...

Base Cards: Aaron Rifkin XRC, Richard Lewis XRC

Insert Cards: UD Heroes of Baseball Tony Perez GU Bat Card

Card of the Pack: Tony Perez, and not just because it's his bat. It's also because he was the only guy that played in the Majors. Aaron Rifkin played organized baseball from 2001-2007, then either went to the Indy Leagues or retired. Richard Lewis also played from 2001-2007 before either retiring or hitting the Indy Leagues. Note that in 2001, packs containing GU cards generally eliminated one card to avoid feeling too suspicious. However, the pack itself is large enough that you can count the cards inside. I forgot how easy to feel down these early 2000's packs were (this actually was going to be the second pack I opened regardless, but I thought it felt funny, felt down the next one, and concluded that there must be a GU card in it).

Scan...



Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

2001 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres...

Base Cards: Jake Woods XRC, Matt Coenen XRC, Preston Larrison XRC, Jake Dittler XRC

Card of the Pack: Jake Woods. The former Seattle Mariners reliever is the only one of this bunch ever to have made the Major Leagues. Still active, he's a non-roster invitee to 2009 Spring Training with the Philadelphia Phillies. Preston Larrison gets the runner-up. Larrison, a one-time Tigers pitching prospect, is also still active, despite having never made the Major Leagues. He's a non-roster invitee to 2009 Washington Nationals Spring Training. Jake Dittler was active until the middle of 2008 in organized baseball, but jumped to an Indy League in mid season, never having made the Major Leagues. Matt Coenen seemed to be on the fast track to the Majors, but missed a year in 2004, pitched one more year in 2005, did very poorly, and was out of baseball.

Scan...



Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

2001 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres...

Base Cards: Sean Henn XRC, Bryan Bass XRC, Jon DeVries XRC, Brad Hennessey XRC

Card of the Pack: Brad Hennessey. A legitimate Major Leaguer, Brad Hennessey was the twenty-first overall pick of the 2001 draft. Though he had a disastrous year last season, Brad signed a Minor League contract with the Baltimore Orioles, where he'll likely appear during this season. The runner-up in the pack in Sean Henn. Currently a non-roster invitee to 2009 Spring Training with the Minnesota Twins, Henn has been tried as a LOOGY but without much success. The former 26th round draft pick played with the New York Yankees and San Diego Padres in the Majors. Bryan Bass played from 2001-2007 in the Baltimore Orioles organization before either calling it quits or switching to the Indy Leagues. Though he had solid walk rates, he could never reallky make consistent contact. Jon DeVries, a catcher, had similar problems to Bass, though they were more exaggerated. He played organized baseball from 2001-2006.

Scan...

I'll put it up later. For whatever reason, MSPaint doesn't want to work.

But regardless, enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

2001 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres...

Base Cards: Michael Floyd XRC, Aaron Rifkin XRC, Justin Pope XRC, Corwin Malone XRC

Card of the Pack: Justin Pope, the lone active player of the bunch. The right-handed pitcher received a non-roster invite to 2009 Phillies Spring Training. Coming in second is Mike Floyd. The older brother of Gavin Floyd, Mike Floyd played from 2001-2005, though missed the entirety of the 2002 season with injuries. He offered good power, average speed, and average plate discipline, but for whatever reason never made it (perhaps because he started his pro career at age 22). Corwin Malone comes in third. The left-hander was at one time one of baseball's most highly touted pitching prospects and one of the very few non-2001 draft picks to appear in the 2001 Prospect Premieres set. His pro career lasted from 1999-2007, always plagued by both severe control problems as well as injuries. Aaron Rifkin I pulled earlier, and the first baseman's pro career lasted from 2001-2007. He offered good power, but little else. Why the dupe? Well, in 2001, the packs containing inserts (like my Tony Perez bat card) were coallated seperately from the packs not containing inserts. It's entirely possible that I pull a card of Richard Lewis, the other guy I got in the pack, as well.

Scans...





Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

2001 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres...

Base Cards: Rene Rivera XRC, Jon Steitz XRC, J.J. Hardy XRC, Scott Tyler XRC

Card of the Pack: J.J. Hardy, for obvious reasons. Just to show you how raw he was as a prospect when this card was printed, his position is listed as "SS-P". As for the other guys, catcher Rene Rivera is still an active baseball player. He'll be attending 2009 Spring Training with the New York Mets as a non-roster invitee and then he'll likely be sent down to AAA Buffalo. Right-handed pitcher Scott Tyler lasted in professional baseball from 2001-2008, jumping to an Indy League. He's played in the Twins, Marlins, and A's organizations. Right-handed pitcher Jon Steitz pitched from 2001-2003 in the Brewers chain before retiring. He struggled mightily with wildness, walking 7.0 batters per nine innings before sustaining an arm injury. He finished his pro career with a record of 2-16.

Scan...



Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

2001 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres...

Base Cards: Mike Gosling XRC, Kirk Saarloos XRC, Gabe Gross XRC, Kris Honel XRC

Card of the Pack: Gabe Gross, a regular Major League outfielder, was the best of this bunch. Kirk Saarloos, a solid Major League swingman who is invited to 2009 Cleveland Indians Spring Training as an NRI, comes in second. Mike Gosling, who has appeared in a few Major League games and is an NRI with the Twins this year in ST, comes in third. Bringing up the rear is once-heralded pitching prospect Kris Honel. The only guy in this pack not to see MLB action, Honel pitched from 2001-2008 in the Minors, finally hurting his arm after only three games in the 2008 season. It remains to be seen whether he'll pitch again.

Scans...





Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

2001 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres...

Base Cards: Mike Hinckley XRC, Brandon League XRC, David Wright XRC, Dan Haren XRC

Card of the Pack: Being a New York Mets fan, I'll go with David Wright. Dan Haren comes in second. Toronto Blue Jays set-up man Brandon League comes in third. And Washington Nationals left-hander Mike Hinckley comes in fourth. This pack is the first I've opened where everyone is still an active Major Leaguer. In case no one remembers from the 2001 draft, David Wright was a first round pick, Dan Haren and Brandon League were second round picks, and Mike Hinckley was a third-rounder.

Scan...


Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

2001 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres...

Base Cards: John-Ford Griffin XRC, David Crouthers XRC, John Cole XRC, Brad Nelson XRC

Card of the Pack: Brad Nelson. Nelson toiled for eight years in the Milwaukee Brewers farm system before finally making the Majors last year (on September 1, 2008). He seems likely to be kept in the Majors, as well, and is still an active player on the Brewers 40-man roster. Coming in second is John-Ford Griffin. Griffin was drafted by the Yankees, but played in two seperate years (2005 and 2007) with the Blue Jays. He's still technically active as a Minor League free agent. Third place goes to David Crouthers, who pitched in the Baltimore Orioles system from 2001-2004 before an arm injury took its toll. John Cole brings up the rear. He played from 2001-2002 in the Seattle Mariners organization, appearing in just 49 professional games.

Scan...



Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more.

[Dalkowski110]

2001 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres...

Base Cards: Mike Conroy XRC, Michael Woods XRC, Alhaji Turay XRC, Ricky Nolasco XRC

Card of the Pack: Ricky Nolasco, and by a lot, too. Outfielder Alhaji Turay brings up second place, being a New York Mets farmhand. Playing from 2001-2006, he was tremendously talented, but was also an attitude problem. Never a patient hitter, a 2005 injury sapped him of his power and basically put an end to his career. In third place is Michael Woods. Being a Tigers fan, I could never really figure out what went wrong with Woods. He was a slick-fielding second baseman with great plate discipline and even a little power. Although his batting averages were somewhat low, his OBP was fine. I've always wondered if he'd have done better with a team that valued OBP at the time like Oakland or Toronto (he was drafted out of college). Bringing up the rear is Mike Conroy, a supplemental pick by the Cleveland Indians in the 2001 draft. Well, Conroy played from 2001-2006, but was basically a bust. Though he had some power, his walk rates were pretty erratic and I believe he had problems with pitch recognition. I'm pretty sure he was on the Indians 40-man roster at one time, but he never made it above Class A Advanced ball.

Scans...





Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

2001 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres...

Base Cards: Wyatt Allen XRC, Chris Smith XRC, John Draper XRC, Richard Lewis XRC

Card of the Pack: With the large number of failed draft prospects in the 2001 class, I was bound to open up a pack that was a complete clunker. Normally, I'd pick Richard Lewis, since his career lasted from 2001-2007, despite never making the Majors. However, he was the second guy in the "insert pack" that I pulled, and those packs were coallated seperately, as I said before. Thus, being a dupe, he's automatically in last. Therefore, I'll go with Wyatt Allen, a White Sox organization right-handed pitcher taken in the supplemental round. Allen pitched from 2001-2006, including a single game on the AAA level. He injured his arm in 2003. Second is first round pick Chris Smith of the Baltimore Orioles. Smith looked promising, but twice hurt his arm, missing the entire 2003 season with Tommy John surgery. He pitched in 2001, 2002, 2004, and 2005. In third is John Draper, another supplemental round selection. A catcher/outfielder with the Kansas City Royals, Draper simply couldn't hit. He retired after the 2005 season, having made AA ball.

Scan...



Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

2001 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres...

Base Cards: Scott Hairston XRC, Ryan Stegall XRC, Jason Arnold XRC, Gavin Floyd XRC

Card of the Pack: Gavin Floyd comes in first here. Scott Hairston, another active Major Leaguer, comes in second. Jason Arnold, a second-round pick of the New York Yankees, pitched from 2001-2006 in the Yankees, A's, and Blue Jays farm systems. He reached AAA ball in 2003, 2004, and 2005 with the Jays, but got no higher and retired after 2006. Ryan Stegall played from 2001-2004 in the Houston Astros farm system. Unfortunately, he never really hit.

Scan...



Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

2001 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres...

Base Cards: Mike Jones XRC, Andy Gonzalez XRC, Dallas McPherson XRC, Stefan Bailie XRC

Card of the Pack: Dallas McPherson. Dallas figures to finally have a starting job this year with the Florida Marlins, though he has had four prior seasons of Major League experience. You may remember Dallas for hitting 40 homeruns one year in the Minors before a back injury. In second place is Andy Gonzalez, a fifth-round pick in the 2001 draft by the White Sox. Gonzalez was the prototypical toolsy shortstop. However, despite posting average numbers in the Minors, Andy wouldn't make the Majors until 2007. He hit poorly, though did okay as a utility man. In 2008, he split time between AAA Buffalo and the Cleveland Indians, for whom he played ten games. This spring, Andy was invited to Spring Training on a Minor League deal with the Florida Marlins. Considering the Marlins' love of utility guys that can play anywhere, he stands a fair shot at making the club or at least playing. In third place is Mike Jones, the twelfth overall pick of the 2001 draft. Mike is still an active player and still with the team that drafted him, the Milwaukee Brewers. However, he's had so many arm problems that it's difficult to see him making the Majors at this point. Bringing up the rear is former Red Sox prospect first baseman Stefan Bailie. A fourth round pick, Stefan hit well at first, but after a poor season in 2005, he retired.

Scans...





Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

2001 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres...

Base Cards: Jon Switzer XRC, Steven Shell XRC, Daniel Denham XRC, Jayson Nix XRC

Card of the Pack: Jon Switzer, the second round draft pick for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 2001 draft. Switzer is a non-roster invitee to 2009 New York Mets Spring Training and will be in the running with Casey Fossum and Valerio de los Santos for the job of secondary LOOGY. He has seen Major League playing time, including a 2006 season where he had an ERA+ of 101. In second place is right-handed pitcher Steven Shell, a third round pick in the 2001 draft for the then-Anaheim Angels. Though he debuted in 2008 for the Washington Nationals, he posted a superb 2.16 ERA and is on the Major League roster/slated to be on the team in 2009. Next up is Jayson Nix. Also an active player with Major League playing time, Jayson played in 2008 with the Colorado Rockies and also played in the 2008 Beijing Olympics with Team USA. After the season, he signed a Minor League deal with the Chicago White Sox and will be competing this Spring Training for a roster spot as a utility infielder. Dan Denham, the 17th overall pick of the 2001 draft by the Cleveland Indians, is also still active. However, he's also never played above AA ball.

I admit bias towards the New York Mets before someone says Steven Shell is better than Jon Switzer. ;) I'll also be announcing my Big Box Break schedule from here on out, since I only have four packs of 2001 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres left to open...

-2002 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres (February 18-March 7)
-2003 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres (March 8-March 25)
-2004 Upper Deck SP Prospects (The successor product to Prospect Premieres; March 26-April 18)
-2004 Donruss Elite Extra Edition (The product that ended UD's prospect card market; April 19-April 30)
-2005 Bowman Chrome (The product that filled the void when Donruss left; May 1-May 18)

[Dalkowski110]

Whoops...



Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

2001 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres...

Base Cards: Ryan Wing XRC, Rommie Lewis XRC, Jeremy Bonderman XRC, Donald Levinski XRC

Card of the Pack: Jeremy Bonderman, the 26th overall pick in the 2001 draft and the man who caused Billy Beane to throw a chair through a wall when he was picked. But as we know, Jeremy went on to better things with the Detroit Tigers. In second is Rommie Lewis, a still-active pitcher with the Baltimore Orioles organization. A left-hander taken in the fourth round of the 2001 draft, Rommie still hasn't given up on organized baseball. In third place is Ryan Wing, a second-round pick in the 2001 draft. Ryan played from 2001-2008 with several organizations with his last being the Oakland A's. He's currently on the roster for the 2009 Nippon Ham Fighters. Right-handed pitcher Donald Levinski was the second-round pick of the Montreal Expos in 2001. He pitched from 2001-2007.

Scan...



Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

2001 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres...

Base Cards: Len DiNardo XRC, Ryan Theriot XRC, Nick Long XRC, Tyrell Godwin XRC

Card of the Pack: Ryan Theriot, who, despite being a third-round pick, would not have a regular rookie card until 2006 (and who is also something of a pretty good middle infielder). In second place is Lenny DiNardo. I believe this is his only baseball card with the New York Mets (third round pick in 2001), as he only lasted two years or so in their organization before the Red Sox claimed him. He proceeded to play several years in the Majors after that. He's currently a non-roster invitee with the Kansas City Royals. In third place is 2001 Toronto Blue Jays third round pick Tyrell Godwin. Playing professionally from 2001-2006, Tyrell played in three games for the Washington Nationals in 2005. Bringing up the rear is 2001 Montreal Expos fourth round pick Nick Long. A right-handed pitcher, he burned out pretty early and was out of pro ball by the middle of the 2005 season.

Scan...



Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with my second to last pack of 2001 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres!

[Dalkowski110]

2001 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres...

Base Cards: Dennis Ulacia XRC, Aaron Heilman XRC, Julian Benavidez XRC, Adam Stern XRC

Card of the Pack: Aaron Heilman, which is something I never thought I'd be saying, seeing as I'm a New York Mets fan. Heilman was taken 18th overall in the 2001 draft. In second place is Adam Stern (2001 third round pick), who is still active with the Milwaukee Brewers. He played 48 Major League games from 2005-2007 and played 2008 with the Baltimore Orioles AAA affiliate, the Norfolk Tides. In third place is Dennis Ulacia (who is for some reason wearing a Birmingham Barons ballcap). A left-handed pitcher, Ulacia is one of only two players I can think of who got cards in this set and who were drafted before 2001. He started pro baseball in 1999 and his career ended in 2005. He posted a career record of 45-58 in the Minor Leagues. He made AAA ball in 2001, 2004, and 2005. Bringing up the rear is Julian Benavidez, who played from 2001-2006, all in the San Francisco Giants organization. A third-round pick, Benavidez struggled to hit for average at the higher levels in pro ball.

Scan...



Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with the final pack of 2001 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres.

[Dalkowski110]

2001 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres...

Base Cards: Justin Wechsler XRC, Ryan Budde XRC, Jose Morales XRC, Lazaro Abreu XRC

Card of the Pack: Jose Morales, an active catcher on the Twins 40-man roster. The only reason Morales didn't play in the Majors in 2008 was due to an ankle sprain. In 2007, however, he did indeed get the opportunity to play in one Major League game. A third-round pick by the Twins in 2001, Jose was actually drafted as a shortstop. In second place is Ryan Budde. A 12th round draft pick out of Oklahoma State by the Anaheim Angels, Ryan has played his entire professional career with the Angels organization with the exception of half of the 2007 season with Clearwater (a Phillies affiliate). Currently a member of the 40-man roster, he's played 20 games in 2007 and 2008 with the Angels. Unlike Jose Morales, however, he's more organizational filler than a prospect at this point. Justin Wechsler comes in third. The fourth round pick of the 2001 draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks out of Ball State, the right-hander struggled after his initial 2001 season and was out of baseball after the 2005 season. In the rear in Lazaro Abreu. Although he was a third-round draft pick of the Seattle Mariners, his career strangely lasted only four games in the 2001 season.

Card of the Box: 2001 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres David Wright XRC

Scans...





2001 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres was considered a pretty good set by the hobby, but it did have its problems. First, there were eleven autographed cards that were part of the base set, yet no guarantee that you'd get an autograph when you opened the box. Second, you were generally missing about 20 cards from the base set. Third, though you were guaranteed a game-used bat card, it was always of a retired player, never a prospect. And finally, the box art contained Michael Garciaparra. The pack contained the same design (see below). While yes, he was a first round pick, it was pointed out that there were prospects with far higher ceilings that could also have appeared on the set box. Most fans speculated that it was to drag in the non-prospectors who were interested in Nomar Garciaparra and knew that he had a brother.

To the MLBPA, 2001 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres was not a pretty good set. Because it contained only one veteran player in the whole box (who was in fact an insert), they contested that it couldn't be a rookie card. Upper Deck, showing that the cards were both base set and featuring the players in MLB uniforms, said that that was absurd. The two sides argued pretty hard over it and I remember Beckett didn't put "RC" or for that matter, ANYTHING next to the cards when they first came out, but then the two sides agreed that the cards were XRC's (much in the same vein as the Topps Traded, Donruss Rookies, and Fleer Update sets of the 1980's). Below is a scan of a 2001 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres pack...



In 2002 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres, UD changed its approach pretty radically. While there were a ton of autographed and game-used cards in the base set, you were guaranteed one autographed card and one game-used card per box. The box and pack design was also changed to reflect higher-ceiling prospects. Royce Ring, Prince Fielder, and Joel Guzman are featured standing side-by-side. You also had a solid shot at getting at least one of the three: Ring was featured on a jersey card, Fielder on an autographed card, and Guzman on a base card. We'll get to busting that box tomorrow! Until then, enjoy!

[Dalkowski110]

2002 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres (I absent-mindedly opened two packs, so we're going to get a Pack A and Pack B for today)...

Pack A Base Cards: Brian Grant XRC, Brian Dopirak XRC, Brian Slocum XRC

Pack A Inserts: Heroes of Baseball Cal Ripken, Jr.

Card of the Pack: I'll go with Ripken since neither Grant nor Dopirak made the Majors and Slocum has only pitched ten Major League games so far. However, Brian Slocum comes in second, since he's still active and on the Pittsburgh Pirates 40-man roster. Brian Dopirak is still active as an outfielder with pretty good power. Brian Grant pitched from 2002-2005 before arm problems ended his career.

Pack B Base Cards: Jonathan Broxton XRC, Ben Crockett XRC, Mark McGwire Tribute

Pack B Insert Cards: Heroes of Baseball Tony Gwynn

Card of the Pack: Since I'm looking for XRC's, I'll give it to flame-throwing Dodgers closer Jonathan Broxton. Tony Gwynn comes in second. In third is McGwire, and there are several of these McGwire Tribute cards that are actually part of the base set. And finally, we have Ben Crockett. A very promising pitcher at one time for the Colorado Rockies, Crockett hurt his arm in 2004, ending his career in 2005.

Card of the Day: As I said, I'm looking for guys who were prospects at the time and then panned out well, so I'll go with Jonathan Broxton.

First Impressions: In its second incarnation, Prospect Premieres needed to feature the Heroes of Baseball inserts and Mark McGwire, Joe DiMaggio, and Cal Ripken tribute cards to merely be able to release their cards. As I said yesterday, the pack also changed pretty radically from the one in the above post. It now looked like this...



Note the specific mention of XRC's on the pack itself.

Scans...





Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more (though this time, only one pack)!

[Dalkowski110]

2002 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres...

Base Cards: Matt Craig XRC, David Bush XRC, Charlie Morton XRC

Insert Cards: Heroes of Baseball Cal Ripken, Jr. (different than the one I got yesterday)

Card of the Pack: Right-hander Dave Bush, who is of course a solid pitcher with the Milwaukee Brewers. Right-handed pitcher Charlie Morton comes in second and is still considered pretty promising for the Atlanta Braves despite a poor rookie season in 2008. In third place is the Cal Ripken insert card. Yesterday's Ripken celebrated his being named to 19 All-Star Teams. This one celebrates when he broke Lou Gehrig's record for consecutive games. Bringing up the rear is Matt Craig, a switch-hitting 1B/3B in the Chicago Cubs organization. He's currently a non-roster invitee to Florida Marlins Spring Training.

Scan...



Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

2002 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres...

Base Cards: Bob Malek XRC, Mark McGwire Tribute, Josh Murray XRC

Insert Cards: UD Heroes of Baseball Mark McGwire

Card of the Pack: I guess it would be a tie between the Mark McGwires, seeing neither Malek nor Murray got to the Majors. Bob Malek would come in second, though. Drafted by the New York Mets in the fourth round of the 2002 draft, he played in their organization from 2002-2007, playing 2008 in the Dodgers farm system. I'm almost positive he's still active. Josh Murray, a shortstop drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers almost purely on the merits of his fielding, did very poorly in pro ball, playing from 2002-2006 and posting a stat line of .210/.277/.303. Incidentally, the McGwire Tribute subset is five cards, but that doesn't count the Heroes of Baseball insert set. The Cal Ripken Tribute subset is only two cards and the Joe DiMaggio Tribute subset is also five cards.

Scan...



Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

2002 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres...

Base Cards: Darrell Rasner XRC, Tyler Davidson XRC, Steve Stanley XRC

Insert Cards: UD Heroes of Baseball Joe Morgan

Card of the Pack: I'll go with Joe Morgan. Darrell Rasner is still active, but he's playing in Japan, so perhaps he'll come back. He's in second. In third place is Steve Stanley, the A's second round pick of the 2002 draft. Stanley looked like a very good prospect, but was injured in the middle of the 2004 season with Sacramento and was never the same again. He was out of pro baseball after 2006. In fourth place is Tyler Davidson. Tyler was the eigth round pick of the New York Mets in 2002 and had signed a contract for that season, but he didn't play in the regular season. His career lasted from 2003-2005, all in the Mets organization. Strangely, Davidson is listed on the card as a pitcher and part of the caption on the back says that "Davidson will provide a solid arm on the Mets pitching staff some day." The Mets actually made an effort to convert the low-average, low-OBP slugger to pitching, IIRC, but it never amounted to anything serious.

Scans...





Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

2002 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres...

Base Cards: Joel Guzman XRC, Larry Broadway XRC, Matt Carson XRC

Insert Cards: UD Heroes of Baseball Cal Ripken, Jr.

Card of the Pack: I'll give it to Ripken (different Ripken than the other two I got), as none of the prospects saw or have seen significant MLB playing time. In second place is Joel Guzman, who played in the Majors for the Dodgers in 2006 and the Devil Rays in 2007 before dropping off the radar. He's currently a non-roster invitee at Washington Nationals Spring Training. Interestingly, Topps managed to put out a card of him before Upper Deck did, getting him in 2001 Bowman Draft, 2001 Topps Traded, and 2001 Topps Chrome Traded. In third place is Larry Broadway. A Quad-A type slugger, he's never played in the Majors despite pretty solid Minor League stats. He's still active and is a non-roster invitee to Washington Nationals ST. Bringing up the rear is Matt Carson. The one-dimensional slugger with very little batting average or OBP skill has yet to progress past only 84 games in AAA ball. However, he has a non-roster invite to Oakland A's Spring Training as well as a Minor League contract, so he is still active.

Scans...





Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

2002 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres...

Base Cards: Rich Hill XRC, Brandon Weeden XRC, Tim Gilhooly XRC

Insert Cards: UD Heroes of Baseball Tony Gwynn

Card of the Pack: I'll go with Rich Hill, who still has plenty of upside despite his control problems. In second place is Tony Gwynn and yes, this card is a different one than the other Tony Gwynn I pulled. Brandon Weeden comes in third. He pitched from 2002-2006 in the Yankees, Dodgers, and Royals organizations. His last name is misspelled "Wheeden" on the card. Tim Gilhooly comes in fourth. Though drafted high by the Baltimore Orioles, he played only 107 games in 2002 and 2003.

Scan...



Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

2002 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres...

Base Cards: Val Majewski XRC, Tyler Davidson XRC, Josh Rupe XRC

Insert Cards: Upper Deck Heroes of Baseball Cal Ripken

Card of the Pack: I'll go with Josh Rupe, a righty relief pitcher for the Texas Rangers who posted an ERA of 5.14 last year. He was a third round pick of the Chicago White Sox, but went to the Rangers for Carl Everett before playing in the Majors. In second place is Cal Ripken. While this one isn't a dupe, it's the fourth time I've pulled one of these inserts of the Iron Man. In third place is Val Majewski. He was drafted in the third round of the 2002 draft and played 9 games for the Baltimore Orioles in 2004. However, he's been drifting around ever since and is currently a Minor League free agent. Bringing up the rear is the box's obligatory dupe (there are one or two in boxes of 2002 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres, I believe), Tyler Davidson. So yeah, this pack was a huge dud. Hopefully tomorrow's will be better.

Scans...





Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

2002 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres...

Base Cards: Randy Braun XRC, Kevin Jepsen XRC, Ryan Williams XRC, Drew Meyer XRC AU

Insert Cards: UD Heroes of Baseball Joe Morgan

Card of the Pack: Drew Meyer, though he only played 5 games at the end of the 2006 season in the Majors. He's still active with the Houston Astros. In second place is Kevin Jepsen, who is still considered a prospect. Though drafted as a starter, he injured his arm in 2005. Coming back as a closer in 2006, he improved markedly and climbed past Class A Advanced ball in 2008 for the first time. He finished the season in the Majors and, at age 24 this season, he's likely to become a right-handed reliever in the Angels bullpen. In third is the card of Joe Morgan. In fourth (since we had five cards in this pack and not 4 plus a cardboard insert) is Ryan Williams, a righty reliever drafted by the Dodgers who did well in his two years of pro ball before being taken out by an arm injury. In fifth is Randy Braun. Randy never really got up off the ground, playing 2002-2003 in pro ball and posting a stat line of just .185/.237/.263.

Scan...



Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

2002 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres...

Base Cards: Travis Hanson XRC, Blair Johnson XRC, Joe DiMaggio Tribute

Inserts: UD Heroes of Baseball Mark McGwire

Card of the Pack: Joe DiMaggio. McGwire comes in second. In third place is 2002 second-round draft pick Blair Johnson, taken by the Pittsburgh Pirates. A right-handed pitcher, he's still active in pro ball, though has only gotten to AA so far. This card also has the only action shot in the entire set not including autographs, if I'm not mistaken. Bringing up the rear is former St. Louis Cardinals prospect Travis Hanson, who played from 2002-2007 before leaving pro ball. Though he was mostly a light hitter, he did hit 20 homeruns one year.

Scan...



Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more.

[Dalkowski110]

2002 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres...

Base Cards: Kyle Boyer XRC, Joe DiMaggio Tribute, Jason Pridie XRC

Insert Cards: UD Heroes of Baseball Joe Morgan

Card of the Pack: I'll go with the Joe DiMaggio Tribute card. In second place is the Jason Pridie XRC. Jason Pridie was a second round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2002, but he never quite panned out like they wanted him to. He went to Minnesota in the Delmon Young trade and made his MLB debut in 2008, being called up in September. He went 0-for-10. Since plate discipline was never Pridie's strong point, it remains to be seen whether he can make the Twins as a fourth outfielder or just stay a Quad-A type player. In third is the Joe Morgan Heroes of Baseball card (I can see why these annoyed 2002 Prospect Premieres collectors...the player checklist is microscopic and you basically get six different cards of the same guy). In fourth is the Kyle Boyer XRC. This was the Kyle Boyer drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals, not the one taken by the Chicago Cubs (he got drafted in 2003). Kyle's career didn't last too long. Though he hit well in 2002, he declined in 2003 and 2004, with the latter being his final season in organized baseball. He played only 115 games in OB.

Scan...



Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

2002 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres...

Base Cards: Matt Carson XRC, Adam Donachie XRC, Mark McLemore XRC

Insert Cards: UD Heroes of Baseball Mickey Mantle

Card of the Pack: I'll go with Mickey Mantle, seeing as I haven't gotten his card in that insert set. In second is Mark McLemore, a left-hander who is competing for a bullpen spot for the Houston Astros. In third is Adam Donachie, a still-active former catching prospect with the organization that drafted him, the Kansas City Royals. He's never been higher than AA ball. In fourth is Matt Carson. Though he's currently a non-roster invitee to Oakland A's Spring Training, he's also a dupe.

Scans...





Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

2002 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres...

Base Cards: Brian McCann XRC, Josh Johnson XRC, Joey Gomes XRC

Insert Cards: UD Heroes of Baseball Joe Morgan

Card of the Pack: Brian McCann, the star catcher of the Atlanta Braves and the best position player you can get in the base set. In a very close second place is Florida Marlins ace Josh Johnson, who needs only to stay healthy to establish himself as a true upper echelon pitcher this year. In third is the Joe Morgan card. In fourth is Joey Gomes. The younger brother of Jonny Gomes, Joey was also drafted by the Devil Rays. He played from 2002-2006 in the Devil Rays organization (2002-2005) and in the Padres organization (2006), never advancing past AA ball.

Scan...



Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

2002 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres...

Base Cards: Mark McGwire Tribute Card, Matt Pender XRC, Eric Thomas XRC

Insert Cards: UD Heroes of Baseball Ozzie Smith

Card of the Pack: The Matt Pender XRC. Yes, I'm serious. Why? Because Upper Deck messed up the photo. In an uncorrected error, they slapped a picture of checklist-mate Curtis Granderson on the card. I can't recall if Pender's photo appears on Granderson's card, though. Although Matt Pender was a Tigers pitching prospect who burned out early, Granderson is of course a five-tool player still with the Tigers. In second place is the Heroes of Baseball card of Ozzie Smith since I haven't gotten him before as part of that set. In third place is the Mark McGwire Tribute subset card. And in fourth place is Eric Thomas. A high school pitcher drafted in the third round of the 2002 draft, Thomas stands 6'9" and threw in the upper 90's when drafted. He struggled with both command and control, however, and injured his arm before his 2003 season could get off the ground. He never pitched outside the 2002 season.

Scans...





Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

2002 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres...

Base Cards: Daniel Cevette XRC, Justin Jones XRC, John Baker XRC, Royce Ring XRC Jsy

Insert Cards: UD Heroes of Baseball Mark McGwire

Card of the Pack: Former Met LOOGY Royce Ring, one of the three guys on the card box, of whom I got with a game-used jersey swatch. In second place is John Baker. A fourth round pick by the Oakland A's in 2002, John made his MLB debut with the Florida Marlins in 2008 and shined. He figures to be the Marlins starting catcher this year. In third place is the Mark McGwire UD Heroes of Baseball Mark McGwire. In fourth is Dan Cevette, a left-handed pitcher who was invited to Spring Training by the Kansas City Royals this year. From 2002-2008, he pitched in the Cleveland Indians farm system. In fifth in current Minor League free agent Justin Jones, who was drafted by the Chicago Cubs. Jones played from 2002-2004 with the Cubs organization, 2005-2006 with the Twins organization, and 2007-2008 with the Washington Nationals organization. Note that Jones' card uses one of only a handful of action shots in the entire set. I thought the only action shot used was Blair Johnson, but evidently not.

Scan...



Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

Well, I decided to bust all three remaining packs of 2002 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres today...

Pack 1...

Base Cards: Mark McGwire Tribute, Chris Snyder XRC, Rich Hill XRC

Inserts: UD Heroes of Baseball Mark McGwire

Card of the Pack: I'll go with Chris Snyder, the starting catcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks. In second place, despite being a dupe (the third so far), is Rich Hill. The Mark McGwire Tribute goes in third and the UD Heroes of Baseball Mark McGwire comes in fourth.

Pack 2...

Base Cards: Ryan Rodriguez XRC, Mark McLemore XRC, Kiel Fisher XRC

Inserts: UD Heroes of Baseball Mark McGwire

Card of the Pack: I'll go with Mark McGwire. Mark McLemore is dupe number four of the box, but as a Major Leaguer, he comes in second. Ryan Rodriguez, who is still active albeit not even close to making the Majors, comes in third. In fourth place is Kiel Fisher, a "never-was" type for the Phillies who played from 2002-2005, though he did miss the entire 2004 season as well.

Pack 3...

Base Cards: Jonathan George XRC, Jason Cooper XRC, Cal Ripken Tribute

Inserts: UD Heroes of Baseball Tony Gwynn

Card of the Pack: I'll go with the Cal Ripken Tribute. In second place is Jason Cooper, who is currently signed to a Minor League deal with the New York Mets. In third, I'll take Tony Gwynn. In fourth is Jonathan George, who is still active as a pitcher in the Colorado Rockies organization, though the highest he'd made it is AA ball.

Card of the Day: Chris Snyder XRC

Card of the Box: Brian McCann XRC. I simply bought the three cards that I really wanted to get out of this box; those being the Jon Lester XRC, Curtis Granderson XRC, and Jeremy Reed XRC (I got Francisco Liriano on the box-topper). The McGwire, Ripken, and DiMaggio Tribute cards would've made an okay insert set, but to have them as part of the base set was pretty disappointing. Also VERY disappointing was the dismal UD Heroes of Baseball checklist. In effect, you got three cards a pack.

In 2003, for the third installment of UD Prospect Premieres, Upper Deck did away with both of these. Although that got them in trouble with the MLBPA (again), it also cleaned up the set design. Autographs and game-used jersey cards returned, but were also removed from the base set. With a guaranteed two autographs per box and one jersey card per box, you were given one extra autograph.

Although it's my contention that of the three sets, 2002 Prospect Premieres had the best checklist, I also believe that it had the worst packaging with regards to the autographs and jersey cards being part of the base set, the one-per-pack inserts, and the Tribute cards. Though Upper Deck took a few steps forward with better marketing toward prospectors as well as a nicer autograph selection and acceptance of the XRC designation, they also clearly took a few steps back. Stay tuned for the box break of 2003 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres, the best-designed of any of the Prospect Premieres sets, beginning tomorrow!

Scans...







Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

Well, I opened my first pack of 2003 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres. I must say that I'm very impressed by the quality of this set. Unlike 2002, where batting hand, throwing hand, date of birth, etc. were omitted from the card backs, they're all back there. Also up again is what round of the draft the player was taken in. Added to the format is what year the player was taken in. On the front of the card, we're treated to nearly the same posed shots we saw in 2001 and 2002 and a layout identical to the 2003 Upper Deck base set. The fact that the cards are borderless, however, makes the photo look much cleaner than 2002 and brings to mind 2001.



On the pack, we see 2003 number two overall pick Kyle Sleeth. Sleeth, who was forced to retire after seemingly contracting Steve Blass Syndrome after TJ surgery, is available in the set both as a base card and as an autograph. Now, let's get to what I pulled...

Base Cards: Paul Bacot XRC, Tila Reynolds XRC, Ryan Sweeney XRC, Nick Markakis XRC

Card of the Pack: Nick Markakis. A's outfielder Ryan Sweeney comes in second. In third place is former Braves 2nd round pick Paul Bacot. A right-handed pitcher taken out of high school, arm problems ended a very promising career for Bacot in 2005. In fourth is the unfortunately-named Tila Reynolds. It's actually "Lagatila Reynolds," and I'm sure if he were playing today, he'd have another nickname. A speedy shortstop drafted in the 11th round by the Arizona Diamondbacks, he looked quite promising at first, but quickly went bust. After a year in the Rockies organization in 2005, he was out of baseball.

Scan...



Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

2003 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres...

Base Cards: Brian Anderson XRC, Omar Quintanilla XRC, Chris Lubanski XRC, Reggie Willits XRC

Card of the Pack: I'll go with Reggie Willits, who despite coming off a bad year, figures to rebound. He's currently a fourth outfielder/fringe starter type with the Angels. In second place is Brian Anderson. I don't think he's a starter, but he could be a solid utility guy considering his power. Basically, another fourth outfielder type. In third is Omar Quintanilla, the utility infielder for the Colorado Rockies. Traded to the Rockies by the A's in 2005 with Eric Byrnes for Joe Kennedy and Jay Witasick, he's never lived up to his promise. However, he has shown a very good glove at both second base and shortstop and is likely to stay in the Majors for that reason if for no other. In fourth place is Chris Lubanski, who is still trying to make a crowded Kansas City Royals outfield. He finally made AAA ball last year after being drafted in 2003. He may see some Major League playing time due to some solid power, but I don't think he has the ceiling of the other guys.

Scans...





Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

2003 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres...

Base Cards: Wes Littleton XRC, Billy Sadler XRC, Darin Downs XRC, Tony Richie XRC

Card of the Pack: I'll go with Billy Sadler, who turned into a pretty good relief pitcher last year with the San Francisco Giants. Coming in a VERY close second would be fellow reliever Wes Littleton. Now with the Red Sox, Wes was the guy who got the save for the Texas Rangers in that 30-3 game against the Orioles because he pitched the final three innings. In third place is left-handed pitcher Darin Downs. A fifth round pick of the Chicago Cubs in the 2003 draft, Darin is still pitching in organized baseball with the Cubs organization. Because he's a left-hander, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt with regards to still one day making the Major Leagues. In fourth place is Tony Richie. The fourth round pick of the Cubs in the 2003 draft, Richie is a catcher who is still active in the Cubs organization. However, if I had to guess between him and Downs as to who reaches the Majors first if at all, I would pick Downs.

Scan...



Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

From a 2006 Bowman HTA Jumbo Box as a box-topper, the Card of the Day (I'll be breaking the box in a couple months, actually)...



-2006 Bowman Signs of the Future Yunel Escobar PROS-1 AU

[Dalkowski110]

2003 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres...

Base Cards: Scott Baker XRC, Brian Snyder XRC, John Hudgins XRC, David Aardsma XRC

Card of the Pack: Scott Baker, the 26-year-old Twins right-hander who looks to have a pretty good future. In second is David Aardsma, the middling reliever and excellent TTM signer currently on a Minor League contract with the Seattle Mariners. When this card was printed, he was being tabbed as a future closer of the San Francisco Giants. In third place is Brian Snyder, the first round pick for the Oakland A's in the 2003 draft. Though he actually hasn't played poorly in the Minors and is still active, he's currently in the Padres organization with relatively little hope of making the Majors. In fourth is former Texas Rangers 3rd round pick John Hudgins, a right-handed pitcher. Hudgins was released by the Rangers in mid-2006 and signed with San Diego, where he finished out the season. He missed all of 2007 and then played with the AZL Padres in just two games. Currently a Minor League free agent, it remains to be seen as to whether he plays professional baseball again.

Scan...



Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

It's actually Day 94 of the Big Box Break...whoops!

[Dalkowski110]

2003 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres...

Base Cards: Kenny Lewis XRC, Matt Murton XRC, Bryan Opdyke XRC, Carlos Quentin XRC

Card of the Pack: I'll go with former 2003 Diamondbacks second round pick and current Chicago White Sox star outfielder Carlos Quentin. In second place is Matt Murton, the former Boston Red Sox first round pick who has also spent time with the Cubs, A's, and Rockies as a legitimate Major League outfielder. In third place is former Cincinnati Reds fourth round pick Kenny Lewis. An outfielder, Lewis had good plate patience and speed, but little else. He was out of organized baseball after the 2005 season. In fourth is Bryan Opdyke, a former fifth round pick of the Milwaukee Brewers. Bryan, a catcher, had good OBP skills and fielding skills but little else. He in the Arizona League for two years, the Pioneer League for one year, and then hung up his spikes after 2005.

Scan...

Ignore the scan in THIS post. I put the wrong one up. Next post.

Enjoy! I'll be back tomorrow with more!

[Dalkowski110]

There we go!

[Dalkowski110]

First off, I'd like to thank everyone who's been following the Big Box Break, but due to an upcoming move, I had to open everything...all the boxes...so that I could start packing the cards up. I opened everything. Both including and not including the 2003 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres box, I got some really nice stuff. If you're interested in trading for a 2004 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Dustin Pedroia autographed rookie card (book value $200), just tell me. I've got two of them. I also have a Matt Lindstrom autographed dupe from the 2005 Bowman's Best box break (which also yielded a Justin Verlander rookie autograph) as well as a 2004 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Eric Patterson rookie autograph dupe. This is NOT the end, so I ask the mods to kindly not lock this thread. I will have some boxes once I move and get settled in, but things are just flat out too hectic right now.