Ridiculous waste of money auction

So I am browsing eBay looking for Christmas gifts when I should be doing my homework, and when I paid for something those little boxes with things I may like come up. Rarely do I ever like any of them number one, and number two they are always hundreds of dollars that I don't have even if I did like them.

Here is the dumbest waste of money I have seen in the hour I have wasted of my life searching eBay.

2009 Triple Threads 1/1 Alex Rodriguez

Must be nice to have $900 bucks to blow on a crappy card with no auto.

2009 SP Authentic Blaster Review

I went to Target yesterday with every hope they had a blaster of SP because I am bored with everything else. At first glance I saw nothing at all, then after rummaging I saw 3 blasters on the bottom shelf and opted for the first one I saw. I would have loved to have bought all 3 but it's just not realistic nor would it be productive considering that buying a hobby box and skipping it altogether would make more sense.

Nothing exciting about the design, nothing groundbreaking in terms of photography or composition of player image and borders/background. You get 8 packs per box, and 5 cards per pack. There were no doubles, 1 cheesy 20th anniversary card, and 2 inserts. I really like the inserts, you will see why I am a big fan of one of them for obvious reasons in the scan, and the other is a good player as well. I will ruin it for you and tell you I did not get any of the guys I collect as far as base cards go. (Maybe another blaster isn't a terrible idea after all.) I only got 1 card about #100, which was Michael Young.

Rather than bore you with words, I scanned each pack in the order I opened them so you can see how the pack breaks went. I also scanned the back of one base card and both inserts so you can get an idea what they are like.










I make no claims to be a set builder, but this seems like an easy one to build every year with a limited base set and usually no short prints. I am looking forward to getting some Pujols cards from this set, and the other guys I collect. I may just pick up the cards individually online, or try and trade for them rather than buy more blasters. The local hobby shop is too expensive to go for a few hobby packs or (gasp) a hobby box.

2009 Topps Updates and Highlights

So since we are all waiting on the World Series rain delay I figured I would entertain you with my pack breaks. I went to Target and picked up 6 packs the first trip. 6 packs and zero Pujols. Second trip, 4 packs and the first one I opened had a Pujols. Third trip with Sooz, I saw one random pack and felt bad for it, so I decided to give it a good warm home- Jeter was hiding in there, too.

They look like the regular Topps, most packs had a Turkey Red insert (or I am just lucky). I couldn't care less about these cards but I needed something cheap to scratch the itch.

Here is what came out of them:








I picked up a blaster of 2009 SP Authentic today which I may break during the game. Anyone get anything cool from U&H or SP? Sweet Spot? I didn't tell my brother yet, but I picked out his birthday present for me- baseball cards! (OK, he probably already figured on that.)

Marie's thoughts on the World Series

So we all know it's the Yankees playing the Phillies, and while I enjoy watching the Phillies play I hope the Yankees destroy them. I wouldn't consider myself a Phillies fan by any means, but as a result of Sooz covering them I have paid attention more over the years to the team.

I am not going to come out and say the Yankees are going to win. Do I want them to? Duh, of course. But you have to look at it logically and see that the Phillies have a good starting rotation (if Hamels is on), and they have more than 3 guys who can start a game whereas the Yankees have 3 solid starters (2 if AJ sucks), and then you are left pondering what the hell is going to happen. Both teams have a strong bullpen, Yankees have the better closer and no one on Earth can argue that.

Hitting between these two teams is insane. I can not even imagine the number of homeruns that will fly in this World Series.

I really think this series has the potential to go all 7 games, and I do believe all the games will be close and exciting to watch. Any Phillies or Yankees fan that thinks their team is going to steamroll the other is not very bright. I am looking forward to going to the game Wednesday, it will be my first World Series game. Poor Sooz will be in the press box silently cheering for the Yankees and I will be in the stands hoping her head doesn't explode, and that she doesn't rip the desk out of the wall. I am trying to get her to get me in as her assistant but I don't think it will work out.

What does everyone think of this match up? And if you are going to point out payroll, I am deleting your comment. Teams can pay whatever money they want for players but it means absolutely nothing if the player does not perform.

It's easy to hate Yankees fans

So, I've been told, but I think I am kind of lovable. :)

Living in southern New Jersey and spending a lot of time in Philadelphia over the past week or so has told me a lot about Yankees and Phillies fans. I am not naive to what Yankee fans are and why people do not like them.

Yankee fans are confident with many going into the cocky category.

However, Philadelphia fans are not any different. What's worse is that Philadelphia fans actually cannot comprehend the meaning of anything beyond the boundaries of their own teams.

Here are a few examples of what I've heard in the past two days. We're not even going to go with the week because I don't plan on spending three weeks typing.

1. 'Andy Pettitte doesn't scare me."
- Pettitte isn't the dominating lefty he was several years ago. He doesn't have Roger Clemens on his side like he did previously with the Yankees or while in Houston. However, Pettitte is one of the top postseason pitchers and when he's on, well ... Game 5 1996 World Series. Look it up.

He's given up six home runs to lefties this year, compared to 14 from righties. That's good news for Jayson Werth, but not Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Raul Ibanez.

I'm not saying Philadelphia fans need to quaver, but at least show a little respect.

2. "Jimmy Rollins is better than Derek Jeter."
- I didn't smack the guy when he said this, although I really wanted to. Phillies need to stop pointing to Rollins' MVP season. It was two years ago and since then, Rollins is hitting .276 with a .302 OBP. Again, the Phillies lead off guy has a .302 OBP. He didn't even break .300 this year in OBP.

Defensively, Rollins gets the edge. But there is no way you can come out and say that Rollins is better than Jeter. Rollins won't even be the second-best short stop if the Yankees and Phillies meet in the World Series. Jeter isn't even the best short stop. In case anyone needs numbers, Jeter hit .334 (higher than Rollins' OBP) with a .406 OBP. At 35, he added 30 steals this year.

3. "I would take Ryan Howard over Pujols on my team."
- And, there it is. I couldn't even have a real conversation after that was said. Yes, Howard is very good. Great power numbers and in the postseason, he has been terrific.

But, let's get real. It's Albert Freakin' Pujols. He's the best baseball player in the game. You take a player like Pujols over anyone at anytime because players like him do not come along often.
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I'm done with the rant. So, yes, while Yankees fans are easy to hate, at least they're are knowledgeable and can have a real baseball conversation.

Join our live chat tonight

Tonight, the Card Bandits are back (That's Marie and Sooz).


We haven't been around lately, but it's not as though we haven't been busy. The playoffs tend to drive us a little crazy.

If you have been following my tweets (ACPressSusan_L) you'll have seen that I've been working pretty hard the last couple of weeks covering the Phillies and, boy, was I ever wrong my Phillies prediction.

However, the playoffs aren't over and the fun is just getting started.

Come join us in a live chat with the ALCS tonight starting around 7:45 p.m. Let's talk baseball cards and baseball. All the fun stuff that we love about each other.

Anyone wanna do a live box break?

One of my favorite pics

Photo courtesy of the NY Daily News.

I haven't picked up any packs lately, but have been to many hours of cold baseball. Right now I am sweating like I am on the mound pitching for the Yankees. I will throw up some game pics from games 1 and 2 a little later. I have accomplished nothing in the past 4 days, no blogs, no homework, not a damn thing. Be back later.

NLCS Tonight!

The days are boring when baseball isn't on television. This time between series isn't good for anyone (you can ask TB (the boyfriend).

However, now is not the time to lament over staring at each other on the couch and him wondering why I have nothing else to do.

Here are my (Sooz) picks for the series.

I have an interest in both these series. In the Yankees-Angels series, I'm a Yankees fan, so I want to see the team I have enjoyed over the course of my life win. In the NLCS, if the Phillies make it to the World Series, I will be covering the entire thing, home and away. Right now, I have only been covering the Phillies playoff home games for work.

Which means I would love for a Phillies-Yankees World Series because I'm selfish and it would be fun for me.

But now we put my bias aside and look at the series from a logical perspective (at least my logic).

Predictions:
ALCS: Yankees in 6.
I feel the Yankees have too difficult of a time against the Angels, but in the end they will pull it out. It should be a great series, but I really think the Yankees are just too good from the starting pitching to the great lineup and a stellar back end of the bullpen.

NLCS: Dodgers in 6.
This series could go down to seven games and part of me thinks that it might. These are two evenly matched teams. Solid starters, who could be inconsistent on any given day. Hitters who seem to always get the big hit when it counts. But the difference is in the bullpens. Brad Lidge and Ryan Madson just haven't done it for Philadelphia. If you look at the stats, you'll see the Dodgers have 26 blown saves, but 13 of them were by guys you'll will never see in the ninth inning (one isn't even on the roster). George Sherrill and Jonathan Broxton are the difference.

What are you predictions?

ALCS Yankees v. Angels

Friday is the start of the ALCS for the Yankees and Angels, and the next four days of weather in New York are supposed to feel like December- around 40 degrees rain and possibility of (!)snow(!). Yikes. I have more under armor than I am willing to admit from socks to a headsock in case of extreme cold. I have no problem looking like an abominable bum in Yankee apparel if it means warmth and baseball.

The arctic weather is sure to play a factor in these games from the possibility of delayed start times, ice cold players and more importantly pitchers, as well as the game scores. In case you didn't know the ball likes to fly out of Yankee Stadium and I am sure the weather will wreck havoc on the ball either going out or keeping the ball in the park.

I'm not one of those Yankees fans that think this is a lock to win, and as a matter of fact I think this is going to be a great series and has the possibility of going 7 games. The Angels are a tough team, and are always a tough team for the Yankees to beat in the post season. I am hopeful with the Yankees line-up being able to score enough runs to beat the Angels, but it may come down to pitching and if any of these games are called for weather the Yankees may need a fourth starter. That fourth starter could be Chad Gaudin (yikes) or Joba Chamberlain (yikes). This will definitely be interesting to see this unfold, that is if my eyes don't freeze shut in the next few days.

As far as picking up new cards, I dabbled with a few packs here and there of Ticket to Stardom out of boredom and nothing else being available. Nothing exciting really. I do have a card from eBay that I plan to blog about a little bit later on.

Kouzmanoff in the Hall of Fame

At least his glove will be. San Diego Padres Kevin Kouzmanoff broke the single-season record for NL third baseman when he set a .990 fieling percentage.

Kouz had just three errors this year in 309 chances.

The Hall of Fame people asked Kouz to send over one his game-used gloves from the season. They aren't getting the one he used in the final game of the year. That's his to keep.

Looks like I will be making a trip to the Hall of Fame sometime soon. Hopefully, it will be on display when I get there.

Along with the Yankees championship for 2009. (Hey, a girl can dream, right?)