thanks...

Well, today (Wednesday) was supposed to be my day off, but I got called in and ended up working a twenty hour double… Working another double tomorrow. New Years Eve is our busiest night of the year… Yuck. I only had to stay a little past midnight, but it was enough for it to become my birthday and everyone was nice and sang for me. I wanted to thank the readers who sent me birthday treats, as always, I appreciate it. I am still waiting for my secret Santa gift. Oh well. I had a special post planned to go up today, but alas, I don’t think there will be time. I am gonna try and get some sleep, gotta be back at work in 6 hours…Happy New Year to all! Troll out.

Pack #11 of 1994 Pinnacle Series 2 or The First Ever Post on My Brand New Laptop, Done at Work!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay here we go…. I am at work, outside in the parking lot typing away on my brand new laptop. This is its maiden voyage and I am terrified… I am going to jump right in on the pack rip though… we are up to pack #11 of 1994 Pinnacle Series 2. Before I continue, a few of you emailed me this week wondering what the hell was going on my blog. Where are the long stories, where are the Rays? To make a long story short, I decided to do an 84-pack group break without a video camera and I am posting the results pack by pack… The original post that sort of explains all of the craziness is here. Standard posting will resume as soon as I am done with ripping all 84 packs… I am about a third of the way there, so I am going to get to it… Here we go!
#480 Greg Hibbard Seattle Mariners (Hibbard won 15 games for the Cubbies in ’93, but only won one more game in his career…)
#317 Tom Gordon KC Royals (Flash was a starter in ’94 and he won 11 games for KC that year. Gordon is still active and if he finds a team, 2010 will be his 22nd season in the majors. Over that time he has had 2 at bats and is hitless over his long career… He did win a ring with the Phillies in 2008-his first)
#487 Matt Walbeck Minnesota Twins (I guess the best way to describe Walbeck is unremarkable… ’94 was his first season with the Twins-he had a .284 slugging %)
#467Alex Cole Colorado Rockies (This dude could fly! I thought he was going to be a star… He stole 40bases in only 63 games for the Indians in 1990, but he never was able to do it over a full season. He spent one year in Colorado and swiped 30 bags for them in ’93)
#420 Corey Bailey Boston Red Sox
#333 David McCarty Minnesota Twins
#416 Alex Diaz Milwaukee Brewers (You gotta love the diving catch…)
#328 Craig Paquette Oakland A’s (Paquette had a little pop … he hit 22 homers for KC in ’96)
#438 Derek Lee San Diego (Lee turned down a scholarship at UNC when the Padres picked him in the first round in ’94)
#298 Matt Williams San Francisco Giants (The Carson Crusher led the NL in homers in ’94 when he hit a career best 43… He is 62nd All Time with 378 homers… He didn’t win the WS with the Giants, but finally earned his ring in Arizona in 2001)
#540 Darren Dreifort LA Dodgers (If ya can’t say anything nice then…this space will be left blank…)
#511 Mark Eichorn Baltimore Orioles (Coming into ’94 Eichorn had a career 2.99 ERA in 496 games)
#428 Ozzie Guillen Chicago White Sox (Have the Sox replaced Ozzie at short yet?)
#285 Mike Greenwell Boston Red Sox (I can remember watching Greenwell at Pawtucket in the 80’s-he was one of my favorites…)
Okay, got through it. This is the first post I have got paid to write. I typed between security walkarounds and this post ended up taking about 5 hours to write, but I have to say it is pretty freaking awesome to be able to post while at work! I would start another one, but I don’t have anymore scans saved on this computer. Welcome to a new age of the Collective Troll ladies and gentlemen, I like it!!!!

Keep on Ripping! Pack #10 of 1993 Stadium Club Series 3...

It has been a while since I have ripped a pack of the 1993 Stadium Club, so here we go with pack #10 of that box…
#706 Cris Carpenter Florida Marlins (Not to be confused with Chris Carpenter)
#684 Barry Bonds San Francisco Giants (Bonds led the league in homeruns only 2 times during his 22 year career. The first time came in ’93 when he hit 46 of them)
#614 Phil Plantier San Diego Padres
#635 Jeff Russell Boston Red Sox
#656 Mike Harkey Chicago Cubs
#670 Al Leiter Toronto Blue Jays
#740 Pat Mahomes Minnesota Twins
#745 Checklist
#618 Gary Sheffield San Diego Padres (Shef led the NL in batting with a .330 average in ’92)
#682 Kevin Stocker Philadelphia Phillies (The RC of the original Devil Rays shortstop)
#615 Jim Abbott New York Yankees (Was 4th in AL with 18 wins in 1991. The best word to describe Abbott’s career was AMAZING!)
#665 Greg Maddux Atlanta Braves (Maddux won his second of 4 consecutive Cy Young Awards in ’93)
#637 Tom Henke Texas Rangers (I very nearly listed his team as the Blue Jays, but I suppose play time should be over… I just felt like only one person was reading these posts and I wanted to have some fun…Henke was in the top-10 in saves 9 times during his 14 year career…He won the ’93 Series with the Jays collecting 2 saves)
#664 Doug Dascenzo Texas Rangers (Dascenzo was normally a speedy outfielder, but he pitched in 4 games for the Cubs totaling 5 innings without allowing a run and striking out 2) It is going to be a battle to finish this box break before the new year… I really miss my card of the day posts…They may return, who knows…For now I am buried in wax packs, ahh!!!!!!!! Till next pack, troll out!

2008 Allen and Ginter-Completed Page!!!!!!!!

I love completed pages… This is the first of several pages featuring 9 different cards from the 2008 Allen and Ginter set… I didn’t rip any of this product in ’08, but fell in love with it after I finished the ’09 set and now thanks to Duane of Democratic Roadkill I am 80% finished with this awesome set!!! I have a few more finished pages to show off and a bunch of single cards, too. I need only 70 cards to finish the set, only 12 short prints… THANKS DUANE!!!!!! YOU ROCK MY FRIEND!!! More on this set to come… We will return to the group break in the morning, I apologize for the interruption, but finishing a page is HUGE and I had to share with the Blog-O-Sphere! Troll out.

Pack #9 of 1994 Pinnacle Series 2, Plus Some Exciting News...

So my wife got me a laptop for Christmas!!!!!!! This is awesome!!! Life without a computer was pretty bad… I haven’t tried it yet and I am still posting this break from my parents computer and I will still have to scan over there, but I have a flash drive that I can keep on filling full of scans and I will now be able to post from home, woo hoo!!! Thanks Esther Gin N Juice!!! Here we go with Pack #9 of 1994 Pinnacle Series 2…
#327 Phil Hiatt KC Royals
#417 Jeffrey Hammonds Baltimore Orioles (Batted .296 with 8 homers and 31 RBI in ’94-finished 6th in ROY voting)
#468 Pete Incaviglia Philadelphia Phillies
#286 Roberto Kelly Cincinnati Reds (Kelly came to the Reds in the Paul O’Neill trade after the ’92 season. Over his career he was traded for Deion Sanders, Marquis Grissom and Henry Rodriguez. He was an All Star with the Reds in his first season there-he hit .319)
#481 Tim Pugh Cincinnati Reds (He was 10-15 for the Reds in ’93 in his only full season in the Big Leagues)
#488 Mike McFarlane KC Royals (McFarlane was a really great defensive catcher and he got beaned a lot… Led the league in getting hit by a pitch in ’92 and ’94. He is 74th All Time in that category)
#306 Jose Canseco Texas Rangers (It’s a bat Jose, it’s a bat…)
#502 Brian Hunter Pittsburgh Pirates (There were two different Brian Hunters in the mid-90s. This would be Brian Ronald Hunter, the slugging first baseman)
#446 Andres Galarraga Colorado Rockies (The Big Cat had some HUGE years with the Rockies, but more impressive to me was his first year in Atlanta when he hit .305 with 44 homers and 121 RBI without the benefit of Coors Field as his home field. He was diagnosed with cancer following that first season in Atlanta. He missed the entire 1999 season treating the cancer and returned in 2000, starting the All Star game, winning Comeback Player of the Year Honors and driving in 100 runs for the Braves. Galarraga finished his career with 399 homers-46th All Time)
#299 Brent Gates Oakland A’s (Gates played a full season as a first year rookie in ’93 and set personal bests for his 7 year career and he finished 6th in ROY voting)
#429 Alan Trammell Detroit Tigers (Trammell finished second in the MVP voting to George Bell in ’87. Trammell’s OBP was 50 points higher and AT prevailed in every stack aside from HR, RBI and SLG%, yet Bell won the award. Trammell’s numbers that year were his best ever overall-he batted .343 with 28 homers and 105 RBI. He also stole 21 bases while only being caught twice. Wow. The other WOW thing about Trammell is he spent his entire 20 year career in Detroit.)
#439 Tom Pagnozzi St Louis Cardinals (Kinda the Mike McFarlane of the NL-great glove, Golden even 3 times, not a whole lot of offense, but a really great catcher…I expected to see him as a big league manager)
#293 Rick Aguilera Minnesota Twins (Once Minnesota converted him to a stopper, he was awesome… Saved 42 games in the regular season in ’91, then saved 5 more in the postseason on the way to Aguilera’s second ring)
#524 Keith Mitchell Seattle Mariners (Kevin’s cousin spent parts of 4 big league seasons with 4 different clubs. He had a 16 year career in the minors). Another pack down. The next one may be posted courtesy of my awesome new laptop! This doesn't mean I can't flit around and do on location pack breaks, it just means I don't have to totally bother my friends and family just to post. I really can't believe I lasted a month without one. Now don't forget to vote for the blogger awards!!! Click here to see the nominees. Troll out.

Still Ripping-Gotta Get in Gear if I'm Gonna Hit #84 THIS YEAR-Pack 16 of 1997 Pinnacle X Press-With an Insert, Woo Hoo!!!!

Good Morning! Buenas Dias! Welcome back to work everyone...Earlier in the box break we pulled a case hit card (1:288 packs) of Andruw Jones. In this pack we got a box hit (1:37 packs) insert. The mid to late 90’s were all about the big sluggers and this pack had 2 of the biggest (plus 3 other guys who hit a fair amount of homers) in it. Here we go!
#34 Dave Justice Atlanta Braves (Justice’s season ended in May in 1996-he was off to a hot start batting .321 when he went out for the year)
#91 Andy Ashby San Diego Padres (Ashby’s best season came in 1998 when he went 17-9 and the Padres won the NL Pennant)
#8 Andres Galarraga Colorado Rockies (El Gato Grande was probably the first Spanish I ever learned as a kid-it was Galarraga’s nickname)
#111 Jason Kendall Pittsburgh Pirates
#67 Bernard Gilkey New York Mets
Swing for the Fences Game Card -5
FAR AND AWAY Insert #4 of 18 Mo Vaughn BOSTON Red Sox (The Hit Dog was pure power in his prime… He won the MVP Award in ’95 when he hit .300 with 39 homers and 126 RBI. He was just getting warmed up-he had an even better year at the plate in ’96 when he set personal bests in all 3 of the triple crown categories. He hit .326 with 44 homers and 143 RBI. Wow. He had a fairly short (12 seasons) career which included a bunch of homers (ala Ralph Kiner)-he hit 328. His 162 game average was 35 per season) #18 Chuck Knoblauch Minnesota Twins (CK was like the AL version of Craig Biggio, except he went to the WS and won it-he did it 4 times actually. Once with Minnesota in ’91 and he grabbed 3 more rings with the Yankees) #140 Frank Thomas Peak Performers Chicago White Sox (Thomas reached base safely 15 straight times in May ’96-one time shy of Ted Williams record)
There we go with another pack down. The Mo Vaughn insert is pretty neat looking. Other than all the dupes, this is still a pretty fun set… 1994 Pinnacle is probably up next, but who knows…We are into the 3rd day of Kwanzaa, so Happy Kwanzaa to All!!! Happy Birthday to Dita Von Cheats, the "pin up who will knock you down" is still 6 foot 2 inches tall, but now she is a year older. Happy Birthday Dita!!! troll out!

One To Pack #15 of 1997 Pinnacle X Press!

We got a little bit more variety out of this pack… Probably cuz I let my wife rip this one. Here we go!
#131 Damon Mashore 1997 Rookie Oakland A’s (Not gonna lie, I never heard of him)
#64 Craig Biggio Houston Astros (First ballot HOFer for sure)
#??? Swing for the Fences Game Card David Justice Atl Braves (I told my wife that he was married to Halle Barry, she said “Before she was famous, right?”)
#103 Andy Benes St Louis Cardinals (copy #2 of this one)
#24 Rey Ordonez NY Mets (I think this is copy#3 of this one I think…)
#9 Greg Maddux Atlanta Braves (Greg was 15-11 in ’96)
#42 Mark McGwire Oakland A’s (Have I mentioned how ridiculous it is that McGwire is on the pack wrapper as a Cardinal, but in the set as an Oakland A? McGwire hit 52 bombs for Oakland in ’96)
#130 Jason Dickson California Angels (another one I have never heard of)
#45 Ryne Sandberg Chicago Cubs (SCORE!!! This is the first card of Rhino in the break. I can’t believe it took this long to pull one, but I am glad I did. He hit 25 homers in ’96)
Not a bad pack. One Hall of Famer. 2 guaranteed future Hall of Famers. One guy who will always raise the question… Until the next one, troll out!

Never Gonna Stop, Never Gonna Stop, Never Gonna Stop RIPPING!!! Pack #14 (already) of 1997 Pinnacle X Press

We are up to pack 14 of 1997 Pinnacle X Press…
These have been a lot of fun to rip, with only 8-9 cards to pick they post really quick which is nice, but the box yields 192 cards and I don’t know how many cards are in the set, but I wonder if it has more than 100 cards on the checklist. I am saying this because this pack was mainly dupes. Anyway, decided to post it none the less and here is what we got:
#61 Manny Ramirez Cleveland Indians (I scanned the back of this because I forgot what Manny looked like pre-weave…He had a pretty standard, read awesome, year at the plate in ’96-he batted .309/33/112.)
#50 Steve Finley San Diego Padres (I just posted Finley from ’94 while he was on the Astros. Here he is in his Padres uni coming off a year where he hit 30 homers and batted .298. He hit .381 with 20 RBI in the month of July)
#32 Derek Jeter NY Yankees (I don’t think anyone is gonna complain about getting 2 of these Jeter cards-I bet you can find a trader without much of a problem…)
#21 Vinny Castilla Colorado Rockies (Another card showing Castillo after a 40 homer season…)
#30 Barry Bonds San Francisco Giants (I still consider Hank Aaron the Homerun King)
#109 Tom Glavine Atlanta Braves (Glavine was 4-0 with a 1.36 ERA in the month of May ’96)
#??? Swing for the Fences Game Card Dave Nilson Milwaukee Brewers
#113 Troy Percival California Angels (Percy saved 36 games and struck out 100 batters in 1996)
#121 Wilton Guerrero LA Dodgers (Vlady’s little brother…)
Well that’s it, another pack opened and stacked in little team piles. The Braves are still the tallest. The Giants and the Rockies are getting taller. I will probably get a count and post the team by team results because I am a geek and I am addicted to stats. Until the next pack, troll out.

Removing Cards From Old Foil Packs-Pack #8 of 1994 Pinnacle Series 2

Gosh, I really hope that I can have all of these pack-rips posted before the year is out, after this post I am 1/3 of the way there on this box… I got over 100 packs in the mail from readers and other bloggers (WHICH I TOTALLY APPRECIATE!!!) and I think I need to turn this blog into a pack a day pack ripping blog… The wife and I are celebrating Boxing Day with our duplex neighbors the super awesome Lydia and Chris… We got them a board game for Christmas call “Oh No! Zombies!”… We took it for a spin and Lydia won, but we all laughed our butts off. Good times. They are letting me use their computer to post and Lydia is keeping the Starbucks coffee (Kenya blend) flowing. Here we go with pack #8 of ’94 Pinnacle. This is what we got-
#351 Steve Finley Houston Astros (Finley should be an inspiration to us all. This guy suffered from Bell’s palsy and was still a tough as nails ballplayer for 19 years. The Astros were his 4th team (he played for 8 different total) and in ’93 he hit 13 triples to lead the NL. Over Finley’s career he racked up totals placing him in the All-Time Top-100 in games, runs, hits, doubles, triples and extra base hits. Plus he earned 5 Gold Gloves as a centerfielder and he won a ring in 2001 with the D-Backs)
#341 Angel Miranda Milwaukee Brewers
#539 Paul Spoljaric Toronto Blue Jays
#278 Randy Johnson Seattle Mariners (Struck out 308 batters in 1993 and held batters to a .203 batting average)
#451 Mike Gallego New York Yankees
#358 Marquis Grissom Montreal Expos (Grissom stole 53 bases for the Expos in ’93. He stole 429 over his 17 year career-good for 56th All-Time)
#421 Denny Hocking Minnesota Twins (Hocking played every position other than pitcher or catcher over his 13 year career)
#402 Joe Oliver Cincinnati Reds (In ’87 Oliver played for the Vermont Reds and was the starting catcher in the Eastern League All Star game held at Beehive Field, he went on to bat .305 in AA that year AND by 1990 he took over as the Cincinnati Reds full-time catcher and helped them get to and win the World Series against Oakland that year and Oliver hit .333 in the Series)
#373 Orestes Destrade Florida Marlins (1993 was Destrade’s only full season in the Major leagues and he hit 20 homers for the Fish. He became a star in Japan and was the Tokyo Sportsman of the Year in 1992. After that he also worked for the Devil Rays for a few years. One of the nicest people I have ever met in baseball. He wrote his autobiography in 1996 and it is a recommended read)
#395 Jeremy Burnitz NY Mets (Burnitz topped 30 homers 6 times and hit 315 over his 14 year career)
#501 Pedro Martinez (Before he was a Phillie, before he retired and before he was on the Mets Pedro was an Expo. He made his first All Star team with Montreal and won his first Cy Young Award in 1997 as an Expo)
#405 Chris Turner California Angels (This was one of 3 different catchers in this pack)
#515 Dan Wilson Seattle Mariners (Wilson set a record going 42 at-bats without a hit in the postseason. Not good. He won a Silver Medal with the 1987 USA Junior National Team as a pitcher and a catcher)
#499 Lee Smith Baltimore Orioles (I made a comment about Troy Percival someday going the Hall of Fame earlier-I admit I was way off base with that. Lee Smith on the other hand IS a HOF caliber closer. He was an All Star 7 times and led the league in saves 4 times. He was 478 lifetime saves with is 3rd All Time)
That concludes another pack of junk wax. I thought this was a pretty good one. It had it all-two great starting pitchers, 2 really good centerfielders and a really great closer and the worst postseason hitter of all time. Not too shabby. I have noticed that the comments were frequent in the beginning of these rips, now not so frequent. Are y'all bored of this? Or are you just busy with Christmas and Boxing Day? I received a pretty amazing gift in the mail from a reader named Henry... Lets just say after this rip is done, I can still rip a pack a day for the next 3 months. Thanks Henry!!! Anytime you want to rip wax vicariously through me, I got ya covered! Until next time, troll out.

Pack #13 of 1997 Pinnacle X Press-Guest Ripped by my Dad on Christmas Day!!!

Hope everyone had a super Merry Christmas and I hope no one has to work this weekend. Also, wanted to wish my neighbors to the North and friends in the UK, Nigeria and Australia a very Happy Boxing Day. If any of you want to explain the Holiday in the simplest of terms, I am listening-er, reading… This pack is special to me because it was opened by my Dad-Papa Troll himself. The man who bought me my first wax box (1983 Topps) and unintentionally got me hooked on this hobby… Wanted to keep the pack rippin’ rolling, here is a quick pack of 1997 Pinnacle X Press for your viewing pleasure…Here we go!
#148 Commons Checklist Roger Clemens Toronto Blue Jays (This is at least the second copy of this card I’ve pulled…)
#4 Juan Gonzalez Texas Rangers (Gonzo had a monster year in ’96-batted .314 with 47 homers and 144 RBI)
#60 David Cone NY Yankees (Coney batted left handed, but threw right. I never noticed that…)
#53 Javy Lopez Atlanta Braves (I think I’ve pulled a Javy from every brand in the break now)
#1 Larry Walker Colorado Rockies (A Canadian getting the first card in a set?)
#??? Swing For The Fences Game Card +1 (Seriously, does anyone want these?)
#111 Jason Kendall Pittsburgh Pirates (I was in Pirates camp for about a week during Kendall’s first year-he was AMAZING!!! Fast, powerful, funny, just an all around great athlete and great guy… He will make a great coach when he finally hangs it up-or maybe he’ll just be a beach bum surfer dude, full-time)
#67 Bernard Gilkey NY Mets (Gilkey hit .317/30/117 in ’96)
#143 Mark McGwire Peak Performers Oakland A’s (Okay, I was really psyched to finally pull a Big Mac from this series, BUT he’s in an A’s uniform. If you remember he is the cover boy on the packs in a Cards uniform-doesn’t make sense to me…)
Thanks so much to my Poppa for handling the ripping duties! My carpal tunnel was acting up… I had moved out of my folks house long before '97, but around that time my Dad and I worked together and when we took coffee breaks I would read the sports section and bore him with what was going on in the baseball world, so we talked about nearly every player pulled in this pack and it was really awesome! To Larry Walker-Have a Super Boxing Day Sir!!! Hope everyone is happy and relaxing with family and friends…troll out…

Breaking Wax, Pack 7 of 1994 Pinnacle Series 2

It’s been a couple of days since I tore up any 1994 Pinnacle, so I am gonna get down to it… This is pack #7 for those of you keeping track… No Hall of Famers, but two of the busiest pitchers of All Time make appearances again, here we go!
#296 Jeff Gardner San Diego Padres (Tony Fernandez and his hair are OUT at second!)
#494 Brian Harper Milwaukee Brewers (Harper was the catcher on the ’91 WS Champion Twins-he hit .381 in Series that year)
#289 Alex Fernandez Chicago White Sox (Fernandez was coming off his best season ever-he was 18-9/3.13 ERA for the Sox in ’93-he also went entire season without committing an error)
#473 Jesse Orosco Milwaukee Brewers (I didn’t even realize that the Brewers were one of the 9 teams that Orosco played for… He spent 3 seasons of his 24 year career in Milwaukee and was really effective. His numbers as a member of the Brew Crew: 9-7, 3.74 ERA, 9 saves, 143 Ks in 134 innings)
#320 Andre Dawson Boston Red Sox (The Hawk!)
#455 Mike Lansing Montreal Expos (Lansing stole 23 bases as a rookie in ’93)
#396 Dave Statton San Diego Padres (Played a total of 46 games for Padres between ’93 and ’94)
#368 John Franco NY Mets (Franco is 4th All Time with 424 saves)
#441 Phil Leftwich California Angels (No relation to Byron Leftwich, but won about the same amount of games…)
#448 Tim Wakefield Pittsburgh Pirates (Wakefield was just a baby in ’94-a 28 year old knuckleballer for the Bucs. He was 6-11 with a 5.61 ERA in ’93)
#281 Lou Whitaker Detroit Tigers (Lou was the ’78 Rookie of the Year and in 19 seasons never played a position in the field other than second base)
#431 Marc Valdes Florida Marlins (Made 3 starts for Florida in ’95, gave up 11 runs in 7 innings) #519 Jody Reed Milwaukee Brewers (3 Brewers in one pack)
#534 Mike Kelly Atlanta Braves (The Rays traded Dmitri Young for Kelly before their Inaugural season. Kelly spent just one year with Rays-hit 10 homers in 106 games)
Okay, another 14 card pack posted. Many more to rip, many more to scan and post…

Ripping Wax on Christmas Day! Pack 12 of 1997 Pinnacle X Press

Moving on to pack #12 of 1997 Pinnacle X Press… I am likely off at work, but I scheduled this pack so y’all would have something to look at in the event you stumbled by here… I kinda regret agreeing to volunteer today, I am tired and want to rest, but Sally will have to rest twice as hard for me. Thanks Sally, you always got my back!Here we go!
#84 Jim Thome Cleveland Indians (Holy cow, Thome with a glove! This guy used to be a pretty awesome infielder I remember right… Thome hit .407 with 11 homers in August of ’96. Batted .311 with 38 homers and 116 overall.)
#24 Rey Ordonez NY Mets
#147 Alex Rodriguez Peak Performers Seattle Mariners
#21 Vinny Castilla Colorado Rockies (Castilla hit .304 with 40 homers and 113 RBI for the Rockies in ’96. He didn’t bring that same bat with him to Tampa Bay)
#??? Swing for the Fences Game Card-Ken Caminiti San Diego Padres
#12 Jose Canseco Oakland A’s (I think Canseco was the only slugger to NOT get 100 RBI in ’96, he only had 82-NEED MORE JUICE!!!)
#58 Moises Alou Florida Marlins (Moises hit .321 with 3 homers and 9 RBI in the ’97 World Series)
#64 Craig Biggio Houston Astros (Biggio’s career stats are AMAZING!!! This guy won a Silver Slugger as a catcher, and then won a few more as a second baseman. He is 13th All Time in runs scored, 5th in doubles and 2nd in hit by pitch. He had 3060 hits (20th All Time) and 414 steals. The only thing he didn’t do was hit in the postseason. Never won a ring because of it. He was 39 by the time the Astros finally made it to the World Series and he hit just .222 as the White Sox swept them. Still, first ballot HoFer for sure!)
#103 Andy Benes St Louis Cardinals (Benes was 2nd in the NL with 18 wins in ’96 and finished 3rd in Cy Young voting. He never made it to the WS, and he wasn’t that great in the playoffs either. I liked Benes though. I used to watch new episodes of Seinfeld on Thursday nights in hopes that Andy or Allen Benes would pop up and it would be determined that they were related to the Elaine character and hilarity would ensue. It never happened. I feel like the producers missed out on gold.)
These packs of X Press are getting better and better. I can’t believe the numbers that hitters were putting up in the late 90’s. Absolutely sick. Also, Craig Biggio was GREAT!!!! I knew he was an All Star and one of the best of the generation, but I didn’t realize how great his career numbers were. Wow. Another rip is coming soon, I’ve got the itch!!! Merry Christmas. Troll out.