Lucky 13 aka My Time Is Running Out..

Today, while reading the 2011 Gint-A-Cuffs RULES page, which I read on a daily basis, I noticed that today is the deadline to post your point total to the website. With only 12 packs ripped and 90 points I am not even close. I know I don’t qualify anymore, but I am committed to post these packs and I will continue.

Here is pack #13, which was a great one, for points…
I started off by finally pulling a card of my FAVORITE PLAYER!!! Card #61 of Brian Roberts, good for 4 points. I had a tinge of regret for choosing BR as my favorite player immediately after I typed it, but I really wasn't sure if Jonny Gomes, Ben Zobrist or Wade Davis would have cards. For the record, my TRUE favorite player wasn't in this set, but does make an appearance on my blog header... Yes, I am being sappy. IF my wife read my blog this might score me some points (with her) ha.

Either way, I am glad I pulled a card of my 2011 GAC favorite player. I really hope BR is healthy for 2012 and can start hitting 50 doubles a year again. Still, I get me 4 points, count ‘em!

Up next is a nice horizontal card, #48 of Twins hurler Francisco Liriano. The lefty was the AL Comeback Player of the Year in 2010 when he topped 200 strikeouts for the first time in his career and he pitched a no-hitter this May...

That makes this a pretty awesome pull... Does anyone know why there is a TC in the team logo corner?
He is followed by another horizontal card of another pitcher, a short print of a pretty popular dude, the 2X Favorite Player Jon Lester on card #320.

I get 2 points for pulling an SP and ANOTHER 2 points for pulling a FAVE PLAYER. Awesome! I feel as though I should get double the FP bonus since Lester is the FP of two bloggers. That would be more awesome...

Next up we have a trio of basecards with no point value…

Card #37 of Fausto Carmona, #100 of Albert Pujols and #189 of Dexter Fowler… I'm somewhat surprised that Pujols didn't make the FP cut, but hey, at least he doesn't wear pinstripes…

My 7th card is one of my non-official favorite players and fellow Floridian and springtime neighbor Andrew McCutchen on card #HH12.

Another point for the Hometown Heroes insert.

The last card in the pack is a mini, a black bordered mini, card #198 of Mr. Freddie Freeman. Good for 3 points for black bordered mini and hopefully good as some trade bait… I have been told folks are plunking down ten dollar bills for this card. Crazy.

Anyway, my lucky 13th pack yields me a total of 12 points and I get to break the century mark, so I am pretty happy about that. I have a total of 102 points, an average of 8 points a pack… If you follow averages, after 24 packs I would likely have 188 points. We will see. Like I said, whether I qualify or not, I am loving the Gint-A-Cuffs and I intend to keep on posting… Thanks for reading. The Freeman is up for offers…

Since no one has yet to claim the FREE, NO STRINGS ATTACHED short print of Orlando Hudson, card #323, it is still up for grabs.

Follow the rules in yellow or orange at the end of the previous post and it will go in a top-loader and into a PWE and head to your address... Please someone claim it, I am getting depressed that I don't have enough readers to give away a FREE short print...

More Gint-A-Cuffs funsies to come! Spoiler alert - I may have a HIT in the next pack... Stay tuned. Go Rays! Troll out.

A Dozen Packs Down and This One is Completely Mutant...

I have 81 points up to this point and I am ready to rip pack #12, aka the halfway point in this 2011 Gint-A-Cuffs box. This pack was pretty crazy, mutant really. I have never heard of a short print hot pack, but if such a thing exists, this is it… Anyway, here is my 12th pack…

I will start with a favorite player of mine, not my “Favorite Player”, but a fave nonetheless… I’m talking about card #138 of Cubs pitcher Matt Garza. This dude pitched the first and only no-hitter in Tampa Bay Rays history and they traded him the very next season. Thanks to the WGN Superstation, I have got to see Garza pitch quite a bit this year. I think he is a better pitcher than his 6-8 record indicates. The Cubs are giving Garza even less run support than the Rays did… Garza currently has a career LOW 3.68 ERA and 157 strikeouts in 151 innings. No points, but I ain’t worried…

The next 3 cards didn’t yield me any points either, but just you wait… Featured here are card #94 of Josh Rodriguez, #84 of Gregory Infante and card #167 of Adam LaRoche.
Things start to get a little odd with the next few cards. The 5th card out of the pack is card #330 of Yankees Ace CC Sabathia. I lose a point because CC is a stupid Yankee, but I gain 2 points cuz it is a short print. I still get 1 point total from this card and I am not done with the short print goodness.
Next up is card #345 of current Brewers Ace Zack Greinke. Another freaking short print and they came back to back! I don’t get the Yankees penalty on this one, just 2 points for being a short print. Not too shabby…
I am still in shock that I got 2 short prints consecutively… One of a current Brew Crew hurler, one of a past… But wait, there is more!
A Home Town Heroes card of EVERYONE’S Favorite Player Jon Lester. Like Raymond, everybody loves Jon Lester and I get a total of 3 points for this piece of cardboard and I am not finished cuz there is one mini left in the pack…
This particular mini is card #327 of David DeJesus. Another freakin’ short print, but this one is an even tougher pull… The regular short prints are 1 in two packs and I got two in one, but the mini SP is 1 in 13 packs, so this could be my one and only in this box…. Plus 3 points for the Troll, woo hoo!
Even losing a point for CC being a stupid Yankee I still come away with 9 points for this pack… Everything except for the SP base cards are up for trade…

If you are collecting the set I have noticed that I have a dupe of SP card #323 of Orlando Hudson. If anyone needs it, let me know… First reader to respond in the comments AND read this awesome post from everyone’s favorite nocturnal birdy blogger can have it – no strings attached… You should probably mention something about the Night Owl post in the comments to indicate that you read it… I am sure you did. If you wasted your time reading my silly posts and you aren’t reading the Night Owl on a daily basis, you aren’t making the best use of your time… Just saying…

Thanks for reading. After twelve packs I have 90 points. If I stay on this pace I will not be the 2011 Gint-A-Cuffs champion, BUT I think things will be getting better, so look out Nachos Grande, the Troll is coming!!! Go Rays! Troll out.

This Post May or May Not Involve Images of 2011 Allen and Ginter...

The weekend is over and even though I worked all weekend, there is something a little easier about my weekend work… Monday is here and that means long hours and HARD work and not as much time to post, BUT I still intend to maintain at least a pack a day habit…
I have 78 points and 14 more packs to rip and post and I remain confident that the 2011 Gint-A-Cuffs CROWN WILL BE MINE! Here is what I got in pack #11.
We start out with a horizontal (and really blurry) card, #289 of one of the most underrated and overlooked sluggers in all of baseball. White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko has topped 20 homers for the 9th straight season and 13th time overall. Oh, despite the horrible scan, this IS a Ginter Code card which nets me 3 points, ha ha!
Next up is card #191 of Matt Guy, the “King of Cornhole”. When the wife pulled this card she said “hey doesn’t that look like Billy C?” Billy is a mutual friend of ours who is OBSESSED with cornhole. Awesome. I HAD to scan the back of the card because I never thought the word cornhole would appear on my blog, especially not 6 times in one post…
Like Matt Guy, the next 2 cards are of folks who don’t play baseball… One of them brings me nothing, the other costs me, but the cards look really cool scanned next to each other. Both look really excited, as though they were a part of a 20-point pack… They are card #234 of Iron (wo)Man Chrissie Wellington and #40 of John McEnroe. Chrissie doesn’t bring me anything (points wise), but Johnny Mac costs me a point for being a jerk…After Konerko this pack had 4 consecutive non-baseball playing people… The next one is card #159 of Shawn Michaels. A quick glance at the front and I thought he was a country singer or perhaps a NASCAR driver, but it is actually Shawn Michaels the pro wrestler. The same Shawn Michaels who I watched as a kid when he was a member of the Midnight Rockers with Marty Jannetty. I don’t think Marty Jannety’s star burns that bright these days, but Shawn Michaels has made some serious money in the sports entertainment biz…
For my 5th straight non-baseball card from this pack of baseball cards we have card #MMF18 of psychoanalysist Sigmund Freud. I took a semester of Psych and Sociology in comm34 of Iron (wo)Man Chrissie Wellington and #40 of John McEnroe. Chrissie doesn’t bring me unity college, so of course I am an expert on all things Freud. More importantly I used to watch Cheers and later Frasier quite often and Kelsey Grammer’s character referenced Freud often. I guess you can say I am a student of Freud and have continued his research throughout my life… You can read the back of the card and become an expert just like me. Even though his expertise wasn’t in mathematics, I am aware that this card scores me 2 points, ha!
The 7th card in pack 11 actually has a baseball player on it. Not a great one, but it isn’t a Yankee, so I ain’t complaining… It is card #HH22 of White Sox starter John Danks. Danks is 6-9 for the ChiSox this season and he hails from the self-proclaimed “Sports Capital of Texas”, Round Rock. Hometown Heroes card = 1 more point!
The last card in this pack is of the miniature variety, card #13 of A’s starter Brett Anderson. I don't if Anderson has what it takes to replace the 2007 Eleanor Roosevelt in my Frankenset... BA is 3-6 in 13 starts for Oakland this season. Ironically he came to the A’s a few years back in exchange for Dan Haren… It is a normal, not a short print and he isn’t anyone’s fave player, so I get no points for Mr. Anderson. Oh well, I did score 5 points for this pack and I am up to 83 points after 11 packs. Much more Gint-A-Cuffs fun to come, stay tuned! As always, everything is up for trade. Thanks for reading. Go Rays! Troll out.

Ripping Again, Gint-A-Cuffs Pack Number Ten

The Gint-A-Cuffs Commissioner has encouraged me to keep posting, so I can’t stop now! With his blessing/command/demand/encouragement/ threats I will continue on and post pack number 10.

I have 69 points thus far, which I feel is respectable. I have been trying to post these in the order in which they came out of the box and when you rip a whole bunch, you generally start slow, but I think it will get better. I mean BJ Upton can’t be the only Rays player in an entire box and I am pretty sure that Brian Roberts is in the set somewhere…

Anyway, onward to pack #10 in my Gint-A-Cuffs adventure!
Here is what I got:

The first card out is card #126 of Brave pitcher Jair Jurrjens. I say his name out loud every time I pull a card of his. Say it with me, Jair Jurrjens. It’s fun…

Plus Jurrjens is having a fantastic season - his 2.71 leads all starters on a very good Atlanta pitching staff.

Next up is yet another cool looking horizontal card, #150 of Rockies All Star, Gold Glove, Silver Slugging shortstop Troy Tulowitzki.

The same Troy Tulowitzki from the fabled Favorite Player list! This horizontal card nabs me 2 points!

Shifting back to the standard vertical orientation we have card #170 Timmy Lincecum.

I didn’t even check the Fave Player list because I know that no one would select a member of the Giants for that distinction.

Staying west of the Mississippi we have card #185 of D-Backs right fielder Justin Upton, BJ’s little bro… The younger Upton is having a heckuva good season so far - he has already established new career highs in runs scored and doubles and will probably do the same with homers and RBIs by the time the season is over.

No points, but I will never complain about pulling an Upton…

Heading back East for a moment we have card #110 of Rays pitcher Jake McGee.

Yep, I said Rays – my FAVORITE team!!! Add 1 point to that total! I saw McGee pitch for the Port Charlotte Stone Crabs in a game in 2009 and was left unimpressed, but he made it to the big leagues that same year. He has split time in the bullpen in 2011 between the Bulls and the Rays. I am pretty sure this is my first card of his. Awesome!

Speaking of awesome, the next card out of the pack is card #310 of the Bison, Matt Kemp.

Being a short print gives me plus 2, plus another extra 2 points for being on the favorite players list. 2 fave players in 1 pack, sweet! Kemp is blowing up this year and has a shot at the Triple Crown… He leads the NL with 31 homers, is second in RBI with 100 and is 4th in batting, plus he joined the 30-30 club and is having another Gold Glove type season.

If the season ended today, Kemp would get my vote for NL MVP. For now I am thrilled with the 4 points that I get for this card! Oh, and by the way, once I complete my Gint-A-Cuffs posts you can look forward to Matt Kemp being a CT Card of the Day because he meets two requirements - he has a cool nickname and he is the pride of Midwest City, Oklahoma...

I have 2 cards left, one small and one standard.

We will start with the standard sized card, #HH48 of Rays All Star third baseman Evan Longoria. By his standards Longo is having an off year, but I still thank my lucky stars that the Rays picked third in 2006 and we didn't end up with Luke Hochevar or Greg Reynolds...

Chalk up 2 more points for this one!

2 Rays in one pack and a whole bunch of scoring…
The final card in the pack is a mini, card #293 of 2 non sports, completely insignificant people. It was a great pack up to this point. Oh well. I still get 9 points for this pack. It brings my total up to 78. Not bad. Stay tuned, I will try and obey the Commissioner and continue to post… Gint-A-Cuffs rocks! Go Rays! Troll out.

It's High Time For Pack Nine!

I am posting like its 2009, trying really hard to get my Gint-A-Cuffs packs posted… My wife bought me the sweet binder from the ads that showed up in packs… The binder was way too big to scan and I couldn't locate my camera, so look for a scan of it sometime in the future. I have been told that these binders were a bit pricey, but it is a really nice binder and it was MEGA SWEET of her to get it for me. I bought 50 pages from the LCS yesterday and I am ready to get these posted and put away in the binder.

I had done some trading and got pretty far along on a lot of the mini subsets, but I am just starting to put the base set together and with only 8 packs worth of cards, there are a TON of empty slots in the binder… Anyway, regarding the 2011 Gint-A-Cuffs competition, I have 62 points after my first 8 packs.

Here we go with pack number nine…
Let’s start with card #139 of US men’s soccer goalie Tim Howard. Howard is one of the few soccer players out there that I actually recognize, but if I am pulling soccer players Hope Solo would have been nicer, but…

Next up is card #108 of Philadelphia’s fifth starter Roy Oswalt. The Wizard of Os is the only pitcher on the Phillies staff who has started more than 7 games this year AND has a losing record… Still, for a 23rd round draft pick, dude has turned out a damn nice career.

The one thing he is missing is a ring. He was always one of Houston's few brightspots in the postseason, but he only made it to the Series once and it didn't work out so well but the Philadelphia juggernaut might deliver that ring for him in 2011.

The 3rd and 4th cards out of the pack are a couple of no-point-value-cards of guys from the NL Central - card #295 of Cards pitcher Chris Carpenter and #156 of Cubs outfielder Marlon Byrd.

The 5th card in this pack is #251 of Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond… Desmond commits his share of errors and his batting average is a bit low, but I think he has a long career ahead of him. Maybe my glasses are rose colored because he was born, raised and lives in the same town as I work in (Sarasota, FL), but I am a fan of him and dig this horizontal card…

Once I get my Gint-A-Cuffs packs fully posted I intend on doing many more Ginter related posts, including some regarding my Ginter-Mini-Franken-Set. If I get on the ball I can stretch that thing out for an entire year. I am bringing it up because Ian Desmond will definitely need a spot in my Frankenset cuz I gotta rep the locals.

Card #6 was the best so far as after 5 cards I was pointless in this pack.

Pointless no longer – I pulled card #329 of the second overall pick in the 2005 draft Alex Gordon. AG is having a good year at the plate and has found his home in the outfield and leads AL outfielders with 20 assists this season. More importantly for me, he is a short print and earns me my first 2 points of this pack. He has improved so much this season, I think next year he has a shot to be on next years Gint-A-Cuffs Fave Player List...

Once I start scoring points I can’t stop…

The next card I pulled is #FF12 of La Gloire from the Floating Fortresses insert set. It’s good for 2 more points!
The last card in the pack, yep I actually got the advertised 8 cards in this pack, is a MINI! From the Step Right Up insert set it is card #SRU2 featuring Fire Breathing. From the first card I saw I fell in love with this set. I really love side shows and carnival art and I have actually finished the 10 card set, so this is a dupe for me. I should mention, although it has been years since I have done it, I have done fire breathing and fire swallowing without lighting my hair on fire... Maybe someday I will try it again cuz it's pretty cool. I am happy, but it was somehow anticlimactic. Always is. Anyway, the card is good for an extra 3 points AND it is available for trade. It brings my pack total up to 7 points.

Not spectacular, but it keeps me in the game. I have the next 3 packs scanned already, so stay tuned for more Gint-A-Cuffs fun and games… Oh, my total has jumped to 69 points!!! Yay! Pack #10 will be coming in a matter of hours. Who knows if I will bother to get some sleep tonight? I have a ton to do tomorrow before I go to work and I want to keep on posting. Where is the coffee? Go Rays! Troll out.

Gint-A-Cuffs, More Gint-A-Cuffs!!!!

I am sitting’ pretty with 58 points and I have 17 more packs to post, 2011 Gint-A-Cuffs Crown here I come!!! Anyway, here is my 8th pack, check it out…
It didn’t start out too good… First out was card #202 of Yankees (-1 point) Nick Swisher… Even Nick Swisher looks cool with the horizontal layout…
Next, card #9 of D-Backs starter Joe Saunders. His 8-11 record doesn’t impress, but he has kept his ERA below 4 which ain’t bad… From a mediocre starter to the best this year… Card #275 of Detroit Tigers ACE Justin Verlander. Again, how is this dude not on the favorite player list??? Tim Hudson, Heath Bell, Jon Lester, but no Verlander or Cliff Lee? Come on people! Verlander is 19-5 with 212 strikeouts and a no-hitter and he looks like a lock to win his first Cy Young Award this year, plus the card is another sweet looking horizontal view. Great card, no points… Next up is a glossy-ish insert which will earn me a few points I do believe… IT is card #BHS-25 of Ichiro. A Baseball Highlights sketch card celebrating Ichiro having 10 straight seasons with 200 or more hits. With ONLY 148 hits so far this year Ichiro is still 10th in the AL in that category, but it looks like his consecutive streak of 200+ hits will end in 2011. This was also the first season (after 10 straight) that Ichiro didn’t make the AL All Star Team. Dude is still a first ballot Hall of Famer and he still has a lot of hits left in his bat, but there is a reason why 10 straight seasons with 200 + hits is so impressive… Chalk up an extra 3 points for me for pulling a Sketch card. No bonus for favorite player again… I mean some idiot picked Brian Roberts as their fave, but Ichiro ain’t on the list? Come on people…
My next card is another insert of the full-sized variety. A Hometown Heroes, number HH64 of Giants starter Matt Cain, the pride of Germantown, Tennessee. Plus one for me!
My final card is a mini… A Ginter ad back mini to be exact, card #205 of Angel’s first baseman Kendrys Morales… Dude put up MVP type numbers last year. This season, not so much. I do score a point for the Ginter ad back which brings my pack total up to 5 points, minus a point for pulling a Yankee, so 4 points in this one. After 8 packs your friend the Troll has 62 points. Woo hoo!!! I suppose I should get to work now… Look for pack #9 late tonight or early tomorrow… I hope to post my 12th pack (the halfway point) by midnight Sunday. Stay tuned! Go Rays! Troll out.