Breaking Wax After Midnight... Pack 31 of 1997 Pinnacle X Press

Okay, I am really cruising here. Not sure if anyone is reading, but I am psyched to be making headway… I still haven’t heard from 4 people from this first box break. If you had the Phillies, White Sox, Rockies or Tigers in the first box break, PLEASE get in touch. I would like to be mailing stuff out beginning on Wednesday morning. My house was already overcome with cards, but an extra 2000 of them in 30 different piles isn’t helping… I will post team by team totals before I ship everyone’s cards out. In the beginning it looked the Braves were running away with everything, but it has got much closer. The Braves, Marlins, Rockies, Mariners and Yankees are all about the same height. The Rangers and Blue Jays are not too far behind. Anyway, here we go with the 31st pack of 1997 Pinnacle X Press!
#112 Roberto Alomar Baltimore Orioles (Alomar was an All Star at second base EVERY year from 1990-2001, representing 4 different teams and both leagues-the Orioles were his third)
#72 Dean Palmer Texas Rangers (After putting up monstrous power numbers in ’96-38 homers and 107 RBI, Palmer was traded to Kansas City for Tom Goodwin in July of 1997)
#79 Pat Hentgen MEN OF SUMMER Toronto Blue Jays (The 1996 Cy Young Award winner in Gold!)
#15 Alex Rodriguez Seattle Mariners (A-Roid won his first (and only) batting title in 1996 at 20 years of age, just 3 years after the Mariners made him the first overall pick in the draft. He also paced the AL in doubles with 54 and runs scored with 141. He had 215 hits in ’96 which is still his career best. Thirteen years later and that was his ONLY batting title and doubles crown)
#??? Swing for the Fences Game Card Barry Bonds San Francisco Giants
#97 Joey Hamilton San Diego Padres
#146 Mike Piazza Peak Performers Los Angeles Dodgers
#101 Rondell White Montreal Expos
Okay, just five more left to go… It has been a really long day. I am work till 7 and then have class at 8. I don’t think I will post anymore tonight. I am WIPED OUT! Go Rays! Troll out.

Rippin Wax in the Windy City of Bradenton, Florida... Pack #22 of 1994 Pinnacle Series 2

Greetings Trollites! It’s been a while since I have posted. I’ve been a very busy troll. Playing mechanic has become a full-time job, but I am getting better at it. After knocking out a fan belt, water pump, oil change, fuel-injector rebuild, thermostat and starter change (on several different cars) yesterday I am amped and ready for major automotive surgery tomorrow. I have to change the fuel pump in my wife’s Jeep. Doesn’t sound difficult, but the fuel pump is INSIDE of the fuel tank. Wish me luck! Trying not to forget my promise to have all of the cards from the group break shipped out by Thursday morning I am gonna keep on going. 1993 Topps Stadium Club is done, 1994 Pinnacle is getting close. Here we go with pack # 22 on ’94 Pinnacle:
#450 Rickey Henderson Oakland A’s (Great shot of the Greatest...)
#529 Rich Becker Minnesota Twins (Wasn’t there a sitcom with Ted Danson in it called Becker?)
#408 Harold Baines Baltimore Orioles
#311 Mark Langston California Angels (I know that Matt from HCoSG collects Matt Williams cuz they share the same first name. I was a fan of Langston for that same reason… Plus, back in his Seattle days the dude was a serious power pitcher… Leading the league in Ks as a rookie? That’s freaking awesome! Not being a fluke and doing it 2 more times, even better…)
#478 Melvin Nieves San Diego Padres
#452 Bob Tewksbury St Louis Cardinals (Tewksbury was an All Star in ’92 and finished third in the Cy Young voting behind Maddux and Glavine when he had a record of 16-5 with a 2.16 ERA) #319 Luis Alicea St Louis Cardinals
#291 Wally Joyner Kansas City Royals (It’s a Wally World, I’m just ripping packs)
#412 Mark Hutton New York Yankees (Hutton, a big righty from Australia, was in the Yankees system since 1989, he finally made the big leagues to stay and he gets traded in August of 1996, right before they go to the World Series. That sucks.)
#314 Hal Morris Cincinnati Reds (Hal, whose real name is William Morris, had an awesome rookie season for the Reds in 1990-he hit .340 with a .498 slugging % to help them to the playoffs. He hit .417 against the Pirates to help them win the NL Pennant. Then came the World Series. He choked against Oakland, getting 1 hit in 14 at-bats, but the Reds STILL swept the A’s) #471 Xavier Hernandez New York Yankees
#340 Pat Meares Minnesota Twins (As a rookie with the Twins in ’93 Meares turned 70 doubles and had 304 assists, but he pissed off wrong Pinnacle photographer somehow and got this as his card)
#378 Carl Willis Minnesota Twins
#287 Roberto Alomar Toronto Blue Jays (This pack started with a great low-down close-up of Rickey and ends with a nice wide shot of Alomar. I think the dude is safe at second though…)
Okay, another rip rapped up. Just 2 more packs and ’94 Pinnacle will be gone forever. I will do my best to keep on posting tomorrow, but dropping the fuel tank is gonna keep me tied up for a bit… By way it has gotten cold in FLA again and it’s REALLY windy too. By the way, there a couple of you who still haven't got in touch about paying for your slot in this (the 1st) break. I want to ship everything out this week so PLEASE let me know whats up. Go Rays! Troll out.

The 5 For The Hall!

I have to say, I wasn’t thrilled with the way the voting went, but they have all been tallied up and I am ready to officially induct 5 new members in to cyber-Cooperstown. Of the 5 players I voted for, only one made it. We had 41 different people vote and only 1 player even got half the votes. A lot of the overlooked players from the 40s, 50s, 60s and seventies remain overlooked and no Negro League Players will get into the Blog-O-Fame. I would like to make y’all wonder a little bit more, but I am going to announce the top 5 in the voting. These are the guys that all of you want enshrined into the Blog-O-Sphere-Hall-of-Fame Class of 2009 and a half…
First, these are the 3 guys who got a lot of support, but it came too late. They are all left tied for 6th place with 14 votes a piece. In my opinion all 3 of these are 100% Hall-worthy, but Andre “Hawk” Dawson, Barry “Did He Have a Nickname?” Larkin and Tim “Rock” Raines will all have to wait until next year, close but no cigar…
Coming in tied for 4th place overall with 15 votes each are the spitter, Roberto Alomar and the Crime Dog Fred McGriff!
Tied for second place with 19 votes each are two guys whose only hope is the Blog Hall, they are Shoeless Jackson and Pete “Charlie Hustle” Rose. One I feel belongs there, the other I don’t know because not only have I never seen him play, and I don’t know anyone who has. From what I have read, the dude can hit, but it’s hard for me to back him without a visual or a trusted source…
That leaves one man; the top vote getter with a very impressive 22 votes (54%) is the Flying Dutchmen, Bert Blyleven. The guy is fifth All Time in strikeouts with 3,701; he’s 9th in shutouts and has 287 wins to go along with his two World Series rings. This guy belongs if anyone does!
There ya have it folks. This was our vote, this is our Hall.
Go Rays! Troll out.