Here we go!

I had quite the man-crush on Luke Scott going into the year, for fantasy baseball purposes. Even though he's a streaky hitter, I love his power, and I thought he'd slot nicely into the middle of that Baltimore lineup giving him plenty of RBI opps.

Because of this, my buddy Brian got me a Luke Scott autographed ball while he was down visiting Rays and Twins spring training, oh, you know, 5 months ago. Better late than never I always say.

So that's what you've got going on the the picture up there. Luke Scott.

Speaking of Luke Scott, he, along with about 12 other guys have been leading a charge for my fantasy baseball team of late. We've surged back up to 4th place after being as low as 10th two weeks ago, and as high as 1st 8 weeks ago. What an up and down season it's been.

Sadly for Luke, he's been way too hot to keep rolling with, and Aubrey Huff has been way to cold to not gamble on.

So this week I'm rolling out VMart, Huff, Weeks, Rollins, Longoria, Crawford, something called Gregor Blanco, Bautista, and Tulo.

It was a tough call at DH between Jeter and Tulo, but Rollins provides more SBs than Jeter, and Tulo will provide more RBIs than both. Plus I just played Tulo through a .150 stretch last week and I'd like to make some of that up if he gets hot.

As for pitching, we've been rolling out as many 2 start guys off the waiver wire as possible to try to catch up in Wins. We're middle of the pack in WHIP and low in ERA, so we might as well try to gain 7 points in Wins. Last week we went 5 for 12 in Wins. Not terrible.

This week we're going 3 starters and 4 closers: Verlander, Dickey (FA pickup), Rzepcynski (FA pickup, I love this kid for next year), and Bell/Marmol/Wagner/Kuo for the saves. Should be an interesting week. Only 5 starts, but plenty of nice save opps.

As for the card collecting front. I sent some minis off to JD's Wild Cardz today since he's diggint that sort of thing of late.

Anyone else out there doing some notable trading? I'd love to get back into the game.

Fine, I'll End My Month-Long Standoff With Nothingness

I received some good advice this afternoon to pick up, and move on. Get back to posting, and such.

So, pictured above is the little guy, Theodore. That's his reaction to Thome's walk-off home run against the hated White Sox on Tuesday night here at Target Field.

That was his second game, and first walk-off homerun. I was excited for him. I guess when you're not even as old as the current baseball season you have those kind of moments still :)

Couple of quick updates:

1) I'm trying like the Dickens to finish off the 2009 Goudey set. I've finished off the first 20 SPs (retired greats) and even have an extra #216, Robin Yount, to trade for anyone who can knock some stuff off my Sports Royalty and Heads-Up list.

2) Got any mini '09 Goudeys laying around that you have no need for? I'm interested. I think I'll build the mini set as well. What can I say, my first set collected since my childhood has a strangle-hold on my heart.

3) I'm also trying to finish off the 2009 Topps Series 2, and U&H. If you can help out, let me know what you are looking for in trades and we can try to work something out.

4) My fantasy baseball team has been flirting with 4th place of late. I'll dive into that next Monday.

Lastly, I'm trying to work out a contest idea to give-away the box of A&G I broke this year. I think I had 2 or 3 autos. 2 for sure. 1 solid one. I just want to put all these cards out of my house and into the hands of a collector that will appreciate them. I won't lie, the one relic I got was of some wrestler, so you'll be stuck with that too.

Alright, I'm off for now, but I'll be back soon. To anyone out there still reading.

2010 Ginter Code

Once again, boo.

Topps, you are so lame, I can't begin to regret the dollars I spent on your product (which was ALL that many).

Sorry, just needed to vent. Someday I'll return to real blogging.

2010 Topps Allen & Ginter - The Ginter Code

Well, suffice it to say Topps won't get one more of my trading card dollars.

Once the "big reveal" comes out for the Ginter code you can see what I'm saying.

It's definitely been cracked, and in under a week again. Although I'm sure Topps will drag their feet in announcing it to steal more of your money.

Keep buying those packs in hopes of breaking the code! LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!

HBL Week 14 & The Ginter Code Update

I can sum up how I already feel about this week of fantasy baseball in 2 words. John Ely.

Sweet jebus man, all I wanted was your super safe ERA and WHIP, mediocre Ks, and possibility to notch a win in 2 starts and you go and DESTROY me last night. Thanks buddy. If Jake Peavy hadn't become a man in recent weeks I'd probably be more upset.

So I'm rolling 6 starters out there this week. Ely and Medlen are pitching out of the relief spots in my rotation (thank you dual eligibility), to go with Peavy, Verlander, Niemann, and Kennedy. Billy Wagner is the only closer getting a shot this week. Marmol has been brutal on the WHIP lately and Heath Bell has been brutal on it all year, albeit in limited innings. I can roll three closers later, time to catch up in Wins and Ks (fingers crossed).

I'm doing some ridiculous stuff on offense this week. I was forced to pick up Ronny Paulino to after playing without a catcher last week (VMart), and now I'm starting Russell Branyan at first base. Yup, I am. Weeks, Jeter, Rollins, Longoria, Crawford, Byrd and Aubrey Huff (I think he's back to hitting) round out the rest. Looking forward to climbing back into 2nd or 3rd place if I can have a good week.

On the baseball card front, I busted my box of 2010 Allen & Ginter last Friday. I didn't do scans, but I took pictures of every pack as I ripped it for the Gint-a-Cuffs contest. I'll have to spend some time tallying up and posting the break soon.

I continue to work on the Ginter Code. It's brutal. As far as I can tell, no one solved it in the first week. Not even the two champs teaming up have broken it, or if they have, they haven't said anything yet. I quickly scanned some of the other blogs and forums this morning but haven't seen anyone claiming to have solved it yet.

Oh A&G, why do you taunt me so?

Ginter code cracking is in progress. Good thing a lot of other people out there open a lot of product before I get a shot at my cards. The Ginter Code laughs in my face, but I laugh back. Ha! Who shall have the last laugh? Who knows!

Tomorrow my boxes of A&G should be sitting on my doorstep when I get home and I can begin the long journey toward finishing off the code (ha, HA!) and producing a winning Gint-a-Cuffs II score.

I'm very excited, and very tired. Long hours of thinking and looking at cards . . . many hours. Exhausted.

I need some sort of Rocky like montage here. Please choose your favorite and hum softly to yourself. If you need some help, go with the Hearts On Fire montage. It's my personal favorite from Rocky IV.

The Ginter Code

I'll be honest, my fantasy baseball team and my card collecting has me depressed of late. I can't seem to get anything scanned (lack of time, not motivation) and my baseball team keeps getting more and more decimated by injuries.

Quick rundown shows I tried to do something about it though. Traded Uggla and Thornton for Rollins and Wagner this week - which looks lopsided but I can't keep either player next year and the other guy can keep both . . . details.

VMart (if he plays, really don't want to call up wonder boy Carlos Santana), Berkman (wait? I thought you stopped playing him???), Weeks (he'll be hurt in 20 minutes), Jeter & Longoria (these guys did NOT hit in June), Byrd (jebus, really?), Crawford (will he log more than 7 ABs this week? hope so!), Magglio, and newly acquired Jimmy Rollins. What will I do with 3 shortstops in August when Tulo comes back? No idea.

Back to what's important, the Ginter Code. Last year's co-champ, Nick Jacoby, already has a headstart on this years code. Thanks Nick for letting me steal that Code advert from your site!

From what I've been able to assess based on early ebay listings (no code cards), the wrapper Nick posted on his site (no code parallels listed), and from my gut feeling based on how quickly it was solved last year by Mike and Nick, I have a feeling that the code itself won't be as obvious this year. Meaning, you probably need to actually investigate each card or maybe some of the subsets/short prints to "see what you can see".

Although, for now, until cases, boxes, and packs show up, only Nick Jacoby (and any other early busters) know for sure.

It's Been A While

This is a smaller version of a post I've been meaning to write for a while.

As I've said in the past, I have been digging through the tens of thousands of cards I've been slowing bringing back to my house from my parents basement.

This card caught my eye the other day. It doesn't scan well, so my apologies for that, but it's a 1992 Rookie Sensation card of Darren Lewis. For starters I was unaware that Darren played for 13 seasons. I was aware that he was a speed guy with little to no power. I think even Craig Counsell's career OPS puts him to shame.

Anyway, I was struck by the blue card. I remember I was chasing someone's rookie sensation card from this set, but I can't remember who. I do remember really liking the blue cards and it might explain my infatuation with the 2003 Topps set. Anyone else have any memory of this subset?

On a side note, my fantasy baseball team is in a state of disarray. It's like I'm in a game of No Limit Hold 'Em and I can't survive the swings, they're killing me.

Tulowitzki's yearly broken bone and subsequent 2 month absence is really going to put a dent in my championship plans. I'm pondering dealing him for a Ryan Howard/Prince Fielder type guy with a closer tossed in to round out my rotation that's apparently now rounding into shape.

Jake Peavy's dead arm may finally be a thing of the past, but I fear that it's too late for him (and Verlander) to help me make up the distance in the K category. I was counting on those two guys for ~500 Ks. I might get 400. That's going to cost me 6-7 roto points. Darn you two.

As for the offense. Sadly, Nick Swisher is all I have to go on at first base and since he's still batting over .280, I'm going to be taking the plunge when his average dies, total bases dry up and RBIs go away. He'll probably still walk a bunch and score runs if they let him bat second enough.

Victor Martinez, Kid Swish, Uggla, Jeter, and Longoria will round out the infield for now. Crawford, Magglio (gosh, wish I didn't have to sit him last week due to injury concerns), and Marlon Byrd make up the outfield, and this is how dire things are. I'm starting Rickie Weeks at DH. Yup, Rickie Weeks. It's bad. I can't even bring myself to look at Berkman or Jose Bautista.

The pitching staff seems okay, but I really wish I had Brett Anderson healthy. Peavy and Verlander are joined by Kennedy (tough luck guy lately, pitches great, can't win), and Jeff Niemann. 5th starter d'jour continues to be Kris Medlen until he makes me think otherwise. Marmol and shaky shaky Heath Bell are the two savers.

I really do have a backlog of post ideas I need to get out here, I've been stuck on a side project for a while now, and I don't envision it getting any better anytime soon with the Ginter Code dropping this week. Take care. Until next time!

2009 Topps U&H SP

Somewhat recently I had purchased 3 packs of 2009 Topps Updates & Highlights. These were being used as rewards for completing long runs in coordination with training for my summer 10K event.

At some point as I got busy during May, I'd completely forgotten I purchased the packs and they sat unopened on my desk. Last night I came across the stack and decided to rip one open, and look who was there to greet me. Nolan Ryan.

This is the first Topps short print I've pulled. Mr. No-Hitter. You can't do much better than that. It seemed particularly fitting on a night where Aramando Galaragga threw a perfect game. That's right, I'm choosing to pretend that is what happened.

News & Notes

Last week I officially pre-ordered my box of Allen & Ginter. I'm very excited for the release even though I don't necessarily dig the cards themselves that much. There are, however, a couple of reasons to be excited.

#1 - GINT-A-CUFFS. I made a decent showing last year and I'm hoping to pull off a win.

#2 - The Ginter Code. One half of last year's championship duo is already talking repeat. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, check out this link.

One quick note about fantasy baseball. My team has started to roll, even if Derek Holland blew out his rotator cuff the same week I dropped a pile of money in his lap.

Lance Berkman has finally been given the heave ho at first base. Nick Swisher is in the lineup in his stead. Once he goes cold it's anyone's guess who we plug in there. VMart, Kid Swish, Weeks (Uggla is cold as heck), Tulo, Longoria, Crawford, Magglio, JD Drew, and Derek Jeter round out the potent offense.

On the pitching side of things, Ben Sheets takes Derek Hollands place, this only after I lost out in the bidding for John Ely. Sheets, Blue Steel, Bell, Marmol, Kennedy, and Niemann join Brett Anderson this week. That's right, finally got Brett back. Hope he sticks around. Jake Peavy has joined Lance Berkman in the pariah club. Welcome to the bench Jake.