Christmas Break Highlights

I rarely open packs these days, instead opting to purchase individual cards online or get them in trades. I was pretty much giddy when I found my stocking filled with a stack of packs of baseball and basketball cards. It was a special time opening these with my wife. I thought I would share some of the highlights from the packs.

Some inserts and parallels from Topps Series 2, Update series, and Donruss Series 2. I enjoy seeing the red parallels and would like to pick up some of these of my teams. I am thinking the Braves will look pretty sweet. As unexciting as the Donruss base cards are, the inserts and parallels are impressive.

Up next some Braves from Donruss Series 2. I included the Bonifacio as the Braves traded for him in August. He hit an unimpressive .212 with the Braves in 41 games, but the whole offense was a mess the second part of the season so can't get too down on him. He hit .279 for the Cubs before the trade. These are my first cards of Simmons and Bonifacio.

New cards for me of Chris Davis and Chris Tillman from Donruss Series 2. Hoping Chris Davis will bounce back in the new year. Looks like the Orioles and Tillman are talking extension. This is only the second card of Tillman in my collection.

Next up a few cards from Topps Update of Braves who are no longer with the team. Floyd started 9 games for the Braves during May and June before having elbow surgery. He signed a one-year deal with the Indians last month. And David Carpenter pitched 65 games in relief for the Braves with a 3.54 era and 3 saves. He was just recently traded to the Yankees along with Chasen Shreve for pitcher Manny Banuelos, who seems worthy of taking a chance on at just 23 years old.

Lastly from Topps Update, my first card of Rubby De La Rosa. How does he fit into my collection, you ask? He was the starting pitcher for the Red Sox in the game my wife and I saw at Fenway on our honeymoon back in June. Rubby got the W for the Red Sox, who won 1-0 on a sac fly from Mike Napoli. I was sad to see Rubby traded to the Diamondbacks with Allen Webster for pitcher Wade Miley. I think the Diamondbacks will be glad to have him as a back of the rotation starter.

I pulled some base cards of some stars as well such as Jose Abreu and Yasiel Puig. I appreciate any chance to open packs, and them being a Christmas gift from my wife made opening them even better.

Hope you all had a great Christmas and spent lots of time with your loved ones. Have a great 2015!

Now Collecting- Alex Wood

The Braves have somewhat righted the ship after a slump that put them 7 games behind the Nationals in the AL East and several games out in the wildcard hunt.  One of the reasons for them remaining in playoff contention has been 23 year old starting pitcher Alex Wood.  Wood is 10-10 with a 2.92 era for the season.  In his most recent start he struck out 12 Marlins in 8 innings, scattering 5 hits and not walking a batter.  You could argue Wood may be the long-term ace of the staff.  Add in the fact that Wood is from Charlotte, NC where I spent 5 recent years of my life and he's also a lefty, and you've got a player I want to collect.  I picked up a small lot of his cards off Just Commons to start off the collection.

A few rookies from 2013.  Apparently these two Chrome cards are from different sets, Bowman Chrome and Bowman Chrome Draft, but you could have fooled me.  They do have different color backs which I guess would make them easier to identify.

I enjoy a good minor league card.  It's especially neat to see minor league cards of players from teams in the South Atlantic League.  I was able to catch a game between the Rome Braves and Greenville Drive this year.  Just a few years too late to see Wood pitch there.  Also in this row, the most recent Topps design and a gold parallel.

Not the biggest fan of this year's Donruss, but for 15 cents I added it to the stack.  This year's Topps Heritage is one I will want a Braves team set from.

I noticed on the back of the Donruss card Wood is listed as throwing lefty and batting lefty.  On his Topps Heritage and 2014 Topps cards, Wood is listed as batting right handed.  Which is correct?  It appears batting right handed could be a recent development for Wood, or maybe the other cards simply have it wrong. 

A good start to the Alex Wood collection! Looking to add more, maybe cards from some minor league team sets.  I'll post my have list on my What I Collect page.

Mini Stacks

I have a love/hate relationship with minis.  I feel like a should acquire them for my player collections, but generally I would rather just have a full size version of the same card.  

These minis from 2014 Topps fit that description.  I enjoy the design of these die-cut cards, but I would enjoy full size versions of these cards more.  The Kershaw in particular looks great.  The gray text of Dodgers even matches the away jersey Kershaw is wearing and you get Kershaw in his throwing motion. The Glavine is fine but the yellow border is kind of blinding and doesn't fit with the Braves colors.  He's also staring right at the camera.

Speaking of Kershaw, I need to add more cards of the best pitcher in baseball to my collection.  He has been so dominant this year it's almost an automatic win when he goes out there.  I purchased MLB.tv through the end of the season, and a large part of it is just to watch Kershaw pitch every 5th game.  Last night against the Padres Kershaw went into the 6th inning without a hit before giving up a hit to the opposing pitcher, Tyson Ross.  When the crowd comes to the game hoping for a no-hitter, you know something special is happening.  A future post on Kershaw is coming.  Back to minis...

I did a double-take when I received a stack of cards from JustCommons without looking at a picture of the cards before buying.  I purchased a copy of Cal's 2013 Topps Mini and 2014 Topps Archives.  I was a bit confused as at first glance I thought I'd received a mini and full size version of the same card.

Same design used, two separate sets, different photo.  At least they are from different years, and the card from 2013 is an insert set.

I know I've read some posts on other blogs about minis recently.  How do you feel about minis from recent sets?  Do you collect them because you feel obligated to fit them into your collection, or do you collect them because you really like them?