Just finished watching a complete game shutout performance by one of my favorite pitchers Ervin Santana of the Los Angeles Angel's of Anaheim. Ervin managed to shutout the Tampa Bay Ray's only delivering a total of 97 pitches to do so. I believe this is his 3rd complete game shutout of his career! What a night for me to decide to renew my MLB.tv account so I could tune in to see Ervin toss a gem against David Price and the Rays. Ervin has been struggling at home after returning from the DL this year and it finally looks like he might be returning to All-Star form.

The card pictured above is a 2008 Topps Updates & Highlights card of Ervin Santana featuring him as an American League All-Star in 2008. He sure looked the part tonight.

Here's a look at some of the stats from tonights game...
Ervin Santana - Complete game shutout over the Tampa Bay Rays 8/11/2009.
Ervin allowed 3 hits - 2 hits for Catcher Gregg Zaun and a hit for third baseman Evan Longoria.
Pitch count totaled at 97 pitches of which 65 were strikes.
Struck out 6 while walking 2 batters - 14 ground outs / 7 fly outs

After tonights game Ervin improves to 5-6 on the season with a 6.38 era. Hopefully this terrific performance is a start of things to come from Ervin as the Angel's are looking to maintain a solid lead in the AL West.

As always.... just another Halo Victory!

I only received one package in the mail today and it was from Canada. Instantly I knew that these were the cards Waxaholic sent over for a trade we made in which I sent some O-Pee-Chee baseball cards his way to help him in his quest to complete his set. I'd like to review some of the highlights of the cards he sent my way and had no idea what to expect since I just told him to send any Angel's cards. Anyway on to the cards...

First a look at some of the Angel's singles he sent my way:

Here are three charcoal parallels not #'ed from 2008 Upper Deck Heroes Baseball... Very cool looking cards and I didn't have any of these so they are a great addition. The triple is cool cause I'm a fan of all three players on it... yeah, Manny's still a cool guy I guess. The cards are #84 Howie Kendrick, #103 Rod Carew, #186 Vladimir Guerrero, Ichiro, Manny Ramirez.

Now on to some of the other Angel's cards Waxaholic sent over.

Here's some 2009 O-Pee-Chee Baseball cards which are cool since I managed to get zero Halo's in my blaster box so this is a good start to collecting some Angel's from this set. It was cool that he sent over the black bordered since I like these a lot more then the base white borders. Anyway, my favorite off this bunch is the #FF1 - Vladimir Guerrero - Face of the Franchise insert card (Hit two home runs last night to help top the Ray's 8-7... props to Vlad). The other cards pictured are '09 OPC - #378 Brian Fuentes (the new closer in town), #566 - Kevin Jepsen (RC) (rookie mid-relief guy, nice), #910 - 20th Anniversary - Vladimir Guerrero (pictured as an expo, but hell I'll take it Vlad's the man), #252 - Brandon Wood black wal-mart (gets some playing time here and there hopefully will become a everyday guy soon).

Now here's the other singles I received that are not pictured in scans:
2009 UD OPC Baseball - #RM-13 Justin Morneau
1993 UD - #750 - Steve Frey
2003 Bowman Heritage - #195 Mike O'keefe [First Year Card]
2003 Bowman Heritage - #264 Sean Rodriguez [First Year Card]
1981 Fleer - #122 Don Baylor (some kind of peel card, sticker perhaps? anyway, pretty cool!)
1990 Donruss - #462 Richard (Rich) Monteleone

That wraps it up for the Angel's singles, but Brian a.k.a waxaholic/captain canuck sent me a few unopened basketball packs along with the cards so here's a look at some of the cards I got.

Here's a look at the cards/players I was familiar with out of my 1 pack of 1990 Fleer Basketball cards. Pictured here is current Portland Trailblazers Head Coach Nate McMillan, Best Damn Sports Show's John Salley, Reggie Miller, and former Blazer Buck Williams. Cool looking cards and glad I got a Nate McMillan must only be my 3rd or 4th McMillan card (maybe I'll start collecting some of his cards who knows).

I also received 1 pack of 1991 Fleer Basketball, 2 packs of series 1 1990 skybox basketball along with 2 packs of series 2. Here's a look at what the cards look like...


These cards reminded me of the day when I used to play NBA Jam on Super Nintendo w/ my brother. The card of Vernon Maxwell brought back a lot of memories because we used to tear up the court and bring down the backboards with the Hakeem Olajuwon / Vernon Maxwell Rockets combo. Olajuwon was my favorite player and of course the player I controlled in game while my brother took the role of 3pt bombing sidekick Maxwell.

Thanks to Waxaholic a.k.a. Brian for the cards and trade I hope you receive your cards soon I sent them out over a week ago! This was my first trade here in the blogging community and I'm looking forward to many more.

New cards to add to my PC and an update on a current 2009 Topps Finest Angel's 'set' I'm working on. First, let's take a look at some of the cards I got in the mail today, just a few pieces to add to my growing collection.

Here's a look at a 2007 Upper Deck Premier - Jered Weaver Insignias Autographs IN-JW Serial #'ed 16/50!!!

Getting cards of this quality for $7 shipped is just an opportunity I can't pass on. Jered Weaver has a very unique signature, as you can tell he's a master of drawing multiple circles. It's alright though, at least he uses the majority of the space provided and he adds more then his initials (even if it's circles instead... whatever, I'm okay with it). The black border looks great on this card and there isn't to much chipping which is very common with dark colored borders.

Scan of the card:
Next is just a small pick up of a ballplayer I've recently started to learn about and thus sparked my interest in collecting his cards. Bobby Doerr is a Hall of Fame second basemen who played for the Boston Red Sox alongside the likes of Ted Williams and other legends. A little insight to his career from the back of the card reads, "After spending all 14 of his ML seasons with the Red Sox, earning nine trips to the All-Star Game and ranking among the AL leaders in RBI on eight occasions, Doerr was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1986 and had his number retired by Boston in 1988." Pretty damn impressive. I had the honor of meeting Bobby Doerr in my local card shop since he lives in Oregon and had the opportunity to take a photo with him which he later signed. Hopefully I'll be able to get this card signed along with others I have (I'll be sure to post them later if I manage to get them signed).

Scan of the card: 2006 Ultimate Collection Baseball - Bobby Doerr #195 Serial #'ed 448/799


And now... a 2008-09 Upper Deck Ultimate Collection Basketball - Brandon Roy #69 Serial #'ed 283/499. This is a cool card and I was able to add it to my collection for less then $1 not including shipping costs. Anyway, the only basketball cards I'm interested in are blazers so there's no point in busting any Ultimate Collection and going broke. It also makes no point when I can pick up these cool looking base cards for 1/100th of a box price that holds 4 cards. All-in-all this is a neat card that I'm happy I could pick up to add to my collection since Brandon Roy is just insane. I'm also happy knowing he will be around for another five years. Now I'll be looking to add some other Ultimate Collection cards to complement this base card, hopefully at a decent price.

Scan of the card:


This post is rather lengthy so I'll update you on the rainbow 09 Finest baseball Angel's set I'm working on and the cards I'm still looking for in my next post.

Here's a look at some of the cards I've picked up and added to my LA Angel's Collection. I obtained the first three cards through a local hobby shop located in the Beaverton, OR., while the last three were added to my collection through eBay. Now on to the cards I decided to pick up...

First card is of LA Angel's Pitcher Ervin Santana, one of my favorite pitcher's to watch. Ervin also has a pretty cool barb-wire tatoo that I find pretty interesting while he also sports an oversized chain with a cross that swings around his neck as he delivers toward the plate. This card here is a 2005 Leaf Certified Materials Autograh - Mirror Red Parallel Serial #'ed 218/250 - Card # in the set is 161. This is my first autographed rookie card of Ervin and I'm on the lookout for more to add to my collection. I found this one here for $5 at the local hobby shop and couldn't resist picking it up!


The second card I picked up from the same hobby shop for $5. I found this one here while filing through the endless 3000+ count boxes laid out filled with bargains. This card is cool because it has 4 jersey's of 4 Angel's, unlike those cards that may only contain 1-out-of-4 players you actually care about (I'm not a fan of those). The players here are Vladimir Guerrero, Howie Kendrick, Former Angel - Casey Kotchman, and Chone Figgins. Not much else to say besides the fact that this card is pretty awesome since it's all about them Angels. Not to bad of a pickup considering a pack of UD Ballpark was $20 at the same shop.

Card Details: 2008 Upper Deck Ballpark Collection - Quad Swatch Memorabilia - Guerrero/Kendrick/Kotchman/Figgins - #205 in set.


The third and final card I picked up at the shop is 2004 Topps Chrome First Year card of Ervin Santana. I picked this one up for $3 and figured why not it's a good place to start my Santana collection. All-in-all a great looking card and very pleased I picked this one up. Card # is 249 in the set.

Card Details: 2004 Topps Chrome - Ervin Santana First Year Card #249


Now on to some of my eBay pickup's:

First we have a 2009 Allen & Ginter's Ervin Santana that I purchased off the Bay for $1.25 + shipping. A pretty good deal considering I didn't even hit an auto in the $90 hobby box I purchased earlier. I like the fact that he added his #54 to his auto and looks like he actually puts some time and effort into signing the small space provided nicely. Another great card I'm pleased to add to my growing collection.

Card Details: 2009 Topps Allen & Ginter's - Ervin Santana Framed Mini Autograph #AGA-ES.

The next two cards are of Angel's second basemen Howie Kendrick. Although he spent some time earlier this year in the minor's Kendrick is still one of my favorite players on the Angel's.

Card Details: 2008 Upper Deck Masterpiece's - Howie Kendrick Stroke of Genius #SG-HK

Card Details: 2008 Upper Deck Premier Baseball - Howie Kendrick Premier Penmanship Autograph Serial #'ed 09/50. Card #PP-HK


That's a wrap on the lastest pickup's and there is surely more to be coming soon as I keep an eye out for cards I'd like to add to my collection. An update on a Angel's rainbow refractor set I'm working on from 2009 Topps Finest later.

Picked up this pack of 2007-08 Bowman Elevation Basketball from a local hobby shop called Hoopla Sports Cards located in the Portland area. Much of the hobby boxes and such were a bit to pricey for me to grab one so I decided I'd settle for a pack where I was guaranteed some sort of hit. This particular one was $10/pack (5 cards) and you will either receive and jersey or autographed card. Here's a look at the pack:


I brought my girlfriend along with me to check out some of the shops so when I decided on purchasing this pack I insisted she select a lucky one. I guess you could say it was a good decision as she brought me some luck. This pack could have turned out a lot worse then it did. Now let's take a look at the hit I received along with a parallel:


As you can see the hit I received is an autographed/jersey card of 2007-08 Rookie Rodney Stuckey. I'm pretty happy with this pull since he did a pretty good job filling in for Chauncey and A.I. throughout last season and put up some pretty decent numbers. I know it's probably not worth a whole bunch, lucky to even get my $10 back but I can't really complain about a auto/jersey card. On to the Magic Johnson, this is a parallel card #'ed 82/99. I'm not sure if #'ed cards also fall one per pack but even if they do this is one I wouldn't mind pulling. Nice card overall and I like the design on these cards. Now let's take a look at the base cards, the scans are below:


Pretty nice group of players I received for my base cards. The cards I received are #12 - Dwight Howard, #20 LeBron James, #48 John Stockton. Anyway this was a fun pack to break and my girlfriend was interested to see how the pack she selected turned out. I'm sure if it were up to me to select a pack I'd end up with some jersey of some nobody.

I also picked up a bunch of other cheap packs and singles from this shop and plan on going back to look at more singles when I have the time. I'll be adding those pack breaks throughout the night so check back!

I picked up this 1999 Skybox Thunder MLB pack today along with the 2009 Topps Football packs listed below. This pack just caught my eye and I decided to check it out.

1999 Skybox Thunder hobby pack consists of 8 Major League Baseball Cards. This set has a total of 300 cards and some numbered parallels such as 'rave' cards #'ed 150 and 'super rave' #'ed to 25 along with a bunch of others I didn't receive.

Now here's a look at the pack itself and a little fold out ad I received in my pack along with my 8 MLB cards. The ad is for the chance to win a 'All-Star Baseball 2000 N-64 video game from Acclaim Sports' cool! Anyway, the ad features a nice shot of Jeter and when folded in half it's the same size as your normal sports card. This would be a unique piece to add to your Derek Jeter or New York Yankee collection even though it's not a card. Anyway here is the scan.


Now on to the cards. This set is rather entertaining because on the back of each card, instead of attempting to describe a player through a particular event or moment in their career, Skybox decided to become rapper's, throwing down interesting rhymes and lines that I found quite entertaining to read. I'm even thinking about picking up a few more packs just to read the backs. I'll list all eight cards I received in my pack along with the little creativity Skybox threw onto the back of each describing the individual players. First, here are a scan of what these cards look like.

Cards I received in my pack accompained by the text from the back's:

#21 - Kevin Millwood: "Give it up, K.M.. we love the way you slay'em, mowin' 'em down one-by-one is what you do for fun."

#39 - Jaret Wright: "Your style on the diamond is tight, Jaret. And your game is solid gold --- 14 karat. Yeah, we want some of that." <--- this one... Jaret and 14 karat... good one skybox!

#97 - Reggie Sanders: "Reg-gie... Reg-gie... Reg-gie. We're callin' out your name 'cause you got game. and you know this. Keep it real, dawg." <--- Reminds me of a freestyle rapper that doesn't know how to start. Reggie... um... sh!t... Reggie... doh... still thinking... Reggie... yah uh you got game keep it real dog. anyway whatever.

#123 - Andy Benes: "When you're on the mound. Batters better bring their notebooks... cause they're gonna get schooled. Class is now in session." <--- This guy must have been one badass pitcher.

#132 - Rob Fick: "The way you play... from beginning to the endin'... we wonder how you ever lose, 'cause you aint pretendin'." <--- no clue what to say I guess this guy really hustled... like all the time.

#177 - Matt Morris: "Let's hear it for Matt Morris, the M&M boy. How appropriate, 'cause your tight game is sweeter than chocolate." <--- this is one player I was familiar with along w/ cone, millwood, and sanders. I'm not sure this silly description does him any justice though.

#206 - Mike Frank: "Terrorizin' pitchers is what you're all about, and it ain't in your plans to get struck out. So you start flexin' and show your clout." <--- clout = power, muscle and in baseball perhaps a long powerful hit (I just looked it up). I guess this guy didn't strike out much or maybe he was just a muscle head who never got to the plate much. I really don't know, nor do I really care... on to the next card!

#236 - David Cone: "The coneheads are goin' buck wild when it's your turn to start. Control that's second to none is what sets you apart. True That." <--- David Cone is one of the few players in this pack I'm familiar with. Not a huge fan of Cone, esp. since I used to enjoy being the Braves when I faced off with my brother (who used the Yankee's) on our good old school N-64 gaming console.

#297 - Matt Anderson: "With a heater toppin' out at 103 mph, your style is straight imposin'. You're the intimidatin' Tiger... tamin' the opposition." <--- Dang, atleast this guy could throw some heat. No clue as to how effective he was though.

Anyway that wraps up that eight card pack (although I noticed I received 9 cards, sweet! hotpack?). I enjoyed reading skybox's attempt to bust a rhyme and might even pick up a pack or two in the future just to have some kicks at what they were able to compose. Let me know what you think... perhap's just stats and some basic information is more of what your looking for when it comes to card backs.

After roaming the streets and hitting up two hobby shops in the Portland area, I came home with two packs of 2009 Topps football, 3 packs of 1989 Fleer Baseball, 1 pack of 1999 Skybox Thunder Baseball, and a 2007 Bowman Heritage Hobby Box. I picked this all up from one shop since the other was out of business and the space was up for rent (wish I new this before wasting my time searching for the damn place). Anyway on to the cards I recieved in my 2009 Topps Football packs, I will list the others in upcoming posts.


Two packs of 2009 Topps Football @ $2.00/pack:

pack 2 scans:

Pack 1:
#37 - Leon Washington (Jets)
#76 - Devery Henderson (Saints)
#150 - Brady Quinn (Browns)
#204 - Keith Rivers - Gold - #'ed 0790/2009 (Bengals)
#209 - Todd Heap (Ravens)
#211 - Santana Moss (Redskins)
#335 - Hakeem Nicks (Giants) - Nice rookie to pull along with Knowshon turned out to be a decent pack in my opinion.
#343 - Brandon Tate - Rookie (Patriots)
#390 - Knowshon Moreno - Rookie (Broncos) - Interested to see Knowshon perform in the NFL after I watched him run all over the Hawaii Warriors in the 2007 Sugar Bowl... Brutal.
#TTT9 - Matt Ryan (Falcons) - Can't go wrong with a Matt Ryan card, even if it's one of those silly toppstown.com cards.

Pack 2 Scans:

pack 2:
#18 - Jason Campbell (Redskins) - Move aside and let Colt Brennan get some playing time!
#20 - LaDainian Tomlinson (Chargers)
#70 - Antonio Gates (Chargers)
#121 - Ted Ginn Jr. (Dolphins)
#125 - Thomas Jones (Jets)
#170 - Jon Beason (Panthers)
#403 - Rashad Jennings - Rookie (Jaguars)
#407 - Mike Goodson - Rookie (Panthers)
#TTT8 - Philip Rivers - Gold (Chargers)
#C5 - Kayla S. (Jacksonville Jaguars Cheerleader) - She was the 2008-09 Rookie Cheerleader of the year. What an interesting card to find... Cheerleader cards now? really... Atleast I'm 2 for 2 in getting 2008 Rookie of the year cards.

2 pack review: Overall, I'd say not to bad for 2 packs. I got two 2008 R.O.Y one being Matt Ryan of the Falcons and the other Cheerleader Kayla S. of the ROAR a.k.a. Jaguars Cheer Squad. Not sure how I feel about the cheerleader insert set and was rather suprised when I saw it. Pulled some decent rookies in Hakeem Nicks and Knowshon Moreno, let's see how they do this season. The card design is nice and simple and much better then the rather ridiculous 2008 design. Perhaps I'll be thinking about purchasing a box or two of this product when the prices drop (they always do).

** All are available if your interested in anything feel free to send me any offers at cardboardsingles@hotmail.com