As Phil Georgeff used to say as the end of a horse race was approaching "here they come, spinning out of the turn", we are coming into the final stretch of my GAC box. We start on the right side of the box with 4 of the last 8 packs. How much will I add to my 75.8 current score?
We start off with not a Yankee to be found. Good start for the top of the row. Not a lot of scoring though. Only the bottom of the scan earns me points - 2 from the Say Hey Kid and another 2 from the mayor of Houston.
pack total = 4
running total = 79.8
Pack 18 outdoes the previous pack. Nice to see Carter in the set. Not nice that it's the exact same image used when he appeared in the 2013 release. Have him show up as an Expo, would ya Topps? Anyway - Rodon scores me a favorite team point. Cedpedes scores me 2 Numbers Game points and the black bordered mini of political analyst Rick Klein gives me 3 points.
pack total = 6
running total = 85.8
Thee packs without a Yankee. Which is nice, except everything you see is worth nothing. Non scoring pack. That's the 5th one.
pack total = 0
running total = 85.8
Spoke too soon about the Yankees as I got them back to back in this pack. Lot of scoring cards here, though. Kershaw is a favorite player and a Numbers Game. A&G backed mini. Natural Wonders insert. Add and subtract and we get a total of 6 points.
pack total = 6
running total = 91.8
Respectable total. Will the last 4 packs give it a big bump? I still have one hit left to pull. I'll be fighting to the last card.
To catch you up, as well as myself, cuz I forgot my running total, I sit at 58.8 points at the halfway point of my box. We have reach the peak and it's all downhill from here. I am still two hits shy, so maybe one of them shows up in the post?
We are finishing the last 4 packs from the center row of the box, and sure enough, there is a relic. Jason Werth. Give me a few minutes while I go outside and dance around with pure joy and excitement. I believe this is the 2nd Werth relic I have pulled in my collecting life. At least he's worth 5 points. And the mini of De Blasio scores me 2 points. Lucky 7 total.
pack total = 7
running total = 65.8
Two packs in a row - no Yankees! Good scoring cards in this pack with the Maeda both a favorite player and a Numbers Game and the black bordered mini. Two points for each scoring chance for a total of 6. Side note - the vertical minis look really nice this year. Big Papi got a nice mini sunset card in A&G.
pack total = 6
running total = 71.8
Had to go and open my mouth about the Yankees. I'm giving the bird to Bird for taking away one of the two points I got from the Natural Wonders card. Look close on that card and you can almost see the Olympics. And the poo filled water.
pack total = 1
running total = 72.8
Bottom pack from the center of the box and we get Bird again. BOOM - the double deuce! Fortunately, Kluber is a favorite player, and Morgan is Numbers Game. Positive 3 points from the pack. Laureates is almost a rehash of the Peacemakers mini set from 2013.
pack total = 3
running total = 75.8
We are 2/3 through the box and sitting at a decent 75.8. Averaging about 4.7 points a pack up to this point. We'll see if this rate holds up when we move to the right side of the box tomorrow.
Ok - we are moving to the center of the box. But before I do, a scoring update. The Commissioner made a slight change to a couple rules. My box topper is considered a hit for favorite player, so I get a multiplier on it, raising the points on the topper from 4 to 6.8. Also, the commish stated that the Numbers Game insert set should score 2 points per appearance. I had 4 of them in the first 8 packs, and that give me 8 more points. So we do a little math and me new running total is 50.8. We cool? Let's go.
As I stated, we have moved to the middle row of the box, and the top pack adds points to the total. The Votto is another GAC player's favorite...er....player. And the Baseball Legends of Duke scores as well. Two points for each, adding 4 to the total.
pack total = 4
running total = 54.8
We are getting a similar score with this pack. Numers Game of a very serious Glavine nets two points, as does the Natural Wonder of the Marble Caves. Four total points this pack as well as last pack.
pack total = 4
running total = 58.8
The phrase you never want to hear in Gint-A-Cuffs is "Yankee hot pack". I pulled three in this pack. The only saving grace is that Pettitte is a short printed mini and offsets the loss. Three for the mini minus 3 for the Yankees equals zero. Yup. 4th non scoring pack of the box.
pack total = 0
running total = 58.8
Two more Yankees? Why not! Grrrrr..... Well, let's look at the positives (literally). Rice Numbers Game is 2 points. Baseball Legends is 2 points. A&G backed mini is 2 points. So the net addition is 4 points.
pack total = 4
running total = 62.8
Set building packs - all 4 of them. If you are going to put all 350 in a binder, I will need them. So while I didn't get any more of the promised box hits, I ultimately pulled cards I needed. I'm think looking at it a different way makes the cards appear awesome.
Been running around all day and never got to writing up my 2nd GAC post, so let me whip it up fast.
Well, well, well. I have been building all the A&G sets, but have only been buying full hobby boxes for the past 3 years. But even from blasters, this make the first rip card I have ever pulled. About frigging time! So A-Rod is being forcibly retired, from how I see it. No big buh-bye ceremony like Jeets got. For my life, though, A-Rod knocks me down a point. The rip card is worth 10 points, and you are guaranteed 10 points for what's inside. We'll get to that at the end. Best scoring pack of the box so far.
pack total = 19
running total = 30
Pack 6 was set filler. Fortunately, it did help me score some points, from Rizzo and Freeman. Both are favorite players of GAC participants, so I get 2 points for each.
pack total = 4
running total = 34
Double Yankees!!! Castro and Beltran take away the two points the sweet Palmer Baseball Legends gained me. So a non scoring pack. That makes 3 zero packs out of 7.
pack total = 0
running total = 34
And we end the left side of the box with a nice Abreu that scores me a point. And the Jon Gray A&G is no normal A&G back but a no number A&G back. That'll score a fiver for a pack total of 6.
pack total = 6
running total = 40
Well, a third of the way through and I am averaging 5 points a pack. Keep that pace up and I will fall just short of 100 for the box.
Oh yeah - the rip card. As I stated, all cards pulled from a rip card are worth 10 points. You can score more based on the card since you can get mini autos, 1/1s and others. You know I'm ripping this thing:
I guess if I don't pull a auto or 1/1, I don't think there is any worse "base" mini you can get from a rip card. This card has been blowing up on ebay and I'm going to sell it. Though, I am in talks with a certain someone about it. I would sell this to pick up some of the pricier 64s I need, like the Mantle, Rose, Mays, Clemente, etc... For my first rip card, I'm pretty happy.
No use tap dance around this - let's dive right in the box with the box loader and the first 4 packs.
We all have to start somewhere, and I started with a box loader of David Wright. That's 4 points right there. And we are waiting on a ruling if you get 2 bonus points for Mr. Wright being the favorite player of another participant. So right now, I'm just calling it 4 points.
pack total = 4
running total = 4
Our first pack from the box (left side if you care) is a decent start. White Sox are my favorite team, so I gain a point for Robertson. And the gold-ish National Wonders earns me two more points.
pack total = 3
running total = 7
I'm working down the stack, not across the box, so we are still on the left side. And well - this pack sucked. For a set building pack, it's good. But a whole lot of nothing scoring wise.
pack total = 0
running total = 7
I like seeing Fisk as a White Sox in any set, cuz that means I will collect the card. I like it more here as I get another bonus point for my favorite team. However, the GAC commissioner hates Steve Spurrier (can you blame the commish). So Mr. Spurrier docs me a point. Which means two zero score packs in a row.
pack total = 0
running total = 7
Three out of the first four packs had White Sox cards. I am not complaining. The sweet Feller, which is a nice design but an overused image, gains me two points. I get two more points for the Ferocious Feline mini of the ocelot. However, that damn rookie card of Refsnyder loses me a point because of the mark of the Yankees on his uniform. So instead of 5, I only add 4 points to the total.
pack total = 4
running total = 11
Alright. My start is 11. With 17% of the box done, at this rate I am scoring a pathetic 66 unless something changes.
This year's Allen and Ginter came out a couple weeks back. And if you've been around the blogsphere the past 8 years, then you know Gint-A-Cuffs has returned again. This will be my third year participating. I'm due for a big score with the past two years near the bottom. But this is a warning that if you put your ear to the ground, you will hear the Ginter train a-coming...
Sounds like another losing box for you, daddy.
So before I start the GACVIII posts, let me clear out the last few scans I have from recent mailings. I still have a few mailing left to scan, but at least the folder will be empty for the time being.
Yup. These are from last year. I'm still working on the base and some inserts. Chris at Nacho Grande gave me some help on the inserts with a dozen or so cards. Not much left to go, and I have a line on finding all the cards at my LCS. Chris (at my LCS) told me he has a stack of 2015 A&G he almost knocks over on a daily basis. So if you have needs, email me a list and I'll try to help you.
Tom over at Waiting 'til Next Year, a blog that won't be changing names any time soon, dropped a nice stuffed mailer on me. And after that comment, it will probably be the last. So let's enjoy the goodies, like a stack of bunting and throwbacks. I had no idea Scooter had a bunting card in this year's Archives.
Player collections? Tom hit those too. That year of Black Diamond is so ugly that is comes around the other end of the ugliness line to be beautiful. And then ugly again. It's a big loop.
I found one of these Fleer Emotion cards in a dime box a couple years back. I thought it was some special framed cards like Gypsy Queen puts out, but it turns out this is a whole set? Man - how did I miss these? The emotion, though? Zest? Hurling? Suspense? I can see why this set never caught on.
Another Archives, this time a blue border of the Big Hurt. And look - back in the day when Topps actually knew, or gave a flying crap, about Southpaw's name. As opposed to his currentreference as "White Sox mascot". Com'on Sooz!!!!! I'm counting on you for 2017.
We finish with a couple relics. Josh was one of the many failures in the Sox farm system. Drafted in the 1st round in 2004, he was far too streaky and got sent to KC. After a whopping 13 games, he went to the Pirates but never saw the show. Then to the Rockies, and again stuck in the minors. Then to Japan for the final 40 games of his career in any big league. He finished with the Dodgers farm system in 2012. The other is of Podzilla, most loved in Chicago for this one hit.
Thanks for the cards, guys. And now get out the way - the train in pulling into the station.
Every Thursday, I post a card showing a ballplayer wearing a throwback uniform from my collection. Hopefully, he will be wearing it well, with proper pants blousing. The picture may be from the front of the card, or the back. Enjoy the uniforms from years past.
