Pharmacy Box Break (x2): Faceoff

Alright. It's been a week since I picked up two pharmacy boxes with the intent to do another break/faceoff. I got sidetracked when I pulled a HOF auto. Let's revisit... 

Again, I amuse myself by fielding the best Starting 9 from each box and put them head to head.

Before I get to that…

Hit? Oh yeah. As previously discussed, a legitimate hit.

Packs? 1991 Line Drive Pre-Rookie (x2).

Box One – Starting Nine

1. SS Alan Trammell R
2. 1B Stan Musial L
3. 3B Manny Machado R
4. CF Curtis Granderson L
5. LF Ruben Sierra S
6. C Sandy Alomar Jr. R
7. 2B Johnny Ray S
8. RF Nick Markakis L
9. SP Kevin Brown R

When I think of Musial, I think of an outfielder. But “The Man” played 1,016 games at first base, and no lie, the only other first baseman in the box was Jim Lindeman and his career -0.2 WAR.

Alan Trammell and Johnny Ray are pharmacy box standards and end up in a lot of these lineups.

Starting pitcher Kevin Brown feels underrated at this point. He was a six-time All-Star and won two ERA titles. I admit, I underrate him myself – no doubt soured by two poor seasons in pinstripes at the tail end of an otherwise superb career.

Box Two – Starting Nine

1. SS Tony Fernandez S
2. RF Dwight Evans R
3. LF Julio Franco R
4. CF Jim Edmonds L
5. 1B Bob Horner R
6. 3B Mike Moustakas L
7. C Todd Zeile R
8. 2B Harold Reynolds S
9. SP Jack Morris R

Only one Hall of Famer, and one with somewhat questionable credentials. No offense to Jack Morris, who unquestionably was a tremendous big-game pitcher, but let the record show:

Kevin Brown career WAR: 67.8
Jack Morris: 43.5

Anyways, there are some under-the-radar standouts here. Fernandez, Dewey Evans, and Jim Edmonds are all underrated.

Still… this one won’t be close.

Box One wins, 441.4 to 332.3 in career WAR.

A HOF Auto Out of a Pharmacy Box?!?!

I picked up a couple pharmacy boxes at Wallgreens this morning thinking I’d go back to the well and do another FairField box break/faceoff, but a find in Box #2 had me saying, “Holy sh*t!”

Stan “the Man” Musial? Autographed? From a Pharmacy Box?!?!

Wow.

A closer look...

Yes, it’s a sticker auto.
Yes, it’s an unlicensed Leaf card (from 2015).
and Yes, the auto itself doesn’t look great.

But hey, I pulled a Stan Musial autograph from a pharmacy box!

Wait, hold on a second. The card was issued in 2015. Musial died in 2013. What? Some of you surely know this already. I didn’t. Apparently, Stan’s family and business people had him sign a ton of stickers in his waning years. Leaf bought the stickers and put out a product where you’re guaranteed a Musial auto with every box.

That’s morbid. It does diminish my enthusiasm for my hit some.

Musial, of course, was a first-ballot HOFer and one of the greatest and most consistent hitters in baseball history.

He’s a 24x All-Star (1943, 1944, 1946-1963), a three time World Series winner (1942, 1944, 1946), a three-time NL MVP (1943, 1946, 1948), he twice led the NL in RBIs (1948, 1956), and was a seven-time NL Batting champion (1943, 1946, 1948, 1950-1952, 1957).

What a resume.

The backstory on the auto explains the devaluation of Musial’s autograph over recent years (COMC listings have autos from this Leaf series in the $22-40 range) and potentially how it ended up in a $5 repack.

Still, to pull this out of a pharmacy box feels like a win.

Pharmacy Box Break (x2): Faceoff

Only yesterday I lamented how the state of retail card shopping was so bad that I couldn’t even find a repack. Had to pick up a last-minute bag of candy just in case we get trick-or-treaters in Pandemic-ville (we haven't), and lo and behold: Pharmacy Boxes!

I was unnaturally happy to find them. It helped that Night Owl already warned us to expect less (80 instead of 100 cards).

With two boxes, I thought that I’d amuse myself with a Starting 9 Faceoff; something I used to do all the time as a kid. It was fun to rip a few packs with friends, build your best squad, and then argue over which would win.

Before I get to that…

Hit? Yes. Seth Rosin auto. Rosin pitched in two Major League-seasons (2014 with the Rangers, and 2015 with the Phillies). He appeared in four games in the bigs and had an ERA of 12.00. It's numbered out of 710, so this was a major find.

Packs: 1991 Line Drive Pre-Rookie, 1991 Leaf (Series 1)

OK. Onto my game.

Box One – Starting Nine

1. LF Tim Raines R
2. 1B Jeff Bagwell R
3. RF Dave Parker L
4. CF Andre Dawson R
5. 3B David Freese R
6. C B.J. Surhoff L
7. SS Trea Turner R
8. 2B Johnny Ray S
9. SP Mike Mussina R

I like this team a lot. Mix of speed, power, defense. A Hall of Fame pitcher on the mound. Two lefties and a switch hitter provide some balance. This will be a tough squad to beat.

Box Two – Starting Nine

1. CF Kirby Puckett R
2. SS Alan Trammell R
3. LF Manny Ramirez R
4. RF Gary Sheffield R
5. 1B Cecil Fielder R
6. SS Dave Concepcion R
7. 2B Jeff Treadway L
8. C Terry Steinbach R
9. SP David Cone R

A righty-heavy lineup, but the middle of the order is going to mash. Treadway was legit the only second baseman in the bunch (but at least he’s a lefty).

First blush, I give the edge to Box One. If I go by career WAR – and though that might not be the best predictor, how much work am I really going to put into this? – Box One edges out Two, 430.3 to 405.3. Mussina/Ray being the difference makers over Cone/Treadway.

I’d pay to see that match up.

Prediction: Box One wins, 6-4.

Pharmacy Box Break

Struck out again in my search for 2020 Bowman: three Targets, three decimated card aisles.

So once again, with an itch to open something, I nabbed a $5 pharmacy box from Walgreens.

“Hits?” Oh yeah. Luke Jackson, 2014 Bowman Inception Auto.

I never expect much here. Despite the 1:4 odds for a hit, the bar for these Fairfield repacks is, of course, quite low. So color me surprised that the auto was not only someone that actually broke the majors, but someone that’s still active and relatively young.

Jackson made his debut with the Rangers in 2015. Before the 2017 season, he was traded to the Braves where he’s worked as a reliever the last three seasons. Last year, at age 27, he pitched to a 3.84 ERA and picked up nine wins and 18 saves.

The Pack: 2019 Opening Day

Newest cards: 2019 Topps Heritage
Oldest card: John Verhoeven, 1982 Fleer

Hall of Famers: 3. Goose, Fisk and Puckett.

I’ll get to my Top 3 in a moment, but I found this to be a fairly interesting box. Here are a few also rans:

I wasn’t doing much collecting in the early 2000s so this is definitely the first time I’ve come across these cards.

Also, this Jermaine Dye “Rookie Reflections” card. Dye looked like a star in the making when he debuted as a 22-year-old with the Braves (.282 BA, 12 HRs in 98 games). I was surprised the traded to the Royals the following spring for Michael Tucker and Keith Lockhart.

OK… Three favorites:

#3 Carlos Beltran, 2003 Upper Deck Classic Portraits

Again, from that early-2000s era where I wasn’t collecting. I prefer action shots to yearbook-style headshots, but this is a handsome card of a player that’s misrepresented proportionally with Yankees cards in my own collection.

#2 Jose Canseco, unlicensed 1988 Baseball’s Best

From a 36-card unlicensed set, I’m charmed by this early, borderless Jose Canseco. Those Bash Brothers-era A’s teams seduced quite a few young, impressionable fans (and more so when Rickey Henderson returned). I probably knew more A’s fans growing up in Upstate NY than Mets fans.

#1 Julio Franco, 1989 Score Traded

The single-most imitated backyard whiffle ball stance of my childhood. Love it.

Breaking a 2018 Stadium Club Blaster

In my fruitless search for 2020 Bowman, I’m up to five trips covering six unique stores (four Targets, two Wal-Marts), and still nothing. The closest I’ve come was a glimpse one empty Gravity Box. Otherwise, no sign.

So I settled for this blaster of 2018 Stadium Club. I figured I earned something for all the trouble.

Eight packs. Five cards per pack. Stunning photography. You know the deal.

Let’s get to rippin’…

Pack One: Robinson Cano, John Smoltz, Chris Sale, Jackie Bradley Jr. (Red), Jackie Robinson

That was quite the theme pack there to start. Jackie Robinson, Cano and Bradley Jr.

Pack Two: J.P. Crawford (R), Chris Taylor, Rafael Devers (R) (Never Compromise insert), Jake Derom, Jake Lamb

Pack Three: Erick Fedde (R), Cam Gallagher (R), Corey Kluber, Manny Machado (Power Zone insert), Justin Bour

Pack Four: Hank Aaron, Clint Frazier (R), Jose Altuve, Tzu-Wei Lin, Joey Votto

If I never pull another Lin card in my life, that’d be fine.

Pack Five: Alex Wood, Didi Gregorious, Dillon Peters (R), Andrew McCutchen (Chrome), Justin Verlander

Pack Six: Mariano Rivera, Amed Rosario (R), Dominc Smith (R), Max Scherzer (Special Forces insert), Keon Broxton

Pack Seven: Victor Caratini (R), Dwight Gooden, Freddie Freeman, Keury Mella (R), Lucas Sims (R)

Pack Eight: Barry Larkin, Christian Villanueva (R), Luis Severino, Trey Mancini (sepia), Adam Jones

I don’t know if that qualifies as “last pack mojo,” but I’ll take it.


And the search for 2020 Bowman continues…

Breaking a Topps Heritage 2020 Blaster

Saw someone on Twitter yesterday post a pic of Bowman blasters shelved at Target, so I found an excuse to go there this morning. Alas, all they had was Series One and Heritage.

I wasn’t going to leave empty handed so I grabbed a Heritage Blaster.

8 packs. 9 cards per pack.

You know the product. So let’s get to rippin’…

Pack One: Yoan Moncada, ALCS Game 4, Chris Taylor, New Age Performers: Euenio Suarez, Bazooka Mini: Austin Meadows, Sean Murphy, Tyler Naquin, AZ Rookies: Leyba/Rojas, Leury Garcia

Pack Two: Kevin Newman, WS Celebrate, Manny Margot, Delino Deshields Jr., David Bote, ALCS Game 2, Willians Astudillo, AZ Rookies Young/Gallen, Ian Happ

Pack Three: Raimel Tapia, Mallex Smith, Kenta Maeda, Lance Lynn, Max Kepler (SP), Adalberto Mondesi, James McCann, LAD Rookies: May/Lux, Nathan Eovalid

Pack Four: Niko Goodrum, Dakota Hudson, Ranger Suarez, Luis Arraez, ’71 Flashbacks: Evil Knievel, Mike Moustakas, Adam Eaton, NL HR Leaders, Zack Greinke

Pack Five: ALCS Game 6, Thairo Estrada, Tyler Chatwood, Kurt Suzuki. SFG Rookies: Webb/Rogers, Phil Ervin, Garrett Cooper, Aaron Nola, NLCS Game 1

Pack Six: Tyler Flowers, Edwin Diaz, Marcus Stroman, Cam Gallagher, Nick Senzel (SP), Teoscar Hernandez, Luke Weaver, LAA Rookies: Sandoval/ThaissFreddy Peralta

Pack Seven: Jake Marisnick, TEX Rookies: Solak/Burke, Rio Ruiz, Mike Ford, Mays: The Catch, Jake Junis, Tyler Glasnow, Justin Upton, Erick Fedde

Pack Eight: Dominic Smith, Masahiro Tanaka, Albert Pujols, Andrew Miller, Victor Caratini, SDP Rookies: Munoz/Baez, Christian Stewart, Ozzie Albies, Ronald Guzman


That’s all. Nothing crazy, but I did surprisingly well avoiding dupes (I had purchased a couple blasters shortly after its release). I don’t see myself pursuing the set (too many SPs!), but it’s a little tempting. I do love that ’71 design.

Pharmacy Box Break

Public service announcement for the same people that need news stations to tell you what day it is: Sunday is Mother’s Day.

Today I ran over to Walgreens for a couple greeting cards. Naysayers, say what you will about baseball cards being worthless pieces of cardboard, but they’re cheaper than cardboard bearing the Hallmark logo. Jeez.

Anyway, grabbed a $5 pharmacy box. Ooooo, new packaging. No more preview window.

“Hits?” None.

The pack: 2019 Opening Day

New packaging, same disproportional and disappointing stack of 1989 Topps.

Quite a bit of 1981 Donruss too (a design I’m actually fond of).

Newest cards: 2019 Series 2. Oldest card: Darrell Evans, 1978 Topps.

Evans was a two-time All-Star (1973, 1983), a World Series champion (1984), and the AL home run leader in 1985. Bill James rated Evans as “the most underrated player in baseball history.” He had 414 career home runs. His skill in drawing walks (1,605) contributed to a .361 career on-base percentage.

Hall of Famers.

OK… Three favorites:

#1 Charles Johnson, Team USA [1991 Topps]

Things I like: 1991 Topps design, Team USA cards, Goofy angles. Trifecta.

Johnson was a two-time All-Star (1997, 2001), a World Series champion (1997), and a 4x Gold Glove Award (1995-1998). He caught three no-hitters (1996 – Al Leiter, 1997 – Kevin Brown, 2001 – A.J. Burnett).

#2 Roger Erickson, Yankees [1983 Topps]

I assume hair like this is the very reason for the headshot design.

Erickson had a 35-53 record over six years with the Twins and Yankees. He threw 265.2 innings as a 21-year-old rookie in 1978, carried a 3.96 ERA, and posted his only winning season (14-13).

#3 Jay Buhner, Yankees [1988 Donruss]

For obvious reasons:

Breaking a Panini 2020 USA Stars & Stripes Blaster

During the same Sunday “essentials” run that netted my biggest ever retail hit, I also picked up a blaster of Panini 2020 USA Baseball Stars & Stripes.

Why? (I was asking myself that after I tore this thing open, but more on that in a minute).

I picked it up for a few reasons:

1. As I said about the Gypsy Queen value pack, I wasn’t inclined to open more Series 1 or Heritage. 
2. I’m very unfamiliar with the product. I had exactly one Stars and Stripes card in my collection, a 2019 Bobby Witt Jr. that I scooped up for TTM. 
3. I thought these might provide some fodder for future TTMs. 
4. (and lastly), I was intrigued by the 2-hit promise. Not bad for a blaster.

As I tossed this in my cart I thought to myself, “hopefully one of the two hits are not some high school kid.” [Spoiler alert: I would disappointed].

7 packs. 5 cards per pack. 2 autos or relics (on average).

The base checklist is 100 cards, with a dozen or so players that are on my radar. Admittedly, I’m not a big follower of college baseball.

I sat on the box until today… which is quite an accomplishment. More often than not, I tear into packs in the parking lot. I can’t relate to collectors who can square away packs for a rainy day. I require instant gratification and have zero patience.

By the time I did sit down to tear in, I was feeling a little buyers’ remorse. Should I have picked up something different? I really hope I don’t end up with a bunch of high schoolers.

So let’s get to rippin’…

Pack One: Nolan Schubart, Nick Loftin, Josh Jung, Andrew Abbott, Brandon Olivera

These cards are very shiny, so I had to break out the scanner. Results still leave something to be desired. It is an attractive design. My images do not do the set justice.
The first card out of the blaster does nothing to alleviate my tempered enthusiasm. Nolan Schubart is 15 years old. He might turn out to be a great player (I hope he does). But I’m a 37-year-old dude and this feels weird.

Pack Two: Spencer Tokelson, Asa Lacy, Mikey Romero (auto), Robert Hassell, Nick Frasso

A hit. 15U National Team infielder Mikey Romero. The card is numbered 69/299. He’s a sophomore at Vista Murrieta High School. This is weird.

Let’s bright side this pack… I have heard of Spencer Torkelson. He’s a slugging first base prospect out of Arizona State. He hit .337 with 54 home runs through his abbreviated junior season at ASU. He should be a high draft pick (whenever that happens). With the season cut short, Torkelson will finish his collegiate career two homers shy of the school’s home run record, held by Bob Horner (56).

Pack Three: Termarr Johnson, Casey Optiz, Checklist – 18U team, Garrett Mitchell, Jason Savacool

Is this an error? A 2019 checklist?

Pack Four: Max Rajcic, Adley Rutschman, Luis Rodriguez, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Logan Allen

That’s a little more like it. I’ve actually heard of three of the five. Strike that. Two of five. Wrong Logan Allen. I was confused why he was in the set.

Rutschman, of course, was the number one overall selection last year.

Pack Five: Ben Hernandez, Reid Detmers, Doug Nikhazy, Zack Thompson, Colton Coswer

If I have a favorite college player, it’s Detmers. I heard Louisville coach Dan McDonnell speak at an event this offseason and was really impressed. I told myself I’d follow the Cardinals team this year. I did, for the entire 3- or 4-week season. Detmers made four starts (went 3-0 with a 1.23 ERA). He’s got a crazy good breaking ball.

Pack Six: Justin Foscue, Matthew Matthijs, CJ Abrams, Jeff Criswell, Heston Kjerstad

Heston Kjerstad, aside from having a really cool name, racked up some great numbers over 150 games for Arkansas. He slashed .343/.421/.590 with 37 home runs and 129 RBI. He will also be a high draft pick.

Pack Seven: Garrett Mitchell, Duke Ekstrom, Mikey Romero (auto), Jack Bulger, Asa Lacy

Are you f- kidding me? Mikey Romero, numbered 159/299. Sigh.

Both Asa Lacy and Garrett Mitchell are also high draft prospects, but I’m too frustrated at this point to write them up.

Two Mikey Romero autos from the same blaster?

I think I have to go all in at this point: track down the other 279 autos out there and then personally do everything I can to support this child. If he grows into one of the game’s greats, I’ll be set.

Gut reaction: I’m a tad disappointed. I mean, I can’t be too upset as this was from the same trip as the Luis Robert hit, but still. I suppose I won’t be able to fully appreciate what’s here for another 10 or so years. In the interim, I’ll try a few TTMs (and stick to more familiar products going forward).

Breaking Gypsy Queen 3-Pack Retail Hanger (Big Hit)

Had to run to Target today to do some “essentials” shopping. So of course, I was going to swing by the card aisle. Picked up a 3-pack hanger of Gypsy Queen. It was between that, Heritage and Series 1. I’ve opened plenty of the latter two, so I opted for GQ.

Even though I’ve had a bit of success with retail packs lately (I pulled a Mike Clevenger auto out of a Series 1 blaster), I keep my expectations low. Hopefully I’ll net a rookie. Hope to pull some Yankees or Red Sox for the boys’ collections.

So imagine my surprise when I tear into pack one...

Mike Trout, Francisco Mejia, Jesus Luzardo (R)… upside-down redemption!

I am due to receive an autographed, Gypsy Queen logo swap parallel of Luis Robert!

This is one of the biggest, and least expected, hits that I’ve ever pulled. And yes, I am aware that Luis Robert is yet to even appear in the majors.

That didn’t stop the White Sox from inking Robert to a six-year, $50 million contract this January.

Robert is a 22-year-old outfielder, the #2 prospect in the game (according to Baseball America), and part of the White Sox bright future. He was number one across the minor leagues last season in hits (165) and number two in runs (108).

I couldn’t have asked for a better start to pack one, and frankly, didn’t really register what else I got until much later as I sat down to write this.

So… what else? Mauricio Dubon (R) and Max Kepler rounded out pack one.

Pack two: Michael Lorenzen, Jose Ramirez, Brendan Rodgers, David Price, Sean Murphy (R), and Stephen Stasburg.

Pack three: Yolmer Sanchez, Christian Yelich, David Fletcher, Jean Segura, Mitch Garver, and Trea Turner.

Finally, the three green parallels: Miguel Cabrera, Lorenzo Cain, and Emmanuel Clase (R).

Very pleased with my pick up. =)