Pack War!

I haven't done one of these in quite a while.  Let's see what a pack of 2012 Topps Archives brings against a pack of 2013 Allen & Ginter's.

The packs are both cool.  I like the retro look of Archives.  I also like the old timey look of A&G.  Close but I'll give the win to Ginter.  A&G- 1, Archives- 0

On to the cards.

Not much to say.  He's Canadian.

Am I crazy or does Olt look like Lawrie's older brother?  Not dissimilar careers either.  

This is close as well.  Olt played for the Cubs---but he was another third base disappointment, batting only .158 in 95 games.  Ya know, I just can't call this one.  Score remains tied.

Oh boy!  Justin was an All-Star in 2013.

Ben was born and raised in Eureka, Illinois, the town where Ronald Regan went to college.  More importantly he was a back to back World Series champion with the Royals and THE CUBS!

Finally we have a clear winner.  A&G is 2 for 2.

Our first HOFer.  He's a Met but the photo is from Wrigley Field.  Another of Gary's great smile shots in the inset.  Can we just give Archives the point now?

Yes.  Archives is on the board.

Tulo has had a sometimes great but injury riddled career.  Pretty nice shot of Troy forcing out Matt Kemp in the middle of a DP.

I'm one of the folks who buys Allen and Ginter's for the non-baseball cards.  Unfortunately this one doesn't do anything for me.  

It's tied 2-2.

Another Met HOFer.  Who doesn't respect Seaver's career?  He garnered 98.8% of votes as a first ballot Hall of Fame inductee.

Enough with the Mets, OK?  As a Twin Johan was 93-44 over an 8 year period in the 2000's.  He's sporting a Gary Carter memorial patch here.  Not enough to beat Tom Terrific.

Archives pulls ahead 3-2.

I'm not a Sox fan but I am a Paulie fan.  Not a Hall of Famer but Konerko was a fan favorite and a White Sox great.

Metsie! Metsie!  This guy hit .529 against my Cubbies in the 2015 NLCS.  It's a mini but they don't excite me.

It's an easy win and a 4-2 victory for Archives.  And the crowd roars!

Archives adds insult to injury by adding two extra cards of a couple of pretty good players.

I've never considered myself an Archives fan.  This may even be the first pack I've ever opened.  It was a really nice one.  The Allen & Ginter's pack was a dud for me.  These were both bargain packs but I assume they were each $3.00 retail.  At least in this case Archives was the better buy.

My unopened pack count is down by two but I still have about 99.8% of my stash intact. 😉

He's Got the Blues

The St. Louis Blues are in the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in 49 years. These are the original cards from the first hockey set I collected as a kid. It was also the Blues' first appearance.

 

 

 The older  I get the more I realize how much I have forgotten or never knew in the first place.  In doing a bit of research I read that when the NHL expanded from 6 to 12 teams it was mandated that an expansion team be in the Stanley Cup Finals.  Huh?  How was that possible?  Here's how:

From Wikipedia,

"All of the 'Original Six' teams were placed in the new Eastern Division, and all of the new teams placed in the new Western Division. Each division contributed four playoff teams. Division teams then played off to produce a divisional champion, and the two divisional champions played off in the Final to win the Stanley Cup.

The imbalance between the new teams and old was readily apparent in the standings. All four of the East Division teams had a better record than the top team in the West."

And that is how the expansion Blues made it to the Finals in their first year.  So although the Golden Knights were officially the second team to accomplish the feat they did it on an equal footing with the rest of the league. 

The Blues were the top team in the "Expansion West" their first three seasons but lost 12 straight games in the finals.  I'm not rubbing it in but after Game 1 they've run their streak to 13.  In fact, I'm rooting for them to win.  Before the Blackhawks 2010 Championship the last time they won the Stanley Cup I was just a year old.  So I feel for the Blues fan base.  

 On a trivial note (no pun intended), team names related to music are very rare.  There are the St. Louis Blues in hockey and the Utah (New Orleans) Jazz in basketball.  Minor League baseball has the Nashville Sounds.  That's all I'm aware of.  Can you think of any others?

Thanks for visiting.

Happy Birthday, Jim Thorpe

Certainly one of the greatest all-around athletes of the 20th century, Jim Thorpe was born on this day in 1887 (some say 1888).

These are part of my growing First Day Cover collection.

And a couple of cards.

RIP Billy Buck

Heard the sad news today of the death of Bill Buckner.  Here are a couple of photos you won't see anywhere else.  They're mine.

Buckner's Greatest Catch?

Oh, Say Can You See ...

My wife will stop whatever she's doing to watch the singing of our national anthem before Blackhawks home games.  She loves hearing Jim Cornelison so for her birthday a few weeks ago I bought her this card.

We love Jim's rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner".  Who's your favorite?

From Rosenort: