Baseball is here

With spring training for Detroit officially starting today (pitchers and catchers report), hope is springing eternal for Tiger fans. Hope that this year will be better than last year. Hope that the best case scenario happens. Hope that this team does not implode. Most every year starts the same, from the late 70s hope that the team will finish above 5th place to the late 90s early 00s that the team will finish above .500. We have hope that our heroes will make us feel proud to be a Tiger fan this summer.

But, around here baseball has already started. The local college has been playing for two weeks and is off to a great start. They are number 4 in the nation in a couple of polls, and if things keep going well we will host a Division II regional again this year.

SAU, and a couple of players were mentioned in the newest Baseball America this week, giving the program some national attention. Mentioned are Haydon Simpson, a local product, who is a Junior who was voted as an All-American last year. Simpson is the 8th ranked prospect in D-II and is a candidate for Pitcher of the Year.

Also getting some pub is second baseman Cannon Lester from nearby El Dorado. Cannon is a senior, and is also a returning All-American.

Here is a link to the press release.

The Joy of a Completed Set - I

While watching the snow fall last week I was happy to receive multiple packages in the mail. The first one was from a trade of my Factory Set inserts for some 97 and 98 Topps to help get me started on those sets. The second was from Baseball Cards Come to Life, who helped me fill some holes in my sets in exchange for some of my extra 81 Fleer and 92 Pinnacle. There was one card that really made me happy.



Yes, Ron Jones may be nothing but a common to most of you, but to me he was the missing piece in my 89 Score set. After 21 years, and by not buying a single pack, I have managed to complete this set through trades and minimal purchase. I estimate that I spent about $11 - $15 out of pocket to complete this set through individual card purchases, this is about double what the set is "worth" but the enjoyment of the hunt was well worth it.

Winter Watch 2010 - and a Contest

As we are preparing for snow in the next two days, a whole 2-4 inches are forcast (don't laugh, the town will probably be paralyzed by tomorrow afternoon), I can't help but think about what would better for getting me in the Olympic spirit. Some snow, and of course a contest. I am not running a contest, but JD is here, so feel free to enter.

Theyr'e Here

Finally, 2010 Topps has made it's way to South Arkansas. This morning while going after dog food at Wal Mart I wandered over to the card isle and there was a display of rack packs, gravity feed boxes, and blasters of Topps daring me to purchase. They also had Upper Deck, but I left those alone at 2.98 per pack. I purchased a rack, and here are the contents. A one pack review.

35 Rick Porcello (Tiger first card of the year)
128 Garrett Mock
277 Jarrod Washburn (2 Tigers in the first 3 cards)
202 SF Giants Franchise History
162 Wade Davis
172 Joe Mauer - AL MVP
261 Matt Carson
300 Chase Utley
198 Florida Marlins Franchise History
288 Boston Red Sox Franchise History
8 AL Batting Leaders
264 Arizona Diamondbacks Franchise HIstory - Gold
MIllion Card Giveaway'
ToppsTown Miguel Tejada
71 Mike Hampton
244 Barry Zito
312 Tyler Flowers
36 Tobi Stoner
219 Kevin Hart
13 Melvin Mora
81 Ryan Theriot
176 Yovani Gallardo
267 Toronto Blue Jays Franchise History
314 Angel Pagan
65 Nick Swisher
10 Clayton Kershaw
167 San Diego Padres Team
Cards Your Mom Threw Out - 86 Tony gwynn
Turkey Red Josh Beckett
Legenday Linage - Mike Schmidt/Evan Longoria
Peek Performance - Reggie Jackson
WTWY - Ricky Nolasco
225 David Price
77 Kenshin Kawakami
123 Jeff Smardzija
297 Ben Zobrist

28 Base Cards

Summary. I like the way these cards look. The photos are great, but I could do without the inserts. The CYMTO is a nice idea, but they probably should have stuck with the retro cards. 86 Gwynn was just a way to get an 86 card in this set, but surely they could have come up with a better example from that year, maybe a Gary Carter or Dale Murphy.

I give this set a B, it would be an A if they would cut out the large number of insets.

Rambling

In today's Tiger news it looks like Scott Boras is trying to get his client, Johnny Damon, to come to Detroit. Detroit has a good history of dealing with Boras, as they were able to sign Pudge late when nobody else wanted him, and I belive Maggs is also a Boras client with had signability problems when he was a free agent. Management has shown a willingness to pay a little more for a seasoned vet that has a little something left if that is what it takes to get them to Detroit (Pudge, Maggs, Kenny Rodgers). The question is, what does Damon have left and how does he fit into the Tigers plans.

Damon is a left handed hitting centerfielder, who also bats leadoff. As it stands now, Austin jackson could start the season in center and bat leadoff. But I don't know what the backup plan is if Jackson is not ready. By siging Damon they don't have the need to rush Jackson if he is not ready, and they can move Damon to left if Jackson shows he is ready during spring training. As of now the leftfiled posistion will be manned by some combination of Gullen/Clete Thomas/Ryan Rayburn/Don Kelly.

Management is also trying to sign Verlander to a contract extension. All I can say is: get it done. If I have to live off of Little Ceasers for the next 12 months to fund this I will. Crazy Bread is wonderfull.

Sping training is almost here, but our local college starts play Friday. Mulerider fever: Catch it!!!