Sunday, February 22, 2009

Nothing "Topps" Raceday

...except for baseball. And since there isn't any baseball until Wednesday, I once again find myself watching the prerace coverage on Speed channel.  While I do this, I'll share with you the two packs of 2007 Topps that I was given yesterday by the card shop owner "just for stopping by". No Brewers, but I already have those so no worries.

#488 Fernando Rodney, #649 Brian Barden

#572 Alex Escobar, #345 Joe Borowski
Apparently the folks at Topps could care less about Mr. Borowski. Of all 22 cards in these two packs, his is the ONLY one without a writeup complementing the stats. Nothing at all to say about him. So, I'll do their job for them. "Joe Borowski grew up in Bayonne, New Jersey and attended Rutgers University. Bayonne, New Jersey is also the hometown of Jeff Sciscilo, college friend of Dubbs, author of the blog Cheese & Beer."  See, how hard was that?? I guess he had a worse 2008 than Eric Gagne, and was DFA by the Tribe on July 4th, and released six days later. Any more info on his whereabouts, Motherscratcher?

#653 Classic Combos Sean Casey & Placido Polanco, #502 Brian Roberts

After 10 seasons with the O's, Roberts just signed a 4-year, $40 Million extension to ensure he keeps playing his home games at Camden Yards. I have been in my current position for almost 6 years now, and should I re-enlist for an additional 4 years, my gross pay cannot top about .4% of that amount...geez, I'm in the wrong line of work.

#MHR386 Mickey Mantle HR 386

I know the guy was a great ballplayer, but at what point did we canonize him as a saint? Many other ballplayers are more deserving than Mantle of the years and years of subsets and inserts devoted to a single person, so let's put a little money into the R&D departments at Topps and Upper Deck and find out who else was playing baseball in this country prior to the 1970's.

#413 Coco Crisp, #474 Michael Young

The worst name in baseball, followed by one of the most underrated players in baseball. But back to Crisp. What were his parents smoking when they named him? I'm not even talking about his nickname that has replaced his "christian" name. His birth name is Covelli Loyce Crisp. Really? Covelli Loyce? Last I checked, neither of those words are actually names. I wish I could just make shit up and call it a name. Maybe I'll name my kids Shipoopi and Homosayswhat. Ya, I like those names. 

#604 San Diego Padres 

Petco Park. If you ever have the opportunity to visit southern California and make it to San Diego, there are three spots you HAVE to visit:
  1. Fumari Hookah Bar (330 G. Street, San Diego). By far, the coolest thing you can do with a hookah legally. They have many homemade tobacco blends, any of them will make you pleased with your selection. I recommend the White Peach. Mmm...
  2. The Yard House (1023 4th Avenue, San Diego). With over 160 beers on tap, this place will make any visit worth it. Make sure you enjoy yourself a "yard of beer". Beware, though, if you should wander downstairs to the restroom. You are forced to pass their full-view keg room, a view of which has sent many to the emergency room.
  3. Petco Park (100 Park Blvd, San Diego). One of the greatest ballparks in the country. The San Diego weather surely aids to it, but the downtown setting, beautiful architecture, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale on tap, and outfield lawn that allows for dog owners to watch the game for FREE make it one of the league's best. 
#GN245 Ryan Zimmerman Generation Now


He sure started off hot last year, showing that he's a guy who will likely be the face of the Nationals franchise for a while. They look to sign him to a multi-year deal before the season opener, so we'll see.  

Pack 2 - I'm running out of time before the race starts (go #48!) so I'm just going to throw this 2nd pack at you, no offense to you fans of any of these players and/or teams.

#354 Chris Ianetta, #MMS21 Mickey Mantle Story 21


#519 Alex Rios, #619 Bud Black


# 534 Terrmel Sledge, #492 Michael Barrett


#498 Jarrod Washburn, Series 2 Checklist 3 of 3


#TS14 Lance Berkman, #443 Mike Cameron

4 comments:

David Wishinsky said...

As an Indians fan Joe Borowski put me at risk for a heart attack increasing my health insurance premiums everytime he pitched. Seems like a nice guy but I hope he never picks up a baseball again. Isn't that one of the worst airbrushing jobs ever too?

Motherscratcher said...

If there's still room on the back of Borowski's card you could include: "Caused Tribe fan Motherscratcher to consume mass quantities of beer. Motherscratcher is still confused as to his feelings about that."

Dubbs said...

That was me and Guillermo Mota last season...he was either red hot (like towards the end of the season) or just garbage...and the garbage nights were my beer nights as well.

S said...

Dubbs,
Unfortunately for both Borowski and myself, we continue to live under the massive shadow of the most distinguished Bayonnian to ever grace our presence, Mr. Barney Frank.
-Scis