2005 Topps Updates & Highlights

There was one rogue pack of 2005 Topps Updates & Highlights in the bargain bin during a recent Target visit. I will grab this stuff as soon as I see it, even though I own most of the Cardinals in the 2005 Topps base sets. I still don't own Colby Rasmus, and there's a ton of other choice rookies available in the U&H set, the last Topps set that came out before the new "Rookie Card" rules. 12 cards for $1.59 - let's see what happens:

UH33 - Placido Polanco (He may look like Mr. Potato Head, but all he's done is hit .306 over his career and play a solid, steady second base. I'm not sure if he was worthy of his Gold Glove in 2007, but that award is kind of a joke these days anyway. I'd still much rather have him back than Adam Kennedy.)
UH55 - Marlon Byrd (Incidentally, these cards have the 2005 season stats on the back. This must have been released very late in the year.)
UH243 - Daniel Haigwood First Year (Haigwood is in the Red Sox system and hasn't advanced beyond AA.)
UH290 - George Kottaras First Year (Kottaras was the PTBNL in a David Wells trade and made his major league debut with Boston late last season.)
UH259 - Ricky Barrett First Year (Barrett is still with the team that drafted him, the Twins, and has pitched in AAA for four straight years. Ouch.)

UH321 - Chris Volstad Draft Pick (Well, he's not Jacoby Ellsbury or even Jay Bruce, but Volstad pitched very well last season for the Marlins.)
UH24 - Jody Gerut (I saw him play for the Portland Beavers last year.)

UH145 - Roger Clemens / Andy Pettitte / Dontrelle Willis NL ERA Leaders Gold 0308/2005 (This card is going straight to the stack of cards that I still haven't mailed off to The Pettitte Pursuit. Oops.)

UH172 - Bobby Cox All-Stars (Cox would be the Dean of all major sports coaches if it wasn't for Jerry Sloan, I believe.)

UH195 - Bobby Abreu Home Run Derby (Abreu is in danger of being best known for this Home Run Derby business. It would be fun to see a consistent line drive hitter like Ichiro in the derby, just to mix it up a bit.)

UH170 - Chris Carpenter All-Stars (Please, Carp, PLEASE be healthy and normal this season. I think that would be my number one wish for the upcoming season.)
UH163 - Andruw Jones All-Stars (Does anyone else think Andruw should spend some time at AAA this season?)
- Checklist 3 of 3

Not bad. I need to find more of this stuff, or at least find a way to finish off my Cardinals team set for this year.