Sox Or No Sox: 2-19-08

Let's play America’s favorite pack opening game, Sox Or No Sox.

The rules are simple. We take one unopened pack of baseball cards that was randomly selected by yours truly. We then go through the pack card by card looking for those hard to find White Sox cards.

Our player in tonight's game is a 2008 Upper Deck pack. The pack contains 36 cards. The wrapper is a two compartment rack pack featuring two Hot Commodities cards. Let's begin.

#1: Shawn Chacon – 205 - Pirates
A couple of OK years.

#2: Ichiro – 139 - Mariners
No last name given. Is this possibly Ichiro Miller?

#3: Hank Blalock – 217 - Rangers
Power, not average.

#4: Jacque Jones – 80 - Tigers
He’s listed as a Tiger, but he’s in a Cubs uniform. Someone at Upper Deck is trying to screw with me. No trap card. Close enough though.

#5: Tim Hudson – 41 - Braves
I know he’s been there for awhile. Why do I have a hard time thinking of him in a Braves uniform?

#6: Kelvim Escobar – 2 – Angels
Kelvim? That name always bothered me. He won 18 games last year though.

#7: Shawn Green – 158 - Mets
Green in orange and blue.

#8: Ryan Dempster – 75 - Cubs
Trap card! I liked him on the Marlins.

#9: Kyle Kendrick – 192 – Phillies
Is that Jim Thome standing behind him. Thome is laughing at you for being traded for a hot dog eating champion too.

#10: Ryan Theriot – 78 – Cubs
What the hell? Another Cub trap card?

#11: Ryan Klesko – 117 – Giants
It looks like Ryan just popped up.

#12: Ryan Madson – 195 – Phillies
That’s the third Ryan in a row and the fourth in the last five cards. Was Ryan a popular name in the late 70’s and early 80’s? I think so!

#13: Matt Holliday SH – 396 – Rockies
The National League leader in hits.

#14: Vladimir Guerrero CL – 351 – Angels
Congrats Vladdy! It looks like you just did something great before this shot was taken.

#15: Wladimir Balentien – 303 – Mariners
My spellchecker is going insane right now.

#16: Nyjer Morgan – 330 – Pirates
I stand by my last statement.

#17: Don Mattingly YSL – 5195 – Yankees
Card number 5195? Ugh. A pointless mirror card. – ½ point!

#18: Jim Thome (Hot Commodities) – HC9 – White Sox
I have a confession. I picked the pack up because I saw this card peeking out on the back. Woo hoo! 2 points!

We’re halfway through. A great White Sox insert card. But two dreaded Cubs trap cards! Almost three! 18 cards left to go. A Yankee Stadium mirror card. Let’s see if we can get another White Sox card!

#19: Brian Bruney – 295 - Yankees
He’s described as burly. There can only be one Buehrle!

#20: John Buck – 256 - Royals
This almost sounds like a porn star’s name. A porn star who can swing a big stick for the fences. Sorry. Thorzul is a bad influence. Yeah, that's the ticket!

#21: Adam Wainwright – 61 - Cardinals
Very decent stuff!#22: Freddie Bynum – 178 - OriolesI remember Freddie from his days as a Cub. He still can’t hit that well.

#23: Dennys Reyes – 275 - Twins
It looks like he’s been eating every meal at Denny’s.

#24: Joel Pineiro – 62 – Cardinals
From bullpen guy to starter in two different leagues. At least he should’ve gotten a ring in 2007 for his role in the Red Sox season.

#25: Jorge Posada – 296 – Yankees
Will he be a career Yankee? Probably.

#26: Mark Grudzielanek – 257 – Royals
One of my exes had a huge crush on him when he was with the Cubs. She was violently ill when he went to the Cardinals. Mark was also featured in an SNL sketch from 1997 called Baseball Dreams. If anyone posts a YouTube video of that, let me know and I'll post it here.

#27: Ian Kinsler – 218 – Rangers
He looks to be a star in the making. With a little practice and a little luck, who knows.

#28: Scott Baker – 273 – Twins
He hasn’t quite translated his minor league success into a major league career.

#29: David Weathers – 234 – Reds
Very well traveled, including a brief stint with the White Sox in 2001.

#30: Matt Stairs – 39 – Blue Jays
Matt has become well traveled the last few years.

#31: David Wright – 156 – Mets
I’m frankly surprised to see David Wright in an Upper Deck product. Good for him.

#32: Jake Peavy CL – 369 – Padres
Rocking the old school Padres uniform! Very cool!

#33: Jerry Blevins – 306 – Athletics
He got rocked last year. Hopefully, he rebounds from it. Chalk it up as a learning experience.

#34: Fred Lewis SH – 387 – Giants
He went 5 for 6, while hitting for the cycle. Impressive.

#35: Joe Koshansky – 324 – Rockies
At least he’s clutch.

#36: Matt Holliday (Hot Commodities) – HC45 – Rockies
Nice looking insert.

OK, our pack opening is complete. Very interesting pack. Two Cubs trap cards and one White Sox insert. A boring, but clean design for the card. Not that bad. It never felt gimmicky. Keep in mind an average pack of these, with no trap cards, no mirrors and no White Sox cards should yield 18 points.

So, that’s ½ point for each non-mutilated card in the pack. –1 for each trap card. –1/2 point for the mirror card.

Final score: 17 ½ points

One White Sox card in this game, we’ll look for more next time on Sox Or No Sox.