2009 Upper Deck Series 1

I had struck out in many attempts to find Upper Deck cards until last Saturday, when I saw that a local hobby shop was selling boxes for $89. Did I have $89 to blow on cards? Of course not. They didn't have packs for sale, but I later found myself in a Fred Meyer store. There it was... by the customer service desk... behind a box of Score football... completely untouched... could it be? I could have... any pack that I wanted!

How do you pack search again?

I ended up buying three packs, and here's the first one I opened.

32 - Ramon Hernandez (Hernandez gets a horizontal card because he's sticking his leg out.)
4 - Dan Haren
67 - Geovany Soto (Last year's NL ROY.)
161 - Brandon Backe (I don't like him. And he's lousy.)

YSL6686 - Andy Pettitte Yankee Stadium Legacy (If I collected this set, I'd be really annoyed. Why did they change the YSL logo at the top? There's no reason to do that. Did they forget what it looked like last year? I'm a stickler for consistency in design.)

GJ-PE - Jhonny Peralta UD Game Jersey (I swear I have no idea how to search packs. Not to mention the fact that the whole process seems to result in stuff getting damaged, and no one needs that. The only piece of jersey in the card is the navy blue "J")

434 - Yankees Team Leaders (I like these cards. They're very... Topps.)

482 - Adrian Gonzalez Team Checklist (Here's the Padres Series 1 checklist, Pads fans.)

211 - Greg Maddux (The last Greg Maddux card ever? Nah, not with the way things are now. He'll be in sets until 2089, when we run out of resources to make paper.)

228 - Justin Morneau (Morneau is trying not to look like a huge dork with his Home Run Derby trophy. Trying.)
245 - Luis Castillo
262 - Robinson Cano (Pretty good shot of Robinson Cano making the turn over a sliding pre-Dodgers Casey Blake. This post is already too Yankees-heavy, though, so you don't get to see it.)

332 - Felix Hernandez (King Felix. Who crowned him, exactly? I'd want him on my team, though.)
400 - Jesus Flores (Part! Time! Catcher!!)

349 - Jason Isringhausen (And here's Izzy to top it off. He brings his 293 saves and busted career to Tampa Bay. I wish him luck.)