2009 Allen & Ginter

Has everyone abandoned this blog for the newer one? Apparently so. Well, I'm still here and I want to make a post. I'm shocked that no one has bombarded this site, like every other one, with 2009 Allen & Ginter. I guess I'll have to be the first.

I stopped by my favorite shop on Tuesday, for the first time in about two months. I soon came to realize that the previous owner sold the store one month ago. He wanted to spend some more time with his family. I can't say that I blame him. He was the only employee.

The new owners are a family and are long time customers of the previous owner. The family was actually looking into opening a shop in 1994, but the previous owner beat them to it. It's a natural fit and I'm still satisfied with the place.

I picked up two packs of 2009 Allen & Ginter to ease my craving for new product pack opening. The other pack was nice. I laughed out loud when I found the Hoaxes mini card of the collapse of the Wisconsin capitol building in 1933. This pack was more catered to my taste, so I'll show that one.

Let's begin.
138 - Garrett Atkins

I believe he was in the first ever Allen & Ginter pack I opened in 2007. In fact, I'm sure of it! Look at those squinty eyes. It's as if Garrett is thinking, "Not this guy again". Yes, Garrett, this guy. Again. The feeling is mutual.

7 - John Smoltz

I'm going to get a lot of flack for this, but I really like this card. The splashes of red in the uniform really pop against the green. It doesn't hurt that green is my favorite color and this particular shade is pretty darn close to my favorite shade. I look into Smoltz' eyes and I see a man who can't believe he's that close to Delaware either.

116 - Charles Darwin

The well informed know this guy. The less informed seem to favor torches and pitchforks, right out of a Simpsons episode and of course from the Mary Shelley classic, History of a Six Weeks' Tour through a part of France, Switzerland, Germany, and Holland; with Letters Descriptive of a Sail Round the Lake of Geneva and of the Glaciers of Chamouni.

Why, what were you thinking? Look into his eyes and you could almost make out Roddy McDowell's Cornelius.

176 - Ramiro Pena

Wow! He's got some talented people blocking him. Does he become the next Jeter or the next Stankiewicz?

112 - Millito Navarro

The first Puerto Rican to play in the Negro Leagues and the oldest living Negro League player at 103!

295 - Brett Gardner

Another Yankee. Another generic Ruthian pose. Yawn. But wait. What's going on with those eyes? Spooky.

200 - Carlos Quentin (Mini A&G back)

Sweet! My first White Sox Allen & Ginter for 2009 and it's a mini! There is celebration in the streets!

NP60 - Stephen Drew

An American. I was hoping for a cool foreign flag, but this is cool too.

All in all, not a bad pack. I love the Quentin mini and the Darwin card. There's something mesmerizing about the Smoltz card. I was hoping for a Negro League player and I got one. I was secretly hoping that it would be a player from the Chicago American Giants. You can't have everything. Maybe next time.