2005 Upper Deck Pros & Prospects

Let's tear in.

Top to Bottom:
9 Brian Giles

55 Randy Johnson
7 Alex Rodriguez

40 Gary Sheffield
46 Shawn Green
52 Rafael Furcal

So this is some set from 2005 that WAITAFUCKINGMINUTEHOLDONWHATTHEFUCK???

1980 Topps Pepsi??? And there's a Robin Yount card in it??? My BBCP search to find more about this wretched Pros & Prospects set led me to this information. Great, another Robin Yount card I can never dream of affording. I blame you, Brian Giles.

2005 Upper Deck Pros & Prospects

It's gone past the point of becoming cliche to point out that no one posts here anymore. In fact, it's now cliche to point out the cliche regarding the lack of posts. So here we go. I'll just tell a lie about each player.

Let's tear in.

Top to Bottom:
35 Jason Schmidt
Mike Schmidt was a well-known practitioner of Onanism. If you've got a test tube and a quick, nimble hand, and you're in the general area when the seed is spilt, you can make a name for yourself in the AI game. Jason, I hate to tell you this way, but this is your origin story in a nutshell.

49 Alfonso Soriano
No fewer than 43 Major League Baseball teams have been disappointed when a post-Yankees Soriano failed to capture lightning in a bottle for them.

32 Ben Sheets
Sheets owns the world record for creating and cooking the world's longest knackwurst on the world's smallest grill.

88 Kerry Wood
Currently hanging above table 14 in a Wilmette, Illinois, Applebee's.

69 Livan Hernandez
Provides the voice for the Car Fox on those Carfax commercials.

29 Jason Kendall
Removes the toilet in each home he inhabits, just squats above the hole.

All of these guys were seasoned pros then, where are the prospects?

2005 Upper Deck All Star Classics

So a bunch of these discounted packs have started showing up at my local Target, and for $1.59, I can't resist.

Let's tear in.

Top to Bottom:
36 Nomar Garciaparra
22 Jason Varitek

20 Ivan Rodriguez
1 Albert Pujols Gold Parallel (250/499)

71 Oliver Perez

79 Bob Gibson
65 Joe Mauer
86 Jim Palmer

Not sure if all packs are like this one, but it seems like the front half is all then-current players, and the back half alternates between All-Star Futures and Legendary All-Stars. Great looking cards, a little hit-or-miss on the checklist given the time period, but a fun pack to open. The Pujols alone makes up the cost of the entire pack. Not bad.

2005 Upper Deck

Here's my first 2005 Upper Deck pack, purchased as part of a repack box sometime in the past couple of months. Some of the less interesting stuff that I open tends to sit around for awhile, and I'd probably say that this fits. The design is full-bleed like many Upper Deck sets, but is also fairly forgettable at the same time.

354 - Angel Berroa

315 - David Ortiz (It's hard for me to totally hate David Ortiz, even though he plays for the Red Sox and was a PED user. I'm not sure why that is. It's so much easier to hate Manny Ramirez for whatever reason.)

376 - Jaret Wright

337 - Jake Westbrook

- Upper Deck Rewards ad

344 - Carlos Pena (Pena has turned into a premier slugger.)

493 - Jake Peavy Team Checklist (I have a strange feeling that Peavy will struggle with the White Sox in the long run.)

480 - Todd Helton Team Checklist

450 - Tony Blanco Star Rookies (According to the back of the card, this guy was the heir apparent at 3B to Vinny Castilla. I had no idea Castilla was still around in 2005.)

2005 Fleer Showcase

Last month I picked up a repack product at Target, four packs for $4.99. Unless some 1991 Donruss got slipped in there behind the front packs, I thought this was a good enough deal. The first pack, 2005 Fleer Showcase, is the one that turned this purchase from a maybe into a yes. Never opened one before, so this will be fun.

Let's tear in.

Top to Bottom:
12 Barry Zito (His A's cards always look cooler than the Giants ones. One of the good guys in baseball.)

34 Bret Boone (Bad head and shoulders picture. Looks like he is a character in a juvenile poop-and-fart comedy film, has to poop, is in a social setting where pooping is not possible, and is straining to keep it on the inside.)

1 Albert Pujols (Great player, I'm hoping Prince can hold him off for the RBI lead to offer some solace for a disappointing, though not unexpected, Brewers season.)

45 Austin Kearns

64 Matt Holliday (Thrust the dagger into my boys last night. I watched the based loaded with one out eighth inning, thought we were home free, and turned to last night's recording of "Big Brother." Did I make a good choice? And for anyone who watches, who's going to win this year? Kevin? Natalie? Jordan? Is this sad, or what?)

Grade: B
Nice design, good assortment of players.

2005 Donruss Team Heroes

I have no idea what these cost when they were new, but with only four cards per pack, the price was too high. I suppose this was a 'premium' set, but after looking at the photos and cards themselves, there is no way I'd be calling this 'premium.'


Mark Teixeira (Rangers), Mike Schmidt (Phillies), Jose Contreras (White Sox), and Armando Benitez (Giants) are the cards that came out of their shell for today's APAD. I have to say the Schmidt looks good considering the actual photo is who knows how many years old. That is some serious photoshopping!

2005 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites

Man, it's called A Pack A Day, not A Pack Every Few Days, right? You're probably wondering if we kicked the habit or something. Here's a pack of 2005 Topps Fan Favorites, which was showing on the outside of a W**-Mart repack cube. It was the primary reason I bought the cube, despite it's noticeable flaws (the hard plastic case was cracked on both the top and the bottom and there was tons of shipping tape stuck to it.)

58 - Gregg Jefferies (Jefferies was the Alex Gordon of his era, minus the gimmicked "rookie card". Oh, and he played in New York, too, but was soon dealt to KC after several seasons of intense media pressure and failing to meet expectations. He actually went on to be a two-time All-Star for the Cardinals, but hardly anyone paid attention at that point.)

90 - Clem Labine (I'm embarrassed to say that I don't know who Clem Labine is. If I had more time, I'd read up on him on Wikipedia.)

45 - Dwight Gooden (Gooden was THE card to get when 1986 Topps came out. One of the coolest things about this set is that they use different photos from the same era on the card. It's kind of like being in an alternate universe, only in that universe only Topps cards exist and they all have shiny gold stamps on them.)

118 - Steve Garvey (Here's a former Dodger that I do know. Of course, by the time I was getting seriously into baseball Garvey was best known for being quite the ladies' man and an occasional tv personality.)

81 - Michael Kay (This set is also fun because it throws you a few curve balls. I have a couple of Fan Favorites cards in my collection of Walt Jocketty, the now former Cards' GM. Here's Yankees YES Network announcer Michael Kay. I can't decide if I hate him or like him. His voice is certainly distinct.)

47 - Ernie Banks (Here's a man who needs no introduction, so I won't give one. My girlfriend likes the Cubs logo here, but lamented that it was too bad because of the team it represents. It also looks like Mr. Cub is being erased or is somehow trying to avoid sliding into a soul-sucking tornado.)

2005 Topps Football

Several years ago, when I first succumbed to the allure of buying sports cards again thanks to your local big box retailer, I picked up a couple of football packs and a basketball pack and promptly forgot about them. I discovered them tucked away in a box recently and thought Super Bowl Sunday would be a good time to bust out this 2005 Topps rack pack. Unfortunately, I completely ran out of time Sunday and now no one cares about football anymore. Anyway, it's time to put football to rest until the fall, with one last gasp from the past.

This came out around the time the 2006 Topps baseball rack packs came out and came with 3 "vintage" cards in them. This pack also followed the same scheme in celebration of 50 years of Topps football. The base set design apparently does not follow the lead of 2005 Topps baseball. I actually think it's one of the nicer modern Topps football designs.

378 - Brandon Jacobs (RC) (I'm pretty sure I had no idea who Jacobs was when I got this pack, so this was a bit of a surprise. As an Eagles fan, I see plenty of him now.)
325 - Joe Namath Golden Moments (Looks like there's plenty of retired players in this set, which is always nice.)
248 - Quincy Morgan (Completely forgot about him. 2005 was his last real season.)
1977 #90 - Dan Dierdorf (I love the picture. I grew up with Frank, Al and Dan on Monday Night Football. He doesn't quite have the same impact as a CBS announcer, but I think CBS football broadcasts in general are really boring.)
237 - Brett Favre (Favre was 0-5 with 2 INT in his Falcons career.)
178 - Kenechi Udeze

56 - Jerricho Cotchery (Cotchery had a nice season for the Jets in 2008. He's also got a notch in the Cool Name Dept.)
410 - Reggie Brown (RC) (Terrible looking posed photo which I just couldn't bring myself to take a picture of, even though he's an Eagle. Brown didn't do much this year. NFL rookie cards are the worst looking things.)

337 - LaDainian Tomlinson All-Pro (Being a dominant running back in the NFL is a fickle thing. Just ask Shawn Alexander. Tomlinson's numbers in 2008 were the lowest in his career, though he hasn't quite fallen down Alexander's path just yet.)
39 - Drew Bennett (Crappy Pac-10 QB turned one-year-wonder NFL wide receiver.)
299 - Nate Clements

1977 #303 - Charlie Davis (I don't know who Davis is, but he sure looks mean.)
234 - Joe Horn (Horn was a star with the Saints, but he's been out of action since an ill-fated 2007 with the Falcons.)
85 - Antwaan Randle El (I kinda like the Steelers when they had several former QBs playing other positions and would run lots of trick plays. I'm not much of a Ben Whats-his-face fan though.)

1977 #504 - J.V. Cain (Complete with authentic wax stain!)
195 - Marc Bulger (Ick.)

324 - Lawrence Taylor Golden Moments (There's only one LT.)
295 - Mewelde Moore
263 - Derrick Mason
115 - Simeon Rice
140 - Robert Gallery (One of many questionable Raiders draft picks, as he was chosen #2 overall in 2004 and has yet to develop into a Pro Bowl player.)

I also have a 2005 Topps Total pack, but I might save it for next year. As usual, all of these cards are up for grabs if anyone wants them.

2005 Donruss Team Heroes

Before I get to today's pack rip, I should wrap up last week's Royal Rumble Contest. Sam chose #8, represented by Shannon Stewart (see below). The eighth entrant in the Royal Rumble match, Randy Orton, won the whole magillah. So Sam is the winner! I'll need you to email me (brotz13 AT gmail DOT com) with your address and your favorite team so that I can send your prize. If I don't hear from you by the end of the day Wednesday, I'll move on to the runner-up.

So, are you going through Donruss Withdrawal? Never fear, a repacked pack of Team Heroes is here! I don't quite get the graph paper background on these, but I do like the team-color gradient bar on the left side. What do we have here?

241 Marlon Byrd - The card back mentions his 5-RBI game against the Expos. I miss those guys.

222 Barry Zito - Rockin' the double-knit flashbacks. Love the stirrups.

204 Tom Seaver - Hey, an actual Team Hero! Who'da thunk it? Great action shot of Tom Terrific in mid-delivery.

186 Justin Morneau - Probably didn't deserve his MVP award a few years back, but since he denied Derek Jeter the honors I can't complain.

373 Carl Pavano - One of Cleveland's big offseason pickups. Stop snickering.

349 Derek Lowe - It's D. Lowe, not to be confused with D'Lo.

308 Jose Cruz, Jr. - Shown in the Diamondbacks phase of his long career descent.

197 Victor Zambrano - One of the most useless of the Orioles parade of pitching horrors in recent years (0-1, 9.49 in 12.1 innings).

2005 Topps Fan Favorites

At the local mega-retailer, where the colors have gone from blue and gray to some weird sandstone mix, I picked up a repack blaster pack with three packs of cards inside. I saw the face of Mike Schmidt staring out at me. How could I pass it up?

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Each pack has six cards inside. The first two here are Jeffrey Leonard (Giants) and Jose Oquendo (Cardinals). Leonard averaged 16 home runs and 17 stolen bases in each of his six years with the Giants. Oquendo played 10 seasons with the Cards and he was the first National Leaguer to play all nine positions in a single season. Talk about a utility player:

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Next up, we have Gary Gaetti (Twins) and Reggie "They named a chocolate covered rice crispy treat after me" Jackson (A's). Gaetti sits in the top-ten home run hitters for the Twins (or did in 2005), and Jackson... Well, Reggie is flippin REGGIE JACKSON, hello!? Though he played for various teams in his career, he began and ended his time in the Bigs with the A's:

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And, rounding out the pack, we have Monte Irvin (NY Giants) and Bill Freehan (Tigers). The Irvin card is done up in a Play Ball game card style. Freehan was an AL MVP 11 of 15 seasons:

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I always did like these cards, but obviously missed out on the call to vote. Exactly how did that work anyway? I'd love to see Topps bring these back again and give us a chance to 'update' the deck of cards!

2005 Donruss Team Heroes

This pack was showing on the outside of one of those repack boxes where you can see the four packs on the outside and there's some "bonus" stuff inside. I took this one specifically because it had a Donruss pack showing because, well, how often can you buy a "new" Donruss baseball pack anymore? Well, aside from that silly unlicensed stuff, of course...

Anyway, I failed to notice the fact that this is not the base Donruss set but instead a set called Team Heroes. And I'm pretty sure I've bought a pack or two of this before, which makes me doubly unobservant. Oops.

417 - Gavin Floyd (Floyd finally had a breakout season in 2008 for the White Sox, posting a 17-8 with a 3.84 ERA after showing promise earlier in his career. He only turns 26 this month, so he could be a solid starter for years to come. He looks like he's about 14 on this card, though.)
375 - Logan Kensing (I've never heard of this guy, but he's a right-handed reliever who logged a career high in innings and appearances in his fifth season with Florida.)

333 - Ervin Santana (Santana was an All-Star last season for the first time and finished 6th in Cy Young voting. Still, he'll probably always be the "other Santana.")

108 - Jason Jennings Showdown Red (I'm not sure what Showdown is supposed to mean, but I guess it translates to an excuse to have multi-colored parallels. Jennings is not very good.)
69 - Corey Patterson (Patterson is one of those players whose name only comes up in fantasy league discussions. He seems to struggle to find a job every season in the real league.)
52 - Abe Alvarez (Another guy I've never heard of. Alvarez hasn't appeared in the majors since 2006.)

34 - John Smoltz (I keep getting Smoltz cards lately. It must be a Red Sox thing.)

1 - Adam Kennedy (Kennedy tried to get out of St. Louis last season after they signed Felipe Lopez for the stretch run. Then the Cards tried to trade him this offseason and found no suitors. He'll likely be the starter at 2B again, which to Tony La Russa means about 100 starts.)