Teams Remaining in the May Quarry Group Break...Blue Jays, Orioles, Reds, + more

A couple of days ago I announced the Quarry's first group break, details can be found here.  A lot of good teams have been snagged already,  but there are still some premium teams available.  Here they are separated by division.

Cost is $11 for one team and $9 for each additional team.  Payment can be sent via Paypal gift to cardsfromthequarryATyahooDOTcom.

Boxes busted will be
1998 Bowman Series 1 and Series 2
2003 Bazooka
2004 Bazooka

Come on out and join in the fun.  Claim teams by commenting here or on the original post.


Orioles -
Blue Jays  -
Rays -

Royals -
Twins -
Tigers -
White Sox -

Rangers -
Angels -
Mariners -

Nationals/Expos -
Marlins -

Reds -
Astros -
Brewers -
Pirates -

Padres -
Diamondbacks -

The First Group Break Announcement Here at the Quarry

I was planning on announcing the 3rd edition of The Budget eBay Collector today.  It has been postponed (not canceled I will be doing it in June) due to a better idea.  I have decided to do the first ever group break here at the Quarry in May.  As I have stated, I love them and I think we could have a fun and inexpensive one here.  If this works well, for me and for you, it might become a monthly or bi-monthly event.

One slight problem, I have no video capability currently (and for the foreseeable future), so all breaks will be purely text and scans.  I will type every single player and team that is pulled from a pack regardless of whether that team was purchased.  If you have read my Sunday Afternoon Blaster series you know my set up by now.  This will be the same set up.

What I plan to break

1998 Bowman Series 1 - 24 packs, 10 cards per...key rookies of Troy Glaus, Mike Lowell, Jimmy Rollins, Magglio Ordonez, Orlando Hernandez (autos possible but not probable), several inserts and parallels

1998 Bowman Series 2 - 24 packs, 10 cards per...key rookies of Carlos Lee, Cristian Guzman, Randy Wolf + a majority of the stars (autos possible, again not probable), several inserts and parallels

2003 Topps Bazooka - 24 packs, 8 cards per...key rookie of Kevin Youkilis, two parallels per pack, three guaranteed HITS per box (and they look cool).

2004 Topps Bazooka - 24 packs, 8 cards per...key rookies of Dioner Navarro, Yadier Molina, two parallels per pack, three guaranteed HITS per box, several fun inserts per box


What will it cost
It is looking like $11 per team...$9 for each additional team.  I will not keep any excess money and will add bonus packs (at least, possibly another box) if enough teams are sold.  So any advertising on your site to increase my buys will get you more cards in the big picture.  Pay via Paypal (gift ONLY PLEASE) to cardsfromthequarryATyahooDOTcom.  I set up the new account just for group breaks, so that way I will know exactly how much is left to purchase more cards.


What is Available

Yankees - BABenny (pd)
Red Sox - Dawgbones (pd)
Orioles - Ryan H. (pd)
Blue Jays  - moremonkeys183 (pd)
Rays -

Indians - Jason (pd)
Royals -
Twins - Play at the Plate (pd)
Tigers -
White Sox - Darren (pd)

Athletics - Nathan (pd)
Rangers - Playattheplate (pd)
Angels - The Angels in Order (pd)
Mariners -

Braves - Colbey (pd)
Mets - BABenny (pd)
Phillies - Dawgbones (pd)
Nationals/Expos -
Marlins -

Reds - Darren (pd)
Astros -
Cardinals - Ryan G. (pd)
Brewers - cynicalbuddha (pd)
Cubs - Matt Pederson (pd)
Pirates -

Rockies - hiflew (host)
Dodgers - Spiegel (pd)
Giants - Ryan G. (pd)
Padres - Jon from Community Gum (pd)
Diamondbacks -



I hope this is a successful break because I would love to do some type of break at least bi-monthly.

April Group Break Results from Thorzul will Rule...SERIOUS REDEMPTION

 GROUP BREAK RESULTS

Site
Thorzul Will Rule

Boxes broken
2003 Donruss Elite
2005 Topps Retired Signature Edition

As I said in the past, I LOVE group breaks, so I decided to create a nice little form for posting the results.  After last month's poor results from Thorzul's break I had three options.  One, slink away with my tail between my legs...not even really considered.  Two, buy the Rockies and hope for the best...considered.  Three, buy the best team available and trade for the Rox as my second team.  I decided on option three and double secret option four.  We'll start with option three, the Mets were available so I popped hoping someone would trade me the randomized Rockies later.  Double secret option four was to double down and purchase a second group of two teams.  After some research on the boxes being broken I chose the Royals hoping for a nice George Brett.  I was randomized the Pirates and Tigers and flipped (luckily as it turned out) the Tigers to Ryan G. for the Rox (that have 0 cards in the 2005 set, so an easy trade).

So my teams for the break ended up being (with projected rankings)
1. Mets
2. Royals
3. Rockies
4. Pirates

That was the order I expected the loot to shake out...Oh how wrong I was!  Because what followed is my greatest group break victory EVER. (which you can see later)  heehee

I will start with the team that finished 4th in my final rankings, my Rockies

4. ROCKIES

I picked up 5 Rockies out of the Elite box and 0 from the other which was no surprise as mentioned earlier.  These cards are really good looking, but you just about need to wear white gloves when handling them to avoid fingerprints.  I  got every Rockie from this set now minus two short print rookies of Jeff Baker and Garrett Atkins. I got the 4 needed cards (Jennings is the dupe) to finish the base team set for my Rockies and they still finished 4th.  Are you starting to realize how great this break was for me?

3. ROYALS

I only got two Royals in both boxes combined, one from each...Let's take a look.

 Eh, nothing special here, so how did this team beat the Rox?

This is how.  A George Brett gold parallel #'d 166/500.  Not the $150 Brett autograph I was hoping would pop from the box when I chose the Royals, but very nice nonetheless.  I am not a book value junkie by any means, but for this I will share what my 2007 SCD says the cards are worth.  This Brett books for somewhere between $6-$12.  Not too shabby.

2. METS

I got very little from the Mets in the 2005 box (1 base card), but I killed the 2003 box with them.  Let's look.

 I am only showing one of the 3 Met base cards I got.  I also got Roberto Alomar and Al Leiter.  This is around Glavine's first ever Met card in uniform (odd that they had Jose Hernandez in his Brewer uniform, but they got a Glavine in spring training pic).  The base card I got from the 2005 box was of manager Davey Johnson, like I said very little.  But let's check out the serious 2003 mojo that some of you traders may go apeshit with your offers over.

A Hideo Nomo Throwback Threads jersey patch #009/250.  And what a patch it is!  The thing I loved about older Donruss (and some Fleer) relics was the picture of the actual item cut up on the back of the card.  This 4 color patch (a little blue in the extreme right) appears to be taken from the name possibly between the N and O.  This card help me forget that with the Mets in this break I got cards of both pitchers to ever no hit the Rockies, Nomo and Leiter.  Hmm, well I didn't forget it, but I am okay with it.  In case you are curious, 2007 SCD books this card at $20.

That brings us to one of the biggest surprises of my group break career, a cool Pirates card (make that 3 cool Pirates cards).

1. PIRATES

Yep, Aramis Ramirez used to be a Pirate, before the Cubs absolutely stole him (and Kenny Lofton) at the 2003 trading deadline for I think a bag of balls.  Actually they were traded for Jose Hernandez (seen above) who the Rockies had dumped on the Cubs earlier in that summer.  I also got Kenny Lofton and Josh Fogg from this set.

Sweet, my first Roberto Clemente card that I remember owning.  Strike that, I had the 1982 K Mart reprint, but this is my first non-reprint of Clemente.  I have always loved the Pirates color scheme and it works well on this card design.  How good is this that my first Clemente card is only the 3rd best Pirates card received?  SCD book value $4.

A gold version of the only early 90s Pirate that I did not despise and the Pirate colors really work well against the gold background.  I was a fan of Van Slyke in his early time with the Cardinals as well.  This card is numbered 177/500 and being a collector from the mid 80's I think this might be the 500th Van Slyke card I have owned at one time or another, but it really brings back some good memories which ups its value to me.  SCD book value $2-$4.

AND NOW THE BEST CARD OF THE BREAK

 

TAADAAA!!!!  How great is that card! An uncirculated, on-card autograph of Bill Mazeroski, hero of the 1960 World Series defeating the damn Yankees.  This card is not numbered, but I don't care.  There could be 8 billion of these floating around and I would still be happy, well maybe not 8 billion but you get the idea.  For 33 years he was the only person that won the World Series with a walk off home run (I hate that ESPN term, but it works here) and now I have his autograph.  When I watched the video break I didn't stop smiling the rest of the day.  I would like to formally apologize to all the other participants in this break for hogging all the best cards, but my loot sucked last month so maybe it will turn around for you next time.  BTW, in case you are curious the SCD book value on this card is $45, but it's worth more than that to me.

Thank you to Thorzul for hosting this break and I see absolutely no reason to not join you next time.  I spent $42 bucks on both slots and got around double my money's worth in cards, not a bad investment indeed.  I just about know for a fact I couldn't have gotten all of these cards on eBay or from a shop for $42, so I am just thrilled and I also apologize to the next group break (Sorry, Jon) I post because it couldn't possibly live up to this one (it's like being the guy that took over at UCLA for Wooden).

RTP #34 - Special Guest Darren from Potch Wheeler and the Cardboard Heroes

Welcome to the latest edition of The Rockie Trading Post.  Tonight's special guest is Darren from the creatively named blog Potch Wheeler and the Cardboard Heroes.  If you haven't met Darren, he collects cards of the Reds, Tigers, and Cubs along with having several sets working.  Darren contacted me about a Heritage trade and since most of you know my immense love for this year's set it was a go.  This is actually a two for one deal because since I am behind, Darren and I completed a second trade before I posted the first.  Here is his post on what I sent him for the first trade and what I received is right below.

Leading off this trade is a 2011 Topps diamond parallel of Ubaldo Jimenez.  This gives me 5 Rockies diamonds now.  The oddest about this card is it is the only Rockies base card I am missing at the moment.  So for now it will taunt me slightly.

Our Todd Helton card of the day is this 1999 Topps Stars Two Star parallel.  I don't know a lot about this set, but I believe the base card is a normal shot and one star is a little bit closer shot up to the four star extreme close up shot.  Rockies are only up to two star cards and I now have 2 of the 3.  Curtis Leskanic is a former Rockie reliever from 1994 Topps, back when non-closing relief pitchers were included in card sets.  I miss 792 card sets with even obscure MAJOR LEAGUERS getting cards.  Now we get 660 and 100 of that is combos or minor league prospects or 2 Stephen Strasburg cards in a 330 card set.  Rafael Betancourt (and others) deserves a card too, Topps.

We'll begin the Heritage portion of this trade with the zombie formerly known as Aaron Harang.  Seriously, that dude looks like he never leaves the house.  How does a baseball player, that literally plays outside for 4 hours at a time, not have at least a slight tan?  I'm sure he is a nice guy and all, but that is a seriously bad photo.  I blame the Padres.

The beard patrol comes up next.  Am I the only one that thinks Jayson Werth is the next Gary Matthews Jr.?  Parlaying a career year into a HUGE free agent contract.  Eh, he might be Adrian Beltre also, sucking for the entirety of the contract except the last year so you can a big contract again.

Here is another trio from Heritage that upon first sight have nothing in common.  Further review proves that these three have nothing in common.  I was grouping the pics and these were the leftovers.  I do like the Adam Jones classic baseball card posed shot though.  It proves you don't have to have amazing action shots or anything else in order to have a great card.

This pair of hatless wonders I just wanted to write about.  I'll start with the oxymoronically (yes, I know it's not a word) named Angel Pagan.  That's a name worthy of the Hall of Fame.  Secondly, I wanted to comment about Dan Uggla.  He looks like a 10 year old bully in that photo.  Then again, maybe I am just remembering my bully from when I was ten, but either way that is a weird haircut for a grown man.

Ubaldo leads off the second trade as well.  This is the black bordered parallel from Heritage, which basically ruins the appeal of the set which is the wood border.  These were just parallels for the Chromes and not the entire set.  Honestly, I think they look much better on scan than in person and I will only be looking for the other three Rockies in the black border.  Perhaps if they had gone with a mahogany or cherry wood rather than black, it would have looked a lot better.

Darren also included two other needed Rox in the second trade.  It is always nice to knock another 2009 O Pee Chee black border parallel off the want list.  Now seems to be the perfect day to showcase Jeff Baker because he played well against the Rockies in the game last night.  Luckily Starlin Castro forgot how to field for an inning and Colorado won the game AND increased their division lead over Broxton and the Dodgers.  Hee hee.


Thanks again Darren for the trades.  Make sure you check out his blog here and trade with him.  He seems like a real stand up guy.  Well that just about wraps up another edition of The Rockie Trading Post.  Tune in next time to find out the (final?) destination of my first pack-pulled 1/1 with a visit from an Orioles collector.  Until then, we are officially signed off.

Rockies Week in Review #3

Overall Record
14-7 1st Place NL West by 3 games

Record for the Week
2-4

It was a rough week to be a Rockies fan losing 2 of 3 to both the Giants and Marlins and nearly being no hit twice.  The first by Tim Lincecum and the second much closer by Anibal Sanchez, who appears to get close to a no hitter once a year much like Punxsutawney Phil.  It's okay though, every team has a down week and the Rox still have the second best record in the majors.  What is the old saying?  Every team wins a third of their games and loses a third of their games.  The difference between a good team and a bad team is that final third. 

Most Valuable Rockies Batter of the Week
Dexter Fowler

This was a tough category to fill because with the exception of the win vs. the Giants, the Rox offense took the week off.  Fowler tied for the team lead with six hits, including the only hit off Sanchez.  The Rockies have been no hit twice in their history, once by Hideo Nomo of some SoCal team and once by Al Leiter of the Marlins.  Dexter kept the Marlins from getting their second and in my book that makes him very valuable.

Least Valuable Rockies Batter of the Week
Carlos Gonzalez

CarGo had a bad week going 1-20 with 1 BB, including 0-17 in the last 5 games.  He did have a sacrifice fly in the final game at Florida, but hopefully he can get back on track this week.  He has suffered from the flu in the beginning of April and should get back to regular form shortly.

Most Valuable Rockies Pitcher of the Week
Clayton Mortensen

I could have chosen either of the two winning starting pitchers this week, Jorge de la Rosa and Jason Hammel, and still had a good choice.  Instead, I am choosing Mortensen who pitched in two games this week.  He pitched two perfect innings in relief of Ubaldo on Sunday, but it was his performance in relief of Esmil Rogers last Monday that made him stand out to me.  He pitched six relief innings of two hit shutout ball against the Giants.  Unfortunately, Rogers had given up 8 runs before he departed and the Rox lost 8-1.  Either way, it was nice to be able to see a good week by a Rockies reliever.

Least Valuable Rockies Pitcher of the Week
Esmil Rogers

Speaking of Rogers, he is the recipient of the LVP this week.  I didn't have high hopes for his getting a victory since he was matched up with Lincecum, but I expected more than 8 runs in 3 innings.  Also having a bad week was Ubaldo Jimenez who started twice after his DL stint, but I didn't pick him because he only gave up one hit in five innings to Florida, granted it was a 3 run triple after he walked the bases loaded, but it was still just one hit.

Next on the Horizon
3 games @ the Cubs and 3 games vs. the Pirates

This will finish off the season series with both clubs.  That seems odd to say in April, but it is a fact of life in modern baseball.  I am thrilled to get the opportunity to watch one game on WGN on Tuesday, but it will be the last Rockies game I will be able to watch until the end of May at the earliest.  I really wish I could get MLB Network on my cable, but that's life in a small town.  You get what they give you and don't have many other options.  Enough whining, I am predicting a 5-1 week with the loss probably coming in the game I will be watching hehe.

Sunday's Afternoon Blaster - 2011 Topps Value Pack

Welcome to this week's Sunday Afternoon Blaster.  This is one of those purchases that I just had to make.  The Topps set I haven't bought this year (other than one blaster), the Heritage is my favorite set in a long time.  The two Diamond Giveaway cards inserted in every box will put me over the first gift threshhold as well.  I think for the money this is one of the better values for cards.  I say this before opening it, I may complain at the end though.  I do have a few specific goals for each set.  With the Topps I need 2 specific non-parallel cards #141 Ubaldo Jimenez base and KC-1 Ubaldo Kimball Champions.  I would also be happy with a parallel Rockie as well. The Heritage, since I have completed the base set, I simply want a SP or insert I need.  I would also be happy with one of the 2 non-SP Rox I need for the team set. 

Card coloration is it's availability

white = I'm keeping it

green = available for trade

red = already claimed/traded



Today's "blaster" is a 2011 Topps Baseball Value Box.  5 Series 1 packs, 2 Heritage hobby packs, 1 bonus pack.

On with the show.

Topps

pack one

307 Alex Rios - White Sox

46 Hong-Chih Kuo - Dodgers

184 Brandon Morrow - Blue Jays

29 Josh Hamilton MVP - Rangers

314 Ryan Kalish - Red Sox

134 League Leaders Carlos Gonzalez - Rockies (and others)

217 Yunel Escobar - Blue Jays

154 Marlon Byrd - Cubs

267 Jose Contreras - Phillies

inserts

DD-PG Price/Garza Diamond Duos - Rays

60YOT-32 1983 #540 Ozzie Smith - Cardinals

TT-13 Chase Utley Toppstown - Phillies

pack two

188 Pablo Sandoval - Giants

33 Max Scherzer - Tigers

221 Scott Hairston - Padres

49 Angels team card - Angels

198 Buster Posey - Giants

53 Dbacks team card - Diamondbacks

283 Rockies team card - Rockies

113 Arthur Rhodes - Reds

191 Jay Bruce - Reds

inserts

T60-3 Babe Ruth Topps 60 - Yankees

HOT-10 2009 Topps receives MLB Exclusive - History of Topps

TT-32 Mike Stanton Toppstown - Marlins

pack three

121 Brandon Inge - Tigers

35 Shin-Soo Choo - Indians

317 Yonder Alonso - Reds

70 Kyle Drabek - Blue Jays

15 David Wright - Mets

234 Miguel Montero - Diamondbacks

273 Derrek Lee - Braves

90 Yadier Molina - Cardinals

171 Garrett Jones - Pirates

inserts

143 Jeremy Jeffress diamond parallel - Brewers

60YOT-39 1990 #701 Bernie Williams - Yankees

TT-33 Victor Martinez Toppstown - Red Sox

pack four

284 Reid Brignac - Rays

67 Vladimir Guerrero - Rangers

218 Victor Martinez - Red Sox

117 Brett Sinkbeil - Marlins

196 Jose Ceda - Marlins

7 Mickey Mantle - LET HIM REST IN PEACE

230 Aaron Cook - Rockies

325 Jayson Werth - Phillies

313 Chris Coghlan - Marlins

inserts

TDG-4 Albert Pujols Diamond Giveaway - Cardinals (see below for results)

KC-1 Ubaldo Jimenez Kimball Champions - Rockies WOOHOO!

TT-50 Albert Pujols Toppstown - Cardinals

pack five

311 James Shields - Rays

224 Milton Bradley - Mariners

69 Brett Gardner - Yankees

52 Rays team card - Rays

83 Greg Halman - Mariners

236 Nelson Cruz - Rangers

86 Carlos Silva - Cubs

229 Jonathan Sanchez - Giants

10 Stephen Strasburg - Nationals

inserts

T60-16 Carl Crawford Topps 60 - Rays

60YOT-05 1956 #113 Phil Rizzuto - Yankees

TT-47 Dustin Pedroia Toppstown - Red Sox

Heritage

pack one

255 Edwin Jackson - White Sox

47 Kosuke Fukudome - Cubs - Spiegel

296 Ian Desmond - Nationals

86 Alex Presley - Pirates

C56 Edwin Jackson chrome - White Sox 1831/1962

321 Matt Mangini - Mariners

415 Dexter Fowler - Rockies

398 Joey Votto All Star - Reds

55 AL ERA Leaders Felix Hernandez - Mariners (and others)

pack two

240 Xavier Nady - Diamondbacks

287 Neftali Feliz - Rangers

83 Chris Carpenter - Cardinals

345 Dustin Pedroia - Red Sox

350 Joey Votto - Reds

44 Justin Upton - Diamondbacks

121 Buck Showalter - Orioles

413 Chris Young - Diamondbacks

97 Grady Sizemore - Indians

Bonus

TDG-6 Roy Halladay Diamond Giveaway - Phillies

TDG-4 Albert Pujols Diamond Giveaway - Cardinals

MBC2 Jackie Robinson refractor - Dodgers - Spiegel

Code Redemptions

Pujols from pack = 1991 #174 Ken Caminiti and Colorado Rockies ring

Halladay = 1987 #200 Pete Rose and New York Mets ring

Pujols bonus = 2005 #327 Orioles Future Stars and St. Louis Cardinals ring

BONUS PRIZE for 5 Rings

2005 #194 Bobby Abreu and Oakland Athletics ring

IMPRESSIONS
Design: A
The Topps design is great, but after 4 years it's about time for a non-white bordered set.  Hopefully 2012 will change it up a bit and be like 1971 or 2003 instead of 2002 or 1990.  I have already stated multiple time how much I love the 1962 Topps design.  This set is the one I had been looking forward to since I got back into the hobby and learned of Heritage in 2006.

Inserts / Hits: C-
I have railed on all of the Topps inserts from the flagship set this year before, but I am thrilled with getting the last Rockie I need in Ubaldo's Kimball mini.  With the Heritage I got about as blah as a could get for the 2 hobby packs, especially since the Chrome card I got was a dupe and I only have 12 of them.  The less said about the Diamond Giveaway codes the better.

Value: A
It is called a "value" box.  For the price, this is one of the best retail values there are.  A Heritage hobby insert or Jackie Robinson SP would have made this a slam dunk A+.  But still not bad at all, I just wish they had these before I had virtually the whole Heritage set put together.

Rox in the Box: 5...6 (counting virtual junk)
Great box for a Rockies fan.  Getting one of the two cards I need for my flagship team set is fantastic.  The Fowler was not one of the 2 (Wigginton, Gonzalez AS) I need for the team set, but I am never going to complain about this year's Heritage.  The ring is what it is, eh I guess it's better than a Giants or Dodgers ring.

Will I Collect This Set: B/A+
The flagship set I will eventually get around to building, but it's not anything I am in a big hurry to do.  Heritage I hope to have fully complete (including the High Numbers) by the end of 2011.  I am pretty close already and only need 24 more short prints and 6 inserts. 

Overall: A
For the price this value box can't be beat for the average collector.  It was only $3 more than my usual discount blaster and a bunch of people are actually still collecting these sets.  So maybe I can work out a few trades and get what I need with this box.

RTP #33 - Special Returning Guest Eric from Manupatches and Chrome Scratches

Welcome back to another edition of The Rockie Trading Post.  Sorry for the lack of posts the last few days, but it's been a bear of a week.  But I digress.  Tonight's special returning guest is Eric from Manupatches and Chrome Scratches.  Eric was a guest here for TRTP #18.  If you don't know or remember Eric is a fellow Rockies collector and also collects the Royals and is our blog world's resident Luke Hochevar super collector (whether he believes it or not).  This trade was a little of quantity versus quality, to an extent.  I sent Eric a lot of Rockie dupes that I have gathered from many fine traders over the past few months (nothing overly special other than a Royals auto, but a lot).  In return, Eric sent me some quality hits and overall beautiful cards.  Let's check out what showed up at my door.

This card is just flat out AWESOME!  I may have to stop collecting now, because every other card I ever get will pale in comparison to this.  I am kidding a bit of course, but if you had told me when I was a kid that I would be happy to see an autograph of a scout I would have thought you were nuts.  I do love this card though because it is quirky, just like me.  Pat Daugherty was the scouting director of the Rockies from 1993-99 and is featured in this card because he signed Matt Holliday originally.  This is a neat idea as a one shot deal, but could be very bad if used often.  For a rebuttal opinion, check out this very memorable post from Night Owl.

This card is a 2007 Sweet Spot Classic Memorabilia Dave Parker.  This is the beginning of a new foray into collecting for me.  I am going to add Dave Parker to my player collections.  He was possibly my first ever favorite player and I wanted to get a nice collection going.  I have since put my Fred McGriff collection on indefinite hiatus, in order to pursue this Parker collection of 926 cards.  I have a nice dent in it already thanks to Sportlots and my own dupe box, 74 during his playing days and 17 retired specials about 10%, mostly the easy ones to get.
 

Back to Rockies auto here with 2010 3rd round pick Josh Rutledge.  This card is the exact argument to use against people that dislike the above Pat Daugherty card.  No offense to Josh Rutledge and his career .135 minor league average, but he is probably not going to be a major leaguer.  That being said, he is a Rockie and I want his card same as Daugherty.  I say a card of a scout and a card of a minor league middling (at best) prospect are basically equivalent.  Your thoughts?

From obscure minor leaguer to one of the best, Todd Helton.  The first card is from 2007 Upper Deck Elements and uses PETG technology, which I think is a fancy acronym for acetate.  The card is really great looking in person, although it does have a kind of dull sheen.  The second card is a 2009 SP Authentic which is a vast improvement over the 2008 set, which I did not care for at all.

Here we have the 2007 version of the Rockies team card.  I have to ask who had the great idea to position the team behind a three foot wall.  You can barely see the guys in front.  Although it could be considered a real life homage to the 60s floating heads team cards.

What trade with Eric would be complete without a Royal featured.  He sent me this 2000 Topps Carlos Beltran for my All Star Rookie Team collection.  Beltran was such a superstar in both Kansas City and his short stint in Houston.  The Mets really seemed to have extinguished yet another hot star.  Good luck Jason Bay.

This next group is a pair of relievers from the expansion Rockies era.  Lance Painter was an unspectacular middle/long reliever and spot starter for a few years in Denver.  Darren Holmes was the Rockies first ever closer, holding that position for the first year and for short stints in the next four years before he departed.

Here are three of the Rockies base cards from 2010 Donruss Elite Extra Edition.  Rutledge I talked about above, Casteel was a 17th round pick that hit over .300 in his first year, and Bettis is a 2nd round starter with a potentially great future.  Bettis is my favorite as he was 6-1 combined in 2010 with a 1.07 ERA.  He is starting 2011 with the Modesto Nuts in High Class A.


Thanks again Eric for another great trade.  Check out his great blog here along with his secondary collection of golf course scorecards.  Well that just about wraps up another fine edition of The Rockie Trading Post.  Tune in next time for a first (and second) time visit from an old school Reds and Tigers fan.  Until then, we are officially signed off.