Pack Wars I: Pack 06 - 2008 Topps Series 1

After last pack's exciting (yeah right) events, Box #2 has crept back into the race and is now down 4 packs to 1 pack. Will Box #2 continue with the momentum or will Box #1 reassert its dominance over the pitiful competition?

Note: For complete scoring rules, check out the initial post.

Pack #06: 2008 Topps Series 1

Box 1:

4. Rick Ankiel ( It's a Cardinal, so that's -1 point. Not a good start.)
5. Scott Kazmir (0 points)
23. Chin-Lung Hu (0 points)
24. AL League Leaders - Rodriguez, Ordonez, & Guerrero (ooh, the first multi-player card. Let's see. We've got -4 for Alex Rodriguez and +5 for Vladimir Guerrero since I've always liked him as a player. That's a total of +1.)

94. Bud Black (boring manager card. 0 points)
196. Ross Gload (0 points)
226. Kurt Suzuki (0 points)
267. Chris Burke (An Astro, that's a penalty. -1 point)

C08-FT. Campaign 2008 - Fred Thompson (Well, it's an insert so that's +10 points...I'm sick of campaign cards though but I won't hold it against Mr. Thompson.)

AR3. 50th Anniversary Topps All-Star Team - Dwight Gooden (Woo, a second insert...and this one's actually one I like! That's +10 for an insert, +1 for being cool, and then x2 for a grand total of 22 points!)


Total points: -1 + 0 + 0 + 1 + 0 + 0 + 0 - 1 + 10 + 22 = 31 points.

Barring some miracles out of Box 2's pack, it looks like Box 1 is about to gain back that pack it lost last time.

Box 2:

1. Alex Rodriguez (It's a Yankee, so that's -4 right off the bat.)
11. Yourvit Torrealba (0 points)
60. Jose Reyes (I don't mind Reyes but I don't like him enough for the 5 point bonus. Sorry Mets fans. 0 points.)
65. Billy Wagner (0 points)
143. Willie Harris (*yawn* 0 points)
217. Josh Beckett (It's a Red Sox, so that's another -2 points off the total)
224. Mark Buehrle (0 points)
309. Ryan Church (A Nationals card isn't likely to help a pack much...0 points)

MHR516. Mickey Mantle Homerun History - Mickey Mantle (The good news, it's an insert so it's worth 10 points. The bad news, it's the worst kind of insert - a Mantle insert so that's 5 points subtracted away. Total: +5 points).
Checklist #1 of 3 (0 points)

Total points: -4 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 - 2 + 0 + 0 + 5 + 0 = -1 points

Ouch, the first negative pack. I guess if you are going to have a lousy pack you might as well have it occur when the other box pulls two inserts in the same pack.

Running tally:
Box 1: 5 pack wins and +84 total points
Box 2: 1 pack win and +34 total points

After Box 1's great showing and Box 2 taking a step backwards, Box 1 has a whopping 50 point aggregate lead over Box 2. If Box 2 hopes to make this interesting towards the end it's going to need some great pulls in a hurry!