Gint-a-Cuffs is around the corner which means that everyone should be fine-tuning their game. In an effort to make sure I'll be able to dominate this year's Ginter Challenge, I've purchased two hobby boxes of 2010 Topps (Series 2) to practice with. In the true spirit of Gint-a-Cuffs, I first have to make up a bunch of goofy rules in order to practice scoring:
Note: These two hobby boxes are the first Series 2 cards that I've bought so I'm not 100% sure what to expect.
Pre-Gint-a-Cuffs Warm up Rules:
Base cards:
Cincinnati Reds: +10
Pittsburgh Pirate: +5
New York Yankee: -10
Boston Red Sox: -5
Awesome photo: +1 through +5 points, depending on how much I like it.
Inserts:
Gold parallel: +10
Black parallel: +25
Platinum parallel: +50
Printing Plate: +30
Cards Your Mother Threw Out: +2
Cards Your Mother Threw Out Original Back: +4
Topps Legends Vintage Collection: +2
History of World Series: +2
Turkey Red: +2
Legendary Lineage: +2
Peak Performers: +2
Red Hot Rookies: +4
Topps 2020: +4
Sketch Card, Hall of Fame Buyback, or any of the other crazy hard pulls: +100
Million Card Giveaway: +5
Peak Performance Relic: +10
Peak Performance Auto: +20
Manufactured Hat relic: +20
All other relics/autos: +100
Topps Attax cards: +1
Cincinnati Reds: x10
Pittsburgh Pirates: x5
New York Yankee: /10
Boston Red Sox: /5
Alright, there's the rules - let's bust the cards.
After taking all the packs out, there are 4 equal stacks of pack wrappers (once I take one of the Pedroia wrappers and put it in the Ty Cobb stack that is). So, it'll be a four-way competition:
Pedroia vs. Cobb vs. Mantle vs. Ruth.
Let's get it on!
Pack 01 - Cobb (this is the extra Pedroia that is going to count as a Cobb)
410. Oakland Athletics (Cool photo, that's a ton of green on a card considering it has a white border! +3)
413. J.J. Hardy
432. A.J. Burnett (-10 Yankee)
473. Jason Varitek (-5 Red Sox)
474. Kyle Kendrick
592. Brian Roberts
595. Mike Lowell (-5 Red Sox)
PP-57. Max Scherzer (+2 Peak Performer)
CMT79. Juan Marichal (+2 CYMTO)
Topps Attax: Matt Holliday (+1)
Cobb's Total Score: -12 points.
Wow, it looks like Pedroia really sabotaged Cobb with that stinker of a pack. Minus twelve points is no way to start off a competition!
Pack 01 - Pedroia
Seeing as how Pedroia really stunk it up pinch-hitting for Cobb, let's see how he does batting for himself.
411. Jack Wilson (+2. I've seen Wilson play a lot as a member of the Pirates, he always seems to make great plays in the field...this card is a nice example of that)
420. Shin-Soo Choo
448. Joakim Soria
457. Kanekoa Texeira
509. Todd Helton
547. Brett Gardner (-10, Yankee)
649. Casey McGehee
PP-80. Ozzie Smith (+2 points)
T12. Chris Coghlan (Topps 2020, +4 points)
Topps Attax: Billy Butler (+1)
Pedroia's Total Score: -1. Well, Pedroia did better for himself than he did for Cobb...but it's mostly akin to saying grounding into a double play twice is better than grounding into a triple play and a double once each. Neither one is any good.
Pack 01 - Ruth:
The bar hasn't been set real high thus far...can Ruth finish with a positive score at least?
340. John Buck
406. Jeff Francis
468. Delmon Young
485. Jesus Flores
519. Alexi Casilla
558. Ronny Paulino
621. Aaron Cook
TR54. Andrew McCutchen (+2 Turkey Red x5 Pirate = +10 points)
HWS9. Bob Feller (+2)
Topps Attax: Derrek Lee (+1)
Ruth's Total Score: +13
It wasn't the most exciting pack, but it was the first pack without a Red Sox or Yankee penalty. Ruth opens up an early lead, can Mantle catch up with his first pack?
Pack 01 - Mantle:
361. Washington Nationals
397. Colorado Rockies
577. Jason Jaramillo (+5 Pirates)
585. Dioner Navarro
590. Ryan Howard
631. Marc Rzerpczynski
660. Brandon McCarthy
You Sketch It
CMT61. Al Kaline (+2)
VLC18. Johnny Bench (+2 Vintage Legend x10 Red = +20)
Topps Attax: Justin Morneau
Mantle's Total Score: +29
What a great pack for Mantle, the Johnny Bench insert is really nice - and great point scorer given my grading system. Let's take a look at the leaderboard after 1 pack.
2010 Topps Series 2 Warm Up #1
Leaderboard:
Mantle: +29
Ruth: +13
Pedroia: -1
Cobb: -12
Wow, Mantle has a nice lead after one pack...but there are still 8 packs of each to go so this competition is a long way from over!
Note: These two hobby boxes are the first Series 2 cards that I've bought so I'm not 100% sure what to expect.
Pre-Gint-a-Cuffs Warm up Rules:
Base cards:
Cincinnati Reds: +10
Pittsburgh Pirate: +5
New York Yankee: -10
Boston Red Sox: -5
Awesome photo: +1 through +5 points, depending on how much I like it.
Inserts:
Gold parallel: +10
Black parallel: +25
Platinum parallel: +50
Printing Plate: +30
Cards Your Mother Threw Out: +2
Cards Your Mother Threw Out Original Back: +4
Topps Legends Vintage Collection: +2
History of World Series: +2
Turkey Red: +2
Legendary Lineage: +2
Peak Performers: +2
Red Hot Rookies: +4
Topps 2020: +4
Sketch Card, Hall of Fame Buyback, or any of the other crazy hard pulls: +100
Million Card Giveaway: +5
Peak Performance Relic: +10
Peak Performance Auto: +20
Manufactured Hat relic: +20
All other relics/autos: +100
Topps Attax cards: +1
Cincinnati Reds: x10
Pittsburgh Pirates: x5
New York Yankee: /10
Boston Red Sox: /5
Alright, there's the rules - let's bust the cards.
After taking all the packs out, there are 4 equal stacks of pack wrappers (once I take one of the Pedroia wrappers and put it in the Ty Cobb stack that is). So, it'll be a four-way competition:
Pedroia vs. Cobb vs. Mantle vs. Ruth.
Let's get it on!
Pack 01 - Cobb (this is the extra Pedroia that is going to count as a Cobb)
410. Oakland Athletics (Cool photo, that's a ton of green on a card considering it has a white border! +3)
432. A.J. Burnett (-10 Yankee)
473. Jason Varitek (-5 Red Sox)
474. Kyle Kendrick
592. Brian Roberts
595. Mike Lowell (-5 Red Sox)
PP-57. Max Scherzer (+2 Peak Performer)
CMT79. Juan Marichal (+2 CYMTO)
Topps Attax: Matt Holliday (+1)
Cobb's Total Score: -12 points.
Wow, it looks like Pedroia really sabotaged Cobb with that stinker of a pack. Minus twelve points is no way to start off a competition!
Pack 01 - Pedroia
Seeing as how Pedroia really stunk it up pinch-hitting for Cobb, let's see how he does batting for himself.
411. Jack Wilson (+2. I've seen Wilson play a lot as a member of the Pirates, he always seems to make great plays in the field...this card is a nice example of that)
448. Joakim Soria
457. Kanekoa Texeira
509. Todd Helton
547. Brett Gardner (-10, Yankee)
649. Casey McGehee
PP-80. Ozzie Smith (+2 points)
T12. Chris Coghlan (Topps 2020, +4 points)
Pedroia's Total Score: -1. Well, Pedroia did better for himself than he did for Cobb...but it's mostly akin to saying grounding into a double play twice is better than grounding into a triple play and a double once each. Neither one is any good.
Pack 01 - Ruth:
The bar hasn't been set real high thus far...can Ruth finish with a positive score at least?
340. John Buck
406. Jeff Francis
468. Delmon Young
485. Jesus Flores
519. Alexi Casilla
558. Ronny Paulino
621. Aaron Cook
TR54. Andrew McCutchen (+2 Turkey Red x5 Pirate = +10 points)
Topps Attax: Derrek Lee (+1)
Ruth's Total Score: +13
It wasn't the most exciting pack, but it was the first pack without a Red Sox or Yankee penalty. Ruth opens up an early lead, can Mantle catch up with his first pack?
Pack 01 - Mantle:
361. Washington Nationals
397. Colorado Rockies
577. Jason Jaramillo (+5 Pirates)
585. Dioner Navarro
590. Ryan Howard
631. Marc Rzerpczynski
660. Brandon McCarthy
You Sketch It
CMT61. Al Kaline (+2)
VLC18. Johnny Bench (+2 Vintage Legend x10 Red = +20)
Mantle's Total Score: +29
What a great pack for Mantle, the Johnny Bench insert is really nice - and great point scorer given my grading system. Let's take a look at the leaderboard after 1 pack.
2010 Topps Series 2 Warm Up #1
Leaderboard:
Mantle: +29
Ruth: +13
Pedroia: -1
Cobb: -12
Wow, Mantle has a nice lead after one pack...but there are still 8 packs of each to go so this competition is a long way from over!
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