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Group Break Pack Wars: 1997 Collector's Choice vs. 1999 Pacific

The group break is moving along nicely - but it's time to speed it up a bit with some of the "boring" boxes (and by boring, I mean boxes where we either won't get a hit or have hardly any chance of getting a hit).  In order to make things more interesting, I'm going to host a Pack War between 1997 Collector's Choice and 1999 Pacific.

First order of business, to make things as even as possible, I'm going to open up 2 packs of Collector's Choice and 3 packs of Pacific (that gives Pacific two extra cards - I'll group 2 Pacific cards versus each of the guaranteed All-Star Connection inserts from Collector's Choice.  May the best set win!

Packs 10 and 11 Collector's Choice and Packs 06, 07, and 08 of Pacific:
(In each case, the first card named is Collector's Choice, the second Pacific)

Moises Alou - Marlins vs.  Wade Boggs - Rays
A solid opening for both packs, but I have to give Boggs the nod here.  1-0 Pacific.

Sammy Sosa - Crash the Game - Cubs vs. Andy Benes - Diamondbacks

Eesh, hard to beat an insert, but Benes found lots of teams hard to beat apparently (118-107 career record at the point the card was printed).   We are tied 1-1.

Garret Anderson - Angels vs. Makoto Suzuki - Mariners
Suzuki may be a rookie card, but he didn't exactly pan out.  Anderson wins.  2-1 Collector's Choice.

Ken Griffey Jr. vs. Paul O'Neil
Paul would have won against most players as he was an ex-Red, but Griffey is also an ex-Red...and one who didn't leave the Reds for the Yankees.  3-1 Collector's Choice.

Eddie Murray - Angels vs. Bruce Chen - Braves
Eesh, hard to pick a winner here...The Murray card is borderless, but the Chen card says "rookie" on it...plus it looks like it was a night picture.  Advantage Chen.  3-2 Collector's Choice.

Chris Haney - Royals vs. Todd Hollandsworth - Dodgers
In a battle of two people I don't know much about, I gotta go with Todd.  Pacific storms back to tie it up at 3 all.

Derrick Gibson - Rockies vs. Lou Collier - Pirates
The Collier photo is better than the red rookie class Gibson card.  3-4 Pacific back in front.

Charlie Hayes - Yankees vs. Sidney Ponson - Orioles
The good news is the Orioles finally got a base card, the bad news is I've never liked Ponson much.  Tied up again, 4-4.

Ozzie Guillen - White Sox vs. Alex Gonzalez - Marlins
Gonzalez's rookie card isn't enough to overcome the craziness that is Ozzie.  Advantage Collector's Choice.  5-4 CC.

Jeff Blauser - Braves vs. Ben Grieve - Athletics
I feel like I've already pulled the same Grieve card two or three times (too lazy to go back and check).  Advantage Blauser.  6-4 Collector's Choice.

Troy O'Leary - Red Sox vs. Armando Rios - Giants
Rios gets the nod for his rookie card in a battle of meaningless players.  6-5 Collector's Choice.

Tim Wakefield - Red Sox vs. Greg Maddux - Braves
Wow, a battle of two great pitchers.  Maddux is probably the better pitcher, but he got way too many wins against my Reds.  Wakefield gets the win here.  7-5 Collector's Choice.

Emil Brown - Pirates vs. Joey Hamilton - Padres
Two boring players, two boring cards.  I can't decide a winner here...  7-5-1 Collector's Choice

Ken Caminiti - All-Star Connection - Padres vs both Wilton Guerrero - Expos and Terry Steinbach - Twins
If it were the other Guerrero, Pacific might have won, but as it is, Caminiti slays two Pacific cards.  8-5-1 Collector's Choice heading into the second half of the Pack War.

Wilton Guerrero - Dodgers vs. Fernando Vina - Brewers
Guerrero may have changed both teams and brands from the previous round, but he still loses.  8-6-1 Collector's Choice.

Ed Sprague - Blue Jays vs. Matt Williams - Diamondbacks
Gotta go with Williams here.  8-7-1 Pacific making it a close contest once again.

Troy Percival - Angels vs. Dennis Eckersley - Red Sox
Sheesh, I'm really getting tired of pulling Angel after Angel!  That's reason enough to give it to Eck.  Tied up again, 8-8-1.

Joe Carter - Blue Jays vs. Cliff Floyd - Marlins
No contest, Carter wins.  9-8-1 Collector's Choice back in front.

Tim Salmon - Angels vs. Ellis Burks - Giants
Another complete blowout, Salmon wins hands down.  10-8-1 Collector's Choice on the verge of clinching...

Mark Hutton - Marlins vs. Ellis Burks - Giants
In a strange twist, Burks and the Pacific packs tries the "same two cards in a row" trick...and it works the second time!  Burks over Hutton.  10-9-1 Collector's Choice.

Jeff Abbott - White Sox vs. Joey Cora - Indians
I like the Cora photo a lot - that's good enough for me.  Tied up at 10-10-1.

Ron Karkovice - White Sox vs. Carlos Guillen - Mariners
This is also a no contest, but the other direction than normal.  Guillen coasts to an easy victory while putting Pacific back on top.  10-11-1.

Amaury Telemaco - Cubs vs. Ugueth Urbina - Expos
It seems like Collector's Choice thought it had the Pack War wrapped up awhile back and empty the bench a bit too soon...  Who are these guys?  10-12-1 Pacific with only five cards to go.

Tom Goodwin - Royals vs. Alex Cora - Dodgers
Joey Cora won a few rounds ago, and now his little brother is trying to win as well.  Neither card is overly exciting so I'll keep it in the family, little Cora wins!  10-13-1 Pacific!

Kevin Foster - Cubs vs. Jeff Cirillo - Brewers
Ugh, another round with no clear winner.  I don't really like the Cubs or Brewers...we'll call it a tie.  10-13-2 now.

Mark Lemke - Braves vs. Ken Hill - Angels
Another Angel, but this one isn't close.  The Lemke photo is much, much better. 11-13-2 Pacific.

Craig Biggio - All-Star Connection - Astros vs. Brady Anderson - Oriles and Kenny Lofton - Indians

Biggio was really good, but Anderson had a great single season and Lofton had a great career...combined they slay Biggio and Collector's Choice!

Finall score:
Pacific: 14
Collector's Choice:  11  (with 2 ties)

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