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Pack Wars III - Collector's Choice vs. Pacific - PLUS Break Leaderboard!

That's right, like all good things, Pack Wars come in threes.  This is round three of a tightly contested battle between 1997 Collector's Choice Series 2 and 1999 Pacific.  To date, each box has won one war, but Pacific leads overall by a count of:
Collector's Choice:  23
Pacific:  25
Ties:  7

I'll be following the same format as the previous pack wars, the Collector's Choice card will always be listed first.  Let's get it on!  (At the end of the pack war, I've also updated the Group Break Leaderboard).

Collector's Choice Packs 14 and 15, Pacific packs 12, 13, and 14:

Troy O'Leary - Red Sox vs. Alex Rodriguez - Mariners
Pacific comes out with the big guns blazing - apparently they took losing the second Pack War pretty hard.  No worries so far, Pacific with the early lead.  0-1-0.

Barry Bonds - You Crash the Game - Giants vs. Jeff Reed - Rockies
Obviously I forgot to scan Reed's card the correct way.  Oh well, it looks like he is defying gravity this way.

The You Crash the Game cards are seeded 1 in every 5 packs - and that's clearly enough to beat Jeff Reed...not to mention the fact that the card is of the all-time Homerun king (regardless of what you think about Bonds the person).  Tie game folks.  1-1-0.

John Olerud - Mets vs. Andy Ashby - Padres
Gotta go with Olerud here.  2-1-0.

Pat Hentgen - Blue Jays vs. Tino Martinez - Yankees
All indications are that Tino was a pretty good guy...too bad he's a Yankee.  Hentgen wins!  3-1-0.

John Smoltz - Braves vs. Charles Johnson - Dodgers
I never cared for Smoltz, he always seemed to get an extra inch or two off the plate for strikes (not as bad as Maddux, but close).  Even so, there's no way I can give this round to Johnson, Smoltz wins another for Collector's Choice.  4-1-0.

Jose Guillen - Pirates vs. Darren Dreifort - Dodgers
I'm beginning to think that Pacific is trying to woo me with Dodgers (since I got "stuck" with the Dodgers in the group break).  Unfortunately for Pacific, I also got "stuck" with the Pirates.  Collector's Choice wins again...now 5-1-0.  Can Collector's Choice be stopped or have they finally figured out a way to win convincingly?

Dan Naulty - Twins vs. Shawn Green - Blue Jays
Sheesh, yet another Blue Jay...though Green is much better than Naulty, so finally Pacific gets its second point.  5-2-0, still a comfortable lead for Collector's Choice.

Andy Benes - Cardinals vs. Mike Mussina - Orioles

Finally, an easy one!  Mussina lives near where I work (Montoursville, PA) so I've always had a soft spot in my heart for him...even more so when he wasn't a Yankee!  Easy, easy win for Mussina and Pacific here.  5-3-0, all of the sudden Pacific is creeping back up!

Mel Rojas - Cubs vs. Justin Thompson - Tigers
Two players I know very little about...and both cards had boring photos.  No way can I have either win this, so a tie it is.  5-3-1.

Brian Johnson - Tigers vs. Vladimir Guerrero - Expos
Another easy win for Pacific, and now they are only down one point.  5-4-1

Jose Rosado - Royals vs. Albert Belle - White Sox
And yet another easy win for Pacific.  I'm beginning to believe that Collector's Choice took a nap and put in the "B" team.  5-5-1.

Darryl Hamilton - Giants vs. Carl Pavano - Expos
Pavano is still pitching in the big leagues, I have no idea what happened to Hamilton.  Point Pavano, and now Pacific is back in front.  5-6-1.

Tony Batista - Athletics vs. Kent Merker - Cardinals
Merker played for the Reds, Batista never did to the best of my knowledge.  Merker wins.  5-7-1, Pacific starting to run away from Collector's Choice now as we near the halfway mark.

Kenny Lofton - All-Star Connection - Braves vs. Mark Portugal - Phillies and Dante Bichette - Rockies
That's a fairly solid matchup, but I'm giving the nod to Lofton since Bichette hit all those homers before the humidor was installed in Coors.  6-7-1...halfway done with the third Pack Wars and it is neck and neck!

Kevin Elster - Pirates vs. Ricky Gutierrez - Astros
Gotta give it the Pirate over the Astros every time.  7-7-1, all tied up again!

Paul O'Neil - Yankees vs. Royce Clayton - Rangers
I already talked about my feelings on O'Neil, and once again, he gets my vote despite being a Yankee.  8-7-1.

Donovan Osborne - Cardinals vs. Gary Gaetti - Cubs
Two division rivals of the Reds...but right now I dislike the Cardinals more than the Cubs...so Gaetti wins.  Once again, all tied up:  8-8-1.

Frank Thomas - White Sox vs. Antonio Alfonseca - Marlins
Totally unfair matchup, Pacific really had no chance.  Thomas wins and puts Collector's Choice on top once again...  9-8-1.

Andy Pettitte - Yankees vs. Sammy Sosa - Cubs
You know, I thought for sure I'd give this one to Sosa, but the more I think about it, the more his repeated cheating annoys me compared to Pettittes one time cheating.  (Steriods, corked bat, etc vs steriods only).  On second thought, maybe neither deserves to win...  9-8-2.

Royce Clayton - Cardinals vs. Jeff Bagwell - Astros
Once again, a pair of Reds' rivals class - but I've always respected Bagwell, even when he was crushing terrible Reds pitching...  Pacific wins and ties it up once again.  9-9-2.

Ken Griffey Jr. Checklist - Mariners vs. Travis Lee - Gold Crown Die-Cut - Diamondbacks

Wow, who would have thought that Griffey could lose - but when matched up against an insert that is seeded 1:37 packs (or a bit less than one per box), that's exactly what happened!  Lee puts Pacific ahead...  9-10-2.

Todd Zeile - Dodgers vs. Aramis Ramirez - Pirates
I think of Ramirez more as a Cub, I think of Zeile more as a Cardinal...and I don't like either of those teams.  We'll call this a draw.  9-10-3.

Tim Naehring - Red Sox vs. Shawn Green - Blue Jays
Uhm, I got nothing on these two.  9-10-4.

Otis Nixon - Blue Jays vs. Johnny Damon - Royals
The old man vs. the idiot.  Score one for the old guy.  10-10-4.

Ed Taubensee - Reds vs. Gary Sheffield - Dodgers
I've never, ever like Sheffield...and Taubensee is a Red.  This one is too easy!  11-10-4

Tim Worrell - Padres vs. David Cone - Yankees
Well, Cone was always a pretty decent pitcher, Worrell had a few decent years...but not enough to overtake Cone.  Tied again:  11-11-4.

Calvin Maduro - Phillies vs. Jamie Moyer
I'm giving Moyer all the credit in the world...and the point.  11-12-4, with only one round left!

Alex Rodriguez - All-Star Connection - Mariners vs. Bob Wickman - Brewers & Vladimir Guerrero - Expos

My dad once got Wickman's autograph for my little brother - so in a great upset, I'm giving the point (and the third pack war) to Pacific!  Final score:  11-13-4.

And now, let's update the Group Break Leaderboard!

Team
Claimed By
Base / Insert/Hit
(After 27 packs)
Base / Insert/Hit
(After 55 packs)
Marlins
Smedcards
8   /  1  /  0
16 / 2 / 0
Mets
BABenny
5   /  2  /  0
15 / 2 / 0
Braves
PhaLe28
9  /  3  / 0
22 / 5 / 0
Phillies
arfmax
9  / 2  / 0
16 / 4 / 0
Expos/Nationals
Natscards
4  / 1  / 0
10 / 1 / 0
Cubs
Smedcards
7  / 1  /  0
14 / 2 / 0
Astros
Daniel
7  / 1  / 0
11 / 3/ 0
Cardinals
Ike's Cards
6  /  1  / 0
13 / 3 / 0
Brewers
Smedcards
7  / 0  / 0
15 / 0 / 0
Pirates
Nachos Grande
6  /  0 / 0
16 / 0 / 0
Reds
Nachos Grande
4  /  3  / 0
8 / 4 / 0
Diamondbacks
Shelliebee
3  / 0 / 0
6 / 1 / 0
Padres
Smedcards
4  /  1  / 0
8 / 4 / 0
Rockies
Shelliebee
6  /  1 / 0
14 / 1 / 0
Giants
Nachos Grande
8  / 2 / 0
13 / 3 / 0
Dodgers
Nachos Grande
6  /  1 / 0
18 / 3 / 0
Red Sox
PhaLe28
8  / 3 / 0
15 / 3 / 0
Yankees
Daniel
8  / 0 / 0
24 / 2 / 0
Rays
Smedcards
2  / 0  / 0
8 / 1 / 0
Blue Jays
Smedcards
15 / 0 / 0
24 / 0 / 0
Orioles
Ryanmemorabilia
0 /  1  / 0
8 / 3 / 0
Royals
Smedcards
9  / 0  / 0
15 / 1 / 0
Indians
PhaLe28
10  /  1 / 0
16 / 2 / 0
Tigers
Smedcards
6  / 1 / 0
8 / 2/ 0
Twins
Smedcards
6  / 0  / 0
12 / 0 / 0
White Sox
Smedcards
5  / 1 / 0
15 / 3 / 0
Mariners
David
10 / 2/ 1
22 / 5 / 1
Angels
Smedcards
16 / 2 / 0
24 / 4 / 0
Athletics
Smedcards
21 / 2 / 0
26 / 2 / 0
Rangers
Daniel
8  / 2 / 0
12 / 4 / 0

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