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It's time for the second round of the round robin tournament. Up first, a titanic battle between 2000 Topps Stadium Club and 2001 Topps HD. In the first round, Stadium Club trounced Topps Stars while Topps HD ended with a surprising draw vs. Pinnacle Performers. Let's begin round two.
For this round, I'm pitting two packs of Stadium Club (12 total cards) vs. three packs of Topps HD (12 total cards). The Stadium Club card will always be listed first.
2000 Stadium Club (packs 05 and 06) vs. 2001 Topps HD (packs 05, 06, and 07):
Jay Buhner (Mariners) vs. Pokey Reese (Reds)
I wasn't every a huge fan of Pokey Reese, but since he is a Red he'll win this round easily. Topps HD strikes first! 0-1
Carlos Beltran (Royals) vs. Mark McGwire - Super Stars of the Game (Cardinals)
The McGwire card is one of the Super Stars of the Game inserts (#105) which are seeded 1:6 packs. Poor Beltran and Stadium Club are no match for Big Mac and his'roids insert card. 0-2 HD leads.
Tino Martinez (Yankees) vs. John Olerud (Mariners)
Normally, I'd give the win to any Mariner card before I allow a Yankee to win...however I find Tino's card much more interesting than Olerud's. It sort of looks like Tino is playing baseball in the Sahara desert or something while Olerud's card is the classic "boring batter shot." 1-2 HD still in front.
Jorge Posada (Yankees) vs. Sean Burroughs (Padres)
What is the world coming to? Once again Stadium Club lobs a Yankee softball my way to belt into the stratosphere...and once again I have to award the win to a Yankee base card! Posada's card features a nice, gritty play at the plate...Burrough's card shows him looking at the pitcher after what I can only assume is something boring (like an intentional walk). 2-2 tied up.
Ed Sprague (Pirates) vs. Jose Cruz Jr. (Blue Jays)
This might be the best photo I've seen yet out of the 2000 Stadium Club box - a catcher knocked on his arse, dust (and Sprague) flying in the error...cardboard perfection - certainly enough to put Stadium Club in the lead. 3-2.
Jeff Cirillo (Brewers) vs. Matt Williams (Diamondbacks)
Neither card is particularly inspiring for me - so I'll give to Williams who is definitely the better player. HD ties it back up. 3-3, halfway done.
Mike Cameron (Reds) vs. Odannis Ayala (Royals)
The Cameron card is another beat up card out of the Stadium Club box (a trend that seems to permeate the box unfortunately). However, even a beat up Reds card is better than any Ayala card...only Odannis' mother would pick his card to win. 4-3 Stadium Club back on top.
Alex Rodriguez (Mariners) vs. Reggie Jackson - Images of Excellence (Yankees)
It's somehow fitting that A-rod (as a Mariner) is pitted against one of the all-time best Yankees...and even more fitting (to me at least) that A-rod loses. The Images of Excellence cards are seeded 1:8 packs. 4-4 tied again.
A.J. Burnett - Capture the Action (Marlins) vs. Rick Ankiel (Cardinals)
The Capture the Action cards are seeded 1:12 Stadium Club packs which makes this a pretty nice pull for the Marlins' pile of cards! As for the Pack War, it's a no-brainer. Burnett dominates Ankiel, Stadium Club goes up one once again. 5-4.
Pat Meares (Pirates) vs. Randy Johnson - Super Stars of the Game (Diamondbacks)
I like the Meares card much, much more than the Johnson card, however, there's no way I could justify Randy Johnson losing to Meares - Randy might come over to my house and chuck a snowball through my garage door if I did. The Johnson card is a Super Stars of the Game card, just like the McGwire card above - seeded 1:6 packs. Tied once again: 5-5.
Harold Baines (Indians) vs. Barry Bonds (Giants)
A battle between two guys who both have a shot at the Hall of Fame though neither is a lock... Bonds, of course, has plenty of detractors, but Baines has been mostly ignored by voters. Flash back to 2000 when this card was printed - on the back was the following sentence "The ageless Baines may be making a criminally ignored run at Cooperstown." Talk about accurate foreshadowing! Stadium Club Nostradamus beats big bad Bonds. 6-5 Stadium Club with only one card remaining.
John Olerud (Mets) vs. Jeff Bagwell (Astros)
The baseball card gods make me laugh - ending the pack war with yet another Bagwell card to consider. However, since the Bagwell is a duplicate from the break - and I don't want to pull any duplicates, the win goes to Olerud. 7-5 Stadium Club knocks off another challenger and moves to 2-0 overall.
For this round, I'm pitting two packs of Stadium Club (12 total cards) vs. three packs of Topps HD (12 total cards). The Stadium Club card will always be listed first.
2000 Stadium Club (packs 05 and 06) vs. 2001 Topps HD (packs 05, 06, and 07):
Jay Buhner (Mariners) vs. Pokey Reese (Reds)
I wasn't every a huge fan of Pokey Reese, but since he is a Red he'll win this round easily. Topps HD strikes first! 0-1
Carlos Beltran (Royals) vs. Mark McGwire - Super Stars of the Game (Cardinals)
The McGwire card is one of the Super Stars of the Game inserts (#105) which are seeded 1:6 packs. Poor Beltran and Stadium Club are no match for Big Mac and his
Tino Martinez (Yankees) vs. John Olerud (Mariners)
Normally, I'd give the win to any Mariner card before I allow a Yankee to win...however I find Tino's card much more interesting than Olerud's. It sort of looks like Tino is playing baseball in the Sahara desert or something while Olerud's card is the classic "boring batter shot." 1-2 HD still in front.
Jorge Posada (Yankees) vs. Sean Burroughs (Padres)
What is the world coming to? Once again Stadium Club lobs a Yankee softball my way to belt into the stratosphere...and once again I have to award the win to a Yankee base card! Posada's card features a nice, gritty play at the plate...Burrough's card shows him looking at the pitcher after what I can only assume is something boring (like an intentional walk). 2-2 tied up.
Ed Sprague (Pirates) vs. Jose Cruz Jr. (Blue Jays)
This might be the best photo I've seen yet out of the 2000 Stadium Club box - a catcher knocked on his arse, dust (and Sprague) flying in the error...cardboard perfection - certainly enough to put Stadium Club in the lead. 3-2.
Jeff Cirillo (Brewers) vs. Matt Williams (Diamondbacks)
Neither card is particularly inspiring for me - so I'll give to Williams who is definitely the better player. HD ties it back up. 3-3, halfway done.
Mike Cameron (Reds) vs. Odannis Ayala (Royals)
The Cameron card is another beat up card out of the Stadium Club box (a trend that seems to permeate the box unfortunately). However, even a beat up Reds card is better than any Ayala card...only Odannis' mother would pick his card to win. 4-3 Stadium Club back on top.
Alex Rodriguez (Mariners) vs. Reggie Jackson - Images of Excellence (Yankees)
It's somehow fitting that A-rod (as a Mariner) is pitted against one of the all-time best Yankees...and even more fitting (to me at least) that A-rod loses. The Images of Excellence cards are seeded 1:8 packs. 4-4 tied again.
A.J. Burnett - Capture the Action (Marlins) vs. Rick Ankiel (Cardinals)
The Capture the Action cards are seeded 1:12 Stadium Club packs which makes this a pretty nice pull for the Marlins' pile of cards! As for the Pack War, it's a no-brainer. Burnett dominates Ankiel, Stadium Club goes up one once again. 5-4.
Pat Meares (Pirates) vs. Randy Johnson - Super Stars of the Game (Diamondbacks)
I like the Meares card much, much more than the Johnson card, however, there's no way I could justify Randy Johnson losing to Meares - Randy might come over to my house and chuck a snowball through my garage door if I did. The Johnson card is a Super Stars of the Game card, just like the McGwire card above - seeded 1:6 packs. Tied once again: 5-5.
Harold Baines (Indians) vs. Barry Bonds (Giants)
A battle between two guys who both have a shot at the Hall of Fame though neither is a lock... Bonds, of course, has plenty of detractors, but Baines has been mostly ignored by voters. Flash back to 2000 when this card was printed - on the back was the following sentence "The ageless Baines may be making a criminally ignored run at Cooperstown." Talk about accurate foreshadowing! Stadium Club Nostradamus beats big bad Bonds. 6-5 Stadium Club with only one card remaining.
John Olerud (Mets) vs. Jeff Bagwell (Astros)
The baseball card gods make me laugh - ending the pack war with yet another Bagwell card to consider. However, since the Bagwell is a duplicate from the break - and I don't want to pull any duplicates, the win goes to Olerud. 7-5 Stadium Club knocks off another challenger and moves to 2-0 overall.
Final tally:
Stadium Club 7
Topps HD 5
Overall Records:
Stadium Club: 2 - 0 - 0
Pinnacle: 0 - 0 - 1
Topps Stars: 0 - 1 - 0
HD: 0 - 1 - 1
Individual card win percentage with actual Win/Loss (for tie breakers)
0.625 Stadium Club: 15 - 9
0.500 Pinnacle: 4 - 4
0.450 HD: 9 - 11
0.333 Topps Stars: 4 - 8
2866 hits, 384 home runs, 1628 rbi, .289 avg, man, that is a close call for the hall if I ever saw one.
ReplyDeleteEnjoying the break.
Around 2001 was when I stopped busting open packs, and I did open up a few of both the HD and TSC. I did like the Images of Excellence cards that came for HD. The pics on SC do win out for me. And yes, no duplicates should win EVER. LOL!
ReplyDelete