Today's the Moment of Truth for the Reds!

Today's a big day for me - the Reds play the Pirates in the one game "coin flip" to determine who advances to the real playoffs.  Since I can't directly control the Reds, I figured I'd use this morning's three packs as sort of a scoreboard of sorts.  Who wins between the Reds and Pirates?  Let's find out using three packs of Skybox Dominion as our inspiration.

Pack 17:
Todd Zeile - Rangers
Mark McGwire - Cardinals
Sammy Sosa - Cubs
Matt Lawton - Twins
Brian Giles - Pirates

Uh oh, the Pirates get off to an early lead - Giles was a solid player for Pittsburgh during his tenure there.  
Will Clark - Orioles
E. Gagne & J. Williams - Dodgers

Cristian Guzman - Twins
Rafael Palmeiro - Rangers
13 of 20 NE.  New Era:  Shea Hillenbrand - Red Sox

After one pack, I'd say it's 1-0 Pirates.  Let's hope my Reds can get on the board in the next pack.

Pack 18:
Ivan Rodriguez - Rangers
Aaron Sele - Rangers
Roger Clemens - Yankees
Tim Wakefield - Red Sox
Adrian Beltre - Dodgers
Mike Sweeney - Royals
Rey Ordonez - Mets
M. Darr & W. Gonzalez - Padres
Wilton Veras - Red Sox
Bret Boone - Braves

Awesome photo!

Sure, Boone may be pictured as a Brave in the card but he was a solid player for the Reds for a few years.  I'm giving it to Cincinnati.  1-1 heading into the final pack.

Pack 19:
Ken Griffey Jr. - Mariners

Another Reds' great in a different jersey - it's still enough to put the Reds ahead.  2-1 Cincy.
Kevin Tapani - Cubs
David Nilsson - Brewers
Rickey Henderson - Mets
Jose Offerman - Red Sox
Magglio Ordonez - White Sox
W. Pena & E. Yarnall - Yankees

Pena ended up a Red...and the Reds traded him for Bronson Arroyo.  I'd say that deal worked out pretty sweet for Cincinnati.  +1 Redlegs.  3-1 now.
Tony Armas Jr. - Expos
Jorge Posada - Yankees
7 of 10 DP Plus:  Juan Gonzalez (Rangers) & Manny Ramirez (Indians)

We already got the regular version of this Double Play card in an earlier pack.  The Double Play Plus cards are much rarer (seeded 1:90 packs as opposed to 1:9 packs for the regular Double Play inserts).  Since the Indians were claimed and the Rangers weren't, this goes to Cleveland - Congrats to Baseball Dad!

Speaking of congrats, by my count, the Reds beat the Pirates in the three packs by a score of 3-1.  Oh sure, you might complain since technically we landed one Pirates' card and zero Reds cards....but it's my blog, my rules!