How does one aquire a favorite player?

Lately, I've been organizing my player collections and it got me thinking "why do I collect these players?" For starters, I should probably tell you some of my favorite players...Josh Beckett, Mike Lowell, Daniel Bard, Miguel Cabrera, and Dennis Eckersley to name a few. Josh Beckett is very inconsistent, Mike Lowell is old and will be retiring at the end of the year (sorry Mike), Daniel Bard has little experience, Cabrera has had problems with alcohlism, and I was 6 years old and didn't care about baseball when Eck played in his last game. Why do I like collecting these guys so much?

Josh Beckett: My passion for baseball was ignited during the 2007 postseason. (I knew about 2004 of course. At the time I was 13 and understood how big a deal it was that the Red Sox finally won a World Series for Boston) I watched Game 7 of the ALCS out of boredom. I went to bed before the game was over and the next morning turned on the TV to see the Sox had won and advanced to the World Series. Should I watch the Series? Yes. Beckett pitched game one and I thought he was absolutely amazing. (I didn't even know he had won 20 games in the regular season). He provided me with a great first impression and by the time he struck out the side in the first inning, he became my favorite player. As my knowledge for baseball expanded, I learned about his years with Marlins. His heroics in the '03 World Series against the Yankees made me adore him even more. His 2008 season disappointed me beacuse I didn't get to see the Beckett I had read about. The 2009 season provided me with that Beckett, but this year has been "ehh" to say the least. He's a guy who pitches well every other year it seems, but he's my favorite player and nothing will stop that.

Mike Lowell: World Series MVP. Need I say more? I will anyway. Mike Lowell appeals to me because he has been with Josh Beckett since Beckett joined the Marlins organization in 1999. Lowell was an extra in the Beckett trade before the beginning of the 06 season. That bit of information interested me and forced me (in a good way) to pay attention to Mike Lowell. Whenever I went to a Red Sox game, Lowell always did something special. Drive in the winning run. Homer. Make a spectacular play at 3rd base. I just enjoyed watching him play, and in turn, decided to collect his baseball cards.

Daniel Bard: Me being a girl plays a hand in this. I think Daniel Bard is absolutely adorable. His attractiveness made me pay attention to his appearances. The more I watched him pitch, the more I realized that there was so much more to like about him. He pitches so easily and with such velocity. It's amazing. I love the way he strikes out people. 100MPH fastballs and then he drops a slider on them. Daniel Bard has great potential and could eventually become the next closer. (Might be sooner than you think, since Papelbon has been not as dominant)

I'll talk about Cabrera and Eckersley in another post. I'll try to get up some of the cards from my various collections as well. Beckett takes up the majority of my collection, but some of my favorite cards depict Lowell. Stay tuned!

Relaxing end to a busy week.

Wow, talk about a busy week!
I started college and got my license, not to mention I'm in the process of redoing my room. I'm trying to keep up with this blog as well as trades, but failed.
I wish I hadn't missed the end of the Gint-a-Cuffs, but I wouldn't have won anyway. I think I'll still post some of my favorite cards from the two boxes at some point.

I don't wanna think about this, but I must be realistic. My Red Sox won't be going to the playoffs this year. I'll still be keeping up with them though as I am not a bangwagon fan. My college has organized a trip to Fenway to see the Sox play the Jays at the end of September. I hope to purchace tickets. Only $15! I'm assuming they're bleacher seats, but I've always wanted to see the view from there.

In case you are wondering who I'll be rooting for coming the postseason, my top choice is the Cincinnati Reds.(Unless the Sox pull off a miricle, of course) If they fail to go all the way, I'll then be rooting for the Braves. Sorry Yankees/Rays fans, but I will not root for the teams that finish ahead of the Sox!

I hope everyone has a great Labor Day Weekend!
Best Wishes,
Kelly

Packs 10-12.

Pack #10:
#121 Francisco Rodriguez
#112 Tyler Bradt
#288 Bobby Jenks
#139 Miguel Cabrera
#127 Albert Pujols
#298 Jorge Cantu
#LO25 Lords of Olympus: Atlas (+3)

#TDH68 Brian McCann (+1)

Pack #10 Total: 4pts
Total: 94.6pts.

Pack #11:
#207 Wandy Rodriguez
#24 Brandon Webb
#67 Carl Crawford (+2 Favorite Player List)

#113 Billy Butler
#169 Felix Hernandez
#342 Erik Bedard (+2 SP)

#219 Adam Wainwright Mini
#TDH28 Jose Reyes (+1)

Pack #11 Total: 5pts.
Total: 99.6pts.

Pack #12:
#156 Cameron Maybin
#291 Ron Teasley (+2 Negro League Player)

#67 Carl Crawford (+2 Favorite Player List) (not liking the doubles, but at least it's a player from the list)

#113 Billy Butler
#120 Nick Swisher (-1 Yankee)
#330 Jonathan Papelbon (+1 Favorite Team, +2 SP)

#100 Matt LaPorta Mini A&G Back (+2)

#TDH65 Zack Greinke (+1)

Crack the Code Ad

Pack #12 Total: 9pts.
Total: 108.6pts.

Sox-Mariners.

We had a great time at Fenway Monday night. It only rained for about 10 minutes or so during the game and they were able to start on time. John Lackey pitched well although he still managed to cough up the lead at least once, haha. Anyway, here are some pictures I took throughout the game...

pretty good band. 

i'm trying to figure out which pitcher this is... (*update: this is chris seddon, a rookie with a dora the explorer backpack. thanks Mariner1!)

ichiro struck out to begin the game.

marco scutaro drove in 4 runs.

first lead of the night. lackey lost it in the next inning.

j.d. drew.

pap's patented stare. 

a nice 6-3 win in 2.5 hours.

Rainy Day.

Hi everyone,
I'm still having problems with my scanner, resulting in the lack of A&G posts. I've totaled everything up, and my box does not yield the highest score. I'll still try to get all the packs up as soon as I can though.

Meanwhile, I'll be going to tonight's Red Sox-Mariners game. It's supposed to rain most of the evening. That doesn't bother me, I just hope there aren't any long rain delays. Tomorrow, I'll put up some pictures from the game.

It's been a really busy month for me between work and getting ready for college. (September 2) Also, I'm in the process of getting my license, which I need for school. The RMV requires me to wait 2.5 weeks between my last lesson and my road test. I think that's pretty unnecessary because instead of having my licence already I have to wait until September 4th. Oh well.

P.S. Johnny Damon back to the Red Sox? I don't think so. I just saw the waiver claim on Boston.com. I highly doubt that it's going to happen, and honestly, I don't know how I would feel if he did, indeed, return to the Sox.

Packs 7-9.

Pack #7:
#99 Anthony Gatto
#281 Kurt Suzuki
#173 Jimmy Rollins
#19 Tommy Hanson
#273 David DeJesus
#343 Brad Penny (+2 SP)

#NA42 National Animals: Carabao (+2)

#TDH13 Adam Dunn (+1, +2 Favorite Player List)

Pack #7 Total: 7pts.
Total: 67pts.

Pack #8:
#172 Ian Desmond
#22 Lucy
#230 Brian Roberts
#145 Jim Thome
#AGR-RH Ryan Howard Framed Relic (+8x1.7=13.6)

Pretty nice hit. White's always boring, but at least there's a pinstripe. 

#223 Jason Kubel Mini A&G Back (+2)

#TDH5 Chipper Jones (+1)

Pack #8 Total: 16.6pts.
Total: 83.6pts.

Pack #9:
#239 Mike Cameron (+1 Favorite Team)

#152 The Parthenon
#213 Mark Reynolds
#256 Rick Porcello
#265 Kendry Morales (+2 Favorite Player List)

#338 Francisco Liriano (+2 SP)

#120 Nick Swisher Mini A&G Back (+2-1 Yankee)

#TDH72 Jay Bruce (+1)

Pack #9 Total: 7pts.
Total: 90.6pts.

I think this is a pretty good box so far. My average total per pack is 10. If this particular box keeps yielding about 10 points a pack, my score should be around 240.

I just got back...

from a nice vacation in Maine. :) We had absolutely amazing weather the whole week. Now that I'm back, I've had to catch up on a lot of things, and I should get a couple posts of the Gint-A-Cuff's up tomorrow.