We're back from Seattle, where we spent a week on vacation and
attended my cousin's wedding. I love Seattle! We always have so much
fun out there. This time was a bit different, Maya takes some extra
planning due to naps and feeding.

Highlights include dinner at Mashiko (sushiwhore.com) where we each
ate a beautiful chirashi - sashimi on a bowl of rice - while Maya
slept. Walking around the Fremont Sunday market. Running in Myrtle
Edwards Park on Elliot Bay. Dinner at Vios Cafe. Walking along the
piers with Steph and Maya.

I'm happy to be home... But I can't wait to go back!

The last couple of weeks could be described as my quattuordecimus horribilus. It seems, however, that things are looking up. Thank you, internets, for the supportive comments. When you're going about your daily business and life trips you up, it helps to know that others empathise and wish you well. It's never easy to try and address an enormous issue with dishonest people who have possession

Every so often you hear of a collector buying up an old empty display box from the Fifties or Sixties. They're not the subject of this post.

I'm writing about the fact that so many collectors purchase a full box of packs, instead of individual packs. The practice has become so common that card manufacturers now cater to the box collector.

And not just with the upper-tier consumer, either. Thus the presence (and desirability) of box loaders. And as an aside, are box loaders the modern-day equivalent to cards that used to be found on box bottoms? I think they are...

Thus the common parlance of referring to the odds of receiving a specific card based on times-per-case, not times-per-box. We are surprised when a box contains an unexpectedly large (or small) amount of chase cards. We've come to expect excellent collation, and are thrown for a loop when we rack up doubles and triples, just from 24 packs.

Purchasing cards by the box is such a regular occurrence that manufacturers have taken to selling cards at retail stores (themselves big boxes) in mini boxes, with mini packs stacked inside like nesting dolls. It's half the amount of cards, at half the price, like the manufacturers are training young collectors for when they can afford the big boy boxes.

It's an interesting situation that's evolved over the years. I'd never really noticed it until I started working next door to a Kmart and would browse the store on my lunch break. The mini box seems so perfect a vehicle for training young collectors to buy in bulk (especially those boxes that come replete with guaranteed jersey card), and I'm sure they make nice gifts.

But what does it say about where the hobby is going? Does it effectively spell the death of the pack? Or was the pack already on a path to a slow demise before the box boom? Also, what does it say about the future marketing of the case?

The box is as important to the hobby today as the pack was twenty years ago. So if we skip ahead even five years, it makes sense that we'll start seeing case loader insert sets or some other incentive for collectors to purchase a case. Also, if the case is the thing of the future, what does that say about the place of the card shop or dealer?

Check this out. Someone is selling 900,000 cards from the 1984 Nestle/Topps set. I love the asking price for the lot, as if to suggest that there's a huge, hobby-rippling demand for this parallel set. Also, the guy's threatening to bring this lot to the National (starts today) if he doesn't sell it on eBay first.

One good thing does come out of the owner making this lot public: it helps determine the overall print run. Turns out there were a lot more of these cards than I thought.

900,000 stars and commons from 1984 Topps Nestle set

Platform Florida

presents
a Retrospective Exhibition

at Arts on the Park
115 North Kentucky Avenue, Lakeland
Opening Reception Friday August 1st 2008, 6pm - 9pm

Exhibit will include work by artists from past Platform Florida events. All artwork will be for sale! Short Films will be shown in Munn Park during the evening. Don't miss this opportunity to see great artwork and meet our Platform Artists.

For information call:
(863) 688-1546 or (863) 224-1310.

Well, we've made it to the end of the 6-Pack Analysis of 2008 Topps Allen & Ginter without encountering a true Perfect Pack. Pack 1 came close, but then Matt Cain and his losing record crashed the party. Packs 2 through 5 didn't really pass the test, either.

And of course, as I noted at the top of this exercise, the idea of the Perfect Pack has changed. With so few cards per pack and a bevy of relatively easy-to-find chase cards numbering into the thousands, it's increasingly difficult to rate base cards. Therefore, for the purposes of this 6-Pack Analysis, all cards were treated as base cards. When a David Wright relic card appeared in Pack 1, it was rated as one singular card in a pack of eight cards, not weighted to the value of two or three cards.

Based on the overall strength of Pack 1, it came as a surprise to me that Packs 2 through 5 didn't pass muster. Some other things that surprised me:

• I got 4 relic cards in the box that I opened

• I didn't get any doubles

• I got a smattering of inserts, including a Fukudome card with no number and a baby Team Orange card that I kind of like (even if the team is fictional)

One more thing: I've started calling mini cards Baby [Player Name], so watch out.


Pack 6

Khalil Greene The funkiest name of any white boy--wasted on a mediocre shortstop.

Troy Tulowitzki Troy looks bored out of his mind. I guess that's what happens when you're injured for the whole year.

Mark Buehrle Buehrle has the same eyes as Rich Gossage. And if you squint hard enough, you can almost see Goose's fu manchu facial hair on Mark's face, can't you? Someone ought to start a letter-writing campaign to Buerhle...

A.J. Pierzynski Who would win in a lunchroom free-for-all: Shawn Chacon or A.J. Pierzynski?

Baby John Lackey The man got within two outs of tossing the first visitor's no-hitter at Fenway in fifty years.

Carlos Zambrano Framed Silk (#1/10) This is the dumbest-looking card I've seen come out of one of these packs. And yet... wouldn't it be kind of cool to sew all the silk cards into a shirt?

Bram Stoker Just out of curiosity, who were the 40 or so players that were left out of this set to make room for the World's Champions subset? Had I been bumped for James Fenimore Cooper, I would probably would've been pissed. Bram Stoker? Not so much.

Luke Scott Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Irrelevant!


•••

Pack 6 Success Rate: 62.5% (5/8)
Good: Baby Lackey, Stoker, Pierzynski, Buerhle, Zambrano
Bad: Greene, Scott, Pierzynski

Ah hell, move Pierzynski up to the 'Good' side of life and give this one a 75% Success Rate.

So, what to do now? Well, for one thing the Code thing intrigues me, but I'm not good with ciphers, so I won't seriously entertain cracking it.

Do I like the set? Yes. I wish a few things had been done differently, like alternate artwork used on the baby, er, mini cards. But the base card is nice, and I enjoyed opening a box and not finding a single double. It encourages building a set.

Another year has slipped by, and this site celebrates its fourth birthday today. Has it really been that long? There's now over 1000 posts on the blog.

I know I don't post as often as I used to, but I still try to keep up with the big news, and there's been plenty of that this year.

Stephen Fry has already done some filming for the TV series of Last Chance To See, and unfortunately came off second best with a boat-dock and broke his arm. His Stephen Fry podgram tells the grim tale. Good luck to Stephen and the rest of the team as they continue their adventures. Be safe!

The Kakapo Parrots enjoyed a decent breeding season with 7 chicks hatched, although one died soon after. The Rimu crop looks very good this year, so we're optimistic for a great 2009.

The Northern White Rhino has not fared quite so well, and there has been no sign of any remaining animals in DR Congo. It looks very much like the magnificent Northern White Rhino is now extinct in the wild.

Last year's fundraiser "720 Dollars for 720 Mountain Gorillas" raised $96, so a huge thanks to everyone who contributed. Thanks to George for pointing out in the comments that FirstGiving has expired my fundraiser so I'll need to come up with something new soon.

Here's to the fifth year of Another Chance To See. Thanks for visiting.

Lately i've been thinking of old Red Sox alums. Guys like Jody Reed (he always appeared abnormally sweaty on his cards), Ellis Burks, Glenn Hoffman, and Todd Benzinger. Burks was always my favorite, and it deeply saddened me the day he left as a free agent. But I can see why he left.

Boston's a funny place to watch sports. Maybe I should rephrase that. The dynamic of sport in Boston is funny to follow. Baseball has always been a soap opera here, from Ted Williams feuding with the writers, to Buddy LeRoux failing to send Carlton Fisk his contract, to the seven-year Manny Ramirez trade rumor, every game is analyzed as if it were part of postseason play, every players scrutinized for every at-bat, every throw, and every bullpen session thrown.

And I'm not just talking about the writers or talk radio. I'm talking about every fan. Even those who are not fans knows someone who lives and dies with the fate of the Red Sox. And if it's not the Red Sox, then it's the Bruins. Or the Celtics. Or the Patriots. And don't forget the Revolution. And we haven't even gotten to college sports yet.

Watching games in a pressure-cooker atmosphere is not for the faint of heart, and I can only imagine how the players feel. Every game is the biggest game of the year. At least players can keep an outsider's perspective. They can call their families in other cities around the country (and the world) and share a laugh over the crazed attitudes of rabid New Englanders.

It's not surprising when a player like Manny Ramirez decides he wants out. Especially a player who's lambasted daily by one Dan Shaughnessy (as a side note, Shaughnessy is the only one of his generation of name sportswriters at The Boston Globe not to land a job on a major television network. Jackie MacMullan, Bob Ryan, Will McDonough, and Peter Gammons have all gained (or did gain, in McDonough's case) national prominence as a national network television sports analyst. And yes, I'm counting ESPN as a national network.), he of Curse of the Bambino fame (I believe Shaughnessy also helped coin the now ubiquitous term 'Red Sox Nation').

So it's funny that I've been thinking of those old Red Sox, because as I opened Pack 5, I got a card of Todd Benzinger Incarnate.

Pack 5

Jeremy Bonderman That's a six-syllable name, for those of you counting at home, and the first of two white guys with long last names to start the pack.

Chad Billingsley I hope Chad's first name is really Chaddington. That would make my day.

Carlos Lee So much for the streak of white guys with long names. We'll have to start a new streak, this one of All-Stars named Carlos.

Carlos Guillen Current streak alive at two, which in itself is impressive. I had a 2 in 399 chance of getting an All-Star Carlos. It's too bad I already got Beltran in another pack; I could've pulled the trifecta.

Mini World Leaders: Mirek Topolanek, Czech Republic What kind of card back is this? I don't even get Topolanek's career highlights? Boo!

Matt Holliday/Oklahoma How many more years before the Mantle comparisons come out? I mean, the fact that Matt Holliday is from Oklahoma pretty much cements that it will happen eventually, right?

Nyjer Morgan The name 'Njer' comes from the Latin 'Nyjerious' or 'to languish on a team that itself belongs in Triple AAA.'

Clayton Kershaw Todd Benzinger is Alive and Well and Pitching in Los Angeles.


•••


Pack 5 Success Rate: 50% (4/8)
Good: Holliday, Guillen, Lee, Topolanek
Bad: Billingsley, Morgan, Bonderman
Ugly: Kershaw



Look for Pack 6 tomorrow!

I don't know how many people share my views, but I feel that the trio of sets Topps released from 1976 to 1978 are three of the most underrated sets the company has ever produced.

The multitude of stars found in these sets is astounding. The year under review, 1976, featured second-year Brett, Yount, Rice, Carter, Hernandez, and Lynn, plus a third-year Winfield and a bevy of others not yet waist-deep in their respective All-Star careers. Guys like Mike Schmidt, Dwight Evans, Carlton Fisk, George Foster, David Concepcion, Greg Luzinski, JR Richard--each was getting really just their first true taste of success.

I haven't even mentioned the mid-to-late career stars like Jim Hunter, Carl Yastrzemski, Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, or Gaylord Perry. Or Hank Aaron, whose importance to the 1976 set is unmatched (though I'll never understand why Topps didn't checklist Aaron on card #660 in 1976, as he was in 1975).

Yet despite the concentration of established and nearly-established stars within the set, there are relatively few worthwhile rookies. I think you can even count them on one hand: Dennis Eckersley, Willie Randolph, Ron Guidry, Chet Lemon, and Mike Flanagan. That's not too many, especially for a decade that developed the great stars of the following decade.

The other reason I've listed this set this low is because of the photo quality and design. A lot of collectors are endeared towards the 1976 design, but it feels homemade and a little cheap to me, especially on those particular cards that feature airbrushing. And while we're talking about airbrushing (a truly lost art), were this a countdown of the greatest airbrushed sets, 1976 would come in at or near the top of the heap.

Best of the Set
With so many great stars from which to choose, I'm going to go with an obvious choice (at least it should be obvious if you my taste in cards): 1975 Joe Garagiola/Bazooka Bubble Gum Blowing Champ Kurt Bevacqua (#564). This card has got it all: a ridiculously large bubble gum bubble, a ridiculously terrible baseball player who saved his best performance for the World Series, top billing for Joe Garagiola, and something that looks like a bubble protractor or forceps. What's not to love?

Not the best photo for Andrew's self-confidence. For one thing, he probably should've been photographed in a portrait. As it is, this photo makes him look like could probably be the starting pitcher for the Jurassic Park team, and that he could reach down and eat the tops of the trees in the background--if he doesn't get electrocuted by the fence first.

The back is much better. I can just see a forlorn Jim Leyland, standing at a payphone in the rain, talking to Miller's answering machine.

I am not, nor have I ever been a Yankees fan, but what Topps did with Derek Jeter's card in its 2008 Series 2 is intriguing. First of all, Jeter is checklisted on card #455. (You'd think that the captain of the most famous team in American sports would at least garner a 2nd Tier number.)

The second thing is that the spirit of Mickey Mantle makes an appearance in the photograph. In the upper-left of the photo, a fan is wearing a #7 t-shirt. Nothing really bad about it, but does it have to be there? Presumably, the Topps photography team had more than one shot of Jeter from which to choose. So why go with this one? If they had wanted to include the essence of Mantle, why not go all-out and show Jeter in the Yankees Clubhouse store, purchasing a Mantle jersey? That might be kind of fun, in an US Weekly way: Baseball Players Are Just Like Us!

I was approached by a band of 10-year-olds as I tried to convince myself to buy a $20 blaster box of Topps Opening Day. I felt silly enough standing there by myself in Target, right up next to the cash registers; an open target for the silent judgment of the other shoppers. But to be given advice by a pack of 4th graders really took me down a few notches.

That said, what they told me was very interesting. They said that there was no reason to buy Opening Day, that it was crap because it didn't have memorabilia cards. They said what I really should've bought was Topps Chrome. When I mentioned that you only got 4 cards per pack and the pack cost $3.50, they said it didn't matter. Chrome was what I should be buying. And here I was getting psyched about mascot cards aimed at the very audience who rejected them.

•••

Here's something I just noticed about the Allen & Ginter checklist. The Hero Numbered cards are all of players who are currently Topps spokesmen: Alex Rodriguez (#1); David Wright (#100); David Ortiz (#200); Ryan Howard (#300, #400). I wonder if this has been a common practice for Topps; I've never noticed it before. Then again, maybe it's never been this obvious.

•••

Pack 4...

Jose Valverde I'm not quite sure who or what Jose's looking at in his photo, but it sure ain't the camera.

Troy Glaus How did Glaus get out of the Mitchell Report stranglehold with nary a scratch?

Gil Meche Every time I get a card of Meche, I can't help but think of Philip Roth's Great American Novel, and now that Topps has included a card of Gilgamesh in its 'Ancient Icons' insert set, well...

Howie Kendrick Here's another photo taken from the ground up. Kendrick is 5'10". Why couldn't the photographer just stand up and take the shot at eye level? I understand the fundamental reasoning behind shooting someone from the ground up: you want to give the subject a larger-than-life persona. But it gets tiresome, especially when the guy you're trying to immortalize platoons at second base.

Jason Giambi Watching the Yankees/Red Sox series, it's interesting to note how different Giambi's arms look from his steroid days.

Mini Ryan Braun Nice-looking card. These mini cards would've been even cooler had Topps used photography not on the players' regular cards. It would've been twice the amount of work, sure, but collectors are not exactly shelling out chump change for these cards.

Shane Victorino/Hawaii state flag This is the first time I've ever seen the Hawaii state flag, and I have to say it's already my favorite.

Empire State Building What a great card! You know what the best part is about the 'World's Champions' subset? It's a subset, not an insert set. Also, the WCs for 2008 are a much better class than in previous years, if you ask me (though still no Sir Garry Sobers).

•••

Pack 4 Success Rate: 75% (6/8)
I was psyched for this to be a great pack, but the inclusion of Kendrick and Valverde makes it only above average. And by the way, I know I should be pleased to get Jose Valverde in a pack, but I'm not. It's a bad photo, and really I don't care very much about relievers or the Astros in general.


Pack 5 coming soon!

Today's fantastic card is one of my favorites: 1974 Topps Traded Juan Marichal. Some guys navigated the 1970s with ease: they grew a mustache, combed their hair, and kept the instances of being photographed with a shiny warmup shirt on under their jersey at a minimum (see Gene Garber's cards from the decade and for a good example).

Other guys were not so lucky. Let me rephrase that. For some guys, the fashions of the 1970s were a reason for reporting for duty every day. Open shirts, wide lapels, unfortunate haircuts--all of it was bad news. So that brings us to Juan Marichal's crazy sideburns.

Actually, in this pose you can't tell if there's a matching burn down his left cheek, which swings heavily in Marichal's favor for the title of Weirdest Facial Hair Decision.

Another reason I love this card is because of the back. Besides the poor Topps' copywriter's minor headline coup ("Marichal Makes Bosox Juanderful"), the lead sentence states, and I quote:

"The Boston Red Sox, claiming that they're 'sick of losing,' today acquired Juan Marichal from the San Francisco Giants."

This is brilliant because many people forget just how bad a team the Red Sox were for most of the 1950s and 1960s. In fact, in the period following their World Series loss to the Cardinals in 1946 to their World Series loss to the Cardinals in 1967 (a span of 21 seasons), the team finished in the top 3 of their league only 7 times. It was only really in 1972 that the team started to show life, finishing the season a half-game out of first.

And though Marichal's the biggest name to appear in the 1974 Traded series, he gave the Red Sox just 11 starts, going 5-1 and posting an ERA of 4.87, by far the highest of his career (if we don't count his ERA for two appearances with the Dodgers the following year).

Here's a funny thing to consider: the term "relic" means something from a bygone era, or of historical interest. Only recently has it taken on the connotations of game-used memorabilia. And only really recently has the term come to mean both: cards with game-used jersey swatches and bat shavings are in such proliferation that the idea no longer seems fresh.

So how do we remedy the situation? There's the argument that companies create less of these cards, but telling someone interested in making a profit to create less of something rings too naive. Instead, what if companies begin Game-Date Stamping?

A year ago I was all up in arms because Topps rammed the Generation NOW insert set down the hobby's throat. But there was an interesting idea at the root of those cards: the celebration of an individual achievement. The problem was that it was replicated ad nauseam. But what if companies married the two––relic cards and Generation NOW--together?

I read yesterday that Major League Baseball is asking teams to collect all the bats that break over the course of this season. Card companies should buy up those broken bats, keep records of those games in which they broke, and then serial-stamp the date of the game onto cards containing a shaving of the broken bat.

Let me put it another way. Which would you rather have: A bat card of Jason Varitek, or a bat card of Jason Varitek stamped with the game date of the bat's final use? I think Game-Date Stamping would inject life into the state of game-used memorabilia cards.

Audio

Nightmares on Wax - 195 lbs - Warp
I-Roy - Musical Feast - Kingston Sounds
Scientist - Heavenless Dub - Kingston Sounds
Jah Youth - Well Ah Oh - Inna De Yard
Alliance - Ngoppe Kam - Hill Country Records
Les Amazones De Guinee - Alhamdoulilah - Sterns
Madilu System - Jalousie - Sterns
Ouinsou Corneille & Black Santiagos - Vinon So Minsou - Analog Africa

lisa's subcutaneous subconscious mix

Gal Costa - Barato Total - Cantar - Philips
Jay Tees - Buck Town Version - Studio 1 7"
Strategy - Future Rock - Future Rock - Kranky
Out Hud - Jgnxtc - Out Hud/!!! split remix 12" - Zum
Suicide - Che - Suicide - Blast First
Zomby - Spliff Dub (Rustie remix) - Mu5h - Hyperdub 12"
Henry Flynt - Jumping Wired - Hillbilly Tape Music - Recorded
OCS - Oh No Bloody Nose - 3 (Songs About Death And Dying) - Narnack
MF Doom - Tick Tick (feat. MF Grimm) - Operation Doomsday - Fondle 'Em
Microstoria - Dokumint - Init Ding - Mille Plateaux
Dr Buzzard's Original Savannah Band - Sunshower - Kid Creole: Going Places, The August Darnell Years - Strut
Little Howlin Wolf - Sunny Come Early - Stranger Mon' - Beacon 7"
Tsèhaytu Bèraki - Bezay - V/A - Ethiopiques Vol. 5 - Buda Musique
Wasteland - Emerge And See - October - Transparent
Appleblim & Peverelist - Circling - Soundboy's Ashes Get Hacked Up And Spat Out In Disgust EP- Skull Disco 12"
Mint - Phonogram - v/a - Profan - Kompakt

Abstract color used to be a staple of Topps baseball card design. 1952, 1954, 1955, 1958, 1959, and 1960 all feature color prominently either as a photo backdrop or design flourish. Heck, even 1951's two sets are known by their color distinction (Red and Blue). Color made a brief comeback in the 1970s (1971's black border, team-color-coded frames in 1972 and 1975), and then seemed to disappear.

Nowadays the only place you'll find as liberal a use of abstract color is in Heritage and other retro sets. For a fan of abstract design, that's kind of depressing, but then again, retro sets seem to crowd the marketplace these days.

The reason I bring this up is that abstract color makes a small but memorable appearance on A & G cards. I'm wondering how the designers decided which color to use for which player, and if some colors are used more often than others. Yellow, blue, green, pink, greenish-grey--five colors total. And while I don't have a complete set to figure accurate percentages, I'd say from the cards that I do have, color distribution is pretty even.

Color distribution probably is not something you think about too much, I know I don't. But I also know that in those sets where color plays a starring role, it really bugs me when so many cards of the same color end up next to each other on the checklist. If we were discussing the color distribution patterns of early Nineties Score, I wouldn't have a problem; a card's color was based on the series it appeared in. But the meritocratic checklisting system Topps employed for so many years gave each set the illusion of being a random jumble of cards. By extension, shouldn't the color assignment for each card also have been random? I'm not entirely convinced the color of backdrop was part of the meritocratic system, but it's worth investigating.

And now...

Pack 3

Adrian Beltre If Carlos Beltran is the Generic Superstar, Adrian Beltre is a Generic Star.

Jorge Posada With Posada's career winding down, here's a question: Does he deserve to get into the Hall of Fame? Gut instinct says probably not.

Nick Markakis You know what I like? I like that some of the most exciting young players in the game play in the AL East division, and none of them play for the Red Sox or Yankees. Nick Markakis, Carl Crawford, BJ Upton, Evan Longoria, Scott Kazmir... actually, Markakis is the only one of those guys not with Tampa Bay. This means he's on the first bus outta Baltimore when his contract expires, he's gunning for a one-year wonder with the Orioles in a stacked division, or Nick has resigned himself to a career of personal achievement, not team success.

Fausto Carmona I find it interesting (and bad business for teams) that pitchers can put together one or two great years and then cash in for a gigantic contract. Now, Fausto Carmona is a good pitcher. But before he won 19 games last year, he was 1-10 in 2006. Is that kind of consistency worth upwards of $48 million for the next four to seven years? Even if he wins 15-19 games a year for all seven of those years, you're not looking at a Hall of Famer, and you may not even be looking at the next Rick Wise. I think the idea of the contract year is very short-sighted. And don't even get me started on Barry Zito. Fausto sure does look happy on this card though.

Francisco Liriano Gotta feel bad for Liriano. He goes from boy genius to being on the shelf for a year to wowing triple AAA crowds and yet the big league team doesn't have room for him. (By the way, if you have the video game MLB: The Show 2006, Liriano's slider is almost unhittable.)

Mini Austin Kearns I think it's really too bad the team in Washington isn't called The Senators. Did the franchise want to dissociate itself from that hapless moniker? Because really all they're doing is muddying up their current name.

Roy Halladay/Colorado State Flag The Colorado flag is cool. I wonder what the symbolism means. It kind of looks like a belt buckle.

Jesse Carlson Says he was born in December 1980, so that makes him a 27 year-old rookie. And so far he's doing fairly well in a middle-relief role for the Jays. Him and Scott Downs, man. Those Blue Jay middle relievers have been lights out so far this year. (By the way, Downs is another guy who has a 3-year hole in his career, 2001-2003.) And as a final aside, I find it interesting when rookie cards of middle relievers make big splashes in the hobby. Last year it was Joba Chamberlain and Hideki Okajima. Carlson's cards aren't attracting much interest on eBay, so was last year's flurry of interest a one-year thing?


•••


Pack 4 Success Rate: 75% (6/8)
Markakis, Beltre, Posada, Halladay, Carmona, and Liriano lead the way for a relatively good pack.


Look for more A&G dissection tomorrow, with Pack 4.

Check out your local USA cinema on the following link to see if it is playing the special edition movie of "Long Way Down" on Thursday July 31st. This is a special one-night event from Fathom Events, screening just a few days before the TV series begins on August 2nd on the Fox Reality Channel.

Fathom and Wasserman Media Group are proud to present the Elixir Films and Big Earth production of Long Way Down – the ultimate motorcycle adventure - on the big screen. This unique event will be shown in select local movie theatres for one night only, on Thursday, July 31st at 7:30pm! This is your only chance to see a Fathom exclusive cut of Long Way Down – Ewan McGregor (Star Wars, Moulin Rouge!, Trainspotting) and Charley Boorman’s (Actor and Motorcycle Fanatic) 15,000 mile motorcycle journey from Scotland to South Africa on the big screen. Join McGregor and Boorman as they face many challenges from the unknown and unforgiving terrain that test their endurance, driving skills and push their friendship to the limit.

I've already seen the TV series on DVD but it will nice to see a version of it on the big screen. I've got my ticket and I'm sure it will something of a unique movie experience.

I don't know if the Mountain Gorilla scene will make it into the movie or not, but it was so nice to see Ewan and Charley being so moved in the presence of these magnificent creatures. You can see a short clip of it in this video trailer. Finally, I've been thoroughly enjoying the book version of Long Way Down on my Sony Reader, but its also available as a hardback edition of course.

It's Hall of Fame Weekend! Hooray!

And while it's exciting for Rich Gossage, Old Man Dick Williams, and the Ghost of Barney Dreyfuss, there is a green room full of guys who continue to check their voicemail in vain...

586 career stolen bases • 5-time All-Star • 2,134 career hits
1962 NL All-Star Game & Regular Season MVP
3-time World Series Champion


1964 NL MVP • 281 career home runs • 7-time All-Star • 2,143 career hits
1964 World Series Champion


NL MVP 1982, 1983 • 7-time All-Star • 398 career home runs
(And no, I'm not talking about Ernie Whitt)


1977 NL Rookie of the Year • 1987 NL MVP • 8-time All-Star • 2,774 career hits • 438 career home runs • 1,591 career RBI


6-time All-Star • 374 career home runs • 3 top-5 AL MVP finishes


9-time All-Star • 374 career home runs • 2,254 career hits • 5 Gold Gloves


.304 career avg. • 8-time All-Star • 1964 AL Rookie of the Year • 3-time AL Batting Champion


8-time All-Star • 370 career home runs • Won 1969 World Series as NY Mets manager • Twice World Series Champion as player with Dodgers


3,701 career Ks • 287 career victories • 3.31 career ERA • 2-time All-Star • 2-time World Series Champion


1970 AL Rookie of the Year • 1976 AL MVP • 7-time All-Star • 3 Gold Gloves • .292 career avg.


.298 career avg. • 382 career home runs • 1978 AL MVP • 8-time All-Star
Once snapped his bat on a check-swing


4 consecutive 20-win seasons • 4 top-5 AL Cy Young finishes • 1989 World Series Champion • 1989 World Series MVP • 1990, 1993 ALCS MVP

I've been to One Whitehall, and it is not in Los Angeles. Also, the guy from the Sonic commercials did not work there.

Back on Topps

Chuck Stobbs died two weeks ago, and I can't help but think that, like Al Downing, he made more history with one pitch than he did the rest of his career. In April of 1953, Stobbs gave up the longest home run ever recorded (a whopping 565 feet) to someone named Mickey Mantle.

And even though it's not something he probably wanted to be remembered for, it's almost a perfect highlight to a relatively inglorious career spent mostly with the Washington Senators.

Read More:

The Tale of Chuck Stobbs (WashingtonPost.com)

These rankings appear a bit random, don't they? Like, who in their right mind would list this set so low? And lower than 1973 Topps? Is this some kind of joke?

No, it's not a joke. 1950 Bowman may have nice artwork and no words on the front (propelling the Bowman Mystique), but the checklist is missing Joe DiMaggio and Stan Musial and, for the era, has a relatively weak rookie class (lead by Don Newcombe, Ozark Ike, and Roy Sievers). And in a few instances, Bowman used the same artwork better in another set (case in point, the same shot of Ted Williams was used much more effectively in the long rectangle format of the following year).

This was the only year when Bowman was the only game in town, and they didn't disappoint. It was the largest checklist the company had ever done, the cards are nice to look at and though the rookie class isn't spectacular, there are a host of stars from the Fifties who make their first cardboard appearance.

Best of the Set
The checklist has a whole handful of established stars, including Ted Williams (his first with Bowman), Jackie Robinson, Warren Spahn, Bob Feller, and Roy Campanella. But for my money (and I don't have enough to afford this set), I'm going with Yogi Berra (#46). Those post-war sets liked to show catchers in mid-motion, decked out in their gear and pads, and gazing skyward for a pretend foul pop.

And though Yogi's still padded up, his action looks and feels much more natural. It's a much different version of the star, one that's almost all but forgotten: No Nonsense Berra (as opposed to Whimsical, Fun-Loving Yogi). Needless to say, this card would make a terrific poster. And for some reason it reminds me of this painting.

Pack 2

Pack 2


Matt Kemp I got nothing to say about Kemp except that he looks bored. The next time I make the big leagues and get to be photographed for my own baseball card, remind me not to look like I'd rather be asleep. This photo of Kemp gives hope to my new theory that some cards feature photos intended for a different use, like say a media guide or a side of a milk carton.

Chris Young In 1960, Leaf (or Sports Novelties, as the brand was known at the time) included a card titled "Baseball's Two Hal Smiths." You'd think that Topps would want to copy that for one of its brands, with "Baseball's Two Chris Youngs." I'm not a National League guy, so I don't know if this is the good Chris Young or the bad one, or if they're both good, or what. I do know that this guy's glove is absolutely gigantic.

Adam Wainwright Actually, I'm beginning to notice that all the gloves on these cards look huge, so I guess I can't hold it against Chris Young if he wants to use a comically-oversized mitt. I'm digging Wainwright's card, and if you remove the glove from his left hand, he could be at the blackboard in front of a lecture hall full of high schoolers.

Tom Gorzelanny Tom's lucky: you almost can't tell he's on the Pirates. That way, if he shows this card to a non-baseball friend, he can pretend he's on any team he wants. Which brings up a question that's been nagging me: If you had a choice, wouldn't you want to play for the hometown team? Says here that Tom lives in Orland Park, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago and home to R. Kelly and Buddy Guy). Wouldn't he want to play for the Sox or the Cubs? Were it me, I'd want to play for the Red Sox and that's it.

Mini Jason Varitek Boy, remember those dark years when Varitek wasn't in a Topps set? Wonder what that was all about. Anyway, now it seems like Topps is making up for lost time. They got him everywhere, and not just rehashing the same photo over and over again. Seems like they've shown him in ten different poses, at home eating lunch, throwing change out the window at the toll booth, and singing karaoke with his Japanese friends.

State Flags: Joe Mauer/Minnesota Mauer's great, isn't he? One of my favorites. Also gotta love the old-school Twins batting helmet. Makes you think Gary Ward's lurking around somewhere. By the way, the State Flags insert is okay, but have you noticed how boring most of the flags are? I'd like to think that if these cards have any value, it's based on the beauty (or overall craziness) of the state flag depicted. Were this the case, the Maryland card would be worth the most.

Brian Schneider The highlight of this card is the Shea Stadium patch on Schneider's right arm. Also what looks like either a leech or a massive shaving cut on his right cheek. I'm really hoping it's a leech.

Marie Curie Proof once again that you don't have to comb your hair to make a difference in this world.


***

Pack 2 Success Rate: 62.5% (5/8) Not a great pack. Besides the mini Varitek, the Mauer/Minnesota, and the Marie Curie cards, only two others make the cut (Matt Kemp and Chris Young). The rest of the pack is filled out by guys who were born to be mediocre (Gorzelanny, Schneider, Wainwright). Perfect Packs have no time for mediocrity.

It seems like it was only a few months ago that we brought Maya home from the hospital. (Oh, wait... it was!) Today she flipped herself from her belly to her back four times in a row, twice to each side! Yay Maya, you're growing up! Video of the momentous occasion will be posted when I have a moment to download and edit the files...

Back Without Popular Demand! That's right, after at least a two-year absence, it's time for another 6-Pack Analysis. In this installment, I'll be searching out the elusive Perfect Pack from a box of 2008 Topps Allen & Ginter.

While I painstakingly remove six packs from the box for analysis, let's review the ground rules for this adventure. As I stated back in March 2006, analysis of a pack must be based on the merits of each card and how they complement each other, and a Perfect Pack is one that contains a perfect storm of the best cards of the set.

In the case of Allen & Ginter, many of the "best" cards in the set aren't really a part of the set at all, but one-off chase cards. So then, can there be a Perfect Pack that does not include one of the best chase cards? My answer is yes, and not just because it is the most convenient answer. In fact, I would go so far as to say that the answer has to be an emphatic yes. Otherwise, technically there would be only one or two Perfect Packs in the known Allen & Ginter universe. And what if one of those packs with a once-in-a-lifetime card has seven others that are really terrible? Just the chance of that occurring makes the whole system feel a little cheap.

So! A Perfect Pack does not have to contain a well-publicized, you're-never-going-to-find-one chase card. To go back to the first point, each card in the pack factors into the overall success of the pack (the pack's Success Rate, shown as a percentage).

Right. I've got the six packs lined up and ready for dissection and analysis, I've donned my safety goggles and white lab coat, turned off my cell phone, and have hidden the tv remote.


Pack 1

Mark Teixeira Sometimes I wonder who the photographer is on some of these cards, Teixeira's included. Billy Barty? Warwick Davis? Peter Dinklage? Barty's deceased, so I'm guessing that gives more work to Davis and Dinklage. Also, is it just me or does Teixeira's left arm look disturbingly big, like it extends way past his knees?

Carlos Beltran There are a few generic poses for sidelines baseball cards: standing, bat raised, glove raised, ball shown in faux-pitch, smiling, not smiling, glaring, indifference. Carlos Beltran chose "bat raised." Here's a question: Are there Generic Superstars? You'd think that would be an oxymoronic statement, but I'd argue that right now in his career, Beltran is as generic a superstar as you can get. Don't misinterpret that statement: he's a great player. But he's also one of those guys you forget about (and really only remember when they're busy clobbering your favorite team senseless).

Matt Cain Here's another photo shot from the ground up. Why not just give the player a digital camera and tell him to hold the camera in one hand and take a self-portrait? Seriously, it wouldn't be any worse. Also, Matt's from Germantown, Tennessee, the boyhood home of former SNL-er Chris Parnell. Parnell is the only former cast member to be fired from the show twice.

Mickey Mantle This is just a great photo of Mantle, in my opinion one of the best Topps has used in the past few years. The artistic stylings leave a little to be desired, as this card almost could be confused for a rejected image from the 2005-06 Topps 1952 Style basketball set.

Mini A.J. Burnett It's nice to get a mini card in every pack, and it's even better to get one featuring landscape orientation. You know, I just noticed that Topps is still claiming Brooklyn as its home. Last time I checked, One Whitehall was in Lower Manhattan. Why don't they just write "New York, New York" on their cards? I'm surprised the Ghost of Brooklyn Present hasn't rattled its chains around Eisner's bed lately.

David Wright Jersey Relic Neat looking card, even though the actual swatch has to be less than 1 centimeter square. I'd like to see a jersey swatch card that is 80% swatch and 20% card border.

Andrew "William Ocean" Litz For a minute there I thought he was Soy Bomb. Nope, he's the American air guitar champion. Oh well, maybe 2009 for Soy Bomb. You know, that could make a great campaign: "Vote Soy Bomb for A&G 2009" Seeing as how he's not really the champion of anything (except maybe confusing the hell out of people), probably the only way he'll get into next year's set would be if the person who cracks the A&G code would donate their place...

Lisa Leslie What's great about this card is that Leslie apparently plays for the Purple Team.


***


Pack 1 Success Rate: 87.5% (7/8)

Pretty good pack. Bona fides in Mantle, Teixeira, Leslie, and the Wright Relic, plus Generic Superstar Beltran, Pseudo-Soy Bomb, and a mini Blue Jay. If only Matt Cain could bring down his ERA, then we'd really have something to talk about. Perfect Pack? Hard to say, so soon into the 6PA. It should be noted that there will have to be higher standards set for a Perfect Pack Success Rate in this product, simply because there are only 8 cards to a pack.


Pack 2 coming soon!

I'd want to have smarts on the bench, thus Friedrich Nietzsche, Manager.



Batting leadoff and playing Second Base, Harriet Tubman. Don't let her get on base! No one saw the Underground Railroad, and you won't see her til she's crossing home on a sacrifice fly.



Batting second and playing Third Base, Pluto. Everybody forgets about Pluto... then BAM!, it's standing on third with a triple.



Batting third and playing Shortstop, The Golden Gate Bridge. I figure no hits will get by this mess o' cables, and the Bridge is pretty powerful--all that steel--that it would be a crime not to put it in the heart of the order.



Batting clean up and playing Center Field, Bigfoot Monster Truck. Monster trucks can cover a lot of ground, make impressive flying leaps, stunning crashes, and perhaps best of all, tear up the base paths and do celebratory donuts on the way back to the dugout after a home run.



Batting fifth and playing First Base, Allen Fisher. The 25-time arm wrestling champion should be able to make snap tags on runners, and carry an intimidating bat in the number five hole.



Batting sixth and playing Left Field, Davy Crockett. Left field, in my estimation, is the baseball equivalent to the wild frontier. Crockett should feel right at home.



Batting seventh and catching, Frederick Douglass. Douglass is a great on-field leader, sending signs to the pitcher and other players. He stinks at the plate.


Batting eighth and playing Right Field, The Gateway Arch. Gateway's father owns the team. Team would do better defensively to not have a right fielder. Terrible at the plate.



Batting ninth and pitching, James Fenimore Cooper. Coop brings the heat on five pitches: fastball, spitball, curve, change-up, and the Chingachgook (sort of like an old-fashioned Gyro-ball pitch).



Pinch Hitter, Kosuke Fukudome. You know, just in case.