First Impressions

I received a nice package of cards from Matt of Bubba's Bangin' Batch of Baseball Bits today as a kind gesture to welcome me to the blog community. It contained a bunch of Allen & Ginter X cards, something he stated that he believed I didn't have much of and that's why he sent them my way.

Well, he was right. I personally have never acquired an Allen & Ginter X card ever before, and this was a great way to start.

Matt knows I'm a huge Red Sox fan, and so he was able to send cards of some of my favorite current and past Red Sox's my way. 2016 Allen & Ginter X was the second year of the product and by this point, Topps was really able to iron out all the kinks and put together a set that looks even better than Allen & Ginter base.

Like I said he sent me a lot of Red Sox. Brian Johnson hasn't really pitched in a while though I do believe he has a lot of promise to be a solid pitcher down the road. Price has been out for most of 2017, but he's looking to come back soon. As for the other 2, Craig Kimbrel is having a possible CY Young season (yes he's that good) and Eduardo Rodriguez pitched quite possibly his best game of the season last night against Oakland.

He even threw in a couple of retired Red Sox players. Nomar is pretty nice to have, but Yaz takes it up a notch. Especially since I'm very close to 100 Card Yastrzemski cards, so this definitely helps.

But it wasn't only Red Sox in this package.

Matt included a player who played about half of his career with the Red Sox and a player who almost came to Beantown. You can learn more about what would have been if A-Rod came to Boston here.

I also thought it was really great that Matt looked at my players I collect list to find what cards I'd like to have. He definitely chose some great players that will make great additions. My favorite would have to be the Lorenzo Cain just because of how well the shade of blue works with the black background.

Matt also included 2 special and select Cubs rookie cards. Carl Edwards Jr. is a player I pulled a lot in packs last year, but Schwarber is a different story. I can never seem to find Schwarber cards even at the show, so thank you for including these guys in the package.

But 2016 wasn't the only Allen & Ginter X set included.

I definitely like 2017 Allen & Ginter more than a lot of Allen & Ginter sets. The frames help the whole art theme and help the cards look like actual pieces of artwork. These 4 have all been doing really well this year. Even Rick Porcello who had a bumpy start is now starting to take the form of his 2016 CY Young self.

I was really happy when I saw that Johnny Damon was in the set this year. I think it's been enough years that it's time for him to get the recognition he deserves for hitting .284 career with close to 3,000 hits.

Speaking of 3,000 hits.

More Yaz!

This card is just about as close to perfect as you can get. It includes just the right amount of everything whether that be the red on his jersey or the photo size this card is pretty amazing. If I end up making a top 5 cards post for Yaz don't be surprised to see this card included.

Finally, to end it off Matt included a card from my want list.

A major need from my 2016 Topps Heritage set. This Baseball Flashbacks card features none other than Roberto Clemente a card that I have only seen before online for a higher price than other flashback cards because of course, it's Clemente. The card itself is very 60's and the photo choice is fabulous. Definitely, a great card to have.

This package was just so fun to open and to uncover all these great cards. Thanks again Matt I really appreciate it.