2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces pack

K-Mart had very little baseball wax available to feed my habit this weekend. I ended up buying a few random loose packs and a box that I will post the break of later when I have time. I already posted the results of my one pack of Goudey. Here are the results on 1 of 2 packs of 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces that I ripped. Only 4 cards per retail pack, but then again the whole base set only has 120 so I am bound to get someone good.

Alex Rodriguez #62 This is a pretty sharp card, I just hope that A-Rod is watching a long foul ball before striking out in the pose and not admiring one of his 54 home runs from the 2007 season.......



Kouske Fukudome #22 This is another really great looking card. I really love the Japanese players in the Major leagues work ethics. Fukudome, Iwamura, even Dice-K seem like really hard working give 100% players.



Joe Mauer #50 So for the first time in American League history a catcher wins the batting title, "Let's paint a portrait of him with the award" What a terrible card. Show the swing, not the stupid award! What were you thinking UD?



Chin-Lung Hu #43 For a portrait card this does not make me want to puke. It is not a standard pose, and I like the fact you can see his uniform number. I wish it was an action shot, but if you have to have a portrait masterpiece, I guess this will have to do.



Overall, I would say this is a pretty good pack! I really like the Fukudome card, and I seem to always pull A-Rod. These are very attractive cards and at half price I could not pass on a couple of packs. Thanks for checking out my blog. As always these are on the trading block, so if you need one leave a comment.

The Card Addict

Preformanced Enhanced 40-40 club?

Yesterday I opened a pack of '88 Fleer, and one of the cards got me thinking. This card remembered the outstanding 1987 season that Eric Davis and Daryl Strawberry had. They both entered the 30-30 club in 1987 and both made a run at 40-40. As I lay awake last night I began to think about Jose Canseco and his 1988 42 HR and 40 SB season. I began going down the list of 40-40 club members: Canseco, Bonds, A-Rod, and most recently Alfonso Soriano. Did any of these guys reach 40-40 without the juice? Well we know Canseco pierced the skin with a needle, Bonds has never tested positive but the cream and the clear certainly didn't hurt his quest for membership into the club, A-Rod tested positive in 2003, so that leaves only Alfonso Soriano and his 46 bombs and 41 steals in 2006 for the Washington Nationals.

Since I believe testing started in 2004, Soriano may be the only performance enhancing drug free member of the 40-40 club. We have seen a decline in his overall production over the past few years, and the injuries and missed games are starting to pile up but at 6'1" and about 180 lbs he does not fit the template for juicer. His swing has always been a picture of violent beauty, and as of this post he does have 19 HR in 98 games but he only has 8 stolen bases. Could he have used too? Lets hope not. We may never know. Here is a list of some guys who came close to 40-40, but just fell short:

1922 Ken Williams of the St. Louis Browns
39 HR and 37 SB in 153 games
Ken was the very first member of the 30-30 club


1956 Willie Mays
36 HR and 40 SB in 152 games


1973 Bobby Bonds
39 HR and 43 SB in 160 games


1987 Eric Davis
37 HR and 50 SB in 129 games


1987 Daryl Strawberry
39 HR and 36 SB in 154 games


2002 Vlad Guerrero
39 HR and 36 SB in 161 games


2004 Carlos Beltran
38 HR and 43 SB in 159 games


The Card Addict