The important stuff in 2009 SPx

With the end of 2008 rapidly approaching (seriously, it was June, like, yesterday), I guess we can now start to look forward to 2009. In addition to me writing 2008 on my rent cheque for the first couple of months of the year – that also means that there will be new baseball products coming out. And, with me collecting a player who kind of, sort of blew up a little bit in 2008 – there will likely be a lot of Hamiltons in the 2009 releases.

First up (that I have seen a picture of a Hamilton card from – I have no idea when it actually releases) is 2009 Upper Deck SPx. If you want more than the details on Hamilton in this product, check out Beckett’s Blog – they have a lot more pictures, and they let me borrow the Hamilton image you are about to see. I asked after I stopped whimpering in the corner.

First the positives – its a great looking card, and it also features Hamilton in his Texas Rangers uniform – presumably that means UD has gotten ahold of some Texas GU for the upcoming cards – I am all for that. Now the bad – Hamilton has been elevated from sharing his card with such luminaries as Xavier Nady and Rick Ankiel to being pictured with Derek Jeter and Albert Pujols. Yay, me. I mean, its not like there are lots of Yankee fans out there, right? And who’s heard of that Pujols guy anyways? Any Lance Berkman fans out there that want to commiserate with me, feel free to comment below.

So, there we have it – my first warning that 2009 is going to be a very interesting year for collecting Josh Hamilton. Lots of cool looking cards? A definite positive for me. Lots of cool looking cards that feature some of the other most popular players of the game today? Not so good.

Hopefully, I remember this post when I snag an actual copy of this card, and I will be able to laugh at how worried I was at the time. More likely – this post will be salt in the wound every time I am outbid on a copy….

Hamilton bows out of WBC

Sports Illustrated is reporting that Hamilton has declined to participate in the upcoming World Baseball Classic.

I’m a little bit torn on this one.  Quite frankly – I’d love to see him in this tournament showcasing his skills – the article says that Team USA manager Davey Johnson intended to use Hamilton as his clean up hitter.  On the other hand, he has some pretty good reasons for opting out.  “If I had four or five years under my belt, I think I would do it.   I think I would be better served by going to Spring Training and by getting that work in, because I missed so much time.”

Johnson said he would speak to Hamilton again in March, closer to the start of the WBC, in the hopes of a change of heart.  Hamilton definitely isn’t shutting the door on future participation in the event, so maybe that bodes well for Team USA.  “I wanted to do it, especially with the chance to play with a guy like Derek Jeter.  I think the next time it comes around I’d love to play.”

2008 Upper Deck Ballpark Collection Pack Break

I’m sure everyone is wondering about the Zambrano Rip card, but it was a lot less scanning to get all the scanning done for the pack of Ballpark Collection I picked up as well.

Base cards are really nice looking.  Only two per pack, so this would be a horrible set to try to build, and a pain in the butt for player collectors looking for a specific guy.  Chris Carpenter and Barry Zito here.  Couple of nice pitchers.

The omnipresent Yankee Stadium Legacy cards made an appearance as well.  I really don’t remember getting these out of the pack (I was more focused on the GU, but this was the only UD baseball product I opened, so they must have come from there.   Billy Martin and Phil Rizzuto here.

I was actually hoping for a 3 GU pack, as the autograph selection hasn’t been the greatest from what I’ve seen.  Of course, that meant I got an autograph.  I’ve never heard of this guy, but the card looks nice.

My dual GU was where the pack got worthwhile for me.  I’m not a Yankee fan, but Derek Jeter is a good pull anytime.  Orlando Cabrera is the other half of the card.  Boring swatches, but I am pretty happy with this one.

After the high of the dual jersey, I wasn’t necessarily optimistic about the quad jersey.  I ended up with a Brewers quad, featuring Robin Yount, Prince Fielder, JJ Hardy and Richie Weeks.  A little bit of mix of vintage and modern here – and I also ended up with 4 guys who are pictured in their current jerseys.  I believe UD had to picture guys in the jersey that matches up with the memorabilia piece, which is a good policy but it looks funny at times.  I ended up with a nice pinstripe on the Hardy piece as well.

So, getting down to the nitty gritty.  Value-wise – Ballpark Collection isn’t a great break.  Its about average – I might get back half of what I paid for the box.  I’d probably do OK trade wise though.  Lots of Yankee fans out there, and the Brewers seem to have a good following as well.  Ballpark was a fun break, and it is nice to get a high-endish product that still has a reasonable price point (and is sold by the pack).  The guaranteed hits in the product are sweet, but having them in large quantities definitelty dilutes the value.

I wouldn’t buy this again, but I am glad I gave it a shot.