Gint-a-cuffs II: Come join me in the abyss

I have very little time today for a thoughtful post, so why not bore you with my increasingly ho-hum box of Allen & Ginter? Let's see if I can get more than 15 points out of packs 5 through 7. You set the bar low, you can't help but be satisfied, right? (Otherwise known as the Oakland A's company strategy).

Come join me as I sink into the middle of the pack. The lower half of the middle of the pack. Oh, hell, I'm probably all the way at the bottom by now:

PACK 5

1. #95 - Judson Laipply (0 points) - I had no idea who this guy was until I saw the checklist. A quick look at youtube showed me that I may be the last person who didn't know who he was. I admit, his dance routines are clever. But I've never been interested in dancing. This probably will be a card that I never think about or notice again.

2. #56 - Shin-Soo Choo (0 points)
3. #217 - James Shields (0 points)
4. #143 - Jorge Posada (minus 1 point for being a Yankee or maybe for being in the same pose as last year)
5. #223 - Jason Kubel (0 points)
6. #32 - Joba Chamberlain (minus 1 point for being a Yankee or maybe for being in the same action post as 2008 Stadium Club)

7. #MM22 - Protarchaeopteryx, Monsters of the Mesozoic (3 points, MOM insert). This dinosaur was the earliest-known bird-like dinosaur. An early bird, if you will. I think the card should be worth even more points simply because the dinosaur's name is a certified spelling booby-trap.

8. #TDH28 - Jose Reyes, This Date in History (1 point).

Pack 5 total: 2 points

Total so far: 36 points

The best part of this pack was that I was able to open it without tearing it. So I will deem it "the 2010 A&G pack wrapper that I save."

PACK 6

1. #87 - Alexei Ramirez (0 points)

2. #176 - Preston Pittman, turkey caller (0 points). When I started out collecting baseball cards, never in a million eons did I think I would pull a card of someone dressed in hunting camouflage. What a weird world we're in.

3. #41 - Daniel Hudson (0 points)

4. #296 - Barry Zito (0 points)
5. #118 - Eric Young Jr. (0 points)

6. #324 - Randy Winn (2 points for SP, take away 1 for once being a Yankee). Of course, Winn was let go by the Yankees this season. Why he was chosen for the set in the first place is a bit of a mystery.

7. #304 - Carlos Pena, mini (3 points, SP mini). The Rays alone are practically keeping me from negative digits.

8. #TDH30 - Hideki Matsui, This Date in History (1 point)

Pack 6 total: 5 points

Total so far: 41 points

Will I even break 100?

PACK 7

1. #179 - Ben Zobrist (0 points)

2. #242 - Jules Verne, author (0 points)

3. #204 - Russell Martin (1 point, favorite team): Martin continues to struggle on offense, but he does manage a key hit every once in awhile. His temper issue annoys me periodically.

4. #183 - Tommy Manzella (0 points)

5. #1 - Adam Lind (0 points)

6. #178 - Josh Hamilton (0 points). Don't do anything mean to the N.L. in the All-Star Game, Josh.

7. #150 - Grady Sizemore mini (3 points, mini on favorite player list). Disabled until 2011.

8. #TDH21 - Magglio Ordonez, This Date in History (1 point)

Pack 7 total: 5 points

Total so far: 46 points

Total for the three packs: 12 whopping points.

There are hits in this box somewhere.

The big achievement of these three packs is I think I figured out how to adjust the contrast enough that the card scans reasonably represent the actual cards. Anyone else having this issue?

OK, I'm done for now. You can return to your soccer talk or whatever you do to amuse yourselves.