Snakes alive!

 

Don't get alarmed. No real snake pictures here. Nor is it about door draft snakes, although it'd be interesting to see what a door draft snake draft looked like.

No, I'm just the latest one to show off my gits from The Diamond King's recent card draft!

I love card drafts! But I think the most recent one for me was nine years ago. The problem is most card drafts want your money and I don't participate in risky card ventures for cash. I want my money to go to cards I will like for sure (this does not explain why I buy random blasters tho).

 

My favorite card drafting style is the snake kind. It's the most fair and the least complex. 

 

So, The Diamond King requested nine cards from the eight participants to put into the card draft pot. Then people took turns selecting the cards available.

The problem for me is my schedule doesn't match up with anyone else's. People seem to think Tuesday, Wednesday or Saturday night are convenient for such things, and everyone else agrees. Those days also happen to be my busiest work nights. It's cool though. I relied on draft host Kevin to be my proxy selector. He performed magnificently.

I noticed right away that the available cards were Dodger-heavy. There were five availables that I knew right away that I needed. But there was another participant who is a known Dodgers fan. Goodbye getting all five. What I didn't expect was two other draftees to select Dodger cards I needed. Oof. My list of interesting cards dried up very quickly.

But the show had to go on, so let's see what I managed:

ROUND 1

Goldie Kersh from 2020. An absolute no-brainer pick and the card I targeted as my first choice. There was no guarantee though. I was picking sixth and TWO other Dodgers cards went before I had a chance to go. Good thing Kershaw was still around!

ROUND 2

I actually saw this card on an earlier Diamond King post and knew I didn't have it. So it was my third choice on the list I gave Kevin. The Bellinger Unleashed card disappeared before I could get it so Campy it is! This Campy card from 2004 is numbered (out of 2499) for reasons that I do not know.

ROUND 3

 

The last Dodger card that I needed (a shiny Panini Buehler) disappeared, so I was already on to drafting players from inferior teams. I am a sucker for retro Reggie cards, especially if he's with the A's. The 2021 Heritage candy lid insert was seventh overall on my list of "cards to git," so it wound up with me as the 22nd overall pick.

ROUND 4

Ha, ha, yes, Reggie again! My default preference when all the Dodgers are gone are set needs or players who were active when I was kid -- even if they did hit three home runs against my team in Game 6 of the World Series. A '70s player on a '90s-retro design is odd as heck, but what the hey.

ROUND 5

Starting to grasp at straws already here but Vlad Guerrero is one of the few star players from his era that I really like. He is one of the best players I ever saw play in person. And Expos cards are always cool. This was just trippy enough to draw my eye -- can't even tell you what year or set it is -- so I had it 13th on my list and took it with the 38th overall pick.

ROUND 6

OK, the Dodgers were gone. The vintage was gone. What do I look for now? For some reason I decided that Cubs were a thing to have -- I seem to trade with a fair amount of Cubs collectors -- maybe they'll be useful? Shiny Schwarber, all refractory, was my 15th choice and it's mine!

ROUND 7

Another default pick of mine -- old-timey players on newer cards. Not a big Action Packed guy but I am interested in accumulating Robin Roberts cards. I listed it 16th on the git list and it came to me in the 54th round.

ROUND 8

Nothing but Cubs content from here on out. Javy Baez, who is just a tad too fired-up for my taste, landed with me with the 59th pick. I had it 21st among my choices -- again, just in case a Cubs fans comes along.

ROUND 9

My last pick was this out-of-date card from 2018 Heritage. I thought it might be an insert, but it's just a base card from that set that I never saw at the time. It was the 27th choice on my list and my pick in the 70th draft spot.

The draft was a pretty good deal. You get to get rid of cards you have no use for -- I'm happy to say that I think all nine of the cards I sent in were picked -- and add a few that you want. I admit that many of the cards I picked up, I'd have no problem sending away.

 

Maybe you'll see them in a future Diamond King snake draft! (Ha, I'm kidding).

 

Kevin is actually planning to do another card draft soon. People who did not participate in the first one get first choice, which is fair. I probably won't be around to sign-up when he's hoping to post the list anyway. It's a busy day tomorrow.

 

That's the exception as most Sundays I'm always free, for card drafts or whatever. Mondays, too. But I know you guys and your 9-to-5 jobs.