Well, my hope that the purchase of a 1956 Ted Williams card would take care of any impulse buys for awhile didn't really come to pass.
I was doing a little bit of late-night shopping at Walmart yesterday and I figured it would be a good time to check out the card aisle when there isn't a giant line of customers standing in front of it. I got so excited at a clear pathway to the cards that I totally forgot why I was there in the first place.
There really wasn't a lot there of interest. But the Allen & Ginter section was well-stocked so I grabbed what is only my third non-Big League blaster of the year (I don't count Big League since it's half the cost of a regular blaster).
I thought I'd do another round of my Power Rankings posts with this since through eight of these posts I've never done one with A&G.
I think the reason for that is there are lots of non-baseball team cards in A&G and it's not great for determining which teams have the most cards in the box. But let's go ahead and do this anyway.
When we last left Blaster Power Rankings, the Dodgers were starting to run away with it (much like they're doing in the standings right now). But that can't possibly continue. This is ME opening things. You know, the Dodger fan who always pulls Giants or Diamondbacks or Marlins.
So let's see which teams were most represented in this box.
Blaster Power Rankings: 2019 Allen & Ginter
1. OAKLAND ATHLETICS (5 cards)
Well, that's different. The last Power Rankings post yielded no A's and I get Blake Treinen and his little puppet friend, too.
Traditionally, I count inserts and parallels against a team in the rankings because the objective of blaster purchases is completing sets, supposedly. But with A&G I'll let it slide because half the reason I'm buying this is for the minis.
2. BOSTON RED SOX (5 cards)
As if there weren't enough Red Sox cards, A&G had to throw in guys like Garciaparra and Varitek. I've complained about this before (and am apparently the only one annoyed by this), but Varitek last played eight years ago. That is not enough time to pass for me to want new cards of a retired someone in the set. Go find Rick Burleson and get him in the set, please.
On the good side, Varitek is the only mini from this blaster that is making my frankenset.
3. LOS ANGELES ANGELS (3 cards)
I prefer Reggie as an Oakland A or New York Yankee on my cardboard. Angels cards of Jackson are everywhere. But I just showed Reggie with Oakland earlier so never mind.
4. MINNESOTA TWINS (3 cards)
No offense, but Buxton looks silly between Carew and Killebrew.
5. ATLANTA BRAVES (2 cards)
I don't like these guys today. Even less than usual.
6. COLORADO ROCKIES (2 cards)
7. ST. LOUIS CARDINALS (2 cards)
Two very nice-looking cards.
8. NEW YORK YANKEES (2 cards)
My A&G blaster luck of recent years continues. There are both good and less-good elements of this relic pull, although overall good.
Good:
a) It's the rarer framed relics, which should be the only relics in A&G
b) It's Ichiro
Less Good:
a) He's a Yankee. This would have killed me in Gint-a-Cuffs (I once pulled an Ichiro framed relic of him as a Mariner during GAC).
b) A gray swatch? Really? Even this Yankee hater wants a pinstripe.
9. ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS (1 card -- Greinke)
10. BALTIMORE ORIOLES (1 card)
11. CHICAGO CUBS (1 card -- Bote)
12. CINCINNATI REDS (1 card)
One of my favorite cards in the set.
13. CLEVELAND INDIANS (1 card)
14. DETROIT TIGERS (1 card -- Lugo)
15. HOUSTON ASTROS (1 card -- Cole)
16. KANSAS CITY ROYALS (1 card)
17. MIAMI MARLINS (1 card)
A.J. Burnett stopped playing in 2015. There is no way anybody is wondering when there will be another card of A.J. Burnett.
18. PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES (1 card -- Arrieta)
19. TORONTO BLUE JAYS (1 card)
20. CHICAGO WHITE SOX (0 cards)
21. LOS ANGELES DODGERS (0 cards)
22. MILWAUKEE BREWERS (0 cards)
23. NEW YORK METS (0 cards)
24. PITTSBURGH PIRATES (0 cards)
25. SAN DIEGO PADRES (0 cards)
26. SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS (0 cards)
27. SEATTLE MARINERS (0 cards)
28. TAMPA BAY RAYS (0 cards)
29. TEXAS RANGERS (0 cards)
30. WASHINGTON NATIONALS (0 cards)
See, not exactly a team-collector friendly set.
Here are the revised Blaster Power Rankings:
1. Dodgers - 30
2. Yankees - 26
3. Braves - 24
4. Cubs - 24
5. Red Sox - 24
6. Blue Jays - 23
7. Tigers - 22
8. Astros - 21
9. Cardinals - 21
10. Mets - 20
11. White Sox - 20
12. Giants - 19
13. A's - 18
14. Pirates - 18
15. Reds - 17
16. Royals - 17
17. Phillies - 15
18. Angels - 13
19. Brewers - 13
20. Diamondbacks - 13
21. Rockies - 13
22. Twins - 13
23. Nationals - 12
24. Mariners - 11
25. Orioles - 11
26. Rangers - 11
27. Marlins - 10
28. Padres - 10
29. Indians - 9
30. Rays - 9
Also, these are the nonsports regular-size cards from the blaster:
No real excitement there. Let's see the nonsports minis.
That's a little more interesting. I was quite pleased to pull the Mike Oz card (seeing junk wax packs on an A&G design is rather fascinating).
I wanted to put the Oz card in my frankenset but it shares a number with a card of Bill James, and James is staying put. I'm pretty sure that Topps reserves certain numbers for the same "type" as softball player A.J. Andrews isn't getting in the frankenset either because pool player Jeanette Lee has that spot locked down.
Beyond that, baby penguins and doggies!
All right, now that should hold me from any similar purchases for the rest of the month.
Although I do have to go back to Walmart for the thing I forgot to buy ...
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