2011 csd Preview – Nick Markakis
Nick was selected in the MLB draft twice by the Reds in 2001 and 2002, but did not sign either time. In 2003 he was taken 7th overall by the Orioles, and this time Nick signed. He has blossomed into a solid outfielder that the Orioles hope that they can build around. (more…)
2011 csd Preview – Jimmy Rollins
Jimmy is a fun player to watch. He is very good at what he does for one. When he has a microphone on him for TV you realize that after he is done playing he could end up in a studio. (more…)
2011 csd Preview – Chipper Jones
I posted the previous card of Brian McCann because he knocked in the first run of the season. Who was the player that he knocked in? It was none other than Chipper Jones. Chipper hit a double in his first at bat of the season to set up McCann to knock him in. (more…)
2011 csd Preview – Brian McCann
Sitting here watching some baseball at lunch I saw that Brian MCann has driven in the first run of the season. Since I have yet to release his 2011 preview card I thought I would do it now. He is an All Star catcher who really is one of the best in baseball. With that RBI in his first at bat he gets off to a solid start. (more…)
2011 csd Preview – Justin Smoak
Justin has been around a bit as a player. Since he joined the Rangers organization in 2008 he has seemingly been on a couple teams a year. Hopefully he can find some stability this season with the Mariners. He came to Seattle as the key piece the Rangers had to offer to get Cliff Lee. (more…)
2011 csd Preview – Mark Ellis
Mark became an Athletic in 2001 when he came over from the Royals with Johnny Damon. He has since locked down the second base position. Last season he was healthy and came up just a little shy of batting .300. (more…)
2011 csd Preview – Edwin Jackson
Edwin came to the Sox last season from the Diamondbacks. It was thought at the time that he would be traded to the Nationals for Adam Dunn. That never happened though, and as we start the 2011 season the White Sox have both players. I would say that everything worked out. (more…)
2011 csd Preview – Ramon Castro
Ramon came to the Sox to be the backup to A.J. Pierzynski at catcher. That has to be a fairly easy job as A.J. does not like to sit out many games. Ramon has made the most of his chances though. He caught Mark Buehrle’s perfect game in 2009. From what I have seen in batting practice he has a lot of power as well. He hits some tape measure shots when they are just thrown in there. If he could only transfer that to the games. (more…)
2011 csd Preview – Jose Valverde
Jose is in the preview set because of his pitching style. He is a hard thrower with a great delivery. I also love his nickname of Papa Grande. (more…)
2011 csd Preview – Ryan Braun
Ryan might just be one of the most underrated players in the bigs right now. I live fairly close to Milwaukee, and I don’t hear that much about him. If he played in New York he would be huge. (more…)
2011 csd Preview – Brett Gardner
Brett made this set because of his great story. He was not picked by the coach at the walk on tryouts at the College of Charleston. He came the next day in his high school uniform refusing to be told no. The coach let him practice with the team, and he eventually started for three seasons. The fact that he was not even thought of as a walk on while at a small school makes the fact that he made the big leagues that much better. (more…)
2011 csd Preview – Max Scherzer
I saw Max pitch this past Labor Day while I was in Detroit. I was going to post this the other day, but he was bombed so I decided to hold it back. (more…)
2011 csd Preview – Gordon Beckham
This is the player that started all of this. I had a picture that for some reason I decided to make a 1985 Topps card out of. Here is a link to that first card. If I had known how much time I would spend on these since then I might have done things differently. I did like the end result though, and this blog is a direct result of that. (more…)
2011 csd Preview – Ryan Howard
Ryan is one of the more feared hitters in baseball. He really can hit the ball a ton. He came to Philly and quickly made Jim Thome expendable. That is saying a lot. He is can hit the ball a ton. When I saw him play last year he really disappointed a lot of Cub fans. When he came up in batting practice he was working on some things, and did not even try for a home run. A lot of people brought their gloves to catch one of his homers. I think the people on the street had a better chance though. (more…)
2011 csd Preview – Jayson Nix
Of course waiting to post cards can come back to haunt you. I might have just waited a little too long to post my card of Jayson Nix. He was released yesterday from the Indians, and reportedly signed with the Blue Jays. I was saving the Indians cards for Opening weekend, but decided that this one should be released now. (more…)
2011 csd Preview – Matt Wieters
Matt is one of the good young catchers in the league. I was happy to see him in 2009 when the Orioles came to town. He was one of the hot young players at the time. He had a lot of hype surrounding him predicting greatness. He is a good catcher, and time will tell where he will rank among some of the greats. (more…)
2011 csd Preview – Mariano Rivera
I really don’t think that I can say anything here that hasn’t already been said about Mariano. He is one of the best (if not the best) closers this game has seen. He has a great shot to get to 600 saves this year, and then just after that he can become the all time saves leader by passing Trevor Hoffman. This could be a historic year for the sure fire Hall of Famer. (more…)
2011 csd Preview – Max St. Pierre
This is yet another shining example of a card that got into the set purely because of the picture. I like catchers to anytime I can work one in is another bonus. Normally I would not have a player with the number #63 in the set, but I guess it is my set so what the heck? (more…)
2011 csd Preview – Sean Marshall
Sean will be very important for the Cubs this season. They need some arms to get to Carlos Marmol, and Sean is a lefty that can fill that role. Sean is one of those players that is fun to photograph. He has a very nice pitching motion that looks good when photographed. (more…)
2011 csd Preview – Brandon Inge
For some reason I have always liked Brandon. He is just one of those scrappy players that you always seem to root for. The only time that I have been on the field at the Cell we walked past the opposing teams dugout as a mob wearing mullet wigs (most of the people anyway). Inge was getting ready to get interviewed, and he actually made a point to interact with a few of the weird looking people walking by. (more…)
2011 csd Preview – Justin Upton
Justin is another big leaguer that spent time in South Bend with the Silverhawks. He came to South Bend as a #1 pick, and had some heavy expectations on him. At first I didn’t think that he was all that great, but he quickly started to show exactly what he could do. He has shown flashes of that in the majors, but still has yet to play like I think he can. If he can do that he will be among the best. (more…)
2011 csd Preview – John Danks
I was able to watch John pitch for the Sox today during the last telecast of the season for the Sox from the spring. He didn’t look great, but he did look decent. Who knows what is going on with a pitcher in Arizona? It didn’t help the Sox today that Omar Vizquel made two errors. (more…)
2011 csd Preview – Lyle Overbay
Normally Monday’s are reserved for Minor League cards. With the surplus of preview cards that I have I have to try and get them out before the start of the season. I found a compromise though that I thought would work. Lyle Overbay was one of the first Silverhawk players that I saw regularly that made it to the bigs. He was a great hitter for South Bend, and has since provided his talents for the Diamondbacks, Brewers, Blue Jays, and now the Pirates. He will always be my favorite because he was the first. He also signed one of my first pictures that I took for me instantly making him a fan favorite. (more…)
2011 csd Preview – Boone Logan
I have always enjoyed players with interesting names. One of those is Boone Logan. He just sounds like he should be in our history books on the frontier. He is another former Sox player that makes the set for that reason. (more…)
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