Monster Package #6: Winnings from Fuji

Back in April, the incredible San Jose Fuji had a 1000-hour contest in honor of his 1000th post. Considering I have yet to reach 200, I'm in awe of getting to 1000 posts.  Heck, I'll be lucky to last 1000 days as a blogger. Well, actually, I'd better last that long considering I still have another 697 cards to go in the 1982 Topps set that I started blogging about back in March.

I was lucky enough to fall as the number 2 person on Fuji's winning list for his giveaway for my post about how the doldrums of summer had become the doldrums for bloggers, which I made on May 31. Thank God that the comment wasn't some banal "Great card Fuji [read as: blatantly ensuring that I comment on each post to enter the contest!]".  I fear that I go in spurts sometimes with commenting -- a lot of comments at some points, barely any at other times.  I mean nothing by it other than I don't have anything to add to the discussion most of the time if I don't comment!

Back to the mail from Fuji -- my prize was to get a lot of Brewers cards (and a few Gary Carters) from Fuji. I think I'll present these by player because I'm still shaky on sorting by year, and I scanned and sorted these into my collection already!

Gary Carter
For those of you who don't know or are new here, Gary Carter was my favorite non-Brewer player as a kid. I was a catcher from age 8 until age 15, so catchers always are represented disproportionately among my favorites. This is the reason that guys like Charlie Moore, Ted Simmons, B.J. Surhoff, Dave Nilsson, and Jonathan Lucroy end up as player collections for me -- at least in part; the other part is that they were either good players or Brewers for a long time.  Heck, I had to edit myself so as not to include Buck Martinez, Charlie O'Brien, and Ray Fosse in my collections.  

But, Carter was my favorite catcher in the league. He seemed like the nicest guy, the most friendly, and the best overall player as a catcher of all of the guys in the league at that time. In other words, to me, he was the Anti-Fisk. I really disliked Carlton Fisk -- who seemed obnoxious, mean, and played for the White Sox which made him obnoxious and mean.

Anyway, here are the Carters from Fuji:

That Kaybee Kings card is just a fine looking card. I miss the days of walking into a toy store and finding a set of cards made especially for the store.

Okay, I can't write nearly as much about everyone else as I did just there -- I scanned nearly 100 cards in individually.  It will take a while to get through them, so they are presented without comment.

Corey Hart

Paul Molitor

Robin Yount

Charlie Moore

Ted Simmons

Yovani Gallardo

Rickie Weeks

Jonathan Lucroy

Ben Sheets

Carlos Gomez

Yeah, the team card is technically Braun, Gomez, and Hart, but you can see Gomez's face. I suppose I should chase three more of this card though -- one for each PC and one for the Brewers collection.

Bill Wegman

Ryan Braun

Once again, it's a two PC card, meaning I need two more of this card -- one for the Prince PC and one for my Brewers collection. And, is Topps foreshadowing Braun's steroid conviction by calling him a "bash brother"?  HA!

Greg Vaughn

Chuck Crim

Dan Plesac

Gorman Thomas

This card is a good reason why I just have a problem with the unlicensed cards. That uniform looks like no uniform the Brewers ever wore.  Not road, not home, not 70s, not 80s, not even in the off-season softball league. I have the same issue with the Ted Higuera jersey below on his Hometown Heroes card -- it's one thing to airbrush the logos out, but these uniforms are unrecognizable. 

Would MLB Properties sue them if the jersey looked remotely like a real Brewers jersey? If so, perhaps Panini should go with either current photos (to make all of us feel old) or they should find and use headshots -- no caps, but full color, sharp photos that are head shots. I think that is what bugs me about the unlicensed cards -- the retouching is so extensive that the photo quality is affected.  Since MLBPA licenses those cards and their players benefit, then those players should pose for the photographers hatless.

-- end unsolicited advice --

Ted Higuera

Geoff Jenkins

Jim Gantner

Jim Slaton

Bob McClure

Moose Haas

Cal Eldred

Dave Nilsson

Jeromy Burnitz

Like I said, Fuji sent me a haul.  And I haven't even played "Boulevard of Broken Prospects."

Today's version features a guy that, in my opinion, was never a prospect and a guy who was the 13th overall pick in the draft in 1998 and played fewer games in the majors than the non-prospect.

First, the non-prospect: Willie Lozado.

Lozado got to play in the big leagues in 1984 because Paul Molitor had his right elbow reconstructed.  

Then, there's the kid whose injuries prevented him from ever developing as anyone hoped. After all, TINSTAAPP (There Is No Such Thing As A Pitching Prospect).  J.M. Gold:

The final card I'll feature is the true superstar of the package -- Fuji himself:

While I know this was a "prize" package, you outdid yourself Mr. Fuji! Thank you for the contest, and thank you for the always entertaining blog!