Sunday, March 31, 2013

Opening Day Pack Buster!

It's here! It's here! Ladies and gentlemen, it is FINALLY Opening Day in the MLB!

I meant to post this earlier in the day, but you know, today is also EASTER! I mean  come on... Easter and Opening Day on the same day!? That's like Christmas!

I also spent a chunk of time (admittedly, a much bigger chunk than I had thought it would take) pulling in the information from the drafts we've had and putting them into an Access database for (what I hope to be) quick reference when busting packs.  We'll see how that goes.  Though, as I type this, I remembered that I did not grab the mascot picks. I will get those in there, no worries!

I tried to find a pack of Opening Day cards in the box, but there are none to be found. So, I reached in and grabbed a random pack.

1999 Upper Deck Encore - 6 cards per pack.

Brian Giles - Pirates - FREE AGENT
David Wells - Blue Jays - FREE AGENT
Jeff Bagwell - Astros - SamuelPair (Wahoo!!)
Kevin Young - Pirates - FREE AGENT
Rickey Henderson - Mets - Patrick (Wahoo!!)
Ben Grieve - Athletics (Pure Excitement Insert) - FREE AGENT

Well, we got two hits on Opening Day! Congrats, Samuel and Patrick!  We also added a couple really nice cards to the Free Agent list!  Remember, all the Free Agents will be up for grabs starting Friday through Sunday!  I'll let you pick the ones you want, line everyone up for a draft, then let 'er rip!  Draft results should be available late Sunday nights.  Any undrafted players go into the mix for the next week!


Saturday, March 30, 2013

Another Pre-Season Pack!

Let's do another pre-season pack to get our cardboard habit ramping up for action!

Tonight, we've got 2000 Pacific Crown Collection

Robert Person - Phillies - FREE AGENT
Johnny Damon - Royals - FREE AGENT
Jesse Garcia - Orioles - FREE AGENT
Mike Piazza - Mets - Patrick.M.Smith (Wahoo!!)
Tim Hudson - Athletics - James.A.Haynes (Wahoo!!)
Robin Ventura - Mets - FREE AGENT
Vladimir Guerrero - Expos - gcrl (Wahoo!!)
Einar Diaz - Indians - FREE AGENT - Triber! Wahoo!!
Matt Stairs - Athletics - FREE AGENT
Andres Galarraga - Braves - pedersej (Wahoo!!)

Now we're talkin'! Four claimed players go to their respective owners! We also pulled a Triber out of the pack - always a plus!


2013 Pre-Season Pack Busting!

Hey folks!  Thanks for coming along and joining me in busting open a pack of cards as a "Pre-Season warm-up!"  Like last season, I plan to open at least one pack of cards for each day of the 2013 MLB season. And, like last year, I am opening a pack each day whether or not any games are played that day.

Here is how this works:

  • Participants receive ALL the cards of their drafted player(s).
  • Cards featuring more than one player will be given to the participant who previously drafted a pictured player, if appropriate. If more than one pictured player has already been drafted by more than one participant or if none of the pictured players have already been drafted, they will be added to a multiplayer pile. I am still working on how to dole those out. This includes team cards where the manager is *NOT* inset.
  • On team cards featuring an inset manager (that is, the manager has his own photo displayed separately from the rest of the team, and it is obviously separated), the card goes to the person who selected that manager.  If no one selected that manager, the manager's name is added to the "Free Agent" list. 
  • Any players revealed during the breaks who are unclaimed will be added to the "Free Agent" list.
  • "Free Agent" players will be collected throughout each week. There will be a form developed from which participants will be allowed to select any of the available free agent players they wish to try and claim. The form will be opened from late Friday evenings until roughly 9 pm CST on Sunday nights of each week. I will run a standard, non-collapsing snake draft to hand out players. As players are added to each participant's roster, that participant gets ALL the cards of those added players on their roster. That means if you selected "Jack Smith" in the free agency draft and won Jack Smith in the free agency draft, you would get EVERY Jack Smith card since the giveaway began and every card revealed until the season is over! 
  • Any unsigned players at the end of the season will be put into a pile to be distributed as evenly as possible between all the participants.  So, if Bobby Johnson goes unclaimed, all of his cards would go into the pile and then be distributed among as many participants as possible.
  • Any scans of the cards will appear at or near the bottom of the post to keep things cleaner-looking. I will generally keep scans limited to 9 cards at a time (that is how many usually fit on my scanner in one shot). If anyone has a specific card they want to see, I will try to accommodate you.
  • Other rules/guidelines will be added as needed.
I think that covers it. Now, let's bust some wax!

To kick things off, I cannot believe that the first pack out of the "Big Ol' Box O' Cards" is a pack of 1979 Topps! Now, you may remember that I mentioned in another post that this pack looks "too unopened" for my liking. If you aren't familiar with this, let me elaborate. In the "old days," wax packs really did have a wax coating on them. Unscrupulous dealers could easily open the pack, pilfer through it, swap out the cards they wanted to keep with commons and then easily reseal the pack by heating the wax.  Frankly, that's what this looks like. I wish I had thought to scan in the pack before busting it, but I am just too doggone anxious!

Willie Horton - Blue Jays - FREE AGENT
Rick Bosetti - Blue Jays - FREE AGENT (Hmm, two Blue Jays right out of the gate...)
Danny Darwin, Pat Putnam, Billy Sample - Rangers Prospects - FREE AGENTS
Rick Auerbach - Reds - FREE AGENT
Doug DeCinces - Orioles - FREE AGENT
Mike Jorgensen - Rangers - FREE AGENT
Ed Glynn - Tigers - FREE AGENT
Enrique Romo - Mariners - FREE AGENT
Brian Downing - Angels - FREE AGENT
Fred Lynn - Red Sox - FREE AGENT
Roger Freed - Cardinals - FREE AGENT
Bobby Cox - Braves Team Card - dayf13 (Wahoo! Our first giveaway card!!)

Well, that was a bit surprising in a way. Only ONE of the cards actually went to a participant off the bat. Since Cox is depicted as an inset on the card, it goes to dayf13. That worked out well as an object lesson, eh!  In the meantime, we have a slew of players that will be added to next Friday's (the first OFFICIAL) Free Agency Draft List!  In the case of the Prospects Card, I will add EACH NAME as a separate player up for grabs.

As for the pack itself, as I said, I am sure this is a resealed pack. I could be wrong...


Friday, March 29, 2013

Teaser: pre-season pack busting!

Later this evening (in the CST), I am busting open a pack or two as a pre-season bonus! Everyone will get their drafted players and we will surely get to see how to handle unclaimed players.

It may be close to midnight, but... It. Will. Happen!

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Tribe Cards! No, really, I mean Tribe cards!

I've been meaning to post these for a few days, but just hadn't done it between our mini vacation/getaway and biffing various aspects of the giveaway.

A good while ago, I received two packages in the mail. One came from Oscar and the other from Crackin' Wax.  My apologies to both of you, but I don't remember which cards came from which sender, (and I'm sure I have mixed them up) but I am lovin' all the Tribers in these mailers.




Now, you may be asking yourself, "What is that Warren Spahn doing in there?" I have no idea. I'm guessing it was part of the break/contest/gift from which these cards were a part. Then again, maybe it was just a "happy accident."

In any case, THANK YOU very much to Oscar and Crackin' Wax for these cards!

Friday, March 22, 2013

2nd Draft Picks


Okay, everyone, sorry for not posting this last night, but the family rented "Wreck-It-Ralph" and that took priority - for me, family always wins over everything else.

I had an interesting thing happen: two people (Andr340 and scottcrawfordoncards) that missed the first draft chimed in for the 2nd draft. As it turns out, their picks had no direct bearing on the picks. That is, their choices were not selected by anyone else or their choices had already been selected.

Of course, the real question: should they be allowed in since they missed the initial sign-up? I'm going with yes. It's my party, I make the rules. Having said that, though, registration is closed. I just can't keep up with who gets what if I keep adding folks. :-)

So, without further adieu, here is a link to the 2nd draft results. Green means that participant gets that player. Red means that person does not get the player because it was selected earlier (either in the first draft or in the 2nd one).

I will create a master sheet of everyone's picks that will be used as I bust open packs this season.

2nd Draft Pick Results: Right Here, Right Now

Oh, Andr340 and scottcrawfordoncards, please email your mailing address info to me (even if I already have it). Thanks!

UPDATE: Duh, Scott was already on the list. He missed out on the round 1 draft, which is what I used to check registrations. My other "bad" was that Borosny gets Chris Perez. I'm glad I have you guys to double check my work.  Then again, by the end of the season, I may have mutiny on my hands!

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Drafting along...

Hey, everyone!

Here are the claimed furry friends of the field:

Dawgbones - Phillie Phanatic
BConrad04 - Pirate Parrot
Dayf - Rangers Captain
Workman41 - Slider
Paul.Hadsall - Mr. Met
Dominicfdny - Wally Monster

If I forgot someone, let me know. Otherwise, the remaining mascots will be up for claim during the season.

As for the 2nd draft, here are the randomized results:


It is taking me a bit longer than anticipated to run the second draft. Some folks chose names that were already selected from the first draft. Once I work through that, we'll be rolling!

We are getting close and closer to kicking this thing off. In fact, there may even be a couple "pre-season" packs to get us warmed up!

2nd Draft, Mascots, etc - Rain Delay

We're under a rain delay here at Tribecards. Okay, more of a "mini-vacation" delay, really.  My family decided to take a couple days during Spring Break for a mini-vacation. Frankly, I didn't feel like messing with Google Docs, draft picks, etc while watching my kids swim in a pseudo-heated pool in 66-degree weather.

So, I will be running the 2nd draft and posting mascot picks later tonight (Thursday).

In the meantime, enjoy my son's "Rick Vaughn" (with a moustache) imitation:


Tuesday, March 12, 2013

By popular request


After the results from the initial player draft were posted, I had several folks ask if there would be/could be another draft round. I'm all for adding fun to the game, so why not?

Remember: There will be LOTS of opportunities to add players during the season as we open packs and uncover unpicked players.

Here is how this will work:
  • Enter up to six (6) player names (1 per line on form)
  • 2nd Draft will close on Tuesday, March 19, 2013 at 12 Noon.
  • All entrants will be randomized to determine draft pick order.
  • Snake format, non-collapsing (see below).
  • Obviously, names from the initial draft have already been selected. Please don't use those for this.
  • Selections will be hidden until after the draft to prevent "sniping."
  • If you missed the first draft, you can get in on this one, if you want!
Snake, non-collapsing format:

Entrants will be randomized to determine draft order. 
Each round will alternate ascending then descending by draft order.
1st entry gets their player 1 pick. If anyone else picked that name, it is removed from other entrant lists.
If a player in your pick list has been eliminated previously, you skip that round and get no one.

Small-scale Example:

Entrant Name Player 01 Player 02 Player 03 Player 04 Player 05 Player 06
qazxsw Q. Jones W. Erty E. Nigma R. Ureddie T. Fortoo I. Bethere
mnbvc U. Noit I. Bethere W. Erty O. Ceycan P. Indapoole D. Fense
yhnbgt Q. Jones I. Bethere A. Nonymous S. Daspirit E. Nigma R. Ureddie

(Down) (Up) (Down) (Up) (Down) (Up)

Okay, assuming I did that right, the green indicates the players the particular entrant gets. Red indicates eliminated names through duplication.

Here is the link for the 2nd Draft:

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Update: Draft Results Scan

Hey folks, here is the scan of the initial draft results. If you have not read my previous post about how all this works, please do so.  Remember, this is the flat file and does not show the manner in which things "collapsed" to the left during the draft.

On here, you can see where I highlighted and crossed off names as the draft progressed.  I went DOWN the first column. When I first encountered a name, I highlighted it. Then, I took a sharpie and crossed off every other instance of the same name. For the record, I used the electronic version to "Find All" in order to locate said duplicate names.  Also note: I had already started moving rows to the left before I got smart about it and printed the thing out. I'm a little slow to catch on sometimes.  So, this will not exactly match the raw draft picks file. But, if you compare the two, you can see just what was going on there.

When I got to the bottom of the first row, I went up the second row, finding the next available name for the participant's picks.  That means that if I came across a blacked out name, I looked to the right for the next open name in that participant's list.  I highlighted that name and crossed off all other instances of the name in the list.

When I got to the top of the second column, I went DOWN the third, rinse, lather repeat until all names were either highlighted or blacked out.

I did have a mistake in which "Clemons" was spelled wrong, so I didn't catch it until I was done. But, I made the executive decision to give it to the rightful person who picked it first and crossed it off from the other person I had accidentally assigned it to.  I thought that was fair enough.

I hope the image looks readable when you click on it.


I did the best I could. I know not everyone will agree that it went down the way they see it or how they thought it should, and I appreciate that. But, this is the final tally (what is posted online, that is).  Thanks for playing along.

UGH, Draft Sheet was wrong.

Thanks to a couple folks, who were paying better attention than I was, noticed a few problems with the Draft results. I have a printed sheet that I will post. Something got lost in translation from the printer form to the online pick sheet.

I am redoing the online pick results to match what I have on the printed sheet. This should not change the results, just make them clearer. And, if it affects certain player picks, I will figure out what to do.

Sorry about that, folks! Stay tuned!

UPDATE (9:35pm CST, 03/10/13): UGH, so I discovered the main problem with my draft technique - I didn't keep a separate record of each round. So, when you look at the final tally (which does have a mistake, but I am fixing that), things don't seem to add up.

VolleyGod does *NOT* get "Chipper" as was listed. Instead, his pick for round 1 gets him Greg Maddux, as explained below.

As each player was selected, that player was eliminated from any other slots and the choices were collapsed to the left to fill the spaces left by those eliminated choices.  Therefore, when looking at the flat spreadsheet, it appears people with higher ranks may not have received the players they though they were getting because of the collapsing snake system.  In retrospect, as mentioned above, I should have recorded the results of each round in order for everyone to fully understand the system.

Please note: The spreadsheet lists the final player picks. They are **NOT** in the order in which they were picked, necessarily. Please note that "Player #" does **NOT** correspond to a draft round pick #. They are totally unrelated, as explained above and as seen below.

Here is how the draft went for the first round, and maybe that will shed some light on subsequent rounds:

wicked4life gets Dontrelle Willis
james.a.haynes gets Chipper Jones
trhdds gets Joe Charboneau
Volleygod Loses "Chipper" so his Player 2 choice shifts over to fill the gap. He gets Greg Maddux.
Fanofreds gets Barry Larkin
akgonzolyn gets Roy Halliday
mark.aubrey gets Sandy Koufax
2x3heroes gets Buerhle
dawgbones gets Utley
gcrl gets Garvey
patrick.m.smith gets Griffey Jr
mrcoach00 gets Wood
goblue2112 gets Johnson
bp_weber gets Trammell
communitygum gets S. Castro
jccsst1022 gets Konerko
DonSherm gets Verlander
prowlingcat03 gets Nolan Ryan
borosny gets Jim Edmonds
ajpca07 gets Ted Williams
matthew.t.wils gets Pujols
workman41 gets Ripken Jr
netchuc loses Koufax so his player 2 shifts to fill the gap. He gets Babe Ruth.
pedersej loses S. Castro so his Player 2 shifts to fill the gap. He gets Ryne Sandberg.
backstop.cards gets Gwynn
eg9460 gets Clemente
SamuelPair loses Nolan Ryan so his Player 2 shifts to fill the gap. He gets Biggio.
davidinark gets Thome
dayf13 loses Chipper Jones, so his Player 2 shifts over. He gets Heyward
padrographs loses Gwynn so his Player 2 shifts. He gets Richards
bconrad gets McCutchen
cardanathema loses Sandberg so his Player 2 shifts. He gets Bo jackson
jafronious loses Maddux and Sandberg, so his player 3 shifts over. He gets Andre Dawson.
e_rose gets Molina
sngldddy gets Kershaw
tim_gretchen loses Pujols, so player 2 shifts. He gets Fielder
irishtribefan gets bryce harper
nightlife77 loses Kershaw. player 2 shifts so he gets fernando
brauer144 gets thomas
brownpg gets berra
josh.denhartog loses ripken, player 2 shifts. he gets brett
paul.hadsall gets carter
bsnider gets clark
dominicfdny gets pedroia
jrbeasley loses ryan gets kinsler
kerry biggs gets ozzie

Round 2 starts with biggs

kerrybiggs lost edmonds, so carpenter shifts over from Player 3 to his 2nd round pick
jrbeasley gets hamilton because everything shifted left
dominicfdny lost hamilton, so his 2nd pick nets him Ortiz
and so on and so on


Saturday, March 9, 2013

Draft Picks and Trade Days


Hey everyone!!  The initial player draft is over!  We had one person who managed to snag all 20 of their player picks: BoRosny. Nice job!

I explained in my last post that I used a 'snake-style' draft.  I believe the most accurate term is a 'collapsing snake-style draft.'  That is, when a player was removed from your list, the reaming choices you had were then 'collapsed' to the front of your line. Each round alternated the pick order - odds went from 1-46, evens went from 46-1.  I think that was the fairest way to do it. You may agree, you may disagree. Either way, we're talking about free bits of cardboard here, so let's not get too crazy about it, okay?


There were several requests for Team Cards. I am handling team cards differently this season, so those requests were simply marked off the list.

I did have a request for the Phillie Phanatic, and I granted that one.  If any more of you wish to lay claim to a mascot before Opening Day, fill out the Mascot Draft Form (you may try to draft ONE mascot).

Initial Draft Results: Look Here! 

Now, let's talk trade days. Today is March 09, 2013. I will give TWO WEEKS for trades to happen.  That should give me a week afterward to finalize things and get ready for some Opening Day Pack-Bustin!

Initial Draft Trades will work this way:
  • Look over your picks and the other picks, using the Results link above.
  • Use the Trade Request Form to make your trade request (one player for one player)
  • There is a link to see what's been offered/requested once you fill out the form. If you'd like, I can make that live BEFORE you submit so you can see what's already out there. Just let me know your thoughts on that.
  • Once a trade is received, *I* will contact the folks involved via email.  When an outcome is reached, I will post the results on the site and update the master spreadsheet (if needed).
  • If multiple trades come in for the same player, I will try to combine those into one email so you know which choices you have, but remember: you will have access to the trade proposal list at any time as well.
  • Once a trade is done, it is final. Subsequent trades would have to be arranged between new owners, if applicable.
I hope this works the way I think it will... Haha, if not, we'll chalk it up to a learning experience. :-)

Friday, March 8, 2013

Still... drafting... along...

Things go a bit busy in the ol' personal life, so I have about half the draft done. This time, though, I am doing it correctly so I won't have to start over!

Since I am new to the drafting process, I discovered the 'snake draft' which means I go down the list for round one, then up the list for round two, and so on.  This has worked out so much better!

Now, as I figure out just which players go to which participants, the distribution seems much fairer and somewhat more even.  Though, some folks are getting fewer and fewer choices because many players are picked by by the same folks - or at least more than one person.

So far, Nolan Ryan and Cal Ripken Jr lead the pack with 12 picks each! There could be a fight on our hands should trading get crazy.

Speaking of trading, Mark A had a cool trading idea that I hope I can pull off before the season starts: Once the final picks are posted, let folks do a pre-break trade.  That is, folks could trade players before any packs are opened. I hope to have the draft done this weekend so I can then open up the trade floor. We'll see how that goes.

This is getting exciting, especially since I have the "inside" view of which players are going to which participants. No fear, I'll be posting that as soon as everything is sorted!

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Getting a bit 'drafty'

Hey folks!  Sorry that the draft results aren't up yet. Boy, I had no idea what I was stepping into with a 20-player draft across 40+ participants! Haha!  It's all good.  It would even be better if I had caught a mistake I made before reaching the halfway point in the draft, but that's all part of life! Live and learn, pick up the pieces and try again, right?

In the meantime, I can show you where the Random.org list shuffle landed you on the draft list (see below). We had 46 people sign up for the inital draft.  I should have the draft completed in the next couple days.  And, soon after that: pack-bustin' time!

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Last Call Before the Initial Draft

Heya Tribecards Giveaway fans and friends!  If you are signed up, I am going to roll out the initial player draft by the end of Monday, March 4.  By "end," I mean before 7pm CST.

Almost everyone playing along has entered their picks for the initial draft, but I wanted to make sure we were all on the same 'deadline' page. At 7pm on Monday, I will shut off the draft form and then start the draft.

Remember: You do not HAVE to fill out a draft form. This is just a way to help kick start things once I start busting wax during the season. All participants will have plenty of opportunity to choose unclaimed players during the season.

For those that either missed out on the sign-up or who didn't want to play along for the whole season, I will have special prizes/drawings during the season for you as well. :-)  I have no idea what that will entail, so you'll find out about 10 minutes after I do. Ha!

Thanks again for playing along.  I have heard from several folks that are going to send packs to help the program! That is way cool! Thanks a bunch.  As I did last season, ALL packs will be opened by the end of the regular MLB season. Some days, I will open multiple packs, and anything unopened on the last day of the season will be busted open in a crazy wax-pack extravaganza!

Friday, March 1, 2013

Get Your Draft Picks On!

Hey folks!
  Sign-up for the 2013 Giveaway ended yesterday. So, if you didn't get in by 11:59pm last night, I'm afraid you'll have to watch from the stands!

  If you have signed up for the Tribecards Giveaway from Outer Space thingy, be sure you enter some names for the initial player draft.  I hope to get the initial draft hammered out by Sunday evening (March 3).  Once the draft is done, I'll post the results.

The draft is *NOT* the only way you will get players!  During the season, as I open up packs, you will be able to throw your name in the hat for unclaimed players. I am still hammering out the system for that, but it will not be first-come/first-serve.  Everyone will have an equal shot at claiming players that were previously not chosen.

This season should be a lot of fun!