Thursday, April 30, 2015

#PackADailyCircus - 026 - Led astray by pearls

Good afternoon, everyone!

I spent the day working with other State Technology Coordinators as we fleshed out the grant applications that determine whether or not our positions get funded. It's an annual event that causes us to reflect on the previous school year and report what we've done, what we will do next year, and how we can improve on what we do.

I am telling you all that to tell you this: On my way to the meeting, I had to make a stop, so I decided to grab a pack of cards to open today. I had planned on maybe some Series One or Heritage, but this 24-count of Gypsy Queens in a box distracted me with the promise of "3 Pearl Parallel Cards" inside.

And, so, I am opening yet another pack of Gypsy Queen (not to mention I still have three that I haven't opened from my birthday blaster). Welp, here we go:

Carlos Santana - Indians (Wahoo!) - Jacksonville Jobu (Wahoo!!)
Willie Mays - Giants - Stealing Home (Wahoo!!)
Devin Mesoraco - Reds - Nachos Grande (Wahoo!!)
Bartolo Colon - Mets - New Jersey Hadsalls (Wahoo!!)
Nelson Cruz - Mariners - Play at the Plates (Wahoo!!)
Brandon Moss - Indians (Wahoo!) - Free Agent
Yoenis Cespedes - Tigers - Pedersejs (Wahoo!!)
Mark Teixeira - Yankees - Bo Rosnys (Wahoo!!)
Christian Yelich - Marlins - Free Agent
George Springer - Astros - Nachos Grande (Wahoo!! x2)
Troy Tulowitzki Mini - Rockies - Kentucky Quarrys (Wahoo!!)
Matt Cain Mini - Giants - RJBreeze (Wahoo!!)
Orlando Cepeda - Cardinals - Arpsmith (Wahoo!!)
Alex Gordon Mini Blue - Royals - Ventura County Royals (Wahoo!!)
Michael Morse Queen's Throwbacks - Giants - Dominic FDNY (Wahoo!!)
Roenis Elias - Mariners - Free Agent
Jason Heyward - Cardinals - Cobb County SuperChickens (Wahoo!!)
Henderson Alvarez - Marlins - Free Agent
Jenrry Mejia - Mets - New Jersey Hadsalls (Wahoo!! x2)
Brandon Belt - Giants - Arpsmith (Wahoo!! x2)
Mark Buehrle - Blue Jays - Northampton Therapists (Wahoo!!)
Corey Kluber Peral - Indians (Wahoo!) - Free Agent
Bartolo Colon Pearl - Mets - New Jersey Hadsalls (Wahoo!! x3)
Jose Canseco Pearl - A's - Dominic FDNY (Wahoo!! x2)

Well, jumpin' Jehoshaphat! Look at all those 2-hitters and the Hadsalls managed a 3-hitter from this box - not to mention two of the same player on different styles! Top that off with a bunch of the managers adding cards to their stacks, and we have one heck of a pack here. I think it is very cool that one of the pearl cards ended up a free agent that happens to be an Indians player! Oh yeah, one of the regular cards is also a free agent Indians player. How about that?! (voiced in my head as the late, great Mel Allen).






Wednesday, April 29, 2015

#PackADailyCircus #ootp - 025 - More updates, standings, and a pack to bust

Hello, Pack-A-Daily Circus-goers! What a CRAZY couple of days here in the land of Tribecards. I believe I actually have all the rosters set correctly - this time. No, really. I think I do. The Managers/Players list is current. Some players got moved around because I had put them on the wrong team and/or the OOTP game was moving players around as well. I think I have the game under control.

For those interested, I had set the game such that I was the manager for all teams. I also set the game for no trades. Somewhere, I think those settings were glitched or something. Even though the checkbox was off for trades, players were moving around. I think the issue came up when I told the game to have AI set rosters. In ootp15, that just moved players from reserve to active. In ootp16, I'm not sure it behaves that way. I will ask their support about that.

In any case, the managers/players list will be edited by hand for now on. It just makes my life easier.

Speaking of the ootp game, I ran the simulation after getting teams squared away, and here is where things stand:



I had hoped to allow for you to be able to set your lineups this week, but with the stupidity of the rosters, I forgot. So, managers, you can look at your player list and let me know which players you want active (up to 25) and/or what you want your lineup to be. If you don't let me know, I will keep running things as I have (Er, well, I will not be having the AI do anything, though!).

This week's draft is a bust, as it is already Wednesday. So, look for an expanded draft next week! Wahoo!!

Was there something else? Probably. Oh, yeah, *IF* there is a video this week, I will do it this weekend. Sorting out the roster/game mess ate up all my possible recording time tonight. UGH!

Okay, let's bust some wax! Here is a pack of 1990 Donruss:

Carl Yastrzemski Puzzle 19, 20, 21 - Red Sox - Thoughts and Sox (Wahoo!!)
Will Clark All-Star - Giants - Play at the Plates (Wahoo!!)
Ed Whitson DiamondKings - Padres - Free Agent
Paul Sorrento - Twins - Free Agent
John Olerud - Blue Jays - Free Agent
Jerry Reed - Mariners - Free Agent
Curt Wilkerson - Cubs - Free Agent
Terry Kennedy - Giants - Free Agent
Tony Gwynn Sr All-Star - Padres - Backstop Cards (Wahoo!!)
Tony Castillo - Braves - Free Agent
Dave Justice - Braves - Free Agent
George Canale - Brewers - Free Agent
Oil Can Boyd - Red Sox - Thorzul (Wahoo!!)
Cris Carpenter - Cardinals - Free Agent
Todd Frohwirth - Phillies - Free Agent
Wade Boggs All-Star - Red Sox - Northampton Therapists (Wahoo!!)
Shawn Hillegas - White Sox - Free Agent

Man! We pulled some freakin' awesome players out of this pack!! If this were 1990 and we were busting this, many of would be seriously flipping out. Who am I kidding? Many of us right now are probably freaking out. No? Just me? Well, so be it! Congratulations, managers!





#PackADailyCircus - 023, 024 - We're Back in Packs

UPDATE: Thanks to Josh's expert eye, he noticed I had skipped one of the drafts! D'oh! Okay, so, I will add the missing players to the rosters and have things cleaned up tonight (Wednesday).


Hello, everyone! I've managed to grab a good night's rest and I am ready to roll. First, we have a couple of housekeeping issues to address:

  1. In the last draft, I had listed "Frank Chance" as "Frank Chase." Though there was a Frank Chase who played, the card was, indeed, Frank CHANCE. Therefore, the Cobb County SuperChickens get the corrected name and get the Chance card we pulled.
  2. Chris Carpenter... Yoy. We had issues with his name last season. Okay, based on my research, here is what we have: they both have the exact same name (Chris John Carpenter). One played for Cardinals, etc and one did not. Both Maddings and Wilsons each had Chris on their teams. After looking through the rosters last year, The Maddings had the 2011-2012 (non-Cardinal) one and Wilsons had the one the played 1997-2012 (Cardinals and Blue Jays ). 
  3. The Players/Managers list now ONLY contains real players. I have removed (or, more to the point not added) and fictional players to that list. Hopefully, that will also keep things a little clearer.
  4. If you look over the list and find an error, please let me know and I will research and come up with a solution. Thanks for your help!
Now, I am way behind on busting some packs, so let's get rippin!

2007 Topps 

James Loney - Dodgers - Free Agent
Matt Capps - Pirates - Free Agent
Barry Zito - Giants - Free Agent
Brian Burres - Orioles - Free Agent
Rich Aurilia - Giants - Free Agent
Grady Sizemore - Indians (Wahoo!) - Free Agent
Dan Uggla - Marlins - Free Agent
Aramis Ramirez - Cubs - Pedersejs (Wahoo!!)
Ben Sheets - Brewers - Thorzul (Wahoo!!)
Bengie Molina - Giants - Saitama Sushi (Wahoo!!)
Bill Hall - Brewers - Free Agent
Bob Melvin - Diamondbacks - Free Agent
Shawn Riggans - Rays - Free Agent
Ryan Feierabend - Mariners - Free Agent
Justin Morneau MVP - Twins - Jentucky Quarrys (Wahoo!!)
Kendrys Morales - Angels - GCRLs (Wahoo!!)
Joe Crede - White Sox - Joliet Convicts (Wahoo!!)
Jeff Kent - Dodgers - Free Agent
Jason Grilli - Tigers - Free Agent
Oakland A's Team Card - A's - Free Agent
Paul Konerko - White Sox - SoxFan4Life
Javier Vazquez - White Sox - Free Agent

1991 Upper Deck

Royce Clayton Top Prospect - Giants - Free Agent
Jeff Juden - Astros - Jennings64 (Wahoo!!)
Harold Reynolds Checklist - Mariners - Free Agent
Mookie Wilson - Blue Jays - Free Agent
Jim Abbott - Angels - Stealing Home (Wahoo!!)
Ken Caminiti - Astros - Free Agent
Tom Brookens - Indians (Wahoo!) - Free Agent
Sammy Sosa - White Sox - Illinois Jafronius (Wahoo!!)
Bob Green - Yankees - Free Agent
Juan Berenguer - Twins - Free Agent
Joe Magrane - Cardinals - Free Agent
Hal Morris - Reds - Free Agent
Frank DiPino - Cardinals - Free Agent
Kenny Rogers - Rangers - Free Agent
Bob Walk - Pirates - Free Agent
Baltimore Orioles Logo Sticker - Orioles - Free Agent
Los Angeles Dodgers Logo Sticker - Dodgers - Stealing Home (Wahoo!!)

Congratulations, everyone that pulled cards!! I will bust another pack later today and that will catch us up! I will post a scan of the cards later as well.




Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Update


Good evening. Actually, good night would probably be a better greeting. As I am dictating this to my phone, it is roughly 11 o'clock at night on Tuesday. Earlier, I had taken a little trip to go help my son and histwo housemates move into their new place. I figured it would take about three hours or so. It looks like the or so one out. More than six hours later, I am finally on the road home as I dictate this to my phone. 

I am still working on making sure the rosters are correct. I should have that done by Wednesday morning. After that, I will open several packs in order to get us caught up!

I apologize for the delay, but I appreciate everyone's patience! Please send your prayers and good thoughts in my direction, as I am going to be one sore puppy tomorrow morning.

Monday, April 27, 2015

#PackADailyCircus - Curses! Foiled Again!

Hey, folks! No, the title has nothing to do with shiny bits of cardboard, but rather with yet another snafu in the ootp game. The computer insists on moving our players around. Ex: I somehow managed to have Carlos Zambrano on my team when he should be on Thorzul's team. There are LOTS of other examples as well.

So, I have some serious reworking to do - verifying everyone's picks, rosters, etc.

It looks like I am going to have to start keeping a separate file so that when the game does this kind of thing, I can easily repair the teams and make sure everyone has the correct cards/players picked.

I'll keep you posted.
Thanks,
--David

#PackADailyCircus - Grande bonus!

Hello, everyone! A very special THANK YOU goes out to Chris, NachosGrande, for the donation of packs to the Pack-A-Daily Circus! Wahoo!!  Not only is there a cool variety of stuff to bust, but he also included special custom Allen & Ginter custom minis as well (those are in the "Circa '96" boxes). These will make a great addition to the "Big Ol' Box of Wax!"

Here are some of the packs he sent:


Thanks again, Chris!!

Sunday, April 26, 2015

#PackADailyCircus - 022 - 04/25 Draft - Skunking, No Skunking!

Hello, everyone! Sorry for the late draft post, but my son is moving from one place to another and we helped him get started. If you know, or remember from your own days, how college-aged boys can be (especially when there are three in one rental), you might imagine what we faced.

In any case, this week, we had our first NO SKUNK draft, and it worked exactly as planned. Erin Rose had #1 overall pick and ProwlingCats got the next pick.

Erin Rose snagged Kris Bryant (who was by far the most sought after player this week). ProwlingCats had him as first pick as well, so they snagged their second pick: Jorge Soler.

Congratulations, you two! And, congrats to everyone that played along this week for creating the highest draft round elimination to date: we went FIVE rounds! Nice job!

I will have the new list sometime Monday Night.

Below the draft results, we have today's pack, too!


Tonight, we're opening a cello section of 1987 Topps:

Dave Johnson (mgr) - Mets Checklist - Free Agent
Jeff Robinson - Giants - Free Agent
Nate Snell - Orioles - Free Agent
Rick Schu - Phillies - Free Agent
Gary Redus - Phillies - Free Agent
Jeff Lahti - Cardinals - Free Agent
Juan Berenguer - Giants - Free Agent
Karl Best - Mariners - Free Agent
John Morris - Cardinals - Free Agent
Gene Michael (mgr) - Cubs Checklist - Free Agent
Sal Butera - Reds - Free Agent
Bobby Thigpen - White Sox - Free Agent
Bobby Valentine (mgr) - Rangers Checklist - Free Agent
Lance Parrish All-Star - Tigers - Free Agent
Pete Rose Sr (mgr) - Reds Checklist - Dominic FDNY (Wahoo!!)
Eddie Whitson - Padres - Free Agent

Whew! Thanks to the save by Dominc FDNY, we ended up with a one-hitter instead of being shut out. Congratulations - and a Rose Sr to boot! Excellent!


Saturday, April 25, 2015

#PackADailyCircus - 021 - Who will be Chopped?

Good evening, folks! As I type this out, my wife is watching an episode of "Chopped" featuring chefs from various baseball stadiums. How cool! So, I am going to make this quick and join her for the show. Tonight, we have another pack of 2015 Gypsy Queen:

Juan Lagares - Mets - Free Agent
Rod Carew - Twins - Enamel Rods (Wahoo!!)
Francisco Rodriguez - Brewers - Free Agent
Greg Maddux Mini - Braves - Illinois Jafronius (Wahoo!!)
Jose Fernandez - Marlins - RJBreeze (Wahoo!!)
Craig Biggio - Astros - Idaho Astros (Wahoo!!)

Very nice! Congrats to everyone pulling cards from this pack! We only had two free agents. And, there will be many other brands, makes, and models of cards. I just have to get to the store. Stay tuned!


Friday, April 24, 2015

#PackADailyCircus - 020 - Rolen down a Hill

Hello! Welcome back for another pack break! Today, I have a pack of 2010 Topps Series Two. Unfortunately, my desktop is in the middle (or more accurately first 1/3) of transferring data to my new rig, so I don't have access to the scanner. I will probably take a quick pic with my MacBook Pro's webcam. We'll see how it goes!

I answered a comment from RAZ, but wanted to share the idea with you here: Once I have the game files posted online somewhere that you can see them, I will open up lineups for managerial input. That is, each manager would then be allowed to set their lineups. Actually, I may post sample lineups and let you use your Manager/Player list to set lineups. Hmm, I'll keep ya posted!

Okay, let's bust some wax:

Carlos Marmol - Cubs - Free Agent
Aaron Laffey - Indians (Wahoo!) - Free Agent
Aaron Hill - Blue Jays - Kazis (Wahoo!!)
Scott Rolen - Reds - Wilsons (Wahoo!!)
Kanekoa Texeira Gold 1630/2010 - Mariners - Free Agent
Yunel Escobar Topps Attax - Braves - Free Agent
Ervin Santana - Angels - Free Agent

Congratulations, Kazis and Wilsons! We also pulled a Tribecard! Any pack in which an Indians player is pulled is a good one. Haha! The Kanekoa is pretty cool. Topps did waste any imprinting or foil on the numbering, though. The serial number is just printed on the card in black.





Thursday, April 23, 2015

#PackADailyCircus - 019 - Raising Pillars

Rise and Shine, everyone! Today, I am trying out a new thing where I post the pack breaks in the morning instead of late at night. Why? I think this will let more of you read the day's pack break on the actual day rather than the next day. Well, it makes sense in my head anyway.

So, here we go with today's pack: 2015 Gypsy Queen

Charlie Blackmon - Rockies - Free Agent
Matt Cain - Giants - RJBreeze (Wahoo!!)
Hyun-Jin Ryu - Dodgers - Stealing Home (Wahoo!!)
Trevor Rosenthal Mini - Cardinals -Free Agent
Jose Bautista Pillars of the Community - Blue Jays - Kazis (Wahoo!!)
Jake Odorizzi - Rays - Free Agent

That "Pillars" card looks pretty cool. I guess with all the scandal throughout the history of baseball, Topps decided to showcase the good things players are doing. I wonder it says about the players who DIDN'T make the cut. Congratulations to the managers who pulled cards from this pack! Sorry, Play at the Plates, this pack ends your streak.

Last season, some managers requested a running total of cards. I am going to create a leaderboard to show how many cards each manager has pulled during the season. It's just for fun, but I think it will be an exciting way to see things grow over the season. Look for that soon.


Thanks for stopping by! Come back tomorrow for our next Pack-A-Daily Circus pack break!

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

#PackADailyCircus - 018 - Ripken some wax

Hey there, folks! Welcome to today's pack break. I am going to start breaking packs in the morning rather than at night just to see how that goes over. so, starting with the next pack, I should have the pack posted by 6am CST. We'll see.  I will be buying some packs this weekend so we can bring the breaks into the 2000's but for now, we're rolling back to Topps 1990.

First off, we have 25 year-old gum. As tempting as it is to stick a bit in my mouth, it ain't happening.

Matt Young - A's - Free Agent
Atlee Hammaker - Giants - Free Agent
Calvin Schiraldi - Padres - Free Agent
Daryl Boston - White Sox - Free Agent
Jay Buhner - Mariners - Free Agent
Jeff Huson - Expos - Free Agent
Cal Ripken Jr All-Star - Orioles - TSHensons (Wahoo!!)
Luis Sojo - Blue Jays - Free Agent
"Spring Fever Baseball" contest entry card*
Rolando Roomes - Reds - Free Agent
Eric Davis - Reds - Northampton Therapists (Wahoo!!)**
Jeff Robinson - Tigers - Free Agent
Mike Fitzgerald - Expos - Free Agent
Todd Burns - A's - Free Agent
Dave Anderson - Dodgers - Free Agent
Oddibe McDowell - Braves - Play at the Plates (Wahoo!!)
Tom Brunansky - Cardinals - Free Agent

Wow, LOTS of free agents in here. Congratulations to TSHensons for that Ripken! Nice. We also congratulate the Therapists and PatP for pulling cars out of here.

*You may recall, I sent a contest card from 1988 to Topps a couple years ago. It was not well received: http://www.tribecards.net/2013/06/topps-where-is-humor.html

**Erin Rose also has an Eric Davis on her team, but he is fictional. That has been reflected in the game and will appear in future Manager/Player lists.


#PackADailyCircus Update | #3

Hello, everyone! Here is the latest video update for the Pack-a-Daily Circus!



Enjoy. Tell your friends. Invite the kids. Pop some popcorn! Okay, okay, maybe not.







Here are this week's standings. What a shake-up!!







Thanks for stopping by!

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

#PackADailyCircus - 017 - Omar goodness, it's Rafael

Welcome back! Thanks for stopping by to see today's pack of cards. This time, I've got another 1991 Upper Deck from the donation box of Hot Corner Cards. Let's see what we can do here:

Glenn Braggs - Reds - Free Agent
Mike LaCross - Giants - Free Agent
Julio Valera - Mets - Free Agent
Omar Vizquel - Mariners - Alecs All-Stars (Wahoo!!)
Chuck Finley - Angels - Free Agent
Bill Long - Cubs - Free Agent
Mike Devereaux - Orioles - Free Agent
Tim Layana - Reds - Free Agent
Brian Harper - Twins - Free Agent
Fred Lynn - Padres - Dominic FDNY (Wahoo!!)
Ramon Martinez - Dodgers - Free Agent
Ron Darling - Mets - Free Agent
Rafael Palmeiro Checklist - Rangers - Play at the Plates (Wahoo!!)

Congratulations, you three! Glad to see a few folks pulled cards from that pack. We also have some free agents for the next draft, too.

Be sure to check in Wednesday evening, as I'll have a long-overdue OOTP update! We'll look at current standings and news from around the Pack-A-Daily Circus League!


Monday, April 20, 2015

#PackADailyCircus - 016 - Another BDay Pack, of course!!

Hello, everyone! Thanks for stopping by Tribecards to see what we've got going on today. For starters, it is my birthday (Apr 20)! Wahoo!! As I mentioned yesterday, my wife bought a blaster box of 2015 Gypsy Queen for me, so I am going to open another pack. Let's see what's in this one:

Joe Mauer - Twins - Play at the Plates (Wahoo!!)
David Cone - Yankees - Free agent
Chris Sale Mini - White Sox - SoxFan4Life (Wahoo!!)
Mike Moustakas Glove Stories - Royals - Free Agent*
Prince Fielder - Rangers - TSHensons (Wahoo!!)
David Murphy - Mets - Arkansas Tribecards (Wahoo!!)

Hey!! That's what I'm talking about! I pulled a player card on my birthday!! Happy Birthday to me, indeed. Congratulations to the other managers adding cards to their collections, too!

*Moustakas was auto-assigned previously to one of your teams, but had not actually been drafted. That was back when I hit the wrong setting and screwed things up. So, Moustakas (among other such players) will appear in drafts now.



Sunday, April 19, 2015

#PackADailyCircus - 015 - Birthday Queens

Hey there, folks! Today (Sunday), my family celebrated my birthday a day early. I received a box of 2015 Gypsy Queen for one of my gifts from my wife! Wahoo!! So, let's see what we have in one of the packs:

Melky Cabrera - White Sox - Free Agent
Ralph Kiner Mini - Pirates - Free Agent
Drew Smyly - Rays - Free Agent
Joe DiMaggio - Yankees - Joliet Convicts (Wahoo!!)
David Freese Walk-off Winner - Cardinals - Wilsons (Wahoo!!)
Victor Martinez - Tigers - Jacksonville Jobu (Wahoo!!)

We started out slowly, but gained momentum, splitting the pack for a .500! Congrats to the folks getting cards out of this pack. The others will go into this week's draft.


#PackADailyCircus - 014 - Late to the party, pal! Draft Picks and Updates

Hello, everyone! Sorry this post is late. Read my previous post about the crazy roster issues and you'll understand why this pack is late. This post will cover a few things: our first draft, our next draft and Saturday's pack.

Let's talk about the draft. First of all, Northampton Therapists and Pedersejs were both skunked. Sorry, guys. I had misspelled Bobby Thomson's name. I fixed that after I ran the draft.


The updated Managers/Players file is: Right Here! Note: There may be FICTIONAL players that have the same name as a real player. For the next few drafts, I will check cards against the list to make sure a card is claimed or a free agent.


Let's talk about the next draft! We will have around 75 names/players to choose from this time! Very cool. (Managers, I will send the list out on Sunday, April 19)

I am instituting a "No Skunk" program starting with this newest draft. I entered every manager's name and randomized it. Managers will be paired off. This week, Erin Rose and ProwlingCats get to debut the program. How does it work?

Erin Rose is GUARANTEED the 1st pick of the 1st round. ProwlingCats are GUARANTEED the 2nd pick of the 1st round. So, as long as ProwlingCats picks more than one player, he will get either his first pick or his second pick. If Erin Rose and ProwlingCats have the same first player, Erin Rose gets the player since her name came out on top. ProwlingCats would then get his second pick (since the first one was eliminated when Erin Rose got it). If, however, they do NOT pick the same player for their first choice, then they both get their first round picks!  Make sense? I hope so. It's 1:30am as I type this, so there is no telling... Need a visual?

Erin Rose - 1st Choice: Yadier Molina, 2nd Choice: Fred Jackson
ProwlingCats - 1st Choice: Tommy Smith, 2nd Choice: Billy Polk

Above, they each get their 1st pick - no skunks!

Erin Rose - 1st Choice: Yadier Molina, 2nd Choice: Fred Jackson
ProwlingCats - 1st Choice: Yadier Molina, 2nd Choice: Billy Polk

Above, Erin gets Yadier, ProwlingCats get Polk - no skunks!

Now, if ProwlingCats ONLY picked Yadier in our example, they would get skunked because they only chose one player with no backup. I can't help ya there. Moral of the story: Pick at least two players on your "no skunk" week!

Here is the list. Managers, don't worry about keeping track. I will do that and let everyone know each week who gets "no skunk." For the record, all other managers will be randomized each week. Only the two managers in "no skunk" will be set in each draft.

WEEK 02 Erin Rose ProwlingCats
WEEK 03 Play at the Plates SuperDuperMen
WEEK 04 SoxFan4Life Jacksonville Jobu
WEEK 05 Eastern Virginia Mutts Kentucky Quarrys
WEEK 06 Jennings64 Ventura County Royals
WEEK 07 GCRLs The Balking Dead
WEEK 08 Maddings New Jersey Hadsalls
WEEK 09 Bo Rosnys Pedersejs
WEEK 10 Enamel Rods Cobb County SuperChickens
WEEK 11 Illinois Jafronius Tribecards
WEEK 12 Joliet Convicts CaptKirk42s
WEEK 13 Dominic FDNY CaptainCanucks
WEEK 14 Northampton Therapists Wilsons
WEEK 15 Stealing Home Nachos Grandes
WEEK 16 Thoughts and Sox RJBreezes
WEEK 17 Arpsmith Kazis
WEEK 18 Idaho Astros Saitama Sushi
WEEK 19 Alec's All Stars Pennsylvania BC's
WEEK 20 BackstopCards Thorzul
WEEK 21 NightOwls TSHensons


Okay, let's bust a pack! 1989 Donruss

Warren Spahn Puzzle 28, 29, 30 - Braves - Pedersejs (Wahoo!!)
Ron Robinson - Reds - Free Agent
Mike Brumley - Padres - Free Agent
Scott Garrelts - Giants - Free Agent
Jose Lind - Pirates - Free Agent
Charlie Puleo - Braves - Free Agent
Les Lancaster - Cubs - Free Agent
Randy Meyers - Mets - Free Agent
Rey Quinones - Mariners - Free Agent
Mike Flanagan - Blue Jays - Free Agent
Greg Gagne - Twins - Free Agent
Fred McGriff Diamond King - Blue Jays - Backstop Cards (Wahoo!!)
David Wells- Blue Jays - Kazis (Wahoo!!)
Tommy Herr - Twins - Free Agent
Kevin Gross MVP - Phillies - Night Owls (Wahoo!!)

Congratulations, managers! I was worried for a while that Pedersejs would be the only manager to pull a card from this pack. Not a bad collection of players, either.


Saturday, April 18, 2015

#PackADailyCircus #ootp - Major Shake-up/Shake-down



Hello, everyone! This update should explain a lot of things that have several of us perplexed. Let's take a trip down memory lane and then hop off and get on the right track.

You may recall, when the season opener in OOTP for this season started, I had to fill teams with fictional players so that we'd all have a full roster. That mainly applied to teams without a full 25-man roster, but at that time, I had a full set of minor league feeders set up because I was not paying attention when I created this season's game.

Another setting I had not thought of at that time was the one that allowed the computer to make trades and pull real players on to teams. You may already see where this is going, but stay with me.

So, recently, I realized what was going on. I asked for some help and learned how to get rid of all the extraneous minor league feeders. Here's where things go wrong. I had real players that were relegated to minors through the computer's roster-filling. I had real players being swapped on various teams. I had a big freakin mess.

I actually had fixed the real player rosters. Or so I thought. I did have the right players on the right teams as far as our draft picking was concerned. What I neglected to notice at that time were the players we had not yet put into drafts already assigned to teams. Ex: Carlos Gonzalez, Xander Bogaerts, and others.

This is where the confusion comes in. I had an accurate list of managers/players, but it did not match the in-game information because my list was created after the last draft but before the actual season started. Turns out, that was a blessing. See, when posting PADCircus updates, managers were seeing some of those yet-to-be-drafted players on their rosters or in my video updates. I never caught on. When I pulled an available player, a manager would write and say, "I thought he was on my team." I would check my Manager/Player list and he wouldn't be there. Then, I ran this week's draft and some of the players were already assigned to different teams. i thought I was losing my mind.

So... I generated an updated manager/player list from the game and compared it to the REAL manager/player list. Anyone not supposed to be on each team was removed - fictional or real! Then I filled each team, individually, with fictional players (because after the clean-up, not all teams has position players or did not have enough players to fill rosters).

I know this is a long, convoluted explanation for what happened. But, I am glad to know that I was able to track down the problem!

As I write this, I am still working through the rosters. I will post an updated, accurate managers/players list when I'm done - along with the info from our first in-season draft.

As I have mentioned before: Lesson learned? Next season, we have our rosters drafted BEFORE the start of the season! I will probably start breaking packs/holding drafts starting in February.

I appreciate everyone's understanding and patience. In a few years, I'll have this down to a science!

*image provided by Mark Aubrey (The Balking Dead), as he refers to PADCircus as "Pachadermly Circuits"

Friday, April 17, 2015

#PackADailyCircus - 013 - A lot of free agents!

Hello, everyone! We are closing in on our first draft of the regular season! I am getting pretty excited to see who ends up with which players. As I have mentioned, I am creating a "no skunk" program that will allow managers to have a guaranteed first or second round draft pick.

While we anxiously await draft day, we have a pack to open! How about another 1991 Upper Deck? We have a lot of them, so we'll be seeing those pop up pretty often. No worries, though: we have (and will have) a lot of other packs to bust during the season.

Dion James - Indians (Wahoo!) - Free Agent
Lenny Dykstra Phillies Checklist - Phillies - Idaho Astros (Wahoo!!)
Jeff Conine Star Rookie - Royals - Free Agent
Dana Kiecker - Red Sox - Free Agent
Dave Bergman - Tigers - Free Agent
Manny Lee - Blue Jays - Free Agent
Jeff Ballard - Orioles - Free Agent
Kevin Mitchell - Giants - Free Agent
Roger McDowell - Phillies - Night Owls (Wahoo!!)
Charlie Leibrandt - Braves - Free Agent
Tim Layana - Reds - Free Agent
Steve Lyons - White Sox - Free Agent
Dave Schmidt - Expos - Free Agent
Los Angeles Dodgers Logo Sticker - Dodgers - Free Agent

Congratulations to the only two managers pulling cards out of this one! We sure hit the mother lode of undrafted players, didn't we? It's interesting that both its were Phillies.





Thursday, April 16, 2015

#PackADailyCircus - 012 - Throwin it back-to-back

Welcome to today's pack break! We're throwin it back to 1987. We've got a triple section Topps rack pack, but we are going to only open one section at a time. Why? Because we can! Let's see if we can keep the two-hit streak going and maybe grab a perfect pack (all hits).

Jack Morris - Tigers - The Balking Dead (Wahoo!!)
Jerry Reuss - Dodgers - Free Agent
Steve Carlton - White Sox - SoxFan4Life (Wahoo!!)
Al Pulido - Yankees - Free Agent
Bill Caudill - Blue Jays - Free Agent
Charlie Moore - Brewers - Free Agent
Dave Kingman - A's - Free Agent
Kent Hrbek - Twins - Free Agent
Danny Tartabull - Mariners - Free Agent
Indians Leaders - Indians (Wahoo!) - Free Agent
Eric Show - Padres - Free Agent
Garth Iorg - Blue Jays - Free Agent
Juan Nieves - Brewers - Free Agent
Craig McMurtry - Braves - Free Agent
Reggie Jackson Turn Back the Clock - Yankees - Cobb County SuperChickens (Wahoo!!)
Phil Niekro - Indians (Wahoo!) - Cobb County SuperChickens (Wahoo!! Back-to-Back!!)

Oh, yeah!! The SuperChickens pull out a back-to-back two-hitter!! Congratulations to The Balking Dead and SoxFan4Life as well! On top of that, we pulled two Indians cards from this section of the cello. Nice!




Tribecards from the Hot Corner - Part 3 of 3 - #collecting

If you've been reading along, you know that I received a large box of packs from Hot Corner Cards. In addition to all kinds of packs, there were stacks of Indians cards! I am VERY late in getting these posted and saying another HUGE thank you to Pat for these cool Tribers.

This is part 3 of 3 posts showcasing all the stacked Indians cards from the Hot Corner.


Lots of batting and fielding going on here. And, Swisher is still smiling. Hey, if I were on a Tribecard, I'd be smiling, too!


Yeah, check out that Al Smith! Sure, it's a little traveled, but it is still some great bit of cardboard! Oh, look, Waddell has taken center square.


Is it just me, or does Willie Blair look like he should be dressed as the "Man in Black" from "The Princess Bride?" He sure does look like Elwes.


Waddell opts for the upper right corner this time, letting Martinez do some more chilling out.


I have no idea what Perez is doing there. "Hey, look upward to your left!"  Meanwhile, Jacoby shows up on a couple different cards.


I am loving those cards I grew up with...


See that CC Sabathia card? Well, look at the next 9 cards and you just might find him lurking there as well...


Love the Cabrera "Hockey Stick kind" throwback card there!

Once again, thanks to Pat over at Hot Corner Cards for these GREAT Tribecards!!

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

#PackADailyCircus - 011 - Can we go 6-for-6 two-hitters?

Update: I am a doof. Pack 010 did not yield ANY two-hitters. Obviously, I had some kind of mental lapse there. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

Hello, everyone! We've been opening some older packs lately so I thought it was time to bring things back up to this season. In this post, we're opening a pack of 2015 Topps Series One. Let's see what the cards have in store for us today!

BJ Upton - Braves - NachosGrandes (Wahoo!!)
Joey Votto - Reds - NachosGrandes (Wahoo!! Back-to-Back!)
Josh Reddick - A's - Idaho Astros (Wahoo!!)
Cole Hamels - Phillies - Eastern Virginia Mutts (Wahoo!!)
Rick Porcello - Tigers - Free Agent
Ivan Rodriguez Free Agent 40 - Marlins - Jacksonville Jobu (Wahoo!!)
Zack Cozart - Reds - Ventura County Royals (Wahoo!!)
Zach Wheeler - Mets - New Jersey Hadsalls (Wahoo!!)
Jose Reyes - Blue Jays - Kazis (Wahoo!!)
Ubaldo Jimenez - Orioles - Free Agent

WOW! Congrats to NachosGrandes for getting back-to-back hits, extending the two-hitter streak to 6 packs in a row! We also had plenty of other hits to go around from this pack! Not bad at all for an early-season pack break.


#PackADailyCircus #ootp updates, video posted

Hello, folks! I've uploaded the 2nd video for Pack-A-Daily Circus updates. I still have a ways to go. haha! No worries, I'll get my technique ironed out plus add some newsroom-style overlays, eventually. (Here is the link if the embedded video is not showing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=St-h5CV86to)


As promised in the video, here are the current OOTP standings (click to enlarge):



Tribecards from the Hot Corner - Part 2 of 3 - #collecting

If you've been reading along, you know that I received a large box of packs from Hot Corner Cards. In addition to all kinds of packs, there were stacks of Indians cards! I am VERY late in getting these posted and saying another HUGE thank you to Pat for these cool Tribers.

This is part 2 of 3 posts showcasing all the stacked Indians cards from the Hot Corner.


Check out that Albert Belle "Cut to the Chase" die cut! Very cool. I love the photos on some of these, and the artwork.


Up in the left corner is the green foil I mentioned in the last post. Fleer Ultra really took the whole "flaming ball" thing to heart, eh.


The card in the middle (1981, what my brother and I called the "hat kind" due to the hat on the card) is one I've had in my collection since it came out. I opened a pack when I was a kid and kept it ever since. Well, I opened lots of packs, but that was in one of them. You know what I'm saying, right?


That checklist always looks like he is drinking a Coke when i look at it. Anyone else seeing that? No? Just me? Okay.


There were a LOT of Tom Waddell cards in these stacks. I'm not sure just what that means.


If I ever had a second baseball card made, I'd want the pose Martinez is sporting in the bottom center.


You know, I don't think Mark Lewis aged a bit during his career. Swisher sure seems to be happy in his card.

Thanks again, Hot Corner Cards for these cool Tribers!

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

#PackADailyCircus - 010 - Two For Tuesday

Hello, everyone! It's been a while since we've done a two-for-Tuesday break, so I thought I would take this time to open/share cards from two packs. Well, they aren't exactly from two packs. You see, Hot Corner Cards had a pack of 2012 Topps (with a card or two he kept) and there were a handful of "Cooperstown" cards from Panini. So, I thought I would combine those into a 2-fer post.

Let's get started:

Yunel Escobar - Blue Jays - Free Agent
Zack Greinke - Brewers - Ventura County Royals (Wahoo!!)
Ryan Roberts - Diamondbacks - Free Agent
Dustin Ackley Gold Futures - Mariners - ProwlingCats (Wahoo!!)
Aaron Crow - Royals - Free Agent
Matt Kemp, Prince Fielder, Albert Pujols 2011 NL HR Leaders - Dodgers, Brewers, Cardinals - Night Owls (Wahoo!!), TSHensons (Wahoo!!), Wilsons (Wahoo!!)*
Allen Craig - Cardinals - Free Agent

Congrats to each manager who added a card to their stacks! We actually did pretty good with that one.

Panini Cooperstown:

Buck Leonard - Greys - Free Agent
Juam Marichal - Giants - Free Agent
Joe Morgan - Reds - Free Agent
Frank Chance - Cubs - Free Agent
Bill Dickey - Yankees - Free Agent

I've scanned one of the Cooperstown so you could see what they look like.

*Remember, multi-player cards will be randomly handed out to one of the managers with the featured players.


Tribecards from the Hot Corner - Part 1 of 3 - #collecting

If you've been reading along, you know that I received a large box of packs from Hot Corner Cards. In addition to all kinds of packs, there were stacks of Indians cards! I am VERY late in getting these posted and saying another HUGE thank you to Pat for these cool Tribers.

This is part 1 of 3 posts showcasing all the stacked Indians cards from the Hot Corner.


As you can see, there all kinds of different years, styles, and players. I received stickers, serially numbered cards, commons, team stars and league stars.


All sorts of colors spring out as well: red foil, gold, and you'll see a green foil in one of these posts.


Notice the different sizes of the cards, too. While most are standard 2x3, there are several that don't quite, er, measure up - At least in size, anyway. In terms of being awesome Tribecards? Yeah, they more than measure up.


Sure, there are duplicates in here, but what do you expect with more than 150 cards!?


I love finding cards I've never seen and cards I've had in my collection for (yikes!) decades.


Some of the cards don't even feature players! Well, they don't feature the face, anyway.


That Prizm Perez is amazing, as is a Kipnis I got in here, too.

Thanks again, Pat! I can't believe you sent so many Tribers!! Wahoo!!

Monday, April 13, 2015

#PackADailyCircus - 009 - Jafronius makes it 5-for-5 2-hitters!

Update: After looking back, GCRL had a 2-hitter to kick this off, so we are now 5-for-5 in pack-busting 2-hitters!

Hey, there, folks! Welcome to Day Nine of the Pack-A-Daily Circus League. Hard to believe it is only Monday as the anticipation of this week's draft builds. By the way, if all the managers respond before the deadline, I'll run the draft earlier - no point in waiting, right!?

Tonight, we have another pack from Hot Corner Cards. This time, we're looking at an opened pack of 2012 Panini Triple Play.

Joel Hanrahan - Pirates - Free Agent
Carlos Gonzales - Rockies - Free Agent
Carlos Lee - Marlins - Illionois Jafronius (Wahoo!!)
Bob Feller HOF - Indians (Wahoo!) - TSHensons (Wahoo!!)
Catching a Fly Ball Super Hero - Card # 6 - Free Agent
Carlos Lee Puzzle 1 of 9 - Marlins - Illinois Jafronius (Wahoo!! x2)

What!? Jafronius grabs a two-hitter from this pack, making us 4-for-4 in two-bagger packs! That is crazy. Congrats to TSHenson for getting a cool Feller card, too. I admit, I am a bit jealous. Feller was one of TSHenson's carryovers from last season. It has served him well.

I am scanning the super hero sticker because, well, you just have to see it.