Opening Day Cards - Episode #32 (an even bigger contest)

Some people say we're crazy for giving away so many free baseball cards. Actually that's all we do. We mail you baseball cards for free. Word on the street is you like it? As always all the cards shown in this episode are yours for free if you're the first to comment with the card you'd like.

Even bigger news is the newest contest we are running - we're looking for new ideas for Opening Day Cards. Have an idea for an episode? Have an idea for a new direction? Have a guest that you can get on the show? Whoever comes up with the best idea wins 5 PACKS OF UNOPENED CARDS. Your choice. Pick them from our collection. If you win, we'll mail you the 5 unopened packs AND we'll actually do what you've suggested. We think this is going to be a lot of fun. So get those creative juices flowing and leave a comment below with your best idea!

PS - big props to the BIG Papi for running away with the Home Run Comp!

Big contest! Big Giveaway - Episode #31

That's right folks, in this episode you'll learn more about a big giveaway that we are doing over on our Facebook profile - http://www.facebook.com/openingdaycards. It's pretty simple. Become our friend over on Facebook & post a picture of the best baseball card you've opened in 2010. We'll let the contest go for a few days and announce the winner. The winner will have a number of unopened packs mailed free of charge to their house & we might toss something extra special in there. No we are not going to send Joe in a box to your house.

On top of the big giveaway all the cards in this episode are FREE as usual. Leave a comment with what you're interested in. Who's excited for the All Star Game?

2010 NL Cy Young Preview

This weekend we'll find out who we all selected as the 2010 MLB All-Stars, and our future award winners will surely be in attendance in Anaheim this year.

The Cy Young Award is given out annually to recognize each league's premier pitcher, and the 2010 season has featured some amazing pitching performances. Let's take a look at a couple of candidates for the NL Cy Young Award this season.

Ubaldo Jimenez
The Rockies ace is having a record setting season. He leads all NL hurlers with 14 wins (14-1). Jimenez is just a sneeze away from leading the NL in ERA with a 1.83 ERA. He trails Florida ace Josh Johnson by 0.01 (they both have yielded 23 earned runs, but Johnson has thrown one more inning). He tossed the first no-hitter in Rockies history on April 17th on the road, against the NL best Atlanta Braves. Ubaldo has notched scoreless streaks of 25 1/3 and 33 innings. His one loss: 2-0 loss to Los Angeles Dodgers on the road where he went 7 innings and gave up just one earned run on two hits. Right now it seems pointless to even debate any other player ousting Ubaldo Jimenez for the NL Cy Young Award this season.

Josh Johnson
The Florida Marlins ace is the bright spot in an otherwise disappointing season. Johnson sports an NL leading 1.82 ERA and an 8-3 record. With 115 Ks and only 27 BBs in 114 innings this season, Josh hasn't had too many blemishes. Unfortunately the Fish can't find enough offense to thrust him into the spotlight. After giving up 7 runs in his first two starts, Johnson has gone on to give up just 6 runs in the month of May and 5 runs in all of June. If Jimenez falters, Johnson will be waiting in the wings.

Adam Wainwright
St. Louis is a tough place to win a Cy Young in my opinion. There are just always too many pitchers to compete with on one team, and that makes it hard to stand out. If the Cy Young Award was a team award, the Cardinals would have won it most years in the last decade. Wainwright is the declared ace of the staff, and he boasts great numbers. 2.34 ERA (4th), 11 wins (2nd) and 114 K's (tied 4th). Also hurling for the Cards: Jaime Garcia (who just smoked my Brewers) with a 2.10 ERA and Chris Carpenter who is 9-1 with a 2.70 ERA. Now that's a staff.

Yovani Gallardo
This is my homer pick, I'm a Brewers fan, I admit it. But Yovani has stacked up some great evidence why he should be in this conversation. 8-3, 2.56 ERA, and 120 K's (2nd). After Yo started 0-2 in his first three starts, he rebounded to go 8-1 and only yielded 20 earned runs in his last 14 starts. Definitely not putting up Jimenez numbers, but that won't keep me from talking about him.

Other Notables
Tim Lincecum: the 2008 AND 2009 NL Cy Young winner is leading all hurlers with 121 K's, but has been scuffling lately losing his last two games to fall to 8-4. Timmy better pick it up.
Tim Hudson: the Atlanta ace is having a come back season. I have seen him pitch in person twice this season (vs. the Brewers and vs. the Giants). He is a crafty vet who keeps the ball down and gets a lot of ground ball outs and double plays. He is a big reason why ATL is leading the NL right now with a 8-3 record and 2.37 ERA
Mike Pelfrey: 10-2 for the NY Mets with a 2.93 ERA, one of 3 NL pitchers with 10 or more wins.
San Diego: Mat Latos, Clayton Richard, Jon Garland, Wade LeBlanc all boast ERAs under 3.25. It's up for grabs for the NL West leading Padres.

Be sure to vote for your favorite NL pitching phenom on the right -->

Episode 30: Mail Day and Free Cards!

Little bit of mail, little bit of free cards for you.

I'll post some more info later, but for now I am off to the Giants - Red Sox game!

Enjoy!

Stephen Strasburg Rookie Card on Ebay

There is a Stephen Strasburg rookie card selling on Ebay for $260,000.00. Let me say that again… there is a Stephen Strasburg rookie card selling on Ebay for $260,000.00. That folks is absurd. This is America fanaticism at it’s finest, ride him while he’s hot this card is only going to go down in value. I came across the card on Ebay this afternoon and the highest bid was $140,000. Three hours later it’s gone up over a hundred grand. With four days left on this auction there’s no telling what it will go for.

What do you think this is going to sell for? What would you have done if you’d opened this card? So there you have it, two posts on Stephen Strasburg in a row, I’m really hoping this guy truly pulled the card from a pack and didn’t trade for it from some kid who could have paid for college and bought a house while he was at it.

Rock on folks, baseball cards are interesting again.

UPDATE - Card is now selling for over $750,000!

Stephen Strasburg - Circle Changeup

Stephen Strasburg and the magical circle change. The kid known as "the most hyped pick in MLB history" is coming through big time. Strasburg has opened the season 2-0 with 32K's in 3 appearances. Does he deserve a coach's selection for the All Star game? Check out our video discussing his first few starts this year.

Opening Day Cards - Episode #28

It's trophy day. Nothing more needs to be said. Ok we'll say this too - we give baseball cards away for free. That's right all the cards you see on this show are up for grabs. See a card you like? Leave a comment down below and we will send it to you free of charge!