no gint-a-cuffs, but allen & ginter just the same

i really wanted to get involved in the gint-a-cuffs, but having just bought two boxes of o-pee-chee in a wasted effort to connect with those summers i spent in canada as a lad, i couldn't bring myself to buy a box. that's ok though, i will live vicariously through the rest of you. had i participated, though, my favorite team would have been the dodgers, and my favorite player would have been matt kemp.

despite being box-less, i did pick up a few singles at a card show this weekend (take that, night owl!) . this guy had a case worth of singles he was selling cheap - apparently he pulled a phelps (michael, not josh) redemption auto, so he was pretty happy. anyway, i think i have the whole team, except for manny.

let's see how i score.

chad billingsley!

favorite team = +1, sp = +5. not a bad start.

casey blake!favorite team = +1.

blake dewitt! i'm kind of surprised he's included in this set, but whatever, it's better than a giant. favorite team = +1

rafael furcal!

another dodger! favorite team = +1.

matt kemp!

favorite team = +1, my favorite player = +3

clayton kershaw!

night owl's favorite player = +2, favorite team = +1.

hiroki kuroda!favorite team = +1. this is easy!

james loney.

favorite team = +1

russell martin. i am definitely on the lookout for his national pride card, by the way.

favorite team = +1

let's total it up: 6+1+1+1+4+3+1+1+1 = 19! not bad for less than the price of a pack.

on a serious note, these cards are very nice. i like them better than last year's, which i collected the base set of. i may go after a set after seeing how nice the dodgers look in a sheet with their (mostly) blue and green backgrounds.oh well, wait 'til next year!