2009 Topps First Pack - STS! Profile Mark Kotsay

Here is Team Phungo' first pack of 2009 Topps.

311 - Kelly Shoppach
228 - Scott Rolen - BOOO!!
47 - Jose Valverde
264 - Dave Bush
WBC Redemption
TT24 - Jay Bruce
Topps Attax - Joba/Ryan Howard
217 - Pujols
3 - Andy Marte
182 - Daniel Murphy
49 - Kaz Matsui

I posted Shoppach and Marte because they were the answers to the bonus questions for this weeks Spot the Sig! Dave Bush is a local product who hung out with the Len Dykstra family as a kid and it is also a pretty sharp looking card. It is an oddity that the bonus cards were both Inidians. The top insert for the pack is the redemption, which you can see elsewhere so I didn't bother posting one here.

1999 Skybox Autographics Mark Kotsay

I have liked the few Skybox Autographics cards that I have seen. They have a nice look with an on card signature. I think I picked this card up as part of a 5 junk-autos for $20 lot which is right about where I would put a Mark Kotsay auto.

I had this card as a triple, simply because it isn't the cleanest auto in the world, and it isn't like Mark Kotsay is a household name. Of course when you spend the bulk of your carreer in Oakland, I think it is easy to get missed. I really thought coming out of college Kotsay would become a big star. Unfortunately it hasn't quite worked out that way. He has been a career .280 hitter without enough pop to be a offensive force in the outfield. I still think he is a good player and it will be interesting to see how the 2nd act of his career works out.

PTBNL got this Auto for a Triple and plated two runners. That gives PTBNL 8 runs going into the final three innings of the STS competition.

As far as the bonuses, Marte was the low card, which Nachos Grande nailed picking card number 3 - stealing home and getting his first Run! PTBNL picked card 315 only 4 off of Shoppach's 311 to get the other bonus.

Here are the Spot The Sig! standings after six innings:

PTBNL - repsresentin those Fightin Phillies - 9 Runs - bases empty
Night Owl - Dodgers - 3 Runs in man on 1st
Cardboard Junkie - Braves - 3 Runs in - bases empty
Stats on the Back - Mets - 1 Run in - Man on 3rd

Nachos Grande - Reds - 1 Run in. bases empty.
Card Buzz - Angels - Man on Second.
Cardboard Addiction - Bosox - Man on First
A Cardboard Problem - Yankees - man on first.
Covered in Wrappers - Cardinals - On Deck

For further information regarding the Phungo Spot the Sig! contest click here and join the party - you just may find yourself with a stack of cards come spring training!