If I Played Poker, I Would Use These Chipz

I got a package in the mail today from a fellow Yankees collector in my team collectors club. He included some pretty cool Knicks, Jets and Yankee cards. But what peeked my interest was a handful of chips he included. Or to be precise, Chipz.

I had received a fistful of the 2013 Topps MLB Chipz in the package. Now, to be honest, I never thought about putting together the Yankees set of these. I didn't open a pack of these last year because I wasn't sure if these would make it to another year and I didn't know how to store these. Now that I have some, I will figure out how to protect them and I will now go after the team set.

To be honest, I had a couple already from the group break of 2014 Topps Baseball Series 1. Now that I got these, I can show them off at once.

Unfortunately, my printer/scanner decided to take a dirt nap, so until I can get a new one, I will be taking pictures of everything with the camera on my phone. So, without further ado...

The first Chipz I pulled out was Robinson Cano. Yes, I will miss the guy batting out of the 3 hole and his outstanding glove at 2nd base. Do I think he went to the right team? No, because a lot of the home runs he hit will now become fly outs and there isn't enough protection in that Mariner lineup. Do I fault him for going? No. For what he is making, you and I would have gone. I love Seattle. I love the ball park. I think he will enjoy playing in Seattle.

Another Yankee defector was in the package. I have no ill will towards Granderson. The Yankees were not bringing him back anyways. I just think he opened a can of worms when he said "the real New York baseball fans were Mets fans." Joking or not, he will hear it when he comes back from the Bleacher Creatures.

I also got a chip of the Captain. Anytime I get anything of Derek Jeter, it's a good day. Watched him play today and he looked pretty good out there. I hope he doesn't break down anytime soon.

The less said about A-rod, the better.

CC! He looked pretty good in his 2 innings pitched this afternoon. I predict he will have a bounce back year in 2014.

I even got a Teixeira for my Teixeira PC. This wasn't the only Tex I got.

I also managed to get the gold parallel Chipz of Teixeira. You can see that it has a gold "glare" to it, hence Topps calling it a gold parallel.

Now that I have seen these in person and held them, I will be going after the rest of the Yankees. I looked at the check list and I am missing only Nick Swisher. I am a bit surprised that there was no Mariano Rivera or Andy Pettitte. There was no Yankees in the autograph or game used Chipz.

I do like this product. It's different than the usual Topps products and I hope we get them every year going forward. I will be keeping an eye out for the 2014 set when they are released. I already checked out the tentative checklist and saw that that we will even get a Jeter game used Chipz, so I will be on the hunt for that.

A nice, different product by Topps. I look forward to the 2014 release.

Random Thoughts

I usually keep my Random Thoughts to my pop culture blog, but today, what the heck? I can do the same here. I have a lot of sports thoughts running through my head and lord knows I do like to share my opinions.

-Why in the name of Thomas Vanek does it take the Islanders to be down 3-0 before they wake up and play hockey? And why does John Capuano still have a job when Peter Laviolette is still available? The Islanders season is done. They just lost to Colorado, so it's time to start getting rid of players. Vanek, Andrew McDonald and Josh Bailey, in my mind, are the top three candidates to get the heck out of NY. Fire Capuano either during the Olympic Break or after the season.

-So Alex Rodriguez decided to drop his lawsuit against MLB and the Players Union. Well la di freaken da as Matt Foley used to say. He knows that he there would be no way the players would let him back without a riot as long as that lawsuit was still on going. He knows that he screwed up and dropping the lawsuit was the smart thing for Rodriguez to do. Do I think he will be back in baseball in 2015? Yes, I do. Will it be as a Yankees? God, I hope not. At that point, he will be a 40 year old third baseman who will be out of baseball a year and has a bad hip. Time to cut the baggage and start over at third.

-I don't know about you, but I love seeing NHL players compete in the Olympics. I know the owners hate taking 3 weeks off because of all the lost revenue. Suck it up. This is a chance for your players to represent their respective countries. Most athletes would kill for that chance. Baseball players can't do it, that's why they compete in the World Baseball Classic. I can see hockey doing something similar if the owners insist on the players abandoning going to the Olympics. I mean, when they go, we lose out on that oh so exciting All Star Game.

-I've already participated in a case break of 2014 Topps Baseball. I cannot wait until my Yankee cards get here. I didn't get any hits, but I should have at least one team set and a few cool inserts.

-The Knicks are a mess. But they can still make a run at the playoffs. It's not because they have a good team. It's because the East is so lousy.

-Who else here is excited to see Masahiro Tanaka pitch? If he comes as advertised, the Yankees will be a contender. I have faith that CC Sabbathia will make some necessary adjustments to be competitive again and Hiroki Kuroda will be his usual solid self. If Nova can finally put together a full season, the Yankees could have the best staff in the AL East.

-I hate seeing that Geico Geko dance in front of Pat's and Geno's in that new commercial. Makes me want a cheesesteak sandwhich.

-I notice advertisements on Plexiglas behind some nets in a few NHL arenas. Isn't that obstructing the views of the fans that pay top dollar for those seats?

-I really like those Islander Stadium Series jerseys. What I like even better is that they are now the new alternates. The Islanders decided we have been punished enough and got rid of those horrendous black alts they sported for the past few years.

-Speaking of Islander jerseys, I am wondering if they are keeping the current jersey when they move to Brooklyn in 2015. If they do, they are going to have to add Brooklyn and Queens to the current logo, I would think. Or maybe the new alts will be the new home jerseys. I know that there is no geographical logo on it, but I would hate it if that happened. They changed the logo once and we all remember how that turned out.

-Say what you want about Curt Schilling and Lord knows I have called him everything under the sun, but I know how horrible a disease cancer is. My grandma passed away this past New Years Eve and seeing how much she suffered and I would hate to hear of someone else going through it. I will say a prayer for Curt Schilling.

-I was saddened to hear of the passing of Ralph Kiner the other day. Growing up a Yankees fan doesn't mean I didn't watch my share of Mets games. I've always thought Kiner was a great color man. He explained the game in a way that I was able to understand as a kid growing up. I got to meet Kiner a few years back at a card show and got him to sign a baseball card for me and was able to take a picture with him, which I still wish I had. He was extremely nice and we talked baseball for a few minutes before I went on my way.

Here's a picture of the card. Sorry it's a bit blurry.

Rest In Peace, Mr. Kiner.