Mail Day!

When I walked in the door last night, I was greeted with the most wonderful sight of all...a yellow padded envelope. This one was courtesy of Baseball Dad over at All Tribe Baseball who decided to send me a package out of the goodness of his heart. And what a package it was!

Following up on my completion of the Topps "Black" Tigers set, I set my sights on the Target Throwbacks. Having only pulled 3 in the group break, I was thrilled to see two new additional starting back at me when I opened the envelope up.

The first was of a diving Edgar Renteria, showing the athleticism and range that were notably absent during his time in Detroit. I actually think that he performed better than the prevailing wisdom would indicate, but was still the uninspired result of what may still go down as being the worst trade in Tigers history.

2009 Topps Target "Throwback" #253 Edgar Renteria

The next shot is of former Catcher/Utility Player/3rd Baseman/Catcher, and current 3rd Baseman Brandon Inge. Here he is showing of his Catcher's gear for the first time since 2004. Also, when I first thought this, I thought that it was some bad-ass post action shot or walk back to the dugout after an inning ending putout picture. Then I saw the Gatorade bottle in the glove and realized that he's probably walking from the bullpen to the bench on a day when Pudge Rodriguez was starting, which is kind of sad:

2009 Topps Target "Throwback" #34 Brandon Inge

Here's his last Topps card as a catcher, performing a very nice no-look tag:

2004 Topps #199 Brandon Inge

Those two cards chopped my wantlist for the throwbacks down to 4. But the real gem of the package is what came next:

2009 Topps Attax Curtis Granderson

Now, there doesn't seem to be a number on these cards, and I didn't realize that he his the change-up with enough proficiency to warrant a "94" on the Topps Attax scale of which I have no working knowledge, but this card is fantastic--and the first 2009 Granderson that I've received from the goodness of another blogger's heart. With only 16 Granderson cards released in 2009 sets to date, this card was actually a great leap forward for my collection so far this year.

Thanks Baseball Dad and may your future packs be loaded with Indians!