More Nutty Cards

A couple weeks back the Giants had their annual stadium give away of a pack of cards sponsored by Emerald Nuts.  I wasn't able to attend the game of course (while a pack of 32 cards is tempting, it isn't 400+ miles of driving tempting) but I quickly jumped on eBay to secure a pack.  I am still in search of several older sets and don't know for sure when this give away started but this one wasn't going to disappear on me.

First here is the wrapper:

You can't argue with the inclusion of Buster and the Panda but this year I would have guessed Matt Cain with his contract extension and perfect game over the struggling Tim Lincecum, but with a nickname of the Franchise I really shouldn't have expected different.

The cards have the exact same design as the Topps base set, no different border like the 2005 set previously featured in the blog, with the addition of the Emerald logo.  The backs are the same with the exception of being the numbering of SF1-SF32.  I selected some of the lesser known players and coach cards to show as the players like Buster Posey, Madison Bumgarner and Pablo Sandoval are all over the place in the base set and Opening Day.

 The best part about this set is some of the lesser known players and role players getting cards.  The top 6 are all bullpen guys.  Affeldt and Hensley are having the best seasons.  Casilla started off great filling in for Brian Wilson but has struggled recently.  I have seen Edlefsen pitch a couple times and he seems over matched but with the Giants lack of bullpen depth he has gotten into more games that we would like.  Lopez has been decent but not as good as I would expect.  Why a guy suspended before the season started for drug use is included in this set is beyond me.  Mota's card should have been replaced with someone/anyone else.  I love the photo of the Hector Sanchez card, he is valuable as a back up to Buster and I am glad he is back.  Arias has done a nice job filling in across the infield.  With the acquisition of Scutaro, I would guess he won't see too much time.  Burriss was recently designated for assignment and is so bad nobody wanted him so he is back in AAA.  I mentioned that Edlefsen looks over matched but in reality, Emmanuel is the definition of over matched every time he steps to the plate.

Here is another batch of cards including another puzzling card in Freddy Sanchez.  He has been out all year and while I would have loved to have him in the lineup he probably didn't need to have a card in this set.  I included the Crawford card because I like the photo, he looks to be in a pop up slide and looking back to see if he needs to be taking another base.  Gregor Blanco has been a big contributor this season, the Giants announcers credit him with changing the level of patience the team has so they are taking more pitches and working the count. With the Hunter Pence acquisition, Gregor will be the primary backup for all 3 OFers.  I sure wish they would have used an updated photo of the Melkman instead of recycling this photoshopped number.  Pagan on the basepaths is a decent photo and I am hoping he turns it on again and contributes a little more.  Finally we have the manager and coaches cards, I really like the coaches getting the shout out in this set.

I am up to 4 different (2005, 2008, 2011 and 2012) Emerald Nuts sets now and will be on the lookout for more.