World Series - Here We Come!

As you can probably imagine, I am pretty excited about the World Series.  I had seriously written off the Giants in both the Reds' series when they went down 0-2 and the Cardinals series when they went down 1-3.  Both the Reds and Cardinals have very good teams and being down that far to a very good team is not a good recipe for success.

To celebrate the Giants return to the World Series I thought I would share a few relic cards I have picked up over the past few weeks.

 Here are two relics from 2012 Allen & Ginter.  I think these cards look sharp with black borders around the mini cards.  In Aubrey Huff we have the player on the playoff roster with the least level of contribution to the Giants NL Pennant.  He has been atrocious since the 2010 World Series but I still have a soft spot for him due to his huge part in the Giants' first World Championship in my lifetime.  Matt Cain hadn't been his dominant self in the playoffs until last night but has been solid.  He had an amazing regular season and I expect his dominance will continue in his two starts in the Series.

 Brandon Belt has done a decent job in the second half.  I believe he hit around .300 post All Star break and is one of the better defenders in the league.  I enjoy how he comes off the bag right as he catches the ball on close plays.  Sometimes it appears he comes off early but the replay typically shows he was on the bag when the ball hit the glove.  I love the old style logo in this manupatch.

 Here are a couple Tier One Relics serial numbered out of 399.  Decent design, I do like the fairly large picture of the players.  Last year I bought a box of two of this stuff but this year I stayed away. It is fairly costly and the hits I got were not good so instead I picked up a couple of my favorite players. Brian Wilson is doing his best to support his teammates and I actually think his "act" helps out the team and keeps them loose.  Lots of talk about chemistry and how strong it is in the Giants dugout and clubhouse, I have to think The Beard has a lot to do with it.  Outside of his clutch grand slam, Buster has been a little off in the playoffs.  I think he will shine on the World Series stage and step up for the Fall Classic.

 Just like the mini Ginter relics, I am a fan of the Gypsy Queen relics as well.  I got this in a trade with a reader of the blog, David.  A great pickup and a sweet card.  I like the action photo on the card.  Bumgarner wore down at the end of the year and in the playoffs.  I am hoping the rest he has gotten recently will pay off in his Game 2 start.

 

Finally a trio of players the Giants will depend heavily on in the series.  The Ku Fu Panda has heated up and is playing All Star caliber ball right now.  Vogelsong is the Cain from 2010 in the playoffs this year.  Can't wait to see how he does in Detroit.  Not sure what Lincecum's role will be but it is looking like he will pitch out of the bullpen since Zito and Bumgarner are set to pitch the first two. Gotta think Vogelsong and Cain will follow them and we should see the best of Zito/Bumgarner then Vogelsong and Cain if it goes 7.

I am going to have some kind of prediction contest posted tomorrow so please check it out and enter to win. 

GO GIANTS!!!