2018 MLB Hall of Fame Class

I love the halls of fame and Chipper Jones, Jim Thome, Vladimir Guerrero, and Trevor Hoffman were just announced to join Veteran’s Committee appointees Alan Trammell and Jack Morris in the 2018 MLB Hall of Fame class.  As a Brave’s fan seeing Chipper go in is great.  I loved him as a player and his switch hitting career stands up against the all-time greats who hit from both sides of the plate.  A career .303 hitter he played all 19 of his seasons with Atlanta and won a batting title at age 36.  It is great when a legend can spend their entire career with the same team so it was fun to see it all take place with the Braves.

Jim Thome had a heck of a career.  His slugging and on base stats were crazy good while doing it all with a career batting average of .276 over 22 years.  He’s 8^th all-time in homeruns.  Really glad to see Thome make it in on the first ballot.  Well deserved.

I was a bit slow coming around to Vladimir Guerrero but if you pay any attention to his stats you just say “wow”.  Maybe the best right handed hitter of his era this guy put up great numbers each year.  For his career he batted .318 with 449 homeruns, and got on base at a .379 clip for 16 years.  This guy could hit!

In the discussion for closers there is Mariono Rivera and then there is Trevor Hoffman who are in a class of their own – numbers one and two.  Then there the guys well below them in this conversation.  Even if you aren’t a believer in the closer role there is something to be said for a guy who took the ball in the 9^th for 18 years and excelled.  Major props to his wife for wearing the AC/DC shirt when he got the call from the Hall of Fame representative (his walk up song was Hells Bells). 

Glad to see Alan Trammel and Jack Morris get in.  I always thought Trammel deserved to be in and was on the fence with Morris.  In 20 years with the Tigers Trammel had a .285 average and was great with the glove.  Morris won 254 games and was the epitome of ace during two World Series which helped cement his legacy.  

Star Wars Bloodline by Claudia Gray

As always I’ll caveat this with the fact that I’m not good at reviewing books but I do like putting down a few thoughts on books I read.  Star Wars Bloodline centers on Princess Leia and the politics of which she is such a big part.  It is a good book for giving us some behind the scenes of what has happened previously with the government.  This is one of the few canon books I’ve read but intend on catching up.  This book is good.  I enjoyed the political tone and to be honest I thought some of the action/adventure thrown in seemed forced or even over the top but again I think it is a good book. I can’t say there a ton of direct ties from this book to the new movies but there are a few things that carry forward.  There are also some good characters introduced here.  It's a shame we'll probably never see them in the movies though I read one of the characters is seen briefly.  Next I’ll start to tackle the Star Wars Aftermath books.    

Bright the Movie

Bright is a Netflix movie that came out not too long ago starring Will Smith and Joel Edgerton.  The basics are a human police officer forced to work with an orc police officer.  They end up fending off multiple enemies as they try to secure a weapon that can bring an unseen evil to this magical take on earth.  This was a fun movie to watch.  It shows a familiar take on society and different issues we've dealt with on a earth we are not at all familiar with.  This rendering has humans, orcs, elfs, and fairies, oh my.  I thought they did a good job with this movie though you'll see many themes used within movies before.  Having the different characters to play with worked to their advantage.  I don't know what the budget was but I wasn't thinking it was a low budget movie as I watched it which is a credit to the folks who made it.  Don't get me wrong, it isn't the Avengers, but it really didn't need a ton of graphics considering the story.  So if you have Netflix I think Bright is worth a watch. 

2017-2018 Donruss Basketball

My first look at the 2017-2018 Panini NBA cards. Not a fan this year.  In the past I've been pretty happy with this set but the gold or bronze borders really don't do anything for me.  It all begins and ends there with me.  Otherwise there is plenty of space for the full bleed photos, the logo and player's name and position.  My pull was also pretty good nailing it with Kawhi Leonard, John Wall, Kyle Lowry, and the Greek Freak base cards.  Even with 30 cards per pack I've opened a few stinkers before so this pack was strong from that point of view.  

I also grabbed Russell Westbrook, Marc Gasol and Rudy Gobert cards.  

Parallels and inserts included a Westbrook Swishful Thinking, Myles Turner parallel though I'm not sure the color, and De'Aaron Fox Rated Rookie that highlighted the newbies.  A lack of Retro (which look cool) and Hall or Court King insert cards in this pack was definitely a negative.  I know they aren't guaranteed but I've been lucking in pulling the "King" cards in the past and always look forward to those. 

I won't doubt I'll grab one more pack of these but will most likely chase PC guys and some of the retired greats in the set which usually are a highlight for me.  On pure design and look I'm not excited but again the pull was great from my point of view.    

  

2015 Donruss Football Hobby Box

There is no hiding the enjoyment I get from Donruss football cards so when I had an opportunity to get a 2015 Donruss Football hobby box I jumped on it last year.  I originally looked at these cards here.  There were 24 packs in the box with eight cards per pack.  

Tons of stars here so opening packs was always exciting.  

You get the press proofs, numbered cards, as well as the retired greats which is always a favorite of mine.  It's not just base cards which gives you plenty of options.  

This set also has plenty of inserts and rookies.  The '86 Donruss baseball look cards are fun.

The Gridiron Kings and Gridiron Legends are my favorite cards.  Pulled PC guys on both of these.  I'll also grabbed a nice Marino Classics card.  Man I'd love to see him play in today's game - he'd be some dominate.

These are just fun and colorful cards and it was great opening each pack.  Of course I was excited to see who my auto would be...

It was Joseph Randle.  This was the last of Randle's three year career which totaled just over 800 yards averaging 4.5 per and scoring 9 touchdowns. No matter, it wasn't about the autograph but all about the fun and I had plenty, believe me. 

BREAKDOWN:  

192 – Total Cards (24 Packs X 8)

2 – Rated Rookie (86 Donruss)

4 – Rated Rookie

9 – Elite

9 – Elite RC

2 – Elite Series

1 – Gridiron Legend

3 - Gridiron Kings (1 – Stat Line #/560)

2 – Passing the Torch

1 – Classics

1 – Press Proof RC

1 – Stat Line #/390

16 – Retired Legends

12 Strong Movie Review

12 Strong is an excellent movie.  I'll just start there.  Chris Hemsworth did a great job in this movie that tells the story of the first 12 American soldiers into Afghanistan after 9/11.  The movie follows them as they link up with a local general and their combined efforts to take a major city in the first fight taken to the Taliban by U.S. forces.  While you know that the movie is dramatized it is a movie that will still move you and leave you amazed.  I've always been astonished by what these men accomplished when I've seen their exploits in documentaries and seeing them on the big screen was fun. Bottom line is it is a good movie and anyone who thinks this might be up their alley should see it.  (Official Trailer)    

Atlanta Falcons Lose to the Philadelphia Eagles in Divisional Playoff Game

Atlanta's offense has been shaky all year and it really played out that way against an Eagles defense that was able to get pressure and wouldn't let the Falcons convert on third down.  It was a frustrating game to watch as Atlanta just never looked comfortable or like they'd take the game over.  They should have beaten the Eagles but hats off to Philly.  Their defense played very well and their offense did what it needed to to win.  That last offensive play by the Falcons for the touchdown was not pretty to look at.  I'm not a fan of that fade play especially when you roll out.  It takes all the defenders to that side of the end zone.  Still Julio Jones had a shot at it and can make that play.  It just didn't happen.  Too bad as the defense played well.  Would have loved to have see Atlanta in the NFC Championship game but as poorly as the offense has played I wouldn't have much confidence they could have won.  Here' to next year and hopefully a better offense.