2023 Topps Chrome Update and Panini Chronicles

 Yesterday I had the chance to go to Target and got some cards. It might be the last chance I had to bust open some wax before the new year, so I may have got a little more than the normal blaster. Apparently Chronicles came out, so I got 2 hanging packs of that along with a blaster of Update Chrome. They were pretty nice cards, so let’s take a look. 

I got a lot of rookies in Update Chrome. Haven’t really heard of most of them, but that doesn’t mean that one of them won’t break out. Mason Miller is a guy I collect because he is a Type 1 diabetic. I pulled this card before, but it will go in my rookie card binder. 

The Volpe, Walker, and Yoshida were nice pulls. I see that there’s a popular Orioles blogger who is blogging again, so maybe I can get rid of, I mean trade some of these Rat Birds I keep pulling. Most people would be upset pulling a Pink Lavafractor (or whatever it is called) of a Marlin, but I’m happy with the Arraez pull as he was the guy who won the 2022 AL batting title and kept Aaron Judge from winning a Triple Crown. The Pink Murphy is for Johnny’s Trading Spot if it is a need. 

Next up is the Chronicles. When it first came out, I didn’t like all of the designs, but now I think I understand it and I am ok with it. The only problem I have is how the designs look similar from year to year. It’s kind of the same way that I feel about Bud Selig. While I think Interleague play is a mistake, he really didn’t do anything that bad compared to what that idiot Manfraud is doing. The pitch clock ruins the game for me. I’m not used to staring at the plate and being ready for the pitch. When I’m at a game in person, I like checking the out of town scoreboard, trying to locate the mascot, or just looking around the stadium in between pitches. The pitch clock takes this away and just ruins the flow of the game for me. I’m ok with bigger bases and no shifts, but the runner in extra innings takes away from the purity of the game. I’m sure relievers who end up giving up runs because of it feel the same way. Same thing of ones that end up with balks because of pitch clock violations. I might send this card to Selig with an apology for dogging him and see if I can get it signed. I’ve never been a fan of Rose, so that one is up for grabs. 

The DiMaggio one is also up for grabs as I don’t care for him or most Yankee$. Sure he has the hit streak, but he just gets talked about so much. The Ortiz card is pretty cool. I had a Tigers hot pack, as I got a new Sparky, a Harvey Kuenn, and some kind of parallel of Wilmer Flores numbered to 50. After buying so much ‘22 Bowman Platinum and not getting a single De La Cruz, I get 2 hanging packs of ‘23 Chronicles and finally got one, so this one ends on a good note. As always, if you are a team or player collector and see something you like, let me know and I can start a trade pile for you or add to it. 

This week should be a pretty nice week. Boss is on vacation, I’m off Thursday, Friday my 11th wedding anniversary, and we might head out to Disney Springs (where we had our first date), get dinner somewhere and see where the night takes us. I’m off Saturday so I don’t have to worry about being out too late and having to be back at work at 4:30 the next morning. Perks of being a baker, right?  Between now and the anniversary, I’ll probably try to finish logging the Mets into TCDB and finish up some pending trades. 

Thanks for checking out my latest post. 

-Jeremy