Pack of the Day 111: 2015 Topps Chrome Hanger Box

Argh, the Astros and Royals played Game 4 of their series in Houston yesterday. The Astros pretty much had the Royals on the ropes, but then they turned the game over to their bullpen and the whole thing blew right up. The Astros weren't expected to even make the playoffs this year and you kind of have to figure they'll blow it at some point, but even when you're expecting them to fall apart you hold out that hope that they won't actually do it. Now they have to try winning an elimination game at Kansas City. I am trying to balance my expectations so that if they lose I can be happy that they even made the playoffs and if they win I can be glad it was such an exciting series. It's very possible that they go out and lay an egg, but I am hoping they can be competitive and / or steal a win.

I didn't need to worry so much about R.A. Dickey against the Rangers, because the Blue Jays jumped all over Derek Holland early in Game 4 of that series. Dickey put up a few solid innings and then gave the ball over to David Price and a couple of relievers to finish it off. I'm glad Dickey was able to have a good playoff outing, although it sucked that he got pulled just one out shy of becoming the pitcher of record for the game. Now, back to the scheduled post:

According to my calculations, this is my 666th overall post on this blog and my 111th Pack of the Day post, which tells me that 1/6 of my posts to this point are of the Pack of the Day variety. A couple of weeks ago I grabbed this 2015 Topps Chrome hanger box off of the peg. Here's what I got:

Strasburg has been pretty good, but he hasn't quite lived up to the hype and expectations placed on him. I don't know how anyone could have lived up to the expectations, though, as he was projected to basically pitch 162 complete games a season while striking out 15 batters per 9 innings. The Nationals as a whole have had a rough go of it when compared to their talent and potential. I think it's a bit of a curse leaking over to them from the toxic behavior of their local football franchise. Ian Kinsler found new life as a Tiger after seemingly wearing out his welcome on the Rangers. Stanton hits baseballs really hard and Micah Johnson is a new guy.

Rizzo is the big name here, I suppose. Not much going on as far as player or team collections. I am told that Kiermaier is pretty good on defense. La Stella and Rizzo are on the Cubs' playoff roster, although La Stella hasn't yet played in the NLDS. Wheeler is recovering from Tommy John surgery. Kiermaier's team didn't make the playoffs.

Manny Machado is a good player but I haven't ever liked him much for some reason. Maybe he doesn't play baseball according to my unwritten rules. Lorenzo Cain is the first of four Pink Refractors that are exclusive to these hanger boxes.

Here are the other three Pink Refractors and the hit of the box, a Green Refractor of Albert Pujols. I don't have much to say about the Pink Refractors. They are cool to look at, but I didn't pull any players that I have opinions about.

The Pujols Green Refractor is a pretty good pull for a retail product, but he's not the draw he once was. No one likes veterans with long lists of Hall of Fame credentials. Not when they can chase  cards of Stephen Strasburg Bryce Harper Yasiel Puig Jose Abreu Kris Bryant and Carlos Correa.