I also have to admit that the smell of a recently-extinguished candle appeals to me a bit more than maybe it should.
There will be plenty of time to watch the candles burn down later, but for now, let's take a look at the penultimate pack from 2018 Stadium Club.
2018 Stadium Club #38 Jake Arrieta |
Topps did find a spring training shot of Arrieta for this year's set, so they didn't have to resort to Photoshop to picture him in a Phillies uniform. It's hard to miss that gigantic Grapefruit League patch on the right sleeve, but one other thing that tips us off that this is from before April is that different logo on his cap. I don't think people make a big enough deal about spring training hats, because they sure look awesome to me. Come on, people, the Liberty Bell is right there on the cap, instead of the usual white "P". That Philadelphia landmark is also going to be more prominent in their recently-redesigned team logo.
For their spring training gear, the Rockies have a great mash-up of the mountainous portion of their regular logo along with the Colorado state flag. We love the state flag in these parts. It's a defining feature of your identity as a Coloradoan.
2018 Stadium Club #173 Anthony Banda (RC) |
The Rookie Card logo is back, and has been present in every pack besides Night 4. Banda has appeared for two teams in his short two-season career, and they both happen to be the teams from the 1998 round of MLB expansion. 2017 was with the Diamondbacks, and he obviously ended up with the Rays in 2018. He originally came up in the Brewers organization, but has been involved in a few trades already, and his name appears in the transaction list alongside former Rockie Gerardo Parra and one of my favorite under-the-radar players, Mitch Haniger.
2018 Stadium Club #5 Johnny Cueto |
One drawback to these unorthodox pitching motions, like Cueto's shimmy, the "pause" that Kershaw, Kyle Freeland, and others have been incorporating into their motions, which dances on the edge of legality, or Tyler Anderson's leg kick, is that they don't show up very well in still photographs. A Sportflics-style lenticular insert set that shows these quirky deliveries in better detail would be an awesome idea.
2018 Stadium Club #234 Adrian Beltre |
I'm not sure what occasion this speech is from, but Rangers fans were surely happy to see Beltre on the field all these years. His goofy feud with Elvis Andrus is the stuff of legend, and he and Orbit share a special bond. Baseball just isn't going to be the same without Beltre, who was having so much fun that no one really noticed he was a superstar. He just quietly carried on and didn't want anyone to touch his head.
2018 Stadium Club #115 Greg Allen (RC) |
It's starting to become clear that Night 4 may be the pinnacle of this blaster. At this point, there are more candles remaining than cards, and with just one pack left, the pack with the only Rockie of the bunch may be hard to top, especially when the vein of insert cards seems to have gone missing. One night remains, and I'm as interested as you in what that final pack contains.
I need to track down that Beltre card for my HOF binder. For modern era players I usually try to track down a card from early in their career, but the Rangers are under represented, and that photo gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your thoughts on the menorah... quite an interesting
perspective.
It's my personal hope that someday you'll be able to put a Rockie in that binder.
DeleteThanks for reading! One of the cards from this blaster may end up in your Card of the Year contest.
Hope you pull something nice for your collection in that final pack!
ReplyDeleteJake from State Farm's second half that year was just crazy. That and a World Series Championship should give him enough great memories to last his retirement even if his best days are behind him. Not that I'm a pyromaniac buy I did enjoy lighting the candles as a kid. Cue Beavis, "Fire, Fire!".
ReplyDelete