2018 Card of the Year

You're not seeing double.

Tom at Waiting 'Til Next Year is running his annual contest for card of the year, and if you've seen my previous two entries, you have a pretty good indication of what I selected for 2018.

2018 Stadium Club Photographer's Proof #98 Jon Gray

I know I picked a Stadium Club card of Rockies pitcher Jon Gray two years ago, but I promise this is a different card. I always like Stadium Club, and most of my December posts covered an entire blaster of the product. But this parallel example of Jon Gray came via an earlier group break run by Trevor.

The extreme scarcity of this case hit carried a lot of weight in my selection this year. Another pin-sharp photograph of Jon Gray pitching at Coors Field earns points too, even though it isn't quite as picturesque as his 2016 card. The horizontal orientation lets us see Gray's pitch grip, what looks like a four-seamer. And the filmstrip foil on the right side seals the deal, reminding me of one of my other favorite hobbies.

It's strange, really. For so much of the Rockies' history, it's been all about their offense. Larry Walker is still trying to get into the Hall of Fame, and he's inching toward the 75% ballot threshold, but his excellence is still being discounted by the existence of Coors Field. Todd Helton is probably going to suffer the same fate. But these past few years, the Rockies have finally been able to figure out pitching, which has led me to pick pitchers each of the three years I've entered the Card of the Year contest.

Unfortunately, the usually-great Rockies offense has been about as bad as it's ever been, especially during the 2018 Postseason. The team has been extremely quiet this offseason, only signing Daniel Murphy so far, so don't expect a lot of changes on the field next year.

We'll see what products come out in 2019, but my next Card of the Year may not be very different from the past few.