Documenting Documentary

When it comes to Upper Deck Documentary, I've let others do my dirty work for me. They bust the boxes, they post the pretty pictures, they vent. And I stay far, far away.

Unless people are offering free UD Documentary Dodgers! Then, of course, it's gimme, gimme (that's a bad side of me. I've got to work on that).

Sooz, from A Cardboard Problem, was kind enough to give away some of her unwanted Documentary cards, including a couple of Dodgers. I received them Monday. You can't own these cards without picking them apart. It's your duty as an American citizen!

First, I think one of the problems that UD has with this set is the name: documentary. You're setting yourself up for a pretty big fall with a high-falutin' name like that. Here is the definition of documentary that most people know: "a work, such as a film or television program, presenting political, social or historical subject matter in a FACTUAL and INFORMATIVE manner and often consisting of actual news films or interviews accompanied by narration."

OK, with that, we proceed.

You know all the issues: photo doesn't correspond with blurb at bottom, photo doesn't correspond with info on the back, too many of the same photo, player in photo not IDed, etc., etc.

The card up top isn't too bad, by Documentary standards anyway. The blurb reads: "Left fielder sparks Los Angeles offensively as well as defensively." The photo is of closer Takashi Saito. OK, there's a disconnect there. The left fielder reference is to Juan Pierre, who is mentioned on the back. But at least Saito got the save in the game.

This card is another matter. It's plainly a photo of Greg Maddux. Blurb says "newest Dodgers star continues his success on offense." The blurb refers to Manny Ramirez, who went 4-for-4. (Although, I don't know how successful he was since the Dodgers lost 9-3). So, another disconnect there.

But then I look at the back. Hiroki Kuroda got the loss in the game. And then I go on retrosheet and look up the pitching info on the boxscore. The Dodgers pitched Kuroda, then Elbert, then Park, then Beimel, then Johnson. Maddux didn't even get into the game! I guess that's UD's version of presenting "historical subject matter in a factual and informative manner."

Wow.

I'm not calling this the worst set of 2008. The thought was there, which is more than I can say about a couple other sets. Like others have said, the idea behind Documentary is great. A little too ambitious, maybe, but great. The execution is way off.

There's nothing more to say, I guess. Except, thanks for the cards, Sooz!

Um, oh yeah, ...

Uh, except ...

( Did you hear the Dodgers picked up Sabathi ... uh, Peav ... uh, Claudio Vargas? (*sigh*))

Yeah, I guess that's it for now.