Allen & Ginter's babe of the year

Hey, there.

If I haven't said so before, I happen to be a guy. How ya doin'?

Since I have that Y chromosome, I do notice when attractive women walk by on my trading cards. It doesn't happen a lot, which makes it all the more intriguing when it does.

I'm not one of those collectors who collects women on cardboard. I figure if I was that interested, I'd just get a subscription to Glamour or ... um ... something. Besides, there is no way my wife is going to allow something like Benchwarmer within a two-block radius of the house.

But I have to admit, it's nice to see a female presence once in a while within my male-dominated world of baseball card collecting. Honestly, staring at dudes on cardboard doesn't seem all that healthy when you think about it (it really started getting weird in the '90s when everyone was taking off their shirts to pose for cards). It's nice to come across someone who is a lot less ... uh, hairy ... periodically.

This is another reason why I enjoy Allen & Ginter so much. There are a few women in the set every year. And since most of them are athletic, they're nice to look at -- and I don't feel guilty, because I know the female collectors out there are doing exactly the same thing, except that they have a much better deal what with about 6,000 cards of men to every card of a woman.

I recently received the above A&G card of Cheryl Burke from Robert of $30 a Week Habit (he's holding a contest, you know). It was one of about 20 A&G needs for my set completion task, and I admit I lingered on this card a few seconds longer.

I had no idea who she was. I don't watch "Dancing With the Stars." But she looks fantastic. She looks so fantastic that I automatically declared her the A&G Babe of the Year.

What? You don't know about the A&G Babe of the Year?

I really need to put out a newsletter.

Yeah, the Babe of the Year. Not only am I a guy, but I'm also a collector who has this ridiculous need to classify everything. I went through a period where I'd rank my favorite desserts every year. A&G Babe of the Year is nothing.

It's really only been going on since the first year I collected A&G in 2008. That's when I couldn't get enough of Jeanette Lee.

But as I got into A&G more, I noticed many more awesome, athletic women through each of A&G's sets. Champion athletic women in each set. And that's how the very informal title of AGBOTY was born.

And so I present to you the A&G Babe of the Year for each year of A&G:

2006: Jennie Finch. She's really Babe of the Century as far as I'm concerned. It's a weird pose, but there will never be another Jennie.

2007: Mia Hamm. She barely -- just barely -- edged out Eleanor Roosevelt.

Joking. Maybe. Really, the lovely Laila Ali should be the BOTY, only the card of her doesn't do her justice. So Hamm wins because of the whole Nomar Garciaparra Dodger factor. (I still need to get me some 2007 A&G, by the way).

2008: Jeanette Lee. How can I say no to the Black Widow?

2009: Cat Osterman. There was a period in '09 when I didn't think I was even going to get a card of Osterman because so many (male) collectors went bat-zooey over her. Of course, I understood perfectly.

2010: Shawn Johnson. We brainless men have a weird obsession with gymnasts and dancers. And Johnson is like BOTH. But all I'm going to say here is that she is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuute!

And that brings me to 2011 and the inevitable crowning of Cheryl Burke as this year's A&G Babe of the Year.

Except there is one problem.

I realized I had declared a 2011 Babe already.

Remember her?

Hope! I'm so sorry, Hope. How could I have forgotten YOU?

It's that Y chromosome or ... um ... something. It's fogging up my thinking again.

So here's the rundown in abbreviated form. Mark it down:

2006: Jennie Finch
2007: Mia Hamm
2008: Jeanette Lee
2009: Cat Osterman
2010: Shawn Johnson
2011: Hope Solo

I suppose you're wondering -- didn't Robert send you any cards of BASEBALL PLAYERS?

Of course he did.

I'm kind of bored with showing A&G, as I'm sure you're all bored of viewing it. I did finally get the Andre Ethier card that has been haunting me since July. Still need another one for the team set.

But here's some nice non-A&G:

Sparkly!

Minnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

Just need the black-bordered Orlando Hudson card to complete the Dodger team set.

And there you go.

Those are some XY chromosome homosapiens on cardboard for those of you who couldn't handle a few paragraphs of me ogling women on cardboard.

You may now commence writing about David Wright's butt.