C.A., the review 5 (part 1)

Hey, look, it's finally time to start voting another piece of cardboard into the Cardboard Appreciation Hall of Fame!

It's been five years since we've voted in a card into the C.A. Hall of Fame and it's been three months since I mentioned that it was time to start the latest round of voting!

Honestly, the delays around here, this blog really should be investigated.

Anyway, if you don't remember -- and who can blame you? -- this is where I look back on the previous 64 Cardboard Appreciation subjects, present eight at a time and ask you to vote for your favorite one each time.

I plan to run these posts once a week until a champion is declared. For a refresher, these are the cards that are already in the C.A. Hall of Fame:

Class of 2010: 1991 Topps Carlton Fisk

Class of 2011: 1971 Topps Lindy McDaniel

 

Class of 2013: Vida Blue

 

Class of 2017: 1973 Topps Pat Corrales

The chances of voting in a comparably classic card to the previous four may be not as great just because my approach to Cardboard Appreciation has changed over the years. Not only do I not write those posts as often but instead of dedicating a C.A. post to a particularly great card, I use the C.A. posts as the mood strikes, when I come across a card that hits me in certain way, depending on what's happening at the time. In those cases, it could be as inconsequential a card as something from 1993 Donruss.

But anyway, here are the first eight cards that you are voting on:

1991 Score Rick Dempsey

This card is one of the last examples of a catcher wearing a cap while in action. Rick Dempsey was the last catcher to go with the cap, rather than a helmet, so this card and a few others featuring Dempsey in 1991, are historic artifacts.

1991 BBM Hideo Nomo (base card)

I showed this card as an example of the tangled world of rookie cards (and why the endless discussions on Twitter over what makes a rookie card are pointless). This card came out four years before Nomo's 1995 U.S. rookie cards. It's a Japanese rookie card of Nomo. Or, you could consider Nomo's card in a 1990 set his rookie card. Or you could just chuck your obsession with rookie cards and collect assorted commons peacefully.

1980 Topps '79 Highlights Garry Templeton

Garry Templeton received this card for being the first to compile 100 hits each batting left-handed and right-handed in 1979. However, later stats show he never did that, despite repeated mentions of the feat on Templeton's cards throughout the 1980s. In fact, the feat hasn't been done yet. And won't that be weird when someone actually does, is trumpeted as the first and yet there is this card of Templeton proclaimed as the first.

2013 Chattanooga Lookouts Luis Vasquez

One of the coolest minor league cards in my collection and one of the few examples of Jackie Robinson showing up on a minor league issue.

2011 Pacific Coast League Top Prospects Eric Thames

Back-to-back minor league cards! Eric Thames cards were hot in April 2017, even this minor league issue, which was actually selling for nearly 30 bucks when I looked on ebay back then. Eric Thames card prices have come back to earth but this card remains in my collection.

2009 Bowman World Baseball Classic Gift Ngoepe

There was a run on Gift Ngoepe cards in the spring of 2017, too. Ngoepe was the first African to play in a Major League Baseball game when he appeared with the Pirates in 2017. He hasn't played in an MLB game since 2018.

2008 Upper Deck Rookie Exclusives James Hardy

A rare football sighting on Cardboard Appreciation (but not the only one in this latest voting go-around). Also a very sad Cardboard Appreciation post, arriving shortly after Hardy's death. That's how those C.A. posts go sometimes.

1993 Upper Deck BAT All-Time Heroes Joe Black

These odd-shaped cards can be very frustrating if you don't have the pages. Fortunately this card arrived with pages to fit it -- and the other '93 BAT cards that I own. These cards have never acted up again.

All right, that is a rather eclectic eight for the first vote. I expect that to continue for future C.A., the review 5 votings.

The main sticking point for this round has been finding a voting tool for folks since Blogger abandoned the polling option since the last time I did this.

I settled on another option, but I'm having problems embedding the poll here. So, for now, there is link to where you can vote but you'll have to copy-and-paste it:

 

https://vote.easypolls.net/6286614c5617e80062aee2cf

If you don't want to vote that way, just make your pick clear in the comments and I'll add that to the poll totals.

Apologies for the clunkiness, but after five years, I figured it was time to give Fisk, McDaniel, Blue and Corrales some company.