I posted this card on my 1993 Upper Deck blog yesterday. If you're in the habit of reading that blog maybe you missed it as blogger just got around to getting it on the reader list nearly a day after I uploaded it.
When I wrote it, I noted that the shot of Navarro yelling was a precursor to the cards of today, in which it seems there's a guy shouting in every pack. And just to be sure, I checked the 1993 UD cards I've already posted and at card No. 237, it's the first yelling shot in the set.
I didn't check the rest of the set but I'd be surprised if there are more than five cards of guys shouting in the set. It's definitely a more modern thing.
As someone who grew up in the '70s and also someone who recoils at the thought of drawing attention to myself, the performative yelling that pro athletes do is still foreign and unnecessary to me. I'm a quiet guy, mostly, who doesn't mind sitting by myself in the quiet -- in fact, I prefer it. I also get annoyed by the growing noise in society. I'm a writer by profession, they generally are more productive in the quiet.
So, all that yelling, yeah, I don't get it.
For comparison's sake, I found the most recent Topps set I've completed, which is from 2024, and pulled all the yellers. I found 26 of them and probably missed a couple.
What are the reasons for all this yelling on cards nowadays?
Does it make for interesting photos? Sure, I guess. But I notice plenty of yelling when watching games so Topps isn't necessarily isolating it.
Is it the Tiger Woods effect, as I've heard someone call it? When Woods was emoting on the golf course back in the late 1990s it was definitely different.
Is it current society's treatment of athletes as celebrities rather than the guys playing ball?
Is it the higher stakes of the current game? A lot more money is involved and it seems players' careers are more on the line than in the past. In previous years, teams were more willing to not upset the status quo. Now, teams are perpetually transacting. The business aspect is much more visible than the "let's play two" aspect.
Is it because baseball is more multi-cultural than in the past? Sure, that's got to be a factor. We white dudes of North European stock are known to keep our feelings "bottled up".
I don't think of it that way though. I think I'm just a chill guy, that's what people tell me anyway and some happen to find it attractive. You'd have to get me to a therapist to find out whether I'm suppressing, but I don't think any amount of therapy will get me to scream "COME ON" on a ball field. It's just not me.
But, generally, I've gotten used to it. It's so pervasive in the current game.
In fact, I find Alex Vesia -- who might be the most animated player in all of baseball -- amusing. He's almost like a cartoon character with how over the top he is after each out.
I would love to look at cards over the last 25 years to see the progression of this phenomenon, but that's not going to happen today and maybe not ever.
It just seems like a lot of extra effort. Just like all that yelling.
Comments