I am scarred by my childhood. I didn't grow up in a dysfunctional family. No bullies beat me up. I wasn't picked last on sports teams. All of that was too cliche.
No, for me, my punishment was being surrounded by dozens of obnoxious classmates who happened to be Yankees fans. I've mentioned this before and I'm not going to get into it now, but it's a significant part of why I really dislike the Yankees.
It's also the reason why half of me suspects that the Cardboard Appreciation, the Review 2 Championship was rigged by Yankees fans. I've experienced plenty of this behavior in the past. Night Owl's paranoia is at a fever pitch, because:
We have two Cardboard Appreciation finalists that prominently feature Yankees.
Now, the Doug Ault card actually doesn't feature a Yankee as a main subject, but he's definitely a key part of the card. I wonder if his presence pushed him past the Harmon Killebrew card in the second semifinal vote-off?
Here are the results:
1. 1978 Topps Doug Ault: 34 votes
2. 1970 Topps Harmon Killebrew: 23 votes
3. 1992 Upper Deck SP Deion Sanders: 9 votes
4. 1989 Bowman Bo Jackson: 5 votes
Ault moves on to the championship round to face this card in the final:
Either way, we're going to get a Yankee in the Cardboard Appreciation Hall of Fame.
Oh, well. Better than seeing them in the World Series I suppose.
But beyond my little bias, they are both fantastic cards, and I have no problem seeing either one voted as the best card. Each are tremendous cards from the '70s, my favorite card decade. It will be interesting to see which one joins the 1991 Topps Carlton Fisk in the Hall of Fame.
If you please, select the item of your choosing on the sidebar at right.
A happy Friday to you all. It's been a long week.
Comments
I don't like the Yankees any more than you, but the McDaniel card is probably the single greatest baseball card I own. I could literally write an essay on why I think that photo is the perfect baseball picture and how it almost perfectly takes me back to a day when grown men left work early, loosened their ties or untucked their uniform shirt, had a beer and sat in the company of other men of all ages and walks of life, and enjoyed one simple thing that they all had in common - baseball.
Lindy could just as easily be a Tiger, a Cardinal, an Oriole. It isn't important.
The Ault card? Again, it is irrelevant who either player is. It's just an iconic moment in baseball. Catcher is ready, batter is feeling up his bat, getting ready to step completely in to the box, if we could see the ump, he's probably about to bring his upraised arms down and pull his own mask down.
I certainly can't speak for everyone who voted for either that McDaniel or the Ault, but I guarantee you I did not vote for them because of who is on the card. But just because they represent "Baseball" and what that word means to me.
2 great finalists. Great series, Owl of the Night! I've been looking forward to the review every Friday!