The end of one of the most exciting Dodger eras of my lifetime

Yasiel Puig has been mentioned as trade fodder for years. I never took any of the rumors seriously because I've been led to believe that no other team was "dumb enough" to take him on and everything that goes with him.

"The Dodgers are the perfect fit," the narrative goes. "They're all about that Hollywood stuff anyway," it continues. "Style over substance," it whines.

I never believed or agreed with the narrative. I've spent the last six years trying to keep alive the 2012 Baseball America scouting report on Puig that said he would never become more than a marginal major leaguer and that the Dodgers' signing of him was "puzzling," just so people are held accountable when they brand people so inaccurately.

Puig has dealt with this his entire major leaguer career. He's not worth the trouble, they say. He's a loose cannon. He doesn't listen. He's not a good teammate. He doesn't care. He's not respectful. He's a jerk. He doesn't play the game the right way. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, BLAH.

Yet, Puig became a pivotal figure in the Dodgers' playoff appearances and trips to the World Series the last couple of years. A key home run against the Brewers in Game 7 of the NLCS, a blast against the Red Sox in the World Series, playoff exploits in 2017, Puig made an impact on the field during his six years in the game despite all of his detractors and all the people who had to point out what he was doing wrong while he was doing something right.

I agree that Puig has an outsized personality. He and I are not alike. But thank goodness he played on my team for six years so I could see how joyful the game can be when someone like that is on your team. It was an exciting six years. It was a fun six years. Licking bats. Throwing runners out at third. Being a 100 percent goofball. The worst thing that baseball can be is super-serious (psst, it's a game). Puig was never that.

Now, Puig is a Cincinnati Red. He and Matt Kemp and Alex Wood and Kyle Farmer were traded for a couple of prospects and payroll flexibility. These kinds of modern trades are tough to process for someone who has been following baseball for 40 years and never got into it for the economics. But I get what the Dodgers are doing. I just hope the outfield doesn't suffer an injury and a slump at the same time (I don't believe the Dodgers are getting Harper).

Kemp and Wood and even Farmer had their Dodger moments that will always be remembered. Kemp made them through two tours of the team. Wood was an All-Star in 2017. And Farmer always has that hit.

But this deal is about Puig's departure more than anything and the legacy he established: those five home runs he hit in 24 hours against the Cardinals last year, his ability to elicit one of the strangest sentences I've ever heard a major league player say on a baseball field ("don't look at me"), and his amazing first month with L.A. in June 2013. His bat licks and dugout kisses and finger wagging. He made baseball's stuffed shirts uncomfortable and he enraged his foes, and both of those are good things. I know I am much more relaxed about bat flips and on-field gesturing than I was before Puig joined the Dodgers.

I've accumulated 177 cards of Puig since his arrival. My guess is that total will gradually hit 200 before tapering off.

I will always remember my first Yasiel Puig card. It came from Ryan of Ryan's Pitch in one of my favorite card acquisitions of all-time during the height of Puig mania.

It will always be my favorite Yasiel Puig card just because of the memories associated with it every time I see it.

But I tracked down 15 other favorite Puig cards in my collection to pay tribute to the player who may not have been a superstar, but still did a lot to keep himself on the field and create some really great cards. He does not get enough credit for the cards he's made.

Here are 15 of "The Wild Horse," appropriately in no particular order:

Before most fans knew who he was, Yasiel Puig appeared in the Chattanooga Lookouts' team set in 2013. Look out! Puig Your Friend is coming!

I am all for using early '70s NBA and NHL designs in baseball card sets. Why should basketball and hockey get all the fun? This Archives card replicates the 1971 NHL design and it's spectacular.

I want to mail this past year's Stadium Club Puig card to every announcer or former player or Facebook stick-in-the-mud who ever tisk-tisked their way through a Puig at-bat or fielding play. Puig obviously enjoys playing this game. He loves it. Many times, he was good at it, but too many were focused on something else.

Gorgeous card. Puig represents a new breed of player and a new era of collecting. I have just one "hit" card of Puig (a relic) and have never bothered to pursue any others. However, I do own a number of fancy parallels and variations. This may be my favorite.

If you're a team collector, you figure out that Topps reserves a player or two on your team for "special" photos that stand out above the usual "pitcher pitching" and "hitter hitting" in the flagship set. This one from 2016 Topps is one of those.

Anything that commemorates Puig's first month in the big leagues is a special card. .436 with seven home runs.

This card by itself prompted me to collect the entire portion of the 2016 Archives set that is devoted to the 1979 Topps design. It's just the perfect-looking '79-themed card.

This card recalls Puig's famed "controversial" slide into home plate on a walk-off home run against his future team, the Reds in 2013. This caused way too many people to lose their shit as if Puig just burned down half of the ballpark before his slide. I even joined in a Twitter fight with former pitcher Greg Swindell (who also played for the Reds) over it, because nobody has anything important to talk about apparently.

Baseball has a lot of equipment. It's not just one bat and one glove. It's many of those and other stuff, too. This card shows what few do. And, also that you can be happy about carrying all that. BECAUSE YOU PLAY BASEBALL FOR A LIVING. Smile.

The only thing that would be more appropriate for this card is if instead of "Triple" it said "Throws Out Runner Trying To Stretch Double Into Triple." But I suppose that wouldn't fit.

The card of the year in 2015 according to me. You have to be doing something right to get a card like this.

During one of those times when I was randomly searching through cards on COMC, I realized that Puig cards were going for far too little. So I grabbed this Heritage blue variation card. I'm so happy I have it. It's so pretty.

One of the few cards that shows Puig doing what both his celebrators and detractors point out constantly. Puig flips his bat after a big blast. The thrill. The horror. Isn't it exciting?

I don't know who at Topps decided to give Puig the joker label on this Gypsy Queen tarot card insert. It could be someone who doesn't like Puig or someone who knows that Puig likes to joke around a lot during a game. Whatever, it still sums it all up.

A classic pose on a classic design. I'll end it there.


I'm really curious to know what Cincinnati Reds fans think about Puig being part of their team now. I'm sure some are aghast. But they really shouldn't be. He has toned down his antics quite a bit over the years, but still remains a fun guy to have on your team.

I personally think Puig's best days on the field may be behind him, but a part of me is a bit concerned that I'll be watching him cut down Dodgers on the bases while wearing a red uniform.

However, I will not jump up in outrage if he wags a finger at my team or he "makes a scene" after whiffing on a pitch or dares to trot around the bases with a variety of added gestures.

That's because Puig taught me that every player -- every person -- is different. My personality isn't everyone's personality. And my generation is not everyone's generation.

Also, baseball is fun. Everything else is individual hang-ups.