This very well could be the last day of the Dodgers' season. So it's about time I select my favorite Dodgers card for 2021 before we're swallowed up in offseason transactions.
I've done this on the blog the last three years, but I've actually been doing this for more than 40 years, pretty much every year I've collected.
I have almost no enthusiasm for this round because Topps' 2021 cards are so abysmal. It's not entirely their fault, but it doesn't change that I'm not crazy about any of these cards.
But let me give you something nice to look at it before you have to see the design up close:
That's every Dodgers card from Series 1 and Series 2. The Update checklist was announced today. It's rather uninspiring from my team's perspective. There's Albert Pujols, then guys like D.J. Peters, who isn't with the team anymore, and a lot of sent-down/called-up/sent-down/called-up guys like Alex Vesia and Edwin Uceta. But at least it isn't 2020 Update bad.
Anyway, that was a tangent, let's look at some runners-up for 2021's best card:
Austin Barnes has been in the running for best card the last three years. It's about the only individual player card in the Dodgers set that wasn't ruined in some fashion by the jagged blades poking into the photo. I also like the Julio Urias card at the top in which he manages to completely avoid the blades of death because he's Julio, of course.
Barnes has the best game-action card. A few others could have been better without the close-cropping, such as Pollock and Buehler.
The top two cards for me though are related to the 2020 championship celebration. This card is both sparkly and appropriate with all the mask-wearing. Oh, and the phones. It's fun and weird. I like fun-and-weird.
But the best card for 2021 is Corey Seager sheepishly toting hardware while standing next to an obnoxiously large vehicle, just powering through all the attention foisted on him.
I enjoy this card so much, I've tried to fill a 9-pocket page with it. I'm about 3 or 4 cards short because who wants to collect 2021 Topps anyway?
About the only thing I enjoy about this set are the cards that commemorate the Dodgers' championship. It's cool that there are individual World Series cards with the logo. At least 2021 Topps has that over 1989 Topps (what in the world were you thinking then, Topps?)
OK, now as I do each year, here's a look at my favorite Dodgers card for each year since I started collecting in 1975:
1975
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| 1976 |
1977
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| 1979 |
1980
1981
1982
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| 1983 |
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| 1984 |
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| 1985 |
1986
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| 1987 |
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| 1988 |
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Only the Dodgers letting Kiké Hernandez go to the Red Sox avoided a three-peat. Have you seen Enrique's 2021 card?
It would be nice if World Series-themed Dodgers cards were in contention when the 2022 Topps set comes around. They'd probably be a bit more interesting with actual backgrounds and fans.
But I'm not counting on it. The Cardinals seem to have some of that devil magic left in reserve for this postseason and even if the Dodgers get past them, the Giants have enough voodoo to last them through the whole thing. The most mystifying 107-win team ever.
But I'll save that grousing for tomorrow's post.
To the TV!
Comments
(Congrats on the win last night!)