The return of my favorite pitcher, whatever that means

 

Clayton Kershaw returned to the mound this weekend after an extended stay on the shelf with back issues.

 

It should've been exciting and I guess it was, but the excitement level isn't what it once was when your favorite pitcher comes back.

 

Kershaw pitched just four innings, allowed two runs and struck out four. A parade of relievers followed him, the Dodgers left 47 jillion runners on base and the Giants won another one with a bunch of guys I barely know. And, oh yeah, Walker Buehler is out for six-to-eight weeks.

 

Kershaw's return isn't going to mean the Dodgers will automatically get better. His return doesn't mean another Cy Young is on its way. At age 34, Kershaw's best days are behind him, it's clear, and although he's still good, pitching is not the same as it was when he started his career. The excitement level of a game well-pitched and a pitcher's ability to impact a game solely by himself is diminished.

Heck I should just be satisfied that he's out there, just to be happy for him. Who knows how many #KershawDays we'll get before another injury emerges.

 

Still, I'm accumulating Kershaw cards as frequently as I ever have -- although that isn't as fun as it once was either, thanks to the soaring price of many of his cards over the last few years.

 

But a recent COMC order landed a bunch of Kershaw cheapies as I approach 1,000 unique cards of him.

 

 A lot of the cards were Panini-related. As much as  I hear people talk about Panini's cards with enthusiasm and their so-called "creativity," there are scads of Panini cards dirt-ass cheap, because there are lots and lots of collectors who don't want to have anything to do with them.

 

But when we're talking about gathering cards of my favorite pitcher, sure I'll take those Panini cards. They're definitely shiny and I like that.

You can see though there is not a lot of creativity in the photo. He's doing practically the same thing on every card -- even facing the same way on most of them! Except for that goofy Studio shot that makes no sense.

This, however, is my favorite card out of the lot. I was even worried that someone would snap it out of my cart. As a known night owl who has always loved night lights, neon lights, everything bright-against-dark, this has been a long time coming.

Here are the Topps cards that I added. A lot of parallel and insert action. But there are a couple of things, like the 2020 and 2021 Chrome cards, that took awhile to come to me (yes, I realize those are actually parallels, too).

 

You can see a bit more variety on the pictures, too. Still throwing those '87s at us though.

 

With this latest assortment of Kershaws, I now have 977 unique cards of him, according to my Trading Card Database log. That means I should be able to hit 1,000 before the year is done.

 

I'd like card 1,000 to be something meaningful, but I can probably forget about adding something from 2008 -- I have plenty of his rookie cards but there are a couple that eluded me early on and now forget it.

 

I fully expect that Kershaw will be the last pitcher who is my favorite player. They're just not made these days where I can attach myself to their performance.

 

Card collecting isn't the same, pitching isn't the same. More and more I have to teach myself to settle for what is in my collection, not what isn't, just like I settle for what pitching is, not what it once was.