Not as easy as it used to be

 

 

Yeah, definitely something odd going on with Blogger's reading list. It's started dredging up posts from long-dead blogs that are five, eight, 10 years old. I've actually seen a couple of old Gint-A-Cuffs posts. I got excited for a second and thought Mark had reappeared and was reviving it for this year's A&G set!

I admit I've clicked on a couple of those once-active blogs and read an old post or two. Things were a bit easier on the blogs then, you didn't have to fight a bunch of other social media outlets for hobby eyes.

 

Back then, too, it was easier for me to select a Card of the Year. I'd devote a post to it every year. But I haven't done that for quite awhile.

 

It took Nachos Grande's annual End-of-the-Year Awards (today's the last day for nominations), for me to think about this year's Card of the Year. I thought and I thought and I thought ... and then I left the category blank. Nothing was coming to me.

 

That's not a surprise. I don't collect current sets as actively as I did 10-15 years ago on the blog. I haven't looked at all the cards. Also, the selection of good photos in current cards is not as good as it once was. Look at any product and the pictures and subjects used to be better. It's almost impossible to pick out something exceptional in Allen & Ginter (no revolving door or groundhog). Stadium Club still has interesting photos but this year's set I've noticed way too much close cropping -- which decreases the photo interest -- and also the pictures look like they have a filter on them, it's a turn-off for me.

 

So what about Topps flagship? Can I just focus on that set and find a Card of the Year?

 

I'll try. Flagship has suffered from the same photo issues of recent years. Pictures are cropped way down, so you rarely see fans or various stadium features in the background. It's also been plagued by celebration photos. I know that's a big part of the game now, but I get really tired of it. You can only see so many fist-pumping shots and yelling into the air before it doesn't register anymore.

 

Even for some of the interesting-to-me pictures, things get a little repetitious. Take the Victor Robles card at the top of the post for example. Nice shot. I like the ball in the glove.

 

And there it is a few more times. I'm not saying that this isn't allowed or that these aren't interesting just because they're similar shots -- I've written a post about how the same poses were used over and over in sets I collected as a kid, it happens.

 

But they don't stand out as card of the year for me.

 

 

Most of the team cards these days are mass-celebration shots, which as I just said -- I'm almost done with the celebrations. I miss the entire team posing for a team shot (I know, younger folks think those are boring). These two cards aren't exactly that, but it does show the whole team, sort of lined up together and I like it. Card of the year? No. But more of this. Fewer Gatorade containers.

 

 

The careful close cropping of horizontal cards these days looks confining, but sometimes it works. These two cards are good examples of a nice focus on the player that fits within the design. Two cool shots for 2024 Topps.

But they're not quite among my favorites for 2024 Topps. And, yes, that does mean I ferreted out some favorites -- enough to form a Top 5 even. Let's see them.

5. Chas McCormick, Astros, #203

A cool grab at the wall. (I can hear my jerky neighbor exclaiming "open your eyes now," which he said whenever one of us kids made an unexpected grab). I like the textured baseball on the Waste Management ad. However, I have a conflicted relationship with WM currently (i.e. they charge too much and their website sucks), so the best I can do is No. 5.

 

4. Esteury Ruiz, Athletics, #21

Pretty great shot of the 2023 base-stealing king. Modern photography is totally underrated. I could do without all the modern accoutrements, though, and, yes, I took points off for the double oven mitts.

3. Matt Wallner, Twins, #91

I picked this partly because of the photo angle but mostly because we actually get lots of stadium background in this picture. I'm sure this passed the Topps and MLB censors -- no unapproved advertisements or identifiable people other than Wallner. But it still looks cool, cool enough that I can ignore the city connect uni.

2. Mauricio Dubón, Astros, #326

Here we go! SCOREBOARD! Leaping infielder! Yankees whomping Mets, apparently! (OK, that's not good). My blog has appreciated scoreboard cards for many, many years. This card pretty much has it all.

1. Drew Smyly, Cubs, #547

But the Card of the Year for me is Cubs pitcher Drew Smyly. This card seemed so unique to me when I pulled it that I thought it was a short-print. It doesn't really look like any other card in the set and I love how the Cubs hat is serving as the "C" in the electric Cubs name in the design.

So, I guess it's too late to nominate this card over at Nachos Grande, I already submitted my votes. Oh well.

I didn't go through every single 2024 card, of course, so it's very possible I missed some really good candidates (I do like the Stadium Club cards of Byron Buxton, Darryl Strawberry, Kyle Schwarber, Leroy Butler and a couple others). I'm just happy I could narrow one down during a time when a lot of cards look the same to me. Thanks, Drew Smyly, for appearing on a card that is not like any other ...

 

,,, uh ... card.