TTM: Jose Rijo

Another baseball season is in the books. While I'm less than thrilled that the Giants won the World Series this year, I suppose it could have been worse (i.e. the Cardinals being crowned World Champions). Regardless, I've been pondering the "What could have been" had the Reds only taken one more game from San Francisco in the NLDS. It's been a loooooooong time since the Reds have made it to the World Series (1990) when Jose Rijo helped Cincinnati win a World Championship and himself winning the MVP in the 1990 series.

1996 Topps

One word for this set... UNINSPIRING! To say that I'm not a fan of this set would be an understatement. Hate is a strong word, so I'll just say I greatly dislike what Topps released in 1996. The photos are nice, don't get me wrong, but the photos are also part of the problem. Namely, I think Topps was lazy for using the same photo of the player's face superimposed at the bottom of the card. Seriously?! How hard would it have been to just use a different photo instead of the exact same thing! The foil is a nice touch for the front of the card, but what's up with the big orange home plate on the back of the card? Last time I checked, home plates were white and not fuzzy! Such a disappointment. As for a card favorite, if I had to choose it would be Jose Rijo. Sure, Larkin was and still is my favorite Reds player from the 80s to when he retired, but Rijo was an awesome pitcher for the Reds especially in the 1990 World Series. This card takes me back to those glory days of 1990 when everything was right in the world of Reds baseball.