I've Decided to Create My Own Card

So I've been tossing around the idea of creating my own baseball card. Not the kind that depicts players or mascots, but rather stadiums. I always thought a set that featured all baseball stadiums past and present would be such a cool idea. Imaging a set that had the Polo Grounds, Shibe Park, Comiskey Park, Coors Field, Progressive Field...or in the case of me being a Reds fan... Palace of the Fans, Crosley Field, Riverfront Stadium and Great American Ballpark. While the cards would feature pictures of both the outside and inside of the stadiums, it would have information about the stadium on the back of the card as well as a little factoid that's unique to each stadium. Anyway, I decided to give it a try. Let me know what you think and how I could make the design better.

What Reds Fan Wouldn't Like to Have This?

In addition to collecting cards, I'm slowly building up a collection of memorabilia to display in my, as of yet unstarted, Cincinnati Reds Man Cave. Most of the things I have can be found on my Memorabilia page of this blog. Probably one of my most favorite items I have is a pair of seats from Riverfront Stadium/Cinergy Field that my wife and I received as a Christmas gift back in 2002 from my mother-in-law after the stadium was torn down. There's still one seat that I would like to have for my Man Cave, but the possibility of me obtaining this is the near future is highly unlikely...a figural seat from Crosley Field. These seats are amazing! Unfortunately, there amazingly expensive as well. A recent search on ebay has one listed for $1,499.99 which is a little too rich for my blood at this time. But maybe someday.

I'm up to 10

Ten followers that is! Sure, it's not a lot....but it's a start. Thanks you to all who are following my blog. On another note, I signed up for Yahoo Sport's Fantasy Baseball today. Here's hoping to a great season. Baseball is just around the corner!

Two More in the Can

Today I knocked out two more of my 2012 collecting goals. I grabbed the last two 1993 Flair Wave of the Future insert cards that I needed AND I finally completed my 2011 Topps Gypsy Queen set. I was able to grab the last five short print cards, but wasn't too thrilled that I had to spend $7.50 for the Chase Utley card. Those things are almost impossible to find so I decided to bite the bullet and shell out the money before they were nowhere to be found. Anyway, with those two sets complete, I'll be spending the next month or two trying to complete my 61 and 62 Topps Reds team sets. The one card I'm not looking forward to trying to get is the 1962 Topps #594. While it is the rookie card of Red's catcher Don Pavletich...it's also the rookie card of Bob Uecker!!! Ouch!

Ryan Braun Suspension Overturned...WTF?!

So as most of you know, or at least should know by now if you're a true baseball fan, the reigning National League MVP's fifty game suspension was overturned. It's not that I don't like Mr. Braun...in fact I have no opinion of him whatsoever. Being a Red's fan I know I should despise this Brewer, but I don't. What I do despise is the technicality for which the suspension was overturned. As far as I'm concerned, Shyam Das has done a great disservice to MLB players who strive to do their best legally without the use of performance enhancing supplements. I'll be completely honest, if the shoe was on the other foot and Joey Votto or Brandon Phillips or any other Reds player had tested positive, then I would have the same opinion as I do regarding Braun.....suspend them. They don't put up with this crap in the Olympics (sure it's a poor choice for comparison) but baseball is still trying to wipe the tarnish off from the steroid era. While random drug testing helped to add accountability to the players, this ruling completely flies in the face of what needs to be done in baseball.

1961 Topps

What to say about this set when there's really nothing to say about it. I'm not a fan of 1961 Topps. It's probably the most poorly designed set that Topps released in the 1960s. To say that this set is nothing more than a plain Jane would be a compliment. Even calling it an Ugly Betty would be too kind. I just want to know what happened Topps? The 1960 set was nice with the horizontal layout with two pics used on the front. Did you just decide to let two year old little Billy down the street make the call on this? Disappointing. Unfortunately, the only joy I get from this set are the comics on the back.

2005 Studio

While I've been busy trying to knock out my 2011 Topps Gypsy Queen set, I've started on another set endeavor, the 2005 Studio set. I was a big fan of Studio when it came out in 1991 and while it held a special place in my collecting heart, I couldn't put in on the same pedestal as the 1991 Topps Stadium Club set. When I started dabbling in the hobby again in 2002 I was disappointed with what had happened to Studio. I wasn't impressed with their designs and was sad at what had become of this novelty set. However, in 2005 that changed when I saw what Donruss released. The card backgrounds are fantastic with the city skylines that are used on most of the cards in this set. In addition, I like how Donruss decided to use a sepia style in this design as compared to standard color photography. If I had one gripe with the set, it would be that I miss how Donruss didn't have the player's hobbies and interest or their hero. It's that quirky stuff besides a player's stats that I'm able to connect with.