Got this pack from Andy at 88 Topps Cards as a contest prize. I've soured on the set, but I love to open packs so Let 'er rip. Who knows there might be a Kosuke card in there. I've already pulled nine of 'em from Upper Deck products, I've got to pull one from Topps eventually.
648 Ryan Freel
535 Francisco Rodriguez
610 Carlos Beltran
394 Mark Ellis
572 Adam Eaton
613 Melvin Mora
587 Chris Snyder
TS7 Ichiro
503 Jeremy Bonderman
526 Juan Encarnacion
367 Khalil Greene
546 Francisco Liriano
Topps Town code
Here's the code kids, have fun...
The best thing about these cards are the backgrounds. Ryan Freel is hauling ass with the out of town scoreboard glowing in the background. There are people loitering on the bench behind Beltran, Ellis, Snyder and Encarnacion. Let's hear some chatter or something, people! The chain link fences behind Eaton and Liriano tip us off that these must be spring training photos. Khalil Greene has a lush wall of ivy behind him. K-Rod's background is the most puzzling to me. Francisco is about to fire a heater at the plate and his first baseman isn't paying attention at all. Is he that confident that the result will be a strikeout? There's a guy on base, maybe he got there because the first baseman was chatting up some girl in the crowd and wasn't there to take the throw. He's wearing a different color cap too, must be the All Star game. No need to pay attention in the All Star game, it's not like it counts or anything. The shiny, shiny Ichiro card is the golden jewel of the pack. Especially when the insert could have been a Garfield vs. Harrison campaign card.
No, the best part about this card is that you pulled BOTH major leaguers with whom I share birthday (3/8/76) in the same pack -- Ryan Freel and Juan Encarnacion.
ReplyDeleteYou're probably right about the photo being an ASG picture, but it was probably taken during his warmup tosses, which is why Justin Morneau (the first baseman, I think) isn't paying attention. He came in with two outs in the ninth in the 2007 game, when Morneau was at first and JJ Hardy had just walked. (So that's your other mystery player.)
Ah, ha! Excellent detective work Chris! I think cards where you can identify specific games (or moments, like you just did) are fascinating.
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