Thursday, October 8, 2020

Carrying on beyond 394

After the excitement of reaching 394 cards yesterday, today was always going to be a bit of an anticlimax. And what could be more anticlimactic than looking at checklists? (Leave an answer in the comments!)

Card Number 395: Upper Deck, 2000; #294

To be honest, checklists like this aren't really what I think of when I think of checklists. This is to all intents and purposes an actual card.


My quibble with the back is the re-use of the photo on the front for the headshot. Given that Tony's face is obscured by his batting helmet, it's an unusually poor choice of photo for Upper Deck.


Stylistically there isn't much difference between a stats box full of tiny numbers and a 30-card checklist. Particularly when one of those players is called "Pokey". (#86 - It's not actually the name on his birth certificate, though!)

Card Number 396: Upper Deck, 2000; #536

What's better than one checklist in a set featuring your favourite player? How about two checklists in a set featuring your favourite player?


It's a much better photo on the front and there's a different photo on the back this time. The front photo has all the identifying things you could possibly need - Tony's full face, the team name on the uniform, the number 19 and 'SD' on his helmet and arm patch. It's the exact opposite of a logo-less card; a logo-full card? The only place where it slips up is bisecting Tony's ankle with a blob of gold foil and decolourising his now-detached foot.

There is a slightly new take on Tony's 3000 hits on the back. I wasn't aware until reading this card that Tony achieved 3,000 hits in the third fewest games up to that point. Tony reached his 3000th hit in his 2,284th game and nobody has done it in fewer games since. He is still third behind Ty Cobb and Nap Lajoie.

I love learning a new factoid and there is something a but unusual about learning it off a checklist!

Total: 396 cards

2 comments:

  1. Good question. Just too early for me to answer it before I've had my morning coffee. As much as I enjoy a good checklist card, the majority of the time a well designed base card will trump a checklist card from the same set. However I'm sure there are exceptions to this rule. But like I said... I haven't had coffee yet and I literally spent four minutes staring at your question with no quality response.

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    1. Well maybe it's a question to ponder in your Chronicles? (If you're really stuck for inspiration!)

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