Today's blog post has a hackneyed title. Sorry. Anyway, some cards today from 2001 for our little odyssey where I will point out a couple of oddities. (I realised rather late yesterday that it was the six month anniversary of me starting this blog, so welcome to month 7!)
Card Number 471: Fleer Ultra, 2001; #9
I don't think I've blogged a card that was #9 in a set before.
Although the photo of Tony launching himself towards first base is a great action shot, my eyes are drawn to the spectator with their feet up on the railings in the background.
On the back, Tony's disembodied feet under the stats box are another quirky design choice.
Card Number 472: Topps Finest, 2001; #80
A shiny card that doesn't scan well.
There's a great little summary of Tony's hitting game as well. Tony pretty much said the same thing about his game in the book Tony Gwynn's Total Baseball Player, that he wrote with Jim Rosenthal. He explains that through careful study he could usually predict what a first pitch would be and be ready for it. (A copy of the book has just arrived from eBay, so I will probably be quoting from it in future posts!)
Card Number 473: Fleer EX, 2001; #98
This card has a kind of glittery effect on it.
The photo on the back shows Tony with a salt-and-pepper beard that makes him look older than 41. He wisely shaved this off and looked much younger after he retired.
Total: 473 cards
Knees drained? That sounds horrible. Shows how dedicated he was to the game he loved. As for the salt and pepper beard. One of my students told me a few weeks ago that I should shave more often, because the gray hair in my beard makes me look older. I guess I'm lucky in the sense that 99% of my gray hair is in my beard and not on the top of my head. That being said... I wear that gray with pride.
ReplyDeleteHis knee was basically the reason he had to give up. His eye for the ball and his swing were as good as ever but it grew almost impossible to put weight on that knee as he swung.
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