poser

i was looking through cards in my scanned folder over the weekend and i noticed a few duke snider cards in there. i've posted this one before

it's from 2004 topps tribute and shows snider in the latter brooklyn dodger years with his hands on his knees. then i noticed another card, this one from 2005 donruss signature series

that shows him in the same pose. it's clearly a different photo, but the same pose.

then i saw his 2012 topps tribute and triple threads cards (bronze and sepia, respectively)

and again noted the similar poses in different photos.

none of this is shocking, as there are only so many poses that players can strike (like suttoning), and with the proliferation of card releases we are seeing more photos - or more of the same photo.  this 2021 topps finest legacies insert

recycles one of the snider images and pairs it with a cody bellinger action shot.

action shots are the name of the game these days outside of sets like allen & ginter and parts of stadium club. i wouldn't mind a few more posed shots (with their natural background unlike heritage sets from the recent past) mixed in. 

the k is for kershaw kountdown continues!

yes, the kountdown to 3,000 strikeouts for clayton kershaw continues (previous post here) as he pitched against the twins on tuesday. he struck out 7 batters to give him 63 strikeouts on the season. those 7 twins that he k'd increased his career total to 2,870.

in honor of his performance, here are 7 cards to represent strikouts 2,864 through 2,870.

2,864 - 2012 topps tribute

2,865 - 2014 bowman platinum blue sapphire

2,866 - 2015 topps update gold

2,867 - 2016 topps chrome black refractor

2,868 - 2017 topps gallery heritage

2, 869 - 2018 topps gold label class 3

2,870 - 2018 topps heritage high numbers transogram

i was happy to be in la on tuesday, and made the last minute decision to buy a single ticket and head to the ravine to see kershaw pitch. it was only the second time i've seen him pitch in person, and although he didn't have his best stuff, his 7 strikeouts came in only 4 innings of work. in total, i've seen 20 of kershaw's career strikeouts in person and have enjoyed witnessing each one of them!

kershaw remains in 21st place on the all-time leader board, and will remain there until he passes zack greinke, who struck out 5 earlier in the week to increase his strikeout total to 2,914. kershaw is now 44 k's behind greinke and 130 behind the 3,000 milestone. kershaw is scheduled to make his next start on sunday against the cardinals, and he has said he plans to do so even though his mother passed away a few days before his start against the twins and there was some speculation that he would go on a longer bereavement leave after that start. regardless of when he makes his next start, i will be back to update the kountdown soon thereafter. stay tuned!