Old Style

As sure as the sun rises this morning, we can always count on Topps rehashing a bunch of previously used styles of cards from its past, or sometimes borrowed from other companies.  They love their old styles and designs a little too much at times.  I spent part of last week looking for a few non-autographed Snell's, and came up with a few cards with designs that were borrowed from long ago.

Three cards in all, here is the first.  

This is from the Living Set, or the set that just won't end.  Topps has been making these cards for a few years now.  Roughly two cards per week, so I am not sure how many different cards are now in the set.  The never-ending set borrows its design from 1953 Topps.  I have a bunch of the Cardinals and former Durham Bulls, including a Bob Gibson card that I posed in the last two weeks. 

The hat logo on the side of the cap puts a date on the card, even if the set transcends years.  It's the Rays 20th Anniversary, which was in 2018.  

It's a good thing that Topps noted Snell pitched 6 2/3 innings in the game mentioned on the highlight, otherwise I would have assumed that those 11 strikeouts would have gotten him pulled in the fifth inning.  I will let it go one of those days/years.  

Next up are two different Snell cards from the latest Topps re-hash of the T206 tobacco cards.  They brought these back again this summer.  I liked these last decade, or whenever they last appeared.  I have two different variations of this Snell card.  The first is the base variation, which does not have a tobacco advertisement on the back.  

The other card is the Polar Bear back.  

The Polar Bear backs have a print run of 83 copies, although they are not serial numbered for some reason.  There are a few other different back variations that I might try to add over the next few months.  These are not only great cards because they feature Snell, but the tobacco ads on the back are all products from the American Tobacco Company, which was in Durham.   

In fact, there old factory is across the street from the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.  

The giant Lucky Strikes Water tower and smoke stack are still at the factory, but all the space is now taken up by various businesses.

The Bulls actually produced a series of videos a few years back showing how the different players prepared before the game.  Blake Snell actually walked to the ballpark before his starts.  Starting at the water fountain, until he reaches the ballpark, are all apart of the American Tobacco Factory.  

The Arrival-Blake Snell from Walmer Medina on Vimeo.

More Blake Snell cards later in the week.  

#MyCardMonday

I am not a huge fan favorite type of person with baseball cards.  Hustle and grit usually do not make me want someone's cards, unless that hustle and grit are also accompanied by some level of talent.  There are a few exceptions to that rule.  What 80s Cardinals fan did not love Jose Oquendo?  In the 90s we had Rex Hudler.  Later on during the LaRussa years I really liked So Taguchi who is the subject of this week's #MyCardMonday

The Cardinals signed Taguchi in 2002 right after the Mariners brought over Ichiro.  He spent parts of his first two seasons in splitting time in between the Cardinals bench and Triple A.  Taguchi eventually stayed on the Cardinals roster full time in 2004 and actually stared frequently in 2005.  So was a very good defensive outfielder and a spray hitter.  Taguchi also interacted well with fans and had loads of personality.  He frequently gave cool interviews or good sound bites, like this one where he warned people about the mosquitoes in the Cardinals outfield.

Besides being a good defender and good personality on the team, Taguchi also had one of those hits you never quite forget.  As a Cardinals fan I remember Ozzie and Jack Clark hitting home runs off of the Dodgers in the 1985 NLCS, Pendleton's season saving blast against the Mets in 1987, Oquendo and Lawless's post season home runs that same season, Pujols off of Lidge in 2004, and this one Taguchi hit off of Billy Wager in the 2006 NLCS.  It's a long video, but the Taguchi home run happens at the 2:55 mark.  

Of course I collect Taguchi cards.  He has a couple of relic cards and a couple of autographs too.  Several of his autographs are Playoff products (Playoff Absolute, Donruss Signature), but he has a couple of on card autographs too.  In my opinion this 2002 Topps T206 card is the nicest of the group.  Best of all, most of Taguchi's autographs can be had for less than $10 with a little bit of patience.