Archive for September 2011
2000 Topps isn’t a bad looking set. It isn’t a classic or anything but it is simple and non-offensive. The transparency boxes at the bottom do little but take up space but they had a nice subtle color scheme to them and added just enough flair to the cards to keep them from getting boring. This set is in the middle of several very forgettable sets for Topps. The sets weren’t necessarily bad they just kind of washed in my mind. I you asked me what 2000 Topps looked like I couldn’t place it right away.
The gold foil wasn’t overkill and the cards had both the position and the team logo. Interestingly enough they decided not to spell out the team’s name even though they had lots of room. They even had enough room for the word “Topps” to appear twice on each card’s face. Either way 2000 Topps is a solid middle of the road design.
I really didn’t want to do this. I had set up a template for the top performer of every week of the NFL season. I had planned on posting a card for every week. Tom Brady obviously is the top performer of week 1. The problem is that I really don’t like Tom Brady. He and Tony Romo are the two players in the NFL that I didn’t really plan on ever making a card of on this site. The Dolphins horrible pass defense has forced me to do this card. It was a great performance by Brady so I have forced myself to give him his props.
The NFL season has begun and it is time to start my shift to football cards for the next few months. There will still be many baseball cards but NFL cards will start to be more steady in my posts. This Donovan McNabb card is my template for my cards for the new football season. I worked through several variations of this card and settled on this for now but it could very well change before I start doing a lot of them.
I like everything on the card except for the name and team blocks. I like the color scheme alright; I try to get away from too much red, white and blue but I was trying to take the NFL logo colors and use them. I like the stripes but I think the color behind the name and team may be a little much. I am not quite sold on the font for the name either, it is looking a little plain right now. I really like how the pinstripes turned out and I really like the NFL logo and how I incorperated the year into the logo for the card. I thought I would simply call the set “NFL 2011.” I think my little football with the position is good as well; it will probably stay. I will have all cards in the set be landscape for now. It should make for a little nicer football cards I hope.
I started with McNabb mainly because he is on a new team and it is always cool to see a players card on a new team. He couldn’t lead the Vikings to a win today but still managed to throw for all of 39 yards against the Chargers. As a Chiefs fan it is nice to see a performance worse than the 41-7 bitch-whipping I had to endure on this opening weekend. So McNabb gets card #1 for now but a couple things might change and make this card absolute; I’ll come back to the design tomorrow or Tuesday and finish it then.
In honor of the beginning of the NFL season I’ll post a card of what the NFL doesn’t have; the perennial MVP Peyton Manning. The Colts are obviously missing him today.
Salvador Perez has been fun to watch so far this year. He has hit better than expected since his call-up and his defense has been good(as expected.) I’m guessing he will inherit the starting catching job next year as he has it right now. He is still young and that might be a concern working with pitchers and controlling the game. I say put him in the lineup until he proves he can’t be the starting catcher at this point. Manny Pina appears to be a good second option for a young catcher.
The Royals have had Jason Kendall and Matt Treanor on the team to provide experience in managing the younger pitchers. Treanor was traded and Kendall won’t catch any next year so it could be Perez and Pina. Brayan Pena is a good backup but really hasn’t shown the ability to be a starting catcher in the big leagues, he is a good second catcher thought. It remains to be seen what the team will do with Pena in 2012.
This continues my 1983 Topps Royals set for every player on the 2011 team. I was caught up soon after the Moustakas callup but now am a few cards behind. I plan to get them posted before the end of the season. Hopefully some more new faces will be appearing as well.
Alright, it is a little strange writing an article about how great Zack Greinke was and how he is one of the 36 greatest Royals players of all time. It is weird because he is still pitching for the Milwaukee Brewers. Whatever he does for the Brewers won’t tarnish his up and down career as a Kansas City Royal.
In 2009 he pretty much clinched the status as a Royals great by winning a Cy Young award on a terrible team. He consistently got poor run support and was almost unhittable all season. He posted 16 wins and more importantly a 2.17 ERA. This even came after a season where he almost left baseball and pitched in just 3 games. He then resurrected his career in the Kansas City bullpen and became a dominant starter. He only posted 60 wins in his 7 seasons in Kansas City but still was one of only a couple bright spots for those teams shortly after the turn of the century.
As a Royals fan it really hurts to say this; but I really like Justin Verlander. The guy is flat out dominant. He just posted his 21st win and could end up with about 24 before seasons end. He is a strikeout machine and pitches deep into games consistently. He throws right at 100 MPH fastball in the 1st inning and he throws 100 MPH fastballs in the 9th inning too. He has spectacular stamina and is on his way to a Cy Young Award this year.
I like doing 1982 Topps cards because it gives me a chance to ad players signatures to the cards. I usually find a nice clean signature and trace it onto the card in Illustrator. It isn’t the easiest task usually but I have been thoroughly thrilled with the results each time. The only thing I don’t like about these cards is the color scheme. I complained about 1983 Topps not matching team colors too but it just seems obvious to make a card with the colors of the team portrayed. That is why I made this variant with my color choices too.
Going to see big Jim tonight against the Royals, I have never seen Thome hit a homer in person so I’m hoping to see a big fly.
2000 Topps isn’t a bad looking set. It isn’t a classic or anything but it is simple and non-offensive. The transparency boxes at the bottom do little but take up space but they had a nice subtle color scheme to them and added just enough flair to the cards to keep them from getting boring. This set is in the middle of several very forgettable sets for Topps. The sets weren’t necessarily bad they just kind of washed in my mind. I you asked me what 2000 Topps looked like I couldn’t place it right away.
A Hair Off Square 