Archive for the ‘Kansas City Royals’ Tag
I think that 1987 Topps has a lot of fanfare. I’m not really sure but I think a lot of people like it. It is very distinctive with it’s wood border and nice clean design. I think I am in the minority saying that I don’t like this set. I think it looks cheap and generic. It is iconic for the Bonds rookie and the classic Bo Jackson card but overall I think it is a miss by Topps.
For the wood border I had no choice but to use a nice clean jpg file and put my graphics around it as I did with 1990 Topps and will be doing with 1968 Topps when I get to it. The font on this card is sloppy. Both mine and the real one. The font I used is Marker Felt and it is close; I don’t think it is right but it is very close. On the bright side this was a very easy card to re-create. It is simple but doesn’t really impress me very much.
1994 Topps is sort of a forgotten set that is actually not too bad. I have always wanted to incorporate the home plate shape into a card some how and this set sort of did it. The picture comes to a point at the bottom that makes it look a little like home plate. I like the script font as well. The problem with script fonts is that they can be difficult to read. This font is no exception. It is not matched exact but thanks to fellow custom card-er Harvey Berkman, I was able to get pretty darn close. This font is Vladamir Script and is close enough if you are trying to re-create this set. The rest of the card is a lot of unnecessary flash; many gradients that don’t add dimension, they just add color.
Now to the picture. I have wanted to do this picture for a while. If you have been to a Royals game and got the pleasure to watch Joakim Soria enter a game you know why the picture is cool. Kauffman Stadium blasts “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns N Roses and all the scoreboards around the stadium show flames. The crowd naturally gets into the moment and it creates a very cool environment not seen too often for a team consistently low in the standings.
The picture is not the best, normally the pictures I choose are a little cleaner than this one but it was all I could find. If you click on it you can see the pixelization but I had to use it anyway. The set fits well with the picture too. When I started the “History of Joakim Soria” project, this is the kind of card I had in mind.
Luis Mendoza pitched a great game tonight for the Royals. This the only storyline September baseball has had in Kansas City for a while but it is interesting still. Mendoza is a guy who has pitched in the big leagues before but never to any level of success. This year he was the pitcher of the year for AAA Omaha Storm Chasers and earned the opportunity to get this start and he delivered. His line was 7 I innings, 1 earned run and 6 hits. He got a big win too. It will be interesting to see his second and last start for Kansas City; it could have a lot to do with Mendoza’s off-season.
According to @PaddyKC on twitter; Mike Moustakas is batting .378 over his last 30 games, if that isn’t worthy of a custom card today I don’t know what is. Over the last few games he has re-discovered his power as well.
On August 18th Moustakas was batting .195; On September 18th he is batting .252.
Last night the Royals won their 7th straight game by beating the White Sox 10-3. Mike Moustakas went 3-4 with a home run, 2 RBI and 3 runs. This is the 3rd straight game that Moustakas has pounded out 3 hits and 2 RBI! Over his last four games he is 10-16 with 3 HR, 7 RBI and 6 runs scored.
Its great to see Moustakas hitting well after struggling so much in the middle of the season. The power is good to see too but I was never worried about his power. Mike Moustakas has power, if he isn’t hitting home runs it doesn’t mean that power is gone. If he hits well the power numbers will come. I was concerned about his average hanging around the Mendoza line but I was never concerned about his one homer in his first about 275 at bats.
So this is 2002 Topps. I just posted 2000 Topps yesterday and commented about the forgettable designs from this era. This card is really no exception. Once again it isn’t a bad design. I really like the banners, something about them seems to scream “national pasttime.” The word “Topps” appears twice on the face of the card just like the 2000 set; which is annoying and unnecessary. The gold border is overkill, not as bad as 1999 Topps but still a little much.
The picture border has an inner glow of black on it. This is similar to the 2003 set that was blue and had the inset picture. This is a pain when re-creating the cards but I will admit that it does add depth to the picture which is nice. Too many cards look flat. What makes this card badass is the picture of Joakim that I found for the set. I don’t know where I got it but it is a sweet picture. So often a picture can make or break a card. This one makes the card look much better.
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.
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.
I think that 1987 Topps has a lot of fanfare. I’m not really sure but I think a lot of people like it. It is very distinctive with it’s wood border and nice clean design. I think I am in the minority saying that I don’t like this set. I think it looks cheap and generic. It is iconic for the Bonds rookie and the classic Bo Jackson card but overall I think it is a miss by Topps.
A Hair Off Square 