Just For Fun: 2014 Topps Stadium Club - Best Card Competition: The Last of the Knock-Out Round!

 In the previous post for this fun little competition, none of my picks for best card in any of the match-ups was completely disputed and so we can say now that Jackie Robinson, Mike Trout, Jayson Werth, and Evan Gattis are all moving on to the next round!  

Before we can start voting on those cards again, we first need to finish the current round so let's get right to it!

#79 Brandon Phillips vs. #133 Ted Williams 

This particular choice of mine might very well get changed by the group vote but I have to give the nod to Brandon Phillips over Ted Williams for best baseball card.  I emphasized baseball since the Williams card is undoubtedly a great photograph, but nothing about the card says "baseball" to me.  In fact, the Phillips card is spectacular not just for the angle of the image but also because you've got two Brewers with Phillips (and the ball) between them.  I'm assuming the person behind Phillips is a base coach but I can't be sure of that.  That all said, I did just put the Evan Gattis card where he's dressed up in a bear carcass through to the next round so who knows if I'm applying any sort of logical rules to this countdown.  Heck, maybe it's simply Reds' bias here at play but my vote is going to Phillips.

#90 Jose Altuve vs. #120 Jose Bautista 

It's the battle of the Jose's!  On the one hand, I did just say that a baseball card the reminds me of baseball is superior to a non-baseball image (especially for a set like Stadium Club).  On the other hand, golf is at least a sport...and the Altuve image, while nice, isn't anything you couldn't find in Topps flagship.  Then again, Altuve is rocking so much orange in that photo and I'm kind of a sucker for orange (I used to own an orange car up until a few months ago, in fact).  

These decisions aren't getting any easier for me...but I guess I'll try to maintain some air of consistency here and give the nod to Jose Altuve in this matchup.

#98 Victor Martinez vs. 113 Johnny Bench 

Alright, in the first matchup of the day my Reds bias may have led me to put Brandon Phillips through but here I think that it's clear the Bench card is the superior card.  Heck, the Victor Martinez card is basically a one-trick pony where that trick is an ad in the background for a super crappy beer.  Johnny all the way here!

First Round Bye:  #104 Nolan Ryan 

Ryan gets a first round bye by being the best card from the middle binder page for the set.  

And there you have it, the last of the first round of voting.  As always, let me know what you think in the comments...if enough people disagree with one (or more?) of my choices, I can (and have) made the switch prior to declaring winners.