In the last of the first round of voting, two of my three choices seemed to resonate with my blog viewers. The one change I'm making is that Brandon Phillips will no longer be moving on, instead, say hello to Ted Williams as the winner of that particular match-up.
We are now down to our final 12 cards in the competition - a veritable "who's who" of baseball combined with some truly great photography! Be warned, the decisions as to which card is better for each pairing is about to get much more difficult!
Let's look at the first half our match-ups, again going with the lowest card (in terms of set number) paired up against the highest card (in terms of set number) and then working our way towards the middle from there.
#3: Babe Ruth
#177: Eddie Murray
We begin with a pair of retired stars squaring off. For me, the Eddie Murray card is undoubtedly nice but it's mostly because of those wicked sideburns (though what exactly is he wearing under his jersey, some sort of plastic shirt)?! The Babe Ruth card, on the other hand, it's awesome from top to bottom. The fans, Ruth himself, and even is glove near the bottom of the card are all unique and make for a great image. I usually prefer color photos on my baseball cards but I have to move Babe Ruth on to the next round here!
Next up:
#13: Stan Musial
#141: Evan Gattis
It took four cards before we got to our first "current" player in 2014 Stadium Club! This is a tough match-up to decide and honestly, I'll probably go with whatever the masses say in the comment section on this post! In Musial's favor is the fact that the photo is a great action shot with the three main people in the photo (Musial, the catcher, and the umpire) all looking at Stan's hit. Working against Musial is the fact that the photo, while undoubtedly great, isn't exactly unique or special. Moving on to Gattis, the main point in Evan's favor is that this is, without a doubt, the most talked about base card when 2014 Stadium Club was first released. I think I saw this card on just about every blog within the first that the set was out. On the other hand, does "unique or crazy" actually mean "best card" in a given set? It's hard to say and I'm excited to see what all of you think!
And finally, our third pairing to weigh in on for today:
#24 Anthony Rizzo
#133 Ted Williams
Ted Williams was a card I voted against in the first round and it's a card I'm voting against again. I love that particular Rizzo card, especially because of the happy kids getting autographs! Also, I already mentioned that generally speaking I prefer color on my baseball cards and the Rizzo has great summer colors all over it. Sorry Ted, but Rizzo moves on here...unless the masses can save you a second time via the comment section!
So there you have it, for the first half of the vote for this round I've got Babe Ruth and Anthony Rizzo moving on for sure and then for me I'm going to wait and see what all of you think about the Musial/Gattis pairing!
Like I said, the choices are getting tougher and tougher and that's a testament to how great the 2014 Stadium Club set is from start to finish (and a big reason why that set was the perfect set to feature for this fun little competition)!
Now it's your turn, let me know which card wins each pairing for you...and make sure you especially give me feedback on the Musial/Gattis vote!
I like Ted, and the card is unique but Rizzo gets my vote. It's colorful, fun and warm! The Babe is a favorite of mine in this set for the fans. The fellow staring into the camera with hand extended looks like a real character. He's long lost to time now but I think about his family every time I see this card. I wish they knew their grandpa or uncle was in a picture with the Babe.
ReplyDeleteAll good photos and cards. For the first and second I have to go with what's unique and that's Ruth and Gattis. For the third, I'm going against what I'd usually pick and go with Rizzo.
ReplyDelete- Babe Ruth
ReplyDelete- Stan Musial
-Anthony Rizzo
Ruth, Musial, and Williams. I'd love to know the story behind the Ruth photograph. It was tough choosing between Rizzo and Williams, but in the end I went with the real American hero. As for the Musial, I love a well cropped action shot... especially when it includes a catcher and umpire.
ReplyDeleteBabe--they're both great, but the Ruth is so rich in history.
ReplyDeleteMusial--a great card against a bad joke, as far as I'm concerned.
Williams--I'm not as big a fan of "signing autos" cards as some, but I'm fine either way.
Ruth because no one could draw a crowd like him.
ReplyDeleteMusial because it was just his birthday.
Rizzo because it reminds me of my childhood when I stood by the wall trying to get Rockies autographs.