MLB Showdown: A Lackluster Game with Awesome Cards

Back in the early 2000s, Wizards of the Coast published a collectible card game called MLB Showdown.  The brand only lasted for five years but in that time a number of cool cards were created (both in terms of the game itself but also for collectors)!  Of course, this being a collectible card game created by Wizards of the Coast, the game was quickly oversaturated and burnt out by the time the game ended in 2005.  

For me, I remember buying a starter set of MLB Showdown in 2002.  I'm fairly certain I also bought at least one expansion pack.  I also remember trying to play the game with my brother but if I'm being honest, the game was mostly based on the luck of the roll of a D20 (which wasn't all that much fun).  Sure, there were "strategy cards" to use but those didn't do enough to mitigate a number of consecutive bad rolls to make the game feel fun and rewarding.  

Flash forward to now and I had basically completely forgotten about MLB Showdown.  Then, one day a few weeks ago I got a TCDB notification that someone had added a card for trade that I wanted.  The card in question was from MLB Showdown - a Barry Larkin card that I needed.  I tried to come to some sort of agreement for a trade (the trader was only interested in selling) and when that fell through I was inspired to check eBay instead.  Lo and behold, eBay sellers had both of the Barry Larkin MLB Showdown cards that I needed from the 2001 set - the "regular" card as well as the "1st Edition" parallel!  As one of the star players in the set, Barry got the foil treatment!

Two sellers, two new foil Larkin cards for me, and one "meh" game.  I do kind of wish that someone would revive the baseball card game market, I think it could be successful if done correctly!