Belated Thanks

To Greg, the Night Owl, who always has a few Indians for me, including a Trio of Thome,

a Gallery of 90's Tribe Stars,

Two Cy Young Indians,

and some more Cracker Jack, courtesy of a Phillie Thome.

And a gracious thanks to Jason from The Writer's Journey, who contacted me to see if I wanted the Victor Martinez "card" from the Indians Fan Package that he had sent to him. It is really not much more than a printed sheet of shiny paper, but is a welcome addition to the Victor collection. In addition, he sent me a large batch of Omar and Thome cards that I didn't have.

Easily my favorite of the bunch is the Hands of Gold die-cut card from 1999 Topps. I have one other, of Roberto Alomar, so it is cool to have both of them with the Indians, especially after my last post about them as a DP tandem. The Aurora has to be the worst photo I've seen of Omar on a card. The back photo is nice, though. It's understandable why they went away as a brand.

Next, we transition from Omar to Jim Thome with a pair of Topps Opening Day 2000 cards.

These are one of Topps better efforts from the late 90's and early 00's: great pictures, nice color schemes, inconspicuous borders. Check out the close-up of Omar. The ball is bouncing up, just over his left shoulder, going down the 3rd base line. That is an interesting and terrific in-action shot.

This Bazooka cartoon commemorates Thome coming within one game of tying the Major League record of homering in eight straight games. It also mentions that he, at the time, was fourth all-time by hitting a jack every 7.20 at-bats. Not bad for a big-ole country boy.

We finish off with a sextet of Thome cards I didn't have. As the last card says, "Retro Rules." It's no wonder I like the old-style cards better. Compare them to the monstrosity that is the Pacific Online card. They could have at least hid the URL on the backside of the card. Lousy design on that one. I also have to rag on Topps for the lousy picture on the Gallery card. Couldn't they find one where his glove wasn't in front of his face, like the Victory? Nice shot on the UD Collector's Choice, though. Typical Big Jim Big Swing. Now you know why, until this year, UD had a better reputation for photography than Topps. I'd have to say, though, that that is now changed.

Thanks Jason & Greg.