Friday, January 4, 2013

From the Pedro Binder


2002 Leaf Certified



So Shiny.

Sometimes, a card is just busy for the sake of being busy. I understand that there are only so many ways you can dress up a rectangle with design elements. But, do you need to use all your options on one card all at once? We have circles, lines, foil, and polka dots.

Phew.

Some of my issue with this card is that I will always prefer a good picture to a good design. I would like it more if Pedro wasn’t cut off at the knees. But, frankly, the card has all the requirements I look for in a card. The team name, player name, and position are right there on the front. They’re all tough to read, though. The “Boston” on the side is excusable since it’s the least important of the three. The card even has the bonus of a team logo, and player number on the front as well. That’s a pretty informative card. But, to put the player name in small print over a spotted background? That’s just mean. The position they place in a clean white circle. The player’s name? You’re on your own.

The picture itself is even really nice. Zoomed in close to focus on Pedro, staring in at the batter before embarrassing him. The card has a ton of stuff going for it.

I just can’t get past all the distractions. 

3 comments:

  1. I didn't think I'd have a chance on this one. But after looking at Pedro pics from that era and seeing he wore a different glove, it was kind of easy once I found pics where he WAS wearing this glove. Because it's pretty much one game--and in that game he had the turtleneck. So I gotta go with 4/13/2002 vs NY. Here's a shot from Getty Images which is nearly identical to the one on the card, including sideburns and beard. (Which means this set came out during the 2002 season and included shots from April. If that that was the case, this is the date I'm going with.)

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  2. He only wore that glove in one game? Are you kidding me?

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  3. It certainly appears that way. I didn't check every single game, but it seems like he wore a different glove than that one in every picture from that era. Except for that day. Usually he had one with more red in it, and by late '02 he had a beige glove.

    I'm not using that as my conclusive proof--I feel the near identical-ness of the Getty shots from that day to the card are what makes it pretty much a lock.

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