From the Pedro Binder

2003 UD First Pitch

What a nice little card this is.

I love the use of the horizontal design for this picture. It really allows you to see Pedro driving forward with the pitch. It allows the picture to be cropped perfectly. I also like the simple graphics. A few rounded rectangles are all that UD needs to give us the information. They even have everything they need. Name, team, position, number. It’s great. I also really like how the large graphic is translucent. It makes it even less obtrusive that it would be otherwise.

My main problem? The First Pitch logo. It’s actually not too big or obnoxious on its own. But, the placement in this picture is terrible. Pedro looks like he’s going to bang his head right into it. I don’t know if Upper Deck was in the habit of moving around the logo with this set, but this would have been the perfect argument for putting it on the other side of the card. It would have improved the visual appeal immensely just by flipping the graphic.

That one issue isn’t enough to ruin great concept.