From the Pedro Binder

2001 Fleer Genuine @LG

What in the name of Tris Speaker is this monstrosity?

I don’t even know where to begin. I guess let’s start with the shape. Apparently, someone at Fleer remembered everyone’s pursuit of the perfect hourglass shape, and thought it applied to baseball cards as well. It’s sort of an overlapping pennant look, which I guess is baseball-related. Clearly, a die-cut for the sake of being a die-cut. It makes it harder to handle too. Yuck.

What’s up with the “@LG”? It’s there right on top in silver foil. Then, it’s everywhere else in a retro computer graphic font. Is there a reason for that? I see one reference to “larger than life.” Is that where the LG comes in? Is it supposed to be “At large”? It’s not. Why is it there? Why does Fleer feel that @LG is the most important thing on the card?

To be fair, the picture of Pedro is a nice one. He’s right there getting ready to pitch, like a giant in…some stadium. I don’t know which park Pedro is standing in. It’s not Fenway. At least it’s not Yankee Stadium.

It would have been pretty cool if it were Fenway, though. Then he could be standing there “larger than life” in Fenway ready to pitch. That would actually make a great concept. Get rid of the die-cut. Eliminate all the clutter from @LG. Just make it Pedro super-sized in his home park. That would work.

This, does not.

And the Winner Is…

First, I want to thank everyone who entered this year’s contest! I had more entries this year than I’ve ever had, so that was great. I must have had more difficult items this year, though, since the winning total was lower than it has been in the past. (Something to keep in mind for next year. It might not take 30 items to win.)

So, without further ado, I’d like to congratulate…

Kayla!

Kayla just edged out the competition with an entry on the final day. You may remember Kayla from her runner-up finish in the 2009contest. (And the fact that I’ve been using some of those pictures lately.) It was actually her previous runner-up status that propelled her to victory this year. I thought she was going to fall just short, yet again. But, when I looked back to see when her previous entry was, I noticed that some of the pictures had items that would qualify for this year too. That was able to push her over the top!

So, I hope you’ll all join me in congratulating Kayla on all her fine work.

As a thank-you to all the contestants, here a few of my favorites from the non-winners. Included is one you may have noticed on the Section 36 facebook page yesterday. (Another great reason to go like the page now!) It was originally submitted as a standard “Pix in 36.” But, upon closer inspection you can find several items lurking in it. I always say that’s the advantage of having you in the picture. Old pictures can sometimes contain windfalls!

Congratulations Kayla!

Time’s Up!

The time to enter the 2012 Section 36 Scavenger hunt is over. Thanks to everyone who sent in an entry. I’ll check out all the submissions, and announce a winner tomorrow.

Stay tuned!

Tomorrow! Tomorrow!

That’s right. You only have until 12:36 PM tomorrow Feb 5, 2013 to enter the 2012 Section 36 Scavenger Hunt! There’s no more time to wait!

No more trying to get creative with the entries. It’s that last push. Draw something that kinda sorta looks like Wally. Tape a logo to a t-shirt. Use a Section 36 scorecard. Grab your father, or sister, or girlfriend and snap a picture. It’s time to get all the easy ones you’ve been leaving until the last minute.

Because, isn’t that the way it always works? You see something like that list, and immediately pick out ones you don’t need to worry about. You know you have a Red Sox pen in a drawer somewhere. You can leave that until the end. It’s the trip to Fenway that you need time to schedule.

Well, the end is near. Time to get cracking. Find those items. Email them to the section36 gmail account. Don’t be left out.

Take those pictures!

Who Needs a Groundhog?

I was never really sure what the groundhog was telling me anyway. There seems to be two options. Either we have six more weeks of winter, or we have an early spring. In six weeks, it will be March 16^th. The fist day of spring is March 20. So, wouldn’t March 16 be an early spring? What does that mean when the groundhog predicts an early spring? Earlier than March 16^th? Or is the groundhog taking tips from professional weathermen and giving a prediction that can’t be wrong. Sort of like when they predict, “Up to an inch of snow, or more.” Pretty much covers everything, right? So, a groundhog isn’t going to help me figure out when spring is coming. Thankfully, I have another method to help me out.

Pitchers and Catchers reporting.

Bingo. If Spring Training is starting, it must be spring. Right? In fact, this year some players are already down in Fort Myers. So, I guess we had an early spring after all.

This is easily my favorite, and least favorite time of the year. On the one hand, it’s getting close to the time to talk about baseball again. It’s only ten days before I can see pictures of actual Red Sox players going through their workouts. It means that the season is almost here!

But, it also means that the season is over a month away. It means I’m going to have to listen to a month and a half of Spring Training “reporting.” The news is lacking, but the reporting is not. Dustin Pedroia batted sixth in an intrasquad game. Is he being punished? Is he struggling? Ellsbury didn’t play as expected. Is he hurt? Is he soft? It will be excruciating.

But, it will be progress. There will be baseball in the air again. There will be pictures of players in bright sunshine on grass fields.

It will be an early spring.