From the Pedro Binder

2000 Skybox Dominion Strikeouts League Leader

This seemed like a good one for today.

I've discussed league leader cards in this segment plenty. There's a great way for card companies to get as many star players as they can in a card set. Why take up two cards when you can get both Pedro and Randy on a single card.

I will admit, though, that I'd prefer they spend at least a little time thinking about the design.

Look at this thing. How long did it take to think up? Let's put the player in front of the league logos, on a white background. We'll throw their names in the middle somewhere. Done!

They even put the names in foil, to make them hard to read. But, no team names. No team logos. No strikeout totals to see how well they did. Just slapped a picture on the card, and called it a day.

Pretty darn lazy.

She Scored!

June 26, 2014

I received a tweet from Melissa recently (@UKfan1129 if you’re twitterpated) showing off her completed Section 36 scorecard! Let’s see how it looks, shall we?

Right away, I see something I like. On Posey’s at bat in the first inning, he hit a double. There’s an arrow in the box, which I assume indicates the direction the hit went. I’ve seen other people do this, and always wondered why I don’t do it as well. It’s an easy way to add some useful information to the card. I also noticed that much like Jim, she’s an experienced NL scorecard keeper. She knew enough to leave everyone batting in the pitcher’s spot on the one row. I would have been tempted to start putting Gutierrez’s scores in the next row, but would have quickly run out of room. Good job by Melissa there. I also like the diagonal lines between innings. I tend to use the “X” taking up the whole next box. Frankly this is because I need the big reminder not to score in that box. But, the card looks a little more cluttered because if it. But, there are no mistakes. It’s a trade-off Melissa, apparently, didn’t need to make. I’m a little jealous.

It’s also lucky that this card captured Duvall’s first ML appearance, as well as his first home run. The point of any card is to record history, and this one certainly does that. What a break.

How about the game itself? Melissa was probably happy, because the Reds went away with the victory. The pitching held the Giants to a single run, allowing the minimal offense to do its job.

The hero of the game? I’d be tempted to give it to Jay Bruce and his three hits. But, of Brandon Phillips’s two hits, one was a home run. So, I’m going to give him the nod.

The goat? Joey Votto needs to do more from the three-hole. A big 0-4 does not help the team score runs.

As we know, it didn’t matter. “Chappy” came in and closed it out, and the Reds added one to the win column.

And Melissa’s third ever scorecard shows how it happened.

Thanks for sharing, Melissa!

From the Pedro Binder

2000 Pacific Paramount

OK. Then.

Just like last time, I like the Pacific logo. It makes it easy for me to tell what set the card is from, which is quite a problem in those years. It’s also all tucked into the corner, out of the way.

That’s where the good things about this card  end.

I always dislike when the player is cut out of the rest of the picture in order to be put on an artificial background. I understand that some variety is needed, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it. That’s especially true with this card. Why eliminate the rest of the picture just to put Pedro on a blah background? It’s one thing if there was a fancy design that related to the set somehow. But, this is just blah.

I’m not sure what’s going on with all the information on the card either. Sure, it has the name, team logo, and position. But, it’s all annoyingly in foil to make sure it’s hard to read. There are some stripes, and a home plate looking thingie. But, it simply doesn’t do it for me.

Once again, I have to assume that people complaining about the Topps monopoly aren’t thinking about this card.

Why is Everyone in a Rush to Define the Sox season?

It happened again.

“I think it’s pretty clear by now what they are.”

“They’re not a playoff team. It’s time to sell.”

“If only they were going to be in contention, maybe they could make a run at David Price.”

Why is everyone in such a rush to write them off?

They’ve been doing it all season. Have a rough opening week? A week of games is enough to be able to tell. A rough April? That’s a big enough sample size. They now are what they are.

This isn’t a new thing either. Remember the losing streak to start 2011? People were already deciding they were a bust after six games.

What is that desire?

Is it just the need for everyone to be first? If I’m the first one to say they’re going to be a crap team, and then they’re a crap team, then people will think I’m awesome. That might work if anyone remembered what anyone said. But, nobody’s going to go and give you credit for having a tweet in April saying “Sox are done this year” as some sort of clairvoyant. Heck, I wrote a whole blog post last spring saying, basically, that I saw no reason why the Sox wouldn’t win the World Series last year. Nobody’s brought it up since. So, this “me first” thing is just annoying with no purpose.

Is it contrary reporting? If I’m the only person who says the Sox will be lousy, people will read or follow me since I’m giving them something nobody else will. Like the one person who leaves Dustin Pedroia off the MVP ballot. Again, though, that assumes anyone remembers. Sure, someone might track down which one of 20 reporters did something. But, to scour twitter for someone saying bad things about the Sox? Not gonna happen. So, again, it’s jumping to conclusions with no purpose.

Is it straight trolling? Hoping that I’d write a blog post about it?

I’d understand if your early conclusion supported a pre-made assumption. If a team went 112-50 one year, and then started out 25-5, you would be allowed to jump to the conclusion that they’re going to have a good year. The evidence is supporting your assumption. But, that’s not what’s happening here. The Sox weren’t supposed to be sub-500. Sure, nobody expected 100 wins. But, they didn’t expect struggles. Why be so eager to change your mind? Was your opinion of the team going into the season so flawed that you’re willing to throw it away over nothing?

Maybe that’s the real reason. People aren’t making well thought out analysis. They’re just tossing out opinions, so they have no problem tossing out a different one. If you only thought they were going to win this year because they won the last game last year, it would be easy to say they’re going to lose this year because they lost the last game they played.

If, however, you thought they’d be good this year based on the players they had returning, and how they performed last year, you might be inclined to stick with that opinion. You’d assume that players will find their level. That slumps happen, but stars will be stars. There’d be no reason not to wait it out. As long as they’re still in contention.

At least until all the players you expected to be there are there.

36 Pix

Those of you who are very astute may have noticed a change to the Pages on the top of this here blog. Ok. Those of you who are very very astute. The "Pix from 36" page has been replaced by the "36 Pix" page.

"So what?" you might say. "You changed the title of a page. You're turning that into its own post now? How pathetic."

You may be right.

But, this is more than a  change in a page title. It's a whole reorganization. It's one I didn't want to do. I had been holding out doing it as long as I could. But, I couldn't do it any more. I just had too many pictures.

What a glorious problem to have!

See, I put all the pix on a single page. Even after only picking the best ones from each person who sent them in, I had quite a few. It was taking quite a long time to scroll through them all. That was annoying. So, I had to split them up.

Unfortunately, the best way to do that was to make a few categories, and give each category its own page. Those pages can be accessed from the main "36 Pix" page you see above you. Like I said, I didn't like it. It's an extra click before you get to the good stuff. That always felt like a "hit grab" on my end. But, like I said, I had no choice.

So, which categories did I pick? Glad you asked. Here they are, along with some of the latest examples submitted.

Pix in 36 will show pictures people took of themselves in Section 36 itself. You know, like these:

Pix With 36 will show people taking their pictures in other parts of the park, but posing with Section 36 behind them. Like these:

Rather Be in 36 Pix will show people taking their picture with a "I'd Rather Be In Section 36" sign, to voice their displeasure with being stuck somewhere else. Like these:

Pix of 36 will show pictures people took of Section 36 itself, whether they were in Section 36 at the time, or not. Like these:

Finally, Pix From 36 will show pictures people have taken of different parts of the park, while in Section 36. Like these:

So, I hope the reorganization will assist everyone in more easily enjoying all the great pictures that have been submitted. And, please keep sending it your pictures!

Like I said, it was a great problem to have!