Baseball cards always seem to be good for a few weird things don’t they? You could say the same thing about the decade of the 90’s as well. So it makes sense that baseball cards from the 1990’s might have some of the oddest things you can find.
I love looking at sets from these days, especially Upper Deck, because there’s so much you can find in a hobby box. Some of it I maybe have never even seen or that I maybe just forgot about. Some of it’s funny, some of it’s odd, some of it is maybe even beyond words (oh no, I hope not this is a blog after all). But I’ve always thought Upper Deck had some a lot of fodder in this area because of all of the pictures they had to use for the fronts AND the backs. And also, when you try to push the envelope of the pictures a little bit, some things might not come out exactly as they were planned. Once they do it’s not like you can go back.
I’m going to keep digging into this amazing box of 1993 Upper Deck Series 1 and see what else stuck out to me.
Other ’93 Upper Deck Posts: ’93 Til Infinity, Picture Day, Finding Themes.
In and Out
All these guys are both in AND out of something… uniforms, ivy, bodies….
As you might already know, McDowell was known as a bit of a prankster or funny man of sorts in baseball back in those days. Certainly during his time as a Met he was known for that. His t-shirt certainly speaks to that. Now these days you find guys go and do this stuff themselves, because it’s so easy to do. But back in those days I don’t know if it was. Do you think this is something Roger did? Or do you think this is something bigger than Roger? Maybe that the team did? Of course, you have to love the mullet/headband combo he’s rocking as well.
Denny Neagle seems to be auditioning for a horror movie possibly. “It came from the ivy. Player’s dared to go to the ivy in right-center field because… aaaahhhhh!” It’s just such an odd place to find someone hanging out. Who the help knows what’s in that ivy given how old Wrigley is.
The Sheffield card is just not cutting it for me. Upper Deck made some classic cards that had this same idea on them, but this one falls short. First, it’s so weird to see Sheffield in a Padres uniform. I think I just remember him in other uniforms better. But what’s up with only the two shots? If you’re going to do this card you really need at least three right? Two shots makes it look so incomplete.
Hitting It
Plenty of guys work off a tee. But how many work off a tee on the field in front of a crowd with cameras? I guess these days stadiums have places that players can work on hitting behind the dugout. It just looks odd to see a major league player in this position, and on the field. Seeing it live isn’t as bad, but catching Nokes in the act makes him look like a little leaguer.
I know Brett has the rosin bag and not the pine tar, but anytime I see cards with him like this (there was a ’94 Topps card with pine tar) it seems like it’s calling out to the pine tar game.
Awkward
Given the time of year I’m writing this, how much does Mitch Williams look like elf-on-the-self on that card? I was originally thinking this was Spring Training and some kind of infield practice, but that’s artificial turf and it has to be from Veterans Stadium. Maybe Mitch was an infield practice type of guy.
Ron Karkovice just looks old in that picture. He kind of always looked old to me I guess. Some guys are like that. He looks more like he should be a base coach than a player at that point. The whole picture says “awkward Dad” to me. The old phone, the Styrofoam cup, the one glove, the batting helmet in the dugout, it screams it maybe is a better description.
I think Lenny just let one rip…
Should I Be In This Picture?
Three pictures of people who look pretty disinterested in being on cards.
The Buhner card is a photo bomb by Buhner that actually ends up being his card. “We’re taking Griffey’s card picture… PSYCH! It’s really a Jay Buhner card!” I’m not going to say Junior looks mad, but he probably doesn’t want to sit there for longer than he has to. And yikes don’t let the baseball purists see his hat. If they didn’t like it backwards they sure won’t like it on sideways.
Jose Melendez isn’t the one who doesn’t want to be on that card, it’s his son. OK, so he’s a little guy and he probably is just nervous and shy. How cool is it to be on a baseball card when you’re so little. He peaked early.
I get the feeling that Mark Leiter didn’t just not want to be on the card, but that he didn’t want to be on the Tigers either. He has this “it’s gonna be a long year” type of expression.
I’ve got one more post from Series 1 of the 1993 Upper Deck I got and then we’ll move on to a Series 2 at some point. There’s more interesting stuff in this set for sure.
For more about 1993 Upper Deck, check out BaseballCardPedia.com.