These all definitely wouldn’t be my “best” or “favorite” TTMs from the previous year (more on that soon), but this is what Tha Gram had as #mybestnine for this year. And I don’t mind that it comes out this way because it gives me to look back through everything. I like to try to figure out what made it a “top nine” post. This is a look back at #mybestnine on my @bravestarrcards Instagram account.
There’s always a combination of factors that bring these to the top. First, if it’s a big name it will get recognized, that makes sense. Second, some of it just has to do with the day I post it. Third, you can stretch that timing aspect to the time of year (I have more followers now than in January). And last but not least, I hashtag the crap out of these things. I put tags for the cities, nicknames and all sorts of things – anything that will get it recognized.
So here they are, the #mybestnine from Instagram…
Ryan Church
11/22 – Ryan says, “Gobble, Gobble” – Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Being a Mets fan, I think the reason for this showing up at the top is entirely related to hashtags. I just know the most about this team and I know what I like to tag Mets posts with. It’s definitely not my favorite TTM of the year, and it’s not even my favorite Mets TTM of the year. I think this one sticks out a bit more because of how much white border is in the 2008 Topps set (more contrast). At least compared to other cards I post.
Luke Weaver
12/27 – Dream Weaver.
Current players have always had a better chance of bubbling up to the top. They just get recognized by more people than older players. I always tag cards with topics surrounding the jersey they have on in the card. That’s interesting because this one might have come in after Luke was traded to the Diamondbacks.
Joe Montana
11/4 – Ruled Sundays back in the day.
The post for Joe would be a little bit more of what I expect to show up in my top nine. Everyone recognizes Joe Montana. I would imagine this showed up simply on name/image recognition.
Michael Cuddyer
11/7 – Tidewater boy.
See Ryan Church above. I will say that the pose Michael is in lends this one to be noticed more. I think any celebration pose is a little different than your standard baseball poses.
Rene Rivera
10/7 – Just Walk Away Rene…
See Ryan Church and Michael Cuddyer. I told you I know how to tag Mets posts better than others. On top of all that, these 2016 Topps cards are usually pretty good with a signature on them.
James Paxton
12/8 – Oh, Canada!
With James we have a couple things happening. First, he’s a current player so that ups the chances of people noticing. Second, we have two teams in play and maybe this is similar to Luke Weaver too. James had just been traded to the Yankees not long before I received this. So I definitely think that while I tagged with Seattle hashtags, there was some New York bleed. I actually was asked why I didn’t tag it with Yankees on the post I think, but again, I always tag with what is pictured on the card.
Will Clark
8/23 – Will the Thrill.
Just like Joe Montana, this is name recognition all the way. The funny thing is though that Joe Montana and Will Clark played in the same city with a little overlap. So San Francisco really represented on this top nine. Last year it was Toronto that really showed up and this year it was the Bay Area.
Mark Grant
12/31 – I hope everyone has a fun and safe NYE… so does Mark.
After learning more about Mark I can see why this might have popped up. The Padres teams back in the days of this card weren’t great (not that they are now either), but Mark is a pretty popular guy with the fans. Part of that is just the fact that he is a broadcaster, but it’s also how he does the games that they like.
Tony La Russa
11/17 – Can we call him Tony Two Birds with that jersey on?
Last but not least is Tony La Russa. With the second St. Louis Cardinal card on the list I think we can say that St. Louis represented just as well as San Francisco did this year. I would also say that the contrast on this card helps it stick out and I probably helped that with the way I filtered it.
Thanks for a Great Year!
To the followers on Instagram and to the regulars checking in on the blog, Thanks! Thanks for following, for liking, for commenting. I started this up again to have fun for myself and I’m hoping that I can bring in a little fun for folks finding my social media accounts and the blog. It’s nice to see that people are interested. Here’s to a good 2019.
If you liked what you saw here, give me a follow @bravestarrcards on Instagram.