My 30-Day Baseball Card Challenge: Day One

A few days ago, as I was doing my best to finally complete my longer than expected 12 Days of Trade Posts series, I read this post from Tony over at Off Hiatus Baseball and I immediately knew what the subject matter of my next (probably longer than expected) series was going to be.

As soon as I saw it, I knew The 30-Day Baseball Card Challenge would allow me to have some fun creating content that I probably wouldn't have ever written otherwise. I plan to take the challenge as it made: one topic per post. I'm not sure how long it will take me to complete the 30 topics, but 'day 30' will be written some time before the end of the year. I hope that a few of you will find my choices to be entertaining reads. Let's dive into day one: a card from the current year with a photo you like.

When I saw the topic for day one it gave me an excuse to go flipping through the stacks of 2017 product that I've opened so far. While there were several worthy candidates that fit the topic, I decided to go with a card that I haven't previously shown off. I recently found this Gary Sanchez in my first a Donruss retail pack of the season. I was immediately impressed by the composition of the photo. It does a great job of hiding the lack of licensing. Though the background is blurred, I'm pretty sure that is Joe Girardi in the dugout and I'm pretty sure this was taken during a game against the Rays. As I was scanning this awesome piece of cardboard for its place in this post, my mind wandered back to the day one topic. As it is written, it doesn't say anything about having to own the card you select. So, I started seeking out a card that I don't own that has a photo I like. After some searching, I settled on this:

This SSP photo variation from Opening Day is a card I will likely never own. It reminds me of cards you would find in the early to mid-nineties. There's a great view of Tal's Hill in Minute Maid Park behind Longo. It's rare to find this kind of pre-game warmup captured on cardboard. I suppose there was an unintended double meaning to my last statement. There aren't many cards that depict baseball players throwing a football and now that this one has been released, there aren't many copies to go around. I've said it before, and I'll say it again... I sure wish that Topps would utilize some of these unique photos to add some spice to a base set. I mean, how many of the same type of photo can you possibly look at across a 300+ card series without getting bored to tears? Thanks for reading.