Frankenset Page #30

As of yesterday, it's been a month since the Red Sox won the World Series. That means it's been a full 30 days since any of us have seen a live game of baseball.

No wonder it seems so cold and bleak outside. We haven't had baseball games on TV to cheer us up in a whole month, and with 4 more to go, it's safe to say that we're officially deep into the offseason.

However, there hasn't been a ton of signings or trades made so far. Apart from James Paxton being traded to the Yankees and Steve Pearce resigning in Boston, we've yet to see any major moves. In a way, this emulates a lot of what we saw in last years' offseason with free agents and teams holding off for a while until it was late February/early March and players had yet to be signed.

Obviously, everyone's watching Harper and Machado in order to see where they end up, but there's still a talented core of pitchers rumored in free agent signings and trade talks that will, hopefully, add some excitement to the offseason. 

I'll be looking forward to that because when you're without baseball for 5 months, you'll take any chance you can get to find something exciting.

I still have plenty of baseball-related things to keep me entertained throughout the offseason that isn't a live game. For example, today's blog post, the 30th page of my frankenset which come to think of it is loaded with Rockies and Twins cards as they take up 5 of the 9 slots. 

We're beginning to approach the halfway mark of the set as page #30 begins at card #262 and ends with #270. Let's get started.

#262 2016 Topps Ervin Santana

I'm not sure of the exact history of these uniforms, but I know the Cardinals and Brewers are examples of other teams that have this retro-style alternate home uniform that the players wear fairly regularly. It's intriguing considering that these aren't the typical home uniforms for these teams, but it's also not like the shy away from wearing them semi-often.

#263 2016 Topps Gypsy Queen Max Kepler

See what I mean? I guess having multiple Twins cards is helpful since Max Kepler's 2016 Topps Gypsy Queen card can help to prove my point. Both cards show Twins home jerseys and are from 2016, but Kepler's is obviously different from Santana's due to the uniform being pure white rather than off-white, a different font is used for Twins, and Santana's uniform, unlike Kepler's, has pinstripes.

#264 1992 Leaf Gold Darrin Fletcher

Anytime I see a Montreal Expos card, I begin to miss the franchise more and more, simply because there was never a team quite like the Expos. It appears, however, that the talks of there being an expansion team in Montreal are picking up some steam, so perhaps it won't be long until there's another baseball team in Canada. 

#265 2017 Topps Charlie Blackmon

Though I'm not too familiar with either of them since they play in the NL West, I pay enough attention to be able to draw comparisons between Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon and Dodgers 3rd baseman Justin Turner. They both have beards, had breakout seasons later in their careers, hit for contact, have power, and well-respected and talented guys.

#266 2008 Upper Deck Goudey Matt Holiday

I'm not sure what these cards are supposed to be modeled after, but especially with the Rockies uniform, this black and white card looks dope. If I'm not mistaken, Matt Holliday is another big name Rockies free agent, though he certainly isn't the player he used to be. At the age of 38 and coming off a disappointing couple of seasons, I wouldn't be surprised if he retired.

#267 2011 Topps Sam Fuld

Before 2015 Topps, 2011 was the last year of Topps that I genuinely liked. It features enough fantastic photography that it could almost pass as a Stadium Club set, especially when you consider the minimal set design apart from the photo. After that, Topps got lazy with the set for a couple years before making huge strides in 2015.

#268 2001 Upper Deck Vintage Jeff Cirillo

I still wonder to this day how Upper Deck was capable of getting away with this design for the 2001 Upper Deck Vintage set given that it nearly perfectly matches the 1971 Topps product. Years later, they did the same thing as another Vintage set had an extremely strong resemblance when compared to the 1965 Topps product.

#269 2009 Upper Deck Goudey Ichiro

If anyone knows whether or not these crazy cards with little cartoons in the background existed in the original Goudey sets, please do let me know. Not only were these cards my favorite part of the Upper Deck Goudey set for 3 years, but this would be a major incentive for me to track down my very first original 1930's Goudey card.

#270 1999 Skybox Metal Universe Cliff Politte

I don't think I had ever seen many cards from the 1909 Skybox Metal Universe set up until adding this one to the frankenset. Even though the card is titled Building Blocks, implying that it's not in the actual base set design, it makes sense as to why I'd never seen this type of card before. Still, for a late 90's baseball card, it's pretty nice.