Frankenset Page #46

After many cold months without Baseball and minimal free agent signings, the wait is (almost) over. Although the first 2 games of the year were played last week in Japan, the 2019 MLB Opening Day is tomorrow with all 30 teams set to play for the second year in a row.

In many ways, it seems like last year's MLB Opening Day wasn't too long ago. In fact, I have vivid memories of the Red Sox's opener against the Tampa Bay Rays last season, a game that Boston lost 6-4. 

While it was frustrating to see the bullpen blow a phenomenal performance by Chris Sale during the first game of the year, I think we all forgot about the Opening Day loss by the end of the year. Now, I'm looking ahead to see what the reigning World Champions do tomorrow at 7:10 PM est in Seattle. 

Recently-extended ace Chris Sale will make his 2nd straight Opening Day start against Marco Gonzales for the Mariners, a 27-year old who put up very respectable stats in 2018. After trading away most of their star players, 2019 is going to be an interesting season for Seattle.

As I previously mentioned, this is the 2nd year in a row where all 30 MLB teams will be playing on Opening Day. The action-packed day starts with a battle of the aces at 1:05 pm est; the New York Mets will battle the Washington Nationals live from the nation's capital. 

Virtually every other game begins between 1:05 and 4:10 with the exception of the Boston Red Sox who, because they're playing on the west coast, have to start at 7:10. 

Kimbrel and Keuchel still haven't signed contracts with Opening Day starting in less than a day so only time will tell what's going to happen to those two. The most important thing is that after months of anticipating a new season, Opening Day is almost here. I hope everyone reading this has a chance to cheer on their favorite team at some point tomorrow.

Although I'd rather watch a 4:00 game myself, I'm incredibly eager to cheer on the Red Sox tomorrow, especially after how exciting their 2018 Opening Day game was. Now, let's overview the 46th page of my frankenset, showcasing cards #406-414.

#406 1958 Topps Vic Power

While post-1970s cards make up roughly 95% or more of my frankenset, very rarely do I feature true vintage cards from the 1950s and 60s. The 1958 Topps set, although flawed, is a pretty solid set overall. As is true with most vintage cards, there's a plethora of color, and I can't take my eyes off of the Kansas City Athletics logo in the bottom righthand corner. 

#407 1975 Topps Herb Washington

Since the original release of the 1975 Topps set, this card of pinch runner Herb Washington has become increasingly iconic and recognizable. Even as far as vintage Baseball cards go, Washington's 1975 Topps card is unbelievably colorful; it features a ton of bold colors, like gold/yellow, green, pink and purple, and that doesn't even include the background.

#408 1998 Bowman Dewayne Wise

Seeing a prospect card from a past Bowman set reminded me of some significant news that broke out earlier today. Rather than having their respective star prospects for another year, the Mets, Padres, and White Sox all added their young, talented players to their Opening Day rosters. 

This likely means that we'll see Fernando Tatis Jr, Peter Alonso, and Eloy Jimenez make their MLB debuts within a short period of time.

#409 1994 Upper Deck Collector's Choice Keith Miller

Following their 1993 base product, Upper Deck released the 1994 Upper Deck Collector's Choice set the following year, another product that features stellar photography. This card of Keith Miller is just a small sample of the various action images that this set has to offer. As far as the junk wax era is concerned, this product ranks towards the top.

#410 1984 Topps Claudell Washington

While I'm not looking forward to the 1984 set being over-produced by Topps throughout many of their 2019 products, I was very impressed with how well Topps recreated this set back in 2019 Series 1. Home of the Don Mattingly rookie card, 1984 Topps is one of the best sets that the 80s has to offer, and with colorful cards like Claudell Washington's above, it's easy to see why.

#411 1969 Topps Larry Dierker

The 3rd card from the 1950s-70s to be featured on this page, Astros pitcher Larry Dierker had some respectable seasons over the course of his 14-year career. He managed a 3.31 ERA before going onto become a manager for the Astros in the late 1990s. Not only did he win NL Manager of the Year while with Houston, but Dierker also pitched a no-hitter in 1976.

#412 1998 Fleer Ultra Gold Medallion Edition Jermaine Allensworth

Aside from the gold text that spells out Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Jermaine Allensworth's name, nothing else about this card reads "Gold Medallion Edition." Perhaps changing the parallel name to silver or creating a background that featured more gold would help the cause, especially since one of the Pirates' team colors is gold as well.

#413 2016 Topps Heritage Michael Pineda

A former pitcher for the New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners, Pineda hasn't pitched since 2017 due to a right UCL injury back in February of last year. Now 30 years old and pitching for the Minnesota Twins, Pineda will provide a much-needed veteran presence for a team that underperformed last year and is under new management in 2019.

#414 2011 Topps Jose Molina

Action shots like the one above of Jose Molina are just some of the many photographs that made 2011 Topps an extremely special Flagship set. The set featured different styles and images that we haven't really seen in a modern base set before or since. Aside from the colorful 2015 Flagship product, 2011 Topps ranks as the best Topps base set of the decade.