A Rare Redemption Auto From Stadium Club

Earlier this year, my Dad and I opened a hobby box of 2019 Topps Stadium Club which I opted not to feature/recap on the blog. The promise of 2 on-card autographs per hobby box got me thinking; you rarely see redemption cards in the Stadium Club set.

As someone who watches a reasonable number of breaks before purchasing a hobby box, I have a solid knowledge of the set before I even open my first pack.

While releases like Bowman, Topps Chrome, and even Five Star have their fair share of redemptions, I've never seen one of those cards pulled out of the photography-heavy Stadium Club set.

Of course, as soon as I got that thought out, I pulled a redemption for the Scooter Gennett autograph above which came in the mail a couple of days ago. Out of all the autos I pulled from Stadium Club, this one is unquestionably the best.

I fully understand the reasoning behind redemptions, but that doesn't mean I'm overly fond of them. There's something far more exciting about pulling the card yourself.

One of the greatest pulls of my life was a redemption card from 2017 Topps Allen & Ginter, but I don't remember it as fondly as some of my other hits simply because I didn't get the actual card from a pack; I received a piece of paper that guaranteed me said card.

Truth be told, I was happier with this autograph before I went onto Baseball Reference to check Gennett's stats for the 2019 season. After some solid years in Milwaukee, the 29-year old was claimed off waivers by the Reds at the beginning of the 2017 season.

He had some great moments in Cincinnati, even making the All-Star team with a terrific performance in 2018. His following season, however, was a major disappointment. Injuries and a .217 batting average led to Gennett being to the Giants.

Only 64 at-bats into his time in San Francisco, Gennett was released and is currently a free agent. When I pulled this card, I thought I was getting an on-card autograph of an up and coming player. Little did I know, he'd already been released by the Giants, and no one has picked him up yet.

The best thing Gennett can hope for is to get healthy by the time Spring Training starts in 2020 and get an invite from a team willing to make a low-risk move.

He's shown oodles of potential, particularly in 2018, so it wouldn't be the worst idea for a team in need of a 2nd baseman to go after this guy once he's healthy.

And while I was disappointed when I heard of Gennett's release, the Stadium Club photography took some of that feeling away.