Baseball Season is Here - Yearly Flashbacks!
1996 Metal Universe Ken Griffey Jr. Base Card
I still remember finding this card at the card shop in the mall. 1996 Metal Universe made me fall in love with baseball cards, and nothing can replicate the feeling I had when I saw this card for the first time!
Every year America’s pastime starts back up, memories of me and my father at an 11 inning game come back. My first ever baseball game was filled with a variety of firsts many baseball fans can relate to! See if you can take a moment and think about the highlight of your first baseball game…was there a spectacular homerun? Perhaps an extra inning win for the home team? Maybe you got autographs after the game? I was extremely fortunate enough to witness all 3 at my first game which featured the 1996 Seattle Mariners vs the California Angels.
I still remember many details vividly, but the highlight of the night for me wasn’t Alex Rodriguez/ homerun to right center field off Mark Langston, it was my dad and I moving down behind the plate to witness the game winning passed ball in which Paul Sorento scored. My dad wasn’t always super excited about the Mariners, but he knew I loved them, and the amount of time, money, and effort he put into making a child’s dream’s come true will forever be remembered by the person writing this blog.
Not only do these memories play in my head when baseball fires back up again, but this gives me the opportunity to pull out some of my favorite baseball cards and put them on display! I added three that have their own special meaning to me. They all represent what baseball has brought to my life, including this current endeavor at Upper Deck, working alongside Jean from Arena Design…a true dream come true! I still remember how nervous I was to talk to her before we had her on The Essential Credentials!
While each card carries its own special meaning, baseball in general will always represent the relationships I had with my father and late grandfather, who sacrificed so much of their time and energy to get me to several Mariners games!
If you’d like to hear more about how our fathers shaped who were are as collectors and fans of the game, check out Episode 7 of our Podcast, as our fathers join us live for our first 4-man broadcast! If you can’t make it tonight, we will drop the link on our “Schedule” page! Here’s to another exciting MLB season, and hopefully a few fun baseball cards coming to your collection!
~Matt
2000 Invincible Wild Vinyl Alex Rodriguez Serial #d 7/10
*Special Thanks to Mike Cramer!
My relationship with Pacific’s Mike Cramer is still something I can’t fathom when I look back to coming back into the hobby in 2016. Not only did we get to interview him, but I got the special chance to meet him in person. Afterwards he sent this near ghost-like insert of A-Rod!
2024 Topps Chrome Black Depth of Darkness Julio Rodriguez
These Super Short print parallels changed the game for me as a future set builder. Taking a typical base card and paralleling it out to 180 point card with many layers/intricates to it’s design is wild! Ben and I have talked about how unique these are, and it’s a card that I truly love, not only for the player on front, but for the innovation!
