Samuel, over at The Daily Dimwit, sent a package of cards to me a while ago and I am just now getting to posting them! Sorry for the delay! The Indians goodness covers several decades of players, brands, styles, and, well, Tribe-ness!
The first image below was taken from scanning the cards on on my new HP 2050. While I think it does a better job of scanning than the Lexmark I had, the combination of a new printer/scanner and newly installed Windows 7 on my computer makes the process a tad tedious. I'm sure I'll get into the swing of it before long. Frankly, I miss ye olde "Camera and Scanner Wizard" from Windows XP - clean, simple, to the point. I digress (often).
Below, you see players such as Whiten, Black, Thome, Alomar Jr, Vizquel, Belle, and a slew of others. We've got Donruss, Upper Deck, Fleer Ultra, Topps all represented, too. It is a snapshot of Indians past, present, future, and those who left and came back home again:
I decided to use a digital camera to grab the rest of the cards. The lighting is bad, but we all know what to expect with incandecent lighting and little to no effort to correct it. It's not the image that counts, it's what's *IN* the image. Well, okay, maybe not always. I digress, again often.
As you can, hopefully, make out here, this gift from Samuel provides a great variety of Indians players throughout the years - or at least throughout the past 30 or so years. Wow, 1980 was really 30 years ago!? How did that happen? It's fun to see how card designs have come and gone, changing over the timespan. Sometimes, the photography is actually better in older photos than newer ones, and sometimes, all we can do is shake our heads at just how bad some of the old photos were. But, for me, I marvel at the names of the players I grew up with and the names of the players I still wouldn't know if it hadn't been for these little bits of cardboard. That is one of the reasons I love to get surprise packages like this. Check out Lofton (upper right) as he flies through air about to make a grab or Thome about to barehand a ball played to him! Now, some of you are saying, "Thome's picture must be a practice drill because he wouldn't have made that while playing first base!" You would be partially correct. I don't think it is a practice ball, however, Thome played Third Base at the time of the shot and he has several barehanded plays that earned him spots in ESPN's Top 10 shows.
If you've followed the blog for any amount of longevity, or you are a Tribe fan through the years, or you recognize certain players, you might readily spot Mr. Doug Jones hanging out there in the upper right. Some players are instantly recognizable to fans of their favorite team, and Jones is one of those guys. Same holds true for Brook Jacoby (2nd row, left) and CC Sabathia (bottom, middle). I think for fun some time, I am going to scan in a bunch of players and hold a contest to see who can name them all by face only. It'll be like a Triber Pokemon thing or something. Wait, did I just say "Pokemon!?" Somebody help me.
The last batch of cards in the package (which I cannot now remember if it was a bubbleope or a box.. hmm. Why does it matter? It doesn't, I suppose, but seems like it should be something to remember. Once again, I digress) brings more Indians joy to the, er, plate!
Jacoby, Snyder, Baerga (in one of the worst poses on a card ever. Period.) Candiotti, Hayes, and other familiar names from Indians past. We also see Carmona, De la Cruz, and Thome as well. Like I said, this is a great mix of Indians players Samuel put together. And how do you not take in the greatness of the Fleer Premium Vizquel (top, centerish)? I also love the artwork of Wells on the Upper Deck checklist card featuring Sandy Alomar Jr (bottom, centerish).
A *HUGE* thanks goes out to The Daily Dimwit for these cool Indians cards!
