2016 TSR: Last Pack Of Series 1

If things had gone according to plan, this would’ve been the first pack of Series 2… but then the COMC Spring Cleaning promotion took up a lot of my time.

“It’s a custom set, what difference does it make if it’s Series 1 or Series 2?”, I hear you ask.

Well, I like to at least pretend that this is a set I’m issuing in the way that I would like sets to be issued.  Plus there’s a different wrapper, a new insert set to feature, and I do number these cards (although cards from one series have been known to show up in a later series’ pack).

I’ll start off the bat with an insert.  This past week has been one full of throwback uniforms, and I’ve got a couple of TSRchives cards to highlight them.

A few days ago the Phillies held a 1970’s Night complete with 1976 throwback uniforms for themselves and the Brewers.  Jim over at The Phillies Room did such a great job creating customs of the Phillies that I won’t bother making my own, but I had to get at least one of the Brewers in custom form.

I’ve always liked the powder blue Brewers road unis from back in the day, and the yellow front panel on their caps. Very 1970’s, I know, but I grew up in the 1970’s, so I’m allowed.

Missed opportunity:  I should’ve rotated the photo slightly so that Nelson is upright and the background would have the patented “Topps tilt”.

In the 1970’s the Phillies and Brewers were in different leagues and held Spring Training in different states, so it’s entirely possible that this matchup never happened… Unless there was some just-before-the-season exhibition game, or something like that. …Perhaps a Hall Of Fame Game, back when they used to play those.

Ty Kelly was drafted in 2009 by the Orioles and played 7 seasons in the minors before making his MLB debut with the Mets this year. I love stories like that, plus Ty Kelly reminds me of *someone*… I don’t know if he reminds me of someone I’ve known or someone from a TV show or what, but he reminds me of someone.

Kelly went 0-9 with a walk before getting his first MLB hit.  He had some tough oppositon in the process;  in his MLB debut he struck out three times vs. Stephen Strasburg.  Interestingly, both Kelly and Strasburg were born on 7/20/1988.  Kelly also had to face Clayton Kershaw and Kenta Maeda before finally getting his first hit on a nationally-televised Memorial Day game vs. the AL ERA leader Jose Quintana.

This morning I realized that I haven’t featured any Pirates yet, and I like this photo of Jordy Mercer, so…

Don’t look now, but Adam Duvall is 2nd in the National League with 16 homers.

Duvall was a Giants prospect who was traded to the Reds before the 2015 trade deadline for a 2-month rental of Mike Leake.  Silly Giants, didn’t they know they had no chance of winning because it was an odd-numbered year?

To be fair, Duvall is also tied for 10th in the NL with 55 strikeouts… and he’s tied with two Mets, David Wright and Curtis Granderson.

This morning I realized that I haven’t featured any Angels yet, and I like this photo of Albert Pujols, so…

In addition to the wonderment of the Phillies’ 1970’s night, the Indians also had a 1970’s matchup against the Royals. We’ve had enough powder blue for one post so I’ll leave the Royals custom for another day, but I had to feature the Indians’ uniform.

I don’t know if these uniforms are necessarily good ones, but they’re distinctive and what I first knew of the Indians wearing. I wouldn’t kick if the Indians replaced their boring block “C” caps with the “crooked C” cap that goes with these uniforms (but is sadly missing from this photo).

Confessions, Part 2: I had to limit my 1976 customs to outfielders and right-handed pitchers, because that’s as far as I got in setting up my 1976 template. I’ve got a couple of throwback catchers I’d like to feature at some point, so it looks like the Catcher icon is next up for my template.

This morning I realized that I haven’t featured any Cubs yet, and I like this photo of Ben Zobrist, so…

I’m shooting for next weekend for the debut of Series Two. Wish me luck.