First “Pack” Of My 2019 TSR Custom Cards

For the eighth straight season, I’m doing a set of custom baseball cards where the cards are my own design. In past years I set out to emulate a particular decade… I’ll decided I want to do something which evokes the Seventies, for example, and work towards that. This time around, I just played with a very small handful of ideas I had and the one idea which survived the process ended up being kind of Eighties-ish.

Part of me wants to expound on the design, but the rest of me says “Aaaaaaaa, shaddup.  Just post the customs”.

I let randomness take over when determining the order of the customs in this virtual pack… and that has us starting with Orioles rookie Drew Jackson.

Jackson is one of two Rule V guys on the O’s, and both are being given every opportunity to prove that they belong in the majors. For a team coming off of a 115-loss season, there’s no stashing guys on the bench, because there are few clear-cut starters on this team. Jackson was technically taken in the Rule V draft by the Phillies out of the Dodgers’ farm system, but he was immediately sent to the Orioles for ‘future considerations’.

I decided that Ichiro deserved to be represented in my set, even though he’d announced his retirement after playing two games with the Mariners in Japan.

It doesn’t seem very long ago that just about every Mets-related insert in a real baseball card set was of up-and-coming ace Matt Harvey. Now, “The Dark Knight” is trying to re-establish himself as a pitcher with the Angels.

Part of me would like to see him do well, part of my scoffs at the idea that, one way or the other, Harvey now has access to the Los Angeles night life.

Pete Alonso is a highly-touted Mets rookie who’s been hitting in his first two games. Mets fans are very excited about him.

I’m going to try to make customs for everyone who plays for the Mets and Orioles in 2019. Last year I accomplished this goal for the Mets, fell a few players short on the O’s. Like last year, you can expect to see a Met and an Oriole in pretty much every post. You can view that as a threat if you care to.

Another, less-touted rookie is the Twins’ Ryne Harper, who is now officially my favorite Harper in the majors. Ryne Harper made the Twins’ 25-man roster after eight seasons in the minors with the Braves, Mariners and Twins. I love seeing guys make it to the Majors after fighting so long to get there.

Derek Dietrich is on a new team after having played for the Marlins for six years; However, this custom was more about “I’ve got a photo, let’s see if the colors I have in mind for the Reds work like I think they will”.

I’m not sure how much I’m going to do “subsets” or “inserts” this year; I have nothing planned, but there are always things that spring up out of nowhere.

There’s a related project that may or may not take off.. A number of other custom card makers on blogs and Twitter had documented their team’s entire 2018 season in custom form. I thought it might be fun to do that in a more limited fashion than the others have done. (You can see them here here here, did I forget anyone?)

This is somewhat based on the 1961 Nu-Cards Baseball Scoops set.

In theory, I’d like to do one for every moment/game I would like to remember the 2019 season for… Mets and Orioles highlights, no-hitters regardless of team, whatever. I was going to do one for Ichiro’s retirement but I ran out of time this week.

I don’t know where this is going, but it’s here if I need it.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed today’s customs. Me, I have to go take care of some real-life obligations now.