A Random Ray - 1995 Topps

 

I am a big fan of this card.  Well, the front of the card.  

First, I love the Cardinals road uniforms with the blue hats/helmets.  The team has abandoned this look in recent years, which is really a shame.  It's one of the better road uniforms in baseball when combined with that blue hat.  The red hats just don't cut it for me.  I am also fairly certain the Cardinals have lightened the gray used on the road uniforms, I like this darker hue better.  

The picture on this card was taken during the 1994 season.  You should be able to assume that a 1995 Topps card would have a picture from 1994, but we all know how Topps recycles old photographs.  The giveaway is the patch on Lankford's right sleeve, which was to commemorate the 125th Anniversary of Major League Baseball.  

Here is a closer look at the patch.  

Naturally, Major League Baseball rolls the Cincinnati Reds out in the Season Opener.  They played the Cardinals in that game.  Ray Lankford had a little less power at that point in his career and a little more speed.  The Cardinals used him as their lead-off hitter.  

Ray was the first batter of the 1994 season.  What did he do?

Yard.  

Back of the card.  

The home run above gets a mention on the back of his 1995 Topps card.  The design of the back has always been my lone fault with this card.  Topps squished the stats to the left of the card in order to fit the color player pictures on the right side.  All of the photos on the cards are the MLB stock photos that teams use for scoreboards and the whatnot.  I am sure I saw this on the Busch Stadium scoreboard a few times during the summer of 1994.  Not very exciting.  I am more interested in the action photo below, but they made it so small.  

I vote no photo or only action photo.