Pujols Post - 2002 Upper Deck Vintage

I am going with a checklist this week, because it is one of the few cards that has Albert Pujols and Mark McGwire pictured together as teammates during their active careers. Few may remember the two were teammates on the 2001 Cardinals team. Pujols was a rookie, McGwire was in his final season. Pujols was a joy to watch that summer, McGwire was not anything resembling his usual self.  

Here is the front of the 2002 Upper Deck Vintage card.  

Upper Deck Vintage ran for a few years in the early 2000s. Basically, they ripped off a random Topps design and threw a bunch of modern players on the front of the cards. In this case, the design was bottow from the 1971 Topps set. Love those black borders. Upper Deck Vintage were nice enough cards and I put together a few of these sets.  

The picture on the front of the card is decent. Kind of looks like Pujols is ignoring McGwire, but it's in game and not airbrushed. Upper Deck did not participate in that sort of nonsense. I wish the photo weren't so tightly cropped. It would be nice to see what is happening in the background and who the Cardinals were playing. Is this after a home run?  

If you don't remember what happened with Pujols and McGwire in 2001......

McGwire only played half a season with the Cardinals, missing most of the first half of the season. He hit 29 home runs in a limited number of at-bats, but also hit under .200 and struck out 118 versus just 56 hits. At the end of the season, he retired from baseball by sending a fax to ESPN. Meanwhile, Pujols hit almost .330, 37 home runs, drove in 130 runs, and won the National League Rookie of the Year. I heard a stuck around for a few years more and did alright for himself.  

Back of the card......

It's a checklist.  

Small set, so really hard to argue with the names on the checklist. My only gripe is the prospect card. The early 2000s were lean years for the Cardinals Minor League system, but I would have gone with Placido Polanco over either Ortega or Saturria.