I ran into my local card shop for a few boxes on Sunday afternoon and ended up sorting through a few stacks of cards. Found a couple new Pujols cards along with a few others that will get their own post. I am going to make some non-Cardinal Pujols Posts this year. This is the first of them.
I love the photo on the front of the card.
The scan does not do this card justice, so I am also going to include a photo of the card.
That's slightly better even if you have the shadow and reflection of my phone on the bottom of the card.
Love this action shot of Albert swinging from the front. There are tons of pictures of him batting on baseball cards, but they are almost all from the side. This is a really unique vantage point. Great looking photography is why people buy Stadium Club cards and they certainly got this card right.
I tried tracking the photograph to a specific game.
Albert Pujols played three games against the Braves in Atlanta while he was on the Dodgers in 2021. The games took place June 4, 5, and 6.
In the June 4 game, Albert pinch hit for Max Muncy and then stayed in the game. He walked and struck out in two plate appearances and it waas also a night game. Not it.
In the June 5 game, Albert entered the game as a pinch hitter and had two plate appearances. He struck out in his first at-bat and flew out to center in his second at-bat. I would consider the second at-bat a possibility, but the game started at 7:00 and the fly out was at the end of the game. I think the photograph is too light.
June 6. The Braves started Max Fried (left-handed pitcher), so Albert started at 1B for the Dodgers. He had four at-bats and there are two possibilities, but I lean towards the second. First, he flew out to the left fielder in the sixth inning. He also hit a solo home run in the ninth.
I think this photograph is from the home run.
What do you think?
Back of the card.
Probably it. ... I certainly sought this card out as soon as I saw it.
ReplyDeleteIt's a great card, glad you got a copy.
DeleteGreat detective work. I think you're right. The only issue is the fans in the background don't perfectly match, but that could be due to angle and Topps possibly altering the background.
ReplyDeleteI noticed that, but the only other possibility would be the fly out in the same game. Maybe fans shifted around during the game, it was the ninth inning. Maybe people left early. Everything else fits, so I am going with the home run.
DeleteThe photo looks much better. One would think that scanners would've improved enough by now to handle chromed cards a bit better, but apparently they haven't.
ReplyDeleteMy scanner is 8 years old, so maybe technology has improved and I am living in 2016. It's hard to prioritize replacing the printer when it works and is primarily used for a baseball card blog and printing out coloring pages of Disney Princesses for my 7 year old.
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