Pristine Strawberry

Whether it is a baseball card or a piece of fruit, for the most part we want it to be pristine. Topps figured out a way to ensure all their cards are pristine by issuing a set called Topps Pristine. It is genius. 

This is Darryl Strawberry's 2023 Topps Pristine card. 

The card does not really do too much for me. I like the classic Strawberry stance and the beautiful road grays of the mid to late 1980s. "Whistled the barrel through the zone" is the worst kind of baseball poetry metaphor imaginable; it reeks of modernity and analytics. But they cannot exactly say "He hit the shit out of the ball," though I wish they could. 

But, I mostly bought this card because it was pretty cheap and also because there was not an image of it on TCDb. I love adding images of cards to that site.  Have you ever done that before? Bought a card because there was not an image on TCDb?

Yesterday I had the chance to go see the Phillies host the Pirates. We booked tickets a while back hoping just to see Andrew McCutchen play. He did and got a single in the first inning. But the game was overshadowed a bit by the Major League debut of Mick Abel who was up against last year's Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes. The addition of a beautiful day made for a great experience. We sat up in the 200 level, and nearby our seats was a gallery of enlarged Phillies baseball cards. Here are some pictures from the game.

A view from my seat

First Pitch of Mick Abel

McCutchen taking a lead off second base

Gallery of baseball cards

Thanks for stopping by.