Topps Cards That Should Have Been: 2014 Adam Dunn

Topps CHB #3: 2014 Adam Dunn, Oakland A's

Why Topps didn't give Adam Dunn the sunset card he deserved in flagship is a mystery to me.

Adam Dunn, for a good 12 years, was one of the premier power hitters in baseball. True, his one-dimensional nature stopped him from being a truly legendary player, but his home run numbers with Cincinnati, Washington and Chicago were fantastic.

In 2014, the A's traded for Dunn at the waiver wire deadline in August, past Topps' cutoff for their update set. Over a month of play in Oakland, Dunn  hit .212 with 10 RBIs and 2 home runs, bringing his lifetime total to 462. It was a fulfillment of his wish to play for a competitor for his final season, and though the A's, like usual, only made it to the wild card game, Dunn was still a steady DH for it, and gave the team a veteran presence that would foreshadow veteran breakouts like Jed Lowrie and Mike Fiers.

And so, despite Topps only giving Dunn a 2015 Stadium Club rendition of this stage of his career, I cooked one up and befit it to the zoomed-in photo trend of 2014.

These are fun, and I like doing them, but I don't wanna drown out the regular customs, so expect one  every few days.

Custom Card of the Day: Dunn Edition

Some sights you don't think you're gonna see. Adam Dunn in an A's Uniform is one of them.

I'm generally used to seeing this guy rocking the middle of the country. So it was a bit of a shock when the A's grabbed him at the cusp of waiver season. I understand why they got him, as they were still reeling from giving up Yoenis Cespedes (and who wouldn't be?), and I guess Dunn is doing as well as he can. He's not perfect, but he can hit sometimes.

Dunn has said that this might be his last season, and this would be the end to his sixteen-year career. I don't know if he's a Hall of Famer though. Like, he had some good seasons, but he was never exactly elite. If anything, he's in the Hall of Very Good. You never know how the sportswriters will twist it though.

As for the A's, I hope they make it back to the playoffs. They're too good to miss out.

Coming Tomorrow (?)- The Nationals are huge this season, and here's their beloved first baseman.

Happy Independence Day!

For one day every year, we celebrate our love of the Red...

 White...

and Blue.

 

 

Also, and this goes without saying, we're thankful for our forefathers, who paved the way for our freedom from England, and created an America worthy of baseball. And for that, we salute them.

 

Happy July 4th, everybody!



Custom Card of the Day: Dunn Edition

Here's a question: if Adam Dunn hadn't have sucked in 2011, would we be remembering his 2012 season at all?

I mean, here's a guy whose career has been thoroughly consistent. He hits well with the Reds. He gets traded to Arizona, cracks it open. Plays well for two seasons in Washington. And then they hand him to Chicago, and he has the one inconsistent year of his career, before hammering the crap out of the ball in 2012. Aside from that little fluke, you've got a consistently powerful hitter.

So, say in 2011, he goes to the White Sox and has a solid, albeit unspectacular, 30 Homer season. He gets an All Star nod, spends the year off the DL, and ends the year like he starts it. I'm not saying it happened, but let's imagine it did.

He goes on to do basically the same thing in 2012, only he starts a little grander than he finishes, and hits a few more home runs. If that were to happen, would people be as bat-crap crazy as they were for him after the poor season?

Well, no.

You have to remember, the people who saw Adam Dunn come back in 2012 had seen a different Adam Dunn, an inconsistent, slumping, ineffective one. So he comes back, and really gets off to a great start, and everybody loses their minds. Now, take away the crappy 2011 season, and the reaction goes down. People think 'oh, he's doing what he did last year. No big deal.' It's why nobody is too surprised that Dan Uggla's hitting well, or that Felix Hernandez is pitching well. These people have been so consistent that you learn to accept that. With Adam Dunn, it was surprising because of the year he wasn't good, and how it made an effect that he'd never be good again, only for it to be shattered.

Of course, now Adam Dunn's doing exactly what he had been doing before the slump, and now everyone's saying he's not as good as he was, and he's gone downhill.

You can't win with these people.

Coming Tomorrow- the only member of the New York Yankees who isn't infuriating the fans right now. Though, wait until the offseason and he might start.

Custom Card of the Day: Dunn Edition



The #1 question people are asking right now is "What happened to Albert Pujols?" The truth is, really, that he's having a crappy season. Believe me, it happens to everyone. Derek Jeter had a slump in 2003 that nearly derailed his season, but luckily he rebounded and helped his team make the World Series. Pujols...people are hoping he'll turn around, but nobody knows how.

Either way, the guy above could tell Pujols about having a crappy season.

Remember the Adam Dunn of the 2000's? Remember how awesome he was? He hit monstrous amounts of homers for Cincinatti, and his one-two punch combination with Ken Griffey Jr. proved to be deadly. Sure, his team never did very well, but he could really hit. He spent the later half with the D-Backs and the Nationals, the latter of which he did pretty well with.

Remember the Adam Dunn of last year? Remember how torrid he was?

Chicago fans will be the first to tell you that Adam Dunn pissed them off last year. Thankfully, so far he's been redeeming himself, hitting homers and actually playing like Adam Dunn. So maybe it was a one year thing, or at least that's what South Siders are hoping.

So maybe Albert'll bounce back next year, and maybe he'll become the hitting giant we know and love. If it worked with Adam Dunn, it'll work with anyone.

Coming Tomorrow- Meanwhile, on the other side of Chicago, another young ex-Cincinattian is making a new name for himself.

Custom Card of the Day: ChiSox Edition

Adam Dunn really jumpstarted his career in 2009 with Washington. From there, he became quite successful, with a few great years. Unfortunately, Washington never has any chance of making a World Series, let alone winning one. So he moved to Chicago, where he found himself in better hands. Buehrle, Quentin, Konerko, Peavy, Ramirez and many others will back him up on the Sox (or he may back them up. Depends on how often they DH Vizquel). Still, 2011 looks to be a pretty good season for Dunn.

Tomorrow- the first Filthy Red Sock of the year

Year by Year Customs

Wanna talk about coincedence? I'm posting this card of Adam Dunn exactly a week after I made it, and one day after he signed with the Chicago White Sox. So- the day before I post a scheduled card of Adam Dunn, he gets signed with another team. Terrific.


By the way- this Hamels right here- might be one of my fave new cards.

Coming tomorrow- 1973's, and quite possibly my favorite custom I've ever made.

Are the Nationals Dunn?

Adam Dunn, that is, who signed with the Nats today. This'll make up for the lack of homer hitters in DC...or not

Ryan Zimmerman, Dmitri Young and Nick Johnson all can hit well. It's just that I question the teams sanity by signing a player that will overshadow it rising star. Dunn will take them one of two ways. He will take them past their "Laughing Stock" era (Don't worry, think of the 1962-67 Mets) that lasts a few years and bring them to their "Oh my God, are they actually winning?" era, much like the 2008 Phillies (YEEEAAAAHHH!). Or, maybe he'll take them into their "Never gonna get it, never gonna get it, NEV-UH gonna get it, never gonna get it" era.

I would like to see both.