Custom Card of the Day: Lillibridge Edition

 

Nobody goes out and tries to create someone's Twitter photo. Intentionally, that is. 

You can make artwork, and it can be awesome, but the #1 goal is never for it to end up as someone's twitter photo. It's just a bonus. You see something you made as someone's twitter photo, and say "well how about that..." It's never really what you wanted in the first place.

Last year, what I wanted in the first place, as with any custom, was to make it look so good that it would be prized by the player depicted. Of course, that was an exaggeration. But it happened.  Last year, around this time, a fan of mine, (aka The Fan), who has been one of my more loyal followers, and who always gives me awesome requests, gave me one I couldn't refuse.

He wanted me to make a custom of a player he was pretty friendly with. Brent Lillibridge. I obviously couldn't pass this up, so I whipped a nice one up, and sent it to the fan. Within a week he showed it to Lillibridge, who loved it, and put it as his Twitter photo.

So that was the highlight of my 2011. Someone used a custom as their Twitter photo. A baseball player saw one of my customs and liked it. That was probably more than I would have asked for.

Flash forward a year. Brent Lillibridge has gone through 3 teams in one year, dealt to Boston for Kevin Youkilis, and claimed off waivers by the Indians. He's playing well, but not like 2011 well. I'll say that he's still as tremendously fun to watch as in the past.

A week or so ago, The Fan gave me a request to do another Lillibridge custom, this one for the Indians. And I immediately said "YEAH!" This was while I was staying in a hotel near Baltimore, so the when I got home that was on the slate. I got a really nice photo, a great design, and hit save. And I sent it to the Fan, and he loved it.

And that's the story so far.

I'll say this: I'm not hoping for a sequel. I mean I am, but I'm not intending to enforce any decisions. I'm not dead set on the same baseball player using another custom of mine as his Twitter photo. Whatever happens happens. I don't know if anything's been shared, or anything. I don't want to assume anything, because it makes an ass of you and me, as we all know.

However...I'll be checking Brent's Twitter page constantly, just in case.

Coming Tomorrow- I need to make more. Any requests?

Custom Card of the Day: Lillibridge Edition

Alright, folks. This is a story I'll never forget, because of many huge points that I'm about to get to. Part of it eminated from this post. So I'll just share the original post, before I get into the mind-blowing stuff.

I have already mentioned the fan of mine, who occasionally sends me suggestions for customs, which I gladly create. Before this one, he was requesting a lot of Dodgers, mainly because he's a Dodger fan. But he came to me, about a week before I left for New Hampshire, and he said he wanted to see a card of Brent Lillibridge. And the reason behind this, is not only the fact that he's been getting a bunch of plate appearances this year, but because of the fact that Mr. Lillibridge knows this fan- they spend some time together during the offseason. And he has also helped the world, helping the Dominican Republic and South Africa. The first thing that popped into my head was "Isn't this the greatest idea?"

Then another thought popped into my head. And this one was more important. You see, if the fan knew Brent so well, he could show Brent the card. And if he likes it, and he shows it to his team, I could have an entire ballclub asking me for customs. And it's be equal parts rewarding and chaotic. I'd have to fend off weekly offers from players I've never heard of, like Dayan Vicedio, and I'd get swarmed by requests from everyone else. I'd have to explain to some people that they're on the DL and I can't make it, or I can't find any photos of them, or "Ozzie, I'm not making any manager cards."

It was just a thought. But I still thought it'd be awesome for a MLB player to see one of my customs of him. And I got an email back later from the fan, asking permission to show Brent. And I agreed. I haven't heard back from him, but I'm guessing things went well.

Before you ask, no I did not make this up. This story is just too good to make up. And I hope that encourages people, that I do not deny custom requests. If anyone has any players they wanna see on a card (Nyjer Morgan and Derrek Lee are on the way), just ask in the comments. And I hope that Brent likes this card as much as this blogosphere does.

I posted that at 10 to 7 this morning, because I had to leave for school 30 minutes later. Actually, I was a bit nervous sharing a lot of this, but I figured it's be fine. So I post the custom, and the anecdote, I go to school, get bored out of my mind for most of the day, and come home.

Already sitting in my email inbox are two emails. One is from Captain Canuck, about the contest he just won. The other is from, you guessed it, the fan. And he brings good news. I will recount the awesome parts of his email word for word. Seriously, for a guy who makes custom cards on his spare time, this is epic:

"Jordan,

So sorry I never followed up with Brent's reaction to your custom card of him! He really liked it. In fact, quoting him, he emailed me and said, "Wow, he's got some mad skills.""

So that's awesome on its own. Brent Lillibridge loved the card I made of him. And at first, I didn't know what to think. I thought it was crazy that someone I made a card of loves my work. Then of course, he said this:

"He liked it enough he put it as the picture on his Twitter account."

Now my jaw was on the floor. Because Brent Lillibridge loved my card, and now it's his Twitter Picture, and now other people around the world can see my work. And the whole "White Sox badgering me for customs" thing I joked about? That might actually happen.

So let me reinforce this once again. Requests are golden. If I never accepted that request from the fan, I would have never had a guy who I made a card of post it as the picture on his Twitter account.

So, uh...thanks Brent, if you're reading this. And I hope the White Sox do MUCH better next season. Seriously, I'm not just saying that. I hope their 2012 season outdoes everyone's expectations. And again...thanks for liking the custom.

Coming Tomorrow- There's the power hitting outfielder, the power hitting first basemen, and then there's this guy, a man in Milwaukee with a speedy pace and a need for sanity.

Custom Card of the Day: Kemp Edition

I already made a Matt Kemp back in the early days of the season, and it was pretty awesome. However, a few days ago I got another request from a fan. And yeah, this was the same one that sparked this post, and this fact made me even happier. This guy was a Dodger fan, and he said he would love a Matt Kemp card on a 1984 Topps design (He loved my Heath Bell I did last week). So naturally, I did what anyone with a fan would do- within 24 hours of his request, I made the custom and sent it to him via email. And I heard back that he loved it.

But this email wasn't the only reason Matt Kemp deserved another card. The man is having a monster season, and one custom couldn't hold his greatness this season. He was on the All Star team (deservingly), and he is really the only person on the Dodgers (with the exception of maybe Andre Ethier) that is doing well this season. And LA needs it.

Coming Tomorrow- I did a custom of this guy in the first week of customs this year, and I feel that after the season he's had at the plate, the man deserves a do-over.

The fan- A Custom Card Anecdote

This is what people in the world of literature would call an essay. It's a long little anecdote, but it's still an interesting story about a fan, and his admiration for what I did. I made this custom back in April, and I don't know why I held it for a month in my files. But being that the most famous wish-granter in the modern world of Entertainment will be leaving her show next week, I felt like I needed to share my own Oprah moment. So let's travel back to the beginning of this story.

Somewhere around New Year's Day this past year, I got an email from a fan. It wasn't a trade email, it wasn't an "upcoming blog, please put me on your linkbar" kinda thing. It was a fan of my custom cards. I don't get that a lot, other than the constant little "awesome job" messages you guys leave in the comments. This fan was a Dodger fan living in Idaho, a place with no real local baseball team to root for. He first asked me for all the Dodger customs I've made, which was easy to send. Then he asked me if I made any cards at "reader request". I, of course, answered yes, saying that requests are part of what I do.

About a day later, he sent me another email with a bunch of requests for customs on it. These requests were kind of tricky to do, but I reassured the fan I'd give it a try. One of the most intriguing requests I got was a Jerry Sands custom in the form of a 1987 card (including a rookie cup). At that point I hadn't heard of Jerry Sands, and had no idea how I'd make a custom of him, but I said that I'd see what I could do.

A week passed, and I hadn't even begun working on the customs. This might have been caused by A)- The difficulty and amount of requests, B)- The fact that in January I wasn't in the mood for custom making, and C)- The fact that January was being January, and Winter Break was about to end. A week after the first email, the fan sent me another one, apologizing for sending so many. And I was horrified. Not just at the fact that he had to apologize to me when he hadn't done anything wrong. I was horrified at the fact that I had let one of my only fans down. So I responded to the email, saying that it was absolutely fine, that it was my fault, and that the customs would be sent soon. After that, school was back into swing, and my life caved in on the project.

By mid-April, I had nearly forgotten about the fan's request. Then, he sent me another email, this time forgiving the lack of response to his request. He still felt that my customs were awesome, and despite the rough start on Los Angeles' part, still wanted to see more Dodger customs. He also said that if I was looking for a subject for a next card, that Jerry Sands was the huge up-and-coming prospect, and that he'll be big soon.

I was happy that he hadn't abandoned me for procrastinating on his request. I sent him a few of the Dodger customs I had made this year already, and promised that when Jerry Sands pictures are featured across the internet, there would be no doubt that he'd be customized. And within 6 hours, I found Jerry Sands photos, from his debut. And I found the perfect action shot. So I used a Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card as the base, and whipped up the perfect custom. I proudly sent it to the fan, awaiting a response.

Well, he loved it. He reported that it was the wallpaper on his computer, and that he would remain to be a loyal fan in the future. And that made me proud to do what I do. I started out blogging for fun, and the only people reading it was just myself and a friend. Now, I have fans and people wanting trades, and I feel I've done a full 360 from 2 years ago.