Custom Card of the Day: Sabathia Edition

 

Yeah, that's definitely going on my wall.

In 20 years, Yankee fans of the future will look back on the late 00's/early 10's, and see that the ace of the Yankees was CC Sabathia, and he threw fire. They'll read that he was dominant for several years, and he made many attempts to win a Cy Young, one of which was foiled by Felix freaking Hernandez. 

They'll see that face, and they'll say "That's the guy who everybody feared when they played the Yanks." They'll be right, too.

CC Sabathia has defined the Yankees' pitching staff. Ever since we picked him up for the 2009 season, he's been a powerhouse, having spectacular seasons in pinstripes, and winning countless games. This season, thanks to an injury, has been sort of a down year, but it doesn't matter. He's still trucking along, and if he's hot in a month, whoever they play in the playoffs will be in trouble. 

CC is awesome. Everybody knows it, and everybody will know it.

Coming Tomorrow- Shifting to a darker corner of the AL East, an outfielder for a team that should be battling the Yanks for a pennant race, and is instead settling with third. 

Custom Card of the Day: Trumbo Edition

 

Okay, that's probably one of my favorites of the year. By far.

You know...I think most of the country feels really bad for the Angels. They get baseball's biggest star to play for them, and they go absolutely nowhere and end up circling third. That's incredibly sad for a team touted to win the World Series. It's kinda sad, in a way. But I digress.

The two big stories from Anaheim were the rise of Mike Trout and the slow incline of Albert Pujols' power. And yet there was no attention toward one of their bigger hitmakers, Mark Trumbo. That's also pretty sad. He hits home runs, plays his position well, and has two stellar seasons in a row...and all people care about are the aging hitter and the rookie hitter. It's a tragedy.

The good news is that next year I imagine the Angels will do much better, and Trumbo will finally get his due.

Coming Tomorrow- Ya know...sometimes I customize people because they're hip that week, sometimes I customize people because they're a favorite of mine...and sometimes I customize people because they play on my favorite team, and I need another one to put on my wall. Tomorrow is one of those. 

Custom Card of the Day: O-Hud Edition

 

Man, this should have been in Throwback Week. I was off by a few days, but nonetheless this card is awesome. Hell, it looks like a Gypsy Queen or Heritage kinda card.

Orlando Hudson isn't a Hall of Famer. I'll say that right now. He lacks the stats, the power, the longevity, the hits number. He will be remembered as a good second baseman, and that's it.

No, I lied. He'll be remembered as a good second baseman and a fun player to watch.

Lately, there's been a drought of fun players in baseball. Yeah, there's been no shortage of crazy (see: Wilson, Brian and Morgan, Nyjer), but there hasn't been a player that makes your eyes dart to them when they take the field. Nobody does backflips, or nobody does cartwheels, or anything like that.

However, Orlando Hudson comes close.

He's great at his position, first of all. With the Blue Jays and D-Backs, he was a consistent, dominating second baseman. And with the Dodgers, he was even better, having an All Star season and hitting for the cycle. I'll say that in the past few years he's become a bit of a journeyman, Juan Pierre type, but he's still an excellent player. 

The main thing is that he's incredibly fun to watch. He always looks like he's having a good time, and even when he has his game face on, people look right at him, to see what he's doing.

Orlando Hudson won't make it to Cooperstown, but he'll stick in our minds for a while.

Coming Tomorrow- The Angels have blown their pennant race, and Mike Trout has made the town his own. Too bad, because there's a guy on that team who should be getting recognition. 

Custom Card of the Day: AAAAADDRIIAAANNN Edition

The one upside of this monster trade is that I'll have some custom material for a little while. If Crawford gets healthy, I'll have even more.

I must say, when this guy was with the Red Sox, he was a hitting machine. He was the Sox' best player, this season and last, because he stayed off the DL, and he hit numerous homers, especially the first half of last season. How the Dodgers ended up with him I'll never know. The Red Sox are still...the Red Sox. They're not the Astros, and they don't have to give up their biggest star to a growing team. But they did.

A-Gon has been hitting even more bombs now that he's a Dodger, which is great for fans of the team. I want them to beat the Giants, and I want them to get to the postseason, for Mattingly, for Magic, and for the stadium's 50th anniversary.

Adrian is hitting especially well, so who knows?

Coming Tomorrow- Look up "fun player" in an encyclopedia, and you'll find a picture of this guy, a tremendous journeyman 2nd baseman, spending a season with a winning Chicago team.

Custom Card of the Day: Bumgarner Edition

I should have posted this last night, but I got busy. You're getting it earlier today.

I don't think there's been a division less constant than the NL West. I mean...sure, the last few spots have basically stayed the same, but there's been a tight battle for first between the Dodgers and the Giants. And it's getting bloodthirsty.

First of all, the Giants have this guy. When I saw him pitch back in 2010, I knew he was gonna be great. He was young, he was mowing down batters, and he made that rotation one of the most underrated ones in the bigs. Now that the star pitcher has lost his mojo, here he is commanding the rotation along with Matt Cain. This is great for the Giants, who needed him to break out. As for the Dodgers, it's another thing to be afraid of.

In all seriousness, whoever comes out on top in that division will make me happy. I admit that this blogosphere is biased toward the Dodgers, so I kinda want them to win, but if the Giants do, I'll be content.

Coming Tonight-The centerpiece of the monster Boston-LA trade, who's continuing to blast bombs. Only now, he's blasting them over the walls of a 50 year old stadium...as opposed to an 100 year old one.

Custom Card of the Day: Worley Edition

And so Throwback Week comes to a close, with a B-lister Phillies pitcher. I apologize.

The truth is, when Vance Worley is on the ball, he's really good. There were some moments last season, when Vance was pitching well, where we could have considered him a the fourth man of the Inphamous Phour. Oswalt didn't really count anymore, because his win count couldn't even reach four. Or three.

I'm not saying Vance Worley's a phenom. What I'm saying is that he's a fun pitcher that'll get you by. He's slightly more appetizing than Kyle Kendrick or Joe Blanton. Those two have the 5th starter "Who's pitching? Aw, crap." designation. Worley is a fun pitcher, one you want to see pitch.

I just hope he gets back to his A game and makes his games worth going to.

Coming Tomorrow- While I was busy customizing people in old uniforms, a young player took command of the mound near the bay, and made his team a force for first. 

Custom Card of the Day: Machado Edition

 

Two weekends ago, I made this custom. I made it for a reason. Okay, two reasons.

1. Manny Machado was the Rookie Du Jour that week. Which means he was the one rookie that came up, and an outrageous debut, and promptly settled into an incline in popularity. He was big, and if I didn't customize him, I was an idiot.

2. My Orioles-loving friend was in town. That night I'd be taking him to a Phillies game. Similarly, he'll be taking me to an O's game in a few weeks. But I needed to show Colin exactly how I spent my afternoons, most of the time anyway. And I needed and Oriole.

Of course, the fact that I would be left without wifi for a few days, and the fact that the Oriole hat kinda made the uniform a throwback, pushed the card awhile. But it's here, and it's a beauty.

I really hope Manny's career holds up, because he has so much potential.

Coming Tomorrow- The Last Installment of Throwback Week. Of course I end with a Phillie. The unofficial Phourth member of the Phillie Phour. Because Kyle Kendrick don't count.