Zistle Trade #84: paulb

Back to the World Series, but specifically the studio team that Fox delivered.  Kevin Burkhardt, Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz, and Keith Hernandez.  Both Ortiz and Hernandez were new additions this postseason and the four of them seemed to gel together nicely.

Burkhardt and Hernandez worked together for eight years before Burkhardt moved over to Fox.  It was actually Burkhardt himself who called Hernandez asking him if he was interested in the position.  Alex was gushing about Keith even before their first show together.  The gushing is well deserved though.

Keith Hernandez was barely considered for the Hall of Fame when his time came, but he is very much regarded by his peers and current players.  He brought the shows his usual honesty and critiques with his off the cuff wit.  He almost got into some hot water with an off the cuff remark about San Francisco that was taken out of context.  People who brought it up seemed to not know that Keith grew up in San Francisco and was very much entrenched in the Giants-Dodgers feud.  I didn't even realize people took offense until a bit later, but I can see why that would happen and so did Keith.

Anyway, back to the cards!  This trade is another one with Paul.  I recall Paul being a NY team guy, collecting both Mets and Yankees.  This was a nice trade that filled in some missing holes in a number of sets.

I think there are some pretty classic designs here from Donruss, Fleer, and Upper Deck.  It also looks like Fleer decided to tone down their Metal Universe set.  This time players are placed in locations with their home teams, but just look like giants.  Here we see John Olerud playing ball over Central Park.

Finishing up with new World Series champions, Carlos Beltran.  Carlos has had a great career that looks to be wrapped up now with the World Series victory.  He really has no reason to continue except for his love of the game.  I could see him doing one more year with an AL team, though.  He also seems to have enough passion for the game to be doing something (coaching or front office) after retiring.  (Edit - He announced his retirement.)

He probably also wrapped up a Hall of Fame induction with this ring.  He could become the next Met to be inducted since he played his best years in the orange and blue.  That debate is in the future, though.

Zistle Trade #83: TNTCardsStg

Next up is a trade with Trevor.  Pretty straightforward trade with some decent stuff traded.

So, we thought Fleer learned their lesson with their 1995 design when they went the simple route for their 1996 design.  Well, it turns out that they just took their crazy and put it under the Metal Universe name.

I guess if you are into comic books, then these Metal Universe cards look cool.  They are definitely different, so that's nice.  I am not sure why Bernard Gilkey needs a falcon on his arm while he bats.  That would seem to be a bit distracting.  It makes sense that Todd Hundley needs an over sized glove since he was a catcher, but does he really need a headset mike?  Do the other players need him to tell them where the ball is going?  Was he trying to earn extra money working a drive-thru?  And what is the deal with the laser?

I guess the Metal Universe is not the worst thing to happen with cards.  It was creative and probably remains one of the most creative sets ever released.  Fleer was definitely doing their own PEDs designing those sets.