Just got the news that Ryan Howard has been released by the Atlanta Braves. Ten Years ago on May 9th 2007 Howard had a much better day. The events of that day are discussed in the following:
When I returned to collecting Upper Deck Masterpieces drew quite a buzz. The set had a lot of appeal to me. The cards had a higher quality feel to them with an impressive design. The checklist was small but it had a good mix of current stars, prospects and retired stars. I particularly enjoyed the historical moments
2007 UD #71 Ryan Howard
The Phillies had five cards in the initial Masterpieces set. This is one of two dedicated to Ryan Howard. The two Howard cards are similar and we look to cover that in a future column.
One of the attractive aspects of the Masterpieces is the canvas-like feel of the cards. I believe the cards feature original artwork (based off a photograph). Unfortunately Upper Deck did not identify the artists on the Baseball Masterpieces. This was handled differently with UDs release which credited the artists and sometimes provided website info.
It appears a little dark here but this is one of the Green Parallels. These are the most common Masterpiece parallel and are not serial numbered.
Ten Years Ago Today
2007 UD #71 Ryan Howard
After a synopsis of Howard's accolades from his early career the card back goes onto mention a game played on May 9 2017. After being shutout by the Diamondbacks Randy Johnson for six innings the Phillies were able to put up a series of crooked numbers earn a 9-3 victory.
The comeback was all started by the Grand Slam mentioned on 2007 UD #71. Howard did not hit his blast off of Randy Johnson. In fact manager Charlie Manuel elected to not start Ryan Howard versus the Big Unit. However, in the 7th inning Johnson loaded the bases and was over 100 pitches. The situation forced Arizona manager Bob Melvin to go to his righty reliever Brandon Medders. Ryan Howard hit the first pitch for the Homer, tallying his fourth career Grand Slam.
According to Baseball-Ref the hit had a WPA(Win Probability Added) of +35%.
Sources and Links
2007 UD Masterpieces Index
Philly.com
baseball-ref
Baseball Cardpedia
USA Today / Andrew Bagato
Teams Sets 4 U
COMC
When I returned to collecting Upper Deck Masterpieces drew quite a buzz. The set had a lot of appeal to me. The cards had a higher quality feel to them with an impressive design. The checklist was small but it had a good mix of current stars, prospects and retired stars. I particularly enjoyed the historical moments
2007 UD #71 Ryan Howard
The Phillies had five cards in the initial Masterpieces set. This is one of two dedicated to Ryan Howard. The two Howard cards are similar and we look to cover that in a future column.
One of the attractive aspects of the Masterpieces is the canvas-like feel of the cards. I believe the cards feature original artwork (based off a photograph). Unfortunately Upper Deck did not identify the artists on the Baseball Masterpieces. This was handled differently with UDs release which credited the artists and sometimes provided website info.
It appears a little dark here but this is one of the Green Parallels. These are the most common Masterpiece parallel and are not serial numbered.
Ten Years Ago Today
After a synopsis of Howard's accolades from his early career the card back goes onto mention a game played on May 9 2017. After being shutout by the Diamondbacks Randy Johnson for six innings the Phillies were able to put up a series of crooked numbers earn a 9-3 victory.
The comeback was all started by the Grand Slam mentioned on 2007 UD #71. Howard did not hit his blast off of Randy Johnson. In fact manager Charlie Manuel elected to not start Ryan Howard versus the Big Unit. However, in the 7th inning Johnson loaded the bases and was over 100 pitches. The situation forced Arizona manager Bob Melvin to go to his righty reliever Brandon Medders. Ryan Howard hit the first pitch for the Homer, tallying his fourth career Grand Slam.
According to Baseball-Ref the hit had a WPA(Win Probability Added) of +35%.
Sources and Links
2007 UD Masterpieces Index
Philly.com
baseball-ref
Baseball Cardpedia
USA Today / Andrew Bagato
Teams Sets 4 U
COMC
I'm a fan of these sets as well. I think the first year of baseball was better than the second. I really like the hockey set.
ReplyDeleteagreed, the Hockey set captured a lot of great historical moments. 2008 Baseball were all dark. Hopefully I will get to roll out a few postings on this set throughout the year.
ReplyDeleteI was pulling for Howard to make it back to the Bigs... but not nearly as much as I'd love to see UD get their MLB license back, so they can produce new UD Masterpiece products for us to collect.
ReplyDelete