2018 Clubhouse: San Francisco Giants

116. Brandon Belt

117. Madison Bumgarner

118. Evan Longoria

119. Andrew McCutchen

120. Buster Posey

Hey look, an orange & black team posting on Halloween. Nice how that worked out. With the new guys, this was an easy lineup to fill. You could probably swap Brandons and plug Crawford in for Belt but they're pretty much even I think. And since Belt is my favorite player, that gave him the edge.

I don't know how long this Topps/Bumgarner rift is gonna go on but any chance I have to do something Topps CAN'T, I'm gonna take it. Belt would be the other auto guy here.

Since he didn't have an auto, I thought I'd show the best Buster card of the set, his 1/1 wood parallel.

2017 PENNANT BOX BREAK - PACK 15

211. Matt Carpenter

78. Brandon Drury

72. Mark Melancon

296. Noah Syndergaard

186. Evan Longoria

162. Andrelton Simmons

157. Andrew McCutchen

14. Travis d’Arnaud

89. Alcides Escobar

FF10. Raisel Iglesias - Future Favorites

Not a lot to say about this pack. We're getting closer to the end here, folks.

2015 Clubhouse All Out

After the clean and tidy Incumbents design, I decided to go 180° with this All Out insert. The checklist here features players that go "all out" on the field, whether with the glove on the basepaths. You could fairly call this the Clubhouse version of Topps' Opening Day Play Hard insert. Personally, I think "All Out" is a much better name. And design-wise, I think I have them beat as well.

After cutting out these great action photos, I added a little glowing fuzz to them so they'd look a little "otherworldly" or so. The background is kind of a grungy gray stone thing to help the team color splash/explosion things stand out a bit more. It was a lot fun adding all the color. The names are in gold foil to help differentiate them from the "All Out" logo.

The motif is applied to the back of the card minus the color splashes. They had to be sacrificed so you could read all the jibberish nice and easily. I also made space for the team logo in the bottom right corner.

2014 Spirit Base Series 1: 81-90

#81 - Darin Ruf
There weren't a lot of options for good Ruf shots so I settled on this rough one.

#82 - Andrew McCutchen
Cutch is so lanky and lean a lot of his action shots have his limbs hanging off the edges or leave way too much negative space. This pose makes him look pretty bad ass, which is suitable for the reigning NL MVP.

#83 - Michael Wacha
This is a nice action portrait from the mound. I like that the Musial patch is plainly visible as well.

#84 - Cameron Maybin
Maybin spent a lot of time on the DL last season so there weren't a ton of images to choose from. That's why his neck looks absent here.

#85 - Sergio Romo
Romo's one of those guys that I bet fans of every other team hate. He's so demonstrative on the mound I can understand it. That said, I love the dude.

#86 - Abraham Almonte
I can't say I know much about Almonte but I'm digging the Mariners' teal alternate jerseys.

#87 - Evan Longoria
Longoria has to be one of the most photogenic ballplayers active.

#88 - Nick Tepesch
With that pitchface, Tepesch's nickname could totally be The Beast.

#89 - Anthony Gose
If a baseball is anywhere close to the glove, I feel compelled to keep it in the frame.

#90 - Ross Detwiler
It's always crossed my mind to start a PC of guys named Ross since it's not a super common name. Right now I can't think of any other than Detwiler and Ohlendorf and those two guys don't have a ton a new cards coming out. So maybe it wouldn't be too hard to get started.

Triple Crown Candidates

There was quite a disparity between the National League and American League MVP races last season. The NL was a 2-man race between a two all-around studs, one on a playoff team and the other on an also-ran. Over in the AL, there wasn't really a dominant enough everyday player to overtake Justin Verlander and he became the first Cy Young/MVP since Dennis Eckersley in 1992.

This season, there are probably a half-dozen players between the 2 leagues that could lay legitimate claim to being the MVP and almost all of them are putting up strong triple crown numbers (AVG, HR, RBI.) So that brings us to this Triple Crown Candidates insert, featuring those players that put up big numbers in these traditional categories.

Design-wise, we're starting out with a big, full-bleed photo of the subject at the plate. Towards the bottom, we have a team-color arc with some secondary color notches to house the player position and their respective league. In the middle is the player and team name set on a subtle rhombus pattern to represent a bit of 'royalty.' To finish off, we have some textured silver lines leading to the shiny-shiny Triple Crown Candidate crown logo.

On the back, we have a closer cropped photo up top with the team logo separating it from the bottom team color field. Below the player name is their 'triple crown credentials.' I took these from their Baseball References pages that show their career 162-game averages. Part of me thinks this isn't the best way since McCutchen is having a much better season in 2012 than his previous three, so the numbers are a little dulled. Perhaps after this season is over, their 2012 numbers would be the best representation.

The other guys in the set would be names like Miguel Cabrera, Matt Kemp, Mike Trout, Albert Pujols and the like. I'm sure there would be some others to pop up in upcoming seasons that would work their way onto the list.

2012 Spirit - Team MVP

Here is the first insert to the 2012 Spirit set. Team MVP inserts were common in the late 80s and early 90s. Donruss would traditionally mimic their base card design but include some sort of 'MVP' designation in the design. I remember the 1990 set as the first inserts that I recognized as being 'special' with the 'BC-' numbering on the back. "Bonus Cards" as they were known back then. Upper Deck started including Team MVP inserts in the baseball, football, and basketball sets. The designs were different than the base and usually included some sort of flashy printing technology such as holograms or foil.

I always liked the idea of a Team MVP set as it would traditionally depict the team's most popular and sought-after player but also make way for some debate on teams that were stacked with talent. Or in the case of teams like the Twins, the players with the best production get traded or become free agents while the 'Franchise' guys are on the DL. For the most part, there are clear-cut winners.

Now on to the design. As you can see, the team color sections from the base set make it onto these cards as well. You HAVE TO have the team colors prominently featured on TEAM MVP cards, right? There are 2 images of each player; a smaller black & white action shot in the corner and also a larger, full-color cutout layered between the 2 color shapes. There's room for the team logo in the corner as well as the player's name in thick curved line. The Spirit logo and 'TEAM' are both in a silver foil because why not?

Oh yeah, I forgot the most prominent feature on the front: the letters M-V-P cut out to reveal a game-used relic. Personally, I really like uniform swatches, whether they're 'game-used,' 'event-worn,' or 'player-gazed-upon.' I think they add depth to the card and make them more than just 'a piece of cardboard.' Now, I do prefer when the swatches are more than just a solid white or solid gray, but I had a hard time finding more interesting swatches big enough to use here so gray is what we get. If these cards were really produced, they'd be full of a variety of colors and such.

The back of the card features another full-color player photo as well as a small write-up about their 2011 season. The team logo is screen behind the text but the team colors are represented in the 3-sided border.

Below, you'll find my checklist for who I think the 30 Team MVPs are after the 2011 season. What do YOU think?

Angels - Jered Weaver
Astros - Carlos Lee
A's - Gio Gonzalez
Blue Jays - Jose Bautista
Braves - Brian McCann
Brewers - Ryan Braun
Cardinals - Albert Pujols
Cubs - Starlin Castro
Diamondbacks - Justin Upton
Dodgers - Matt Kemp
Giants - Tim Lincecum
Indians - Asdrubal Cabrera
Mariners - Felix Hernandex
Marlins - Mike Stanton
Mets - Jose Reyes
Nationals - Michael Morse
Orioles - Adam Jones
Padres - Matt Latos
Phillies - Roy Halladay
Pirates - Andrew McCutchen
Rangers - Josh Hamilton
Rays - Evan Longoria
Red Sox - Adrian Gonzalez
Reds - Joey Votto
Rockies - Troy Tulowitzki
Royals - Billy Butler
Tigers - Justin Verlander
Twins - Joe Mauer
White Sox - Mark Buerhle
Yankees - Robinson Cano