2014 Spirit Base: 661-675

#661 - Jake Lamb, #662 - Ryan Doumit, #663 - Alejandro De Aza
I've noticed a preponderance of night-time shots in Series 3. Maybe it has something to do with these lesser-known players getting into the game later or something.

#664 - Mookie Betts, #665 - Javier Baez, #666 - Scott Carroll
That Mookie Betts card is pretty cool, coming from the dugout with Yankee Stadium in the background. If he were to become a star I feel like this card would be iconic.

#667 - Manny Parra, #668 - Jason Giambi, #669 - Tyler Matzek
I wish the Giambi showcased his gray hair a bit more. It's pretty wild.

#670 - Ezequiel Carrera, #671 - Jake Marisnick, #672 - Jason Frasor
I'm guessing that Carrera's swing didn't result in a base hit.

#673 - Gordon Beckham, #674 - Darwin Barney, #675 - Chris Hatcher
Orange is really becoming a popular jersey colors these days. I guess it's the new black. (sorry)

2014 Spirit Base Series 1: 181-190

#181 - Josh Collmenter
What a wickedly weird delivery.

#182 - B.J. Upton
I have no personal investment in either of the Upton brothers but it was kinda depressing to see B.J. the elder have such a poor 2013 season. Let's hope he turns it around this year.

#183 - Kevin Gausman
It may be a dump overall but I really appreciate Tropicana Field for providing nice colorful backgrounds for these mound shots. There are quite a few I've seen with the cyan band across the fence. It really looks good.

#184 - Xander Bogaerts
This year's most-hyped rookie at the moment. I'm glad to see he dumped his old #72 for something a little more permanent. I'm also glad I checked some spring training photos before I published this.

#185 - Darwin Barney
That's some dark Wrigley ivy in the background there.

#186 - Jeff Keppinger
I'll always associate Kepp with the embarrassment that was the Giants' 2011 season. Sorry, Kepp.

#187 -  Jack Hannahan
He should be playing for the A's with all those vowels.

#188 - Jason Kipnis
I hope Kipnis continues on his current trajectory. He's a pretty complete second basemen in a league with few overall great players at the position.

#189 - Jorge De La Rosa
It pains me to say that the Rockies are probably having one of the best looking teamsets up to this point. Must be something about that Rocky Mountain sunlight.

#190 - Rick Porcello
I keep hearing everyone say Porcello's destined to be 2014's Max Scherzer. Oh yeah, that's really fair. I guess that's why Detroit traded Doug Fister for such a lackluster return this offseason. They're just trying to keep things fair. How nice of them.

2013 Spirit Award Winners

Hello to all out there in blogland. As you can tell things have slowed down a bit here with the off season in full swing. Baseball has been so far from my mind that I even overlooked my one year blogiversary. Oh well. I've got a few things planned for upcoming posts but don't expect the pace to really pick up until late January or so. In the meantime, here's a look at the 2013 edition of the Award Winners insert set.

For those that remember, I did this set last year with a similar set up: 9 AL Silver Sluggers, 9 NL Silver Sluggers, 9 AL Gold Gloves and 9 NL Gold Gloves for a total of 36-cards. The main distinguishing factor is the Silver Sluggers are bright and shiny silver and the Gold Gloves are bright and shiny gold. Horizontal stacks of each color are found in the background with the respective award names lined inside. These would have a kind of x-fractor feel with a smooth surface but the light refracting in different ways to make out the letters and such. The next layer features a player cutout (sluggers slugging and glovers gloving) with a colored band in the foreground to house the name and award info. Again, the AL guys have a blue bar with red found on the NL ones.

On the back side, we have the same horizontal stacks but this time screen back in black. To the left and right of the player portrait is their team logo and the Spirit logo. The colored bar has moved towards the top and houses the player name, team and position. A brief write-up of their respective award-winning seasons finishes out the design.

After two years, I'm not sure if this insert set will make its way into the 2014 product or if a break is in order. If it does make an appearance, I'll probably need to make sure the design take a 180-degree turn as this year's design plays kind of a like a sequel to the 2012 look. There's something to be said for subtle changes and evolutions of a standby insert, though. I suppose I have a year to figure that one out.