2018 Clubhouse: Cleveland Indians

#36. Edwin Encarnación

#37. Corey Kluber

#38. Francisco Lindor

#39. Andrew Miller

#40. José Ramírez

This is pretty spot-on for the Indians team set. Since Andrew Miller's been hurt a lot of the season, his spot could easily go to maybe Trevor Bauer (ew) or Carlos Carrasco, but he's still one of the best relievers in the league. Encarnación probably isn't one of the five best players on the team either but him being here doesn't seem strange to me (even though squeezing his name onto the card wasn't easy).

Miller and Lindor are the autograph subjects. Again, probably the alpha and omega autos.

And for the last parallel, how about something a little different? Since these are the least rare of the parallels (#/150), why not go a little crazy? The rainbow here paired with the ice/atomic/crackle effect is definitely unique compared to the rest of the slightly sparkly solid color borders. I can only do so much digitally but I think these would be pretty cool in-hand.

2017 PENNANT BOX BREAK - PACK 16

212. Steven Matz

11. Edwin Encarnacion

160. Christian Friedrich

178. Alex Colome

82. David Price

292. Francisco Lindor

223. Aaron Judge RC

203. Ryon Healy RC

34. Robinson Chirinos

TI14. Clayton Kershaw - The Incumbents

A bit of a rebound from the last pack. The Judge RC is probably the best pull though the Kershaw insert is pretty nice, too. Lots of red and blue in these cards.

2014 Spirit Deluxe

Time to slow things down a bit on the Spirit base front since we're approaching the end of Series 1 and the season hasn't even started yet. Here's this year's "high-end" release, Spirit Deluxe.

The front features a full-bleed photo again, though this year the background is a shimmery, refractor-y, prismatic thing. I'm not sure I can replicate it digitally but I think this gives you an idea. It's a lot more prominent on the day game photos. At the bottom is a team-colored marble block with lots of silver foil accents. The thin rails on the left and right extend up into the photo space before softly fading out. It reminds me of a spotlight receding into the darkness of night.

On the back, the team-colored marble takes up about 2/3 of the bottom, leaving room for a brief write-up and some fine print along with the player name. The rail element from the front reappears, this time anchoring the bottom as well as separating the photo from the text block. The team logo sits inside a white circle centered where the 2 sections converge.

Here's a look at the standard auto and relic variations. The auto has a white glow for the player to sign. It covers up the light rails a bit but it's functionally necessary.

I think this is a nice evolution from the 2012 and 2013 versions. They aren't drastically different but hopefully you'll be able to distinguish from year to year. I just want to keep the full bleed, glossy thing going so there's consistency.

Thanks for checking this out.

2014 Spirit Base Series 1: 111-120

#111 - Cole Hamels
Not the most exciting image but I like that he's wearing a blue cap and this isn't a pitcher pose I've used yet.

#112 - Jordy Mercer
A nice simple shot of Mercer taking a groundball. I like that the background isn't busy at all so you can focus on Jordy here.

#113 - Trevor Rosenthal
A lot of Rosenthal's photos were of him coming off the field after closing a game so I guess he's the closer now. This one had a nice selective focus and he doesn't look super obnoxious. A winner in my book.

#114 - Huston Street
The slightly elevated angle is different from anything else I've used. Plus the blue jersey didn't have to be altered much to match my color scheme.

#115 - Matt Cain
How could I pass up the opportunity to show Matt Cain getting a standing ovation while trotting onto the field to accept his World Series ring? Oh yeah, he's wearing the gold SF jersey and hat as well. After his 2013, I need 2012 reminders as much as possible.

#116 - Dustin Ackley
After an up-and-down year, I wonder what 2014 has in store for Ackley now that Robinson Cano has (probably) taken over as the the starting secondbaseman.

#117 - James Loney
I'm pretty sure Loney played more DH than first base last year but I had a hell of a time finding good batting shots and an embarrassment of riches capturing his field work.

#118 - Alex Rios
Rios is still somewhat of a new face to Rangers' fans so I thought having a nice smiling pic on his base card would be a good way to get familiar.

#119 - Edwin Encarnacion
After his last two seasons, it really is a shame how anonymous Encarnacion is in the U.S.

#120 - Denard Span
Luckily there was enough space to show the ball coming down and all of Span's body sliding into the grass. A lot of times I have to sacrifice one or the other.