Orioles Card "O" the Day

An intersection of two of my passions: baseball cards and the Baltimore Orioles. Updated daily?

Thursday, February 4, 2016

Cal Ripken Jr., 2001 Fleer Cal Ripken Jr. Career Highlights #26

This card is part of a 60-card box set that arrived as part of the mystery package from Zach last month. It's a pretty snazzy deal, as it commemorates Cal Ripken's legendary career with 20 reprints of his Fleer base cards, 10 cards focusing on significant achievements throughout his career, 13 cards marking major milestones in his consecutive games played streak, and 17 cards chronicling his farewell season. The featured card shows the moment in the sixth inning of the 2001 All-Star Game when commissioner Bud Selig stopped the game to present Tony Gwynn and Ripken with career achievement awards. It's nice that they've captured this memorable moment on the card, but it's poor form to cut Gwynn in half. I know we're focusing on Cal here, but Tony Gwynn was a fellow hometown hero and Hall of Famer, not some schmo middle reliever. Speaking of schmoes, I'm quite sure that is then-Yankees first base coach and future failed O's manager Lee Mazzilli standing behind Ripken. Tony Gwynn gets cropped out, and that guy stays in the picture? Come on.

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