When 2009 Upper Deck hit the market earlier this year, collectors across the country lauded the company’s great design and spectacular photography. Well, last night I came across two really poor photo choices for two HUGE baseball stars. The first is Jose Reyes. Look at this picture. Unless I am mistaken — or Jose Reyes is a magician — this speedster with a cannon for arm is about to drop this infield pop-up. Is that really the image you want plastered on your baseball card?

UPDATE: Using my sleuthing skills, I was able to discern that the Reyes image MUST have been shot on May 11, 2008, Mother’s Day — the day Major League Baseball allowed players to use pink bats and wear the same color wristbands in an effort to bring awareness to breast cancer. The box score from that game indicates that no errors were committed. We all knew Reyes was a thief, but I guess also must be a magician.

The second image depicts Braves stud and future hall of famer Chipper Jones. Upon first glance, this card seems all good — Chipper swinging one-handed, probably jerking a pitch into right field for a base hit. But if that is the case, then what the hell is going on in the bottom right corner. See that cloud of dirt? Unless someone can persuade me otherwise, I’m going to insist that the cloud of dirt is being created by a ball in the dirt at which Chipper is swinging and missing. I looked at Chipper’s face for evidence of what might be happening here, but Chipper must be a hell of a poker player because I really can’t tell.

This entry was posted on September 25, 2009 at 11:49 pm and is filed under Newspaperman with tags Atlanta Braves, baseball, baseball cards, Chipper Jones, Jose Reyes, New York Mets, sports, Upper Deck. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.