It’s not easy for many people to dismiss this day just as any other. Hundreds of people lost their lives in the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001. But what has the event meant to our hobby? Two words: American Flag.
About a week and a half after the attacks, Major League Baseball resumed play with players wearing American Flag patches on the back of their uniforms. Some of these patches ultimately ended up in the hands of collectors via 2002 Donruss Studio baseball.
A shorthand set from Donruss, the Spirit of the Game insert set featured a 1/1 parallel featuring flag patches from the uniforms of players. The flags were affixed to the back of the cards. They are extremely sought after and impossible to find. I think the last one I saw on eBay was about three years ago, and someone wanted $2,000+ for a non-star. And it sold.
I digress, American Flags also have been everywhere since the 2001 events. Check out the Jeff Cirillo cards featured above. This card comes from the same set as the epic Flag patch inserts, but is a parallel of a base card that supposedly was some sort of unannounced redemption that never was fulfilled.
Donruss was not the only company to make these cards. Others jumped on the bandwagon, too, making cards featuring American Flag ManuPatches and incorporated the country’s colors into their design.
While our hobby is quite minor in the grand scheme of things, it, too, was impacted by 9/11. And through these cards we are forever reminded of the events of that morning.
cardboardicons.com 