First Pitch Customs - Redesign

First off, I apologize for missing my post yesterday. By the time I realized I didn't hit "Publish" for my scheduled post, I figured it would be easier to just skip a day. I know, I know. That's a slippery slope to not posting for a while. But I have a few post ideas coming up so no worries.

Second, I got an extra day's run on Pimp My Fantasy League post with some additional help from "unclemoe" of the 2008 Topps Set blog. Check him out if you don't already! We're now up to half-full with a few more nibbles that I think will turn into committments once the season gets a little closer and the details are hammered out. Looks like we're leaning towards the $15 Blaster prizes so if you're interested in playing, leave a comment on the original post here.

Now onto the real post.

Last year, in addition to my ATCRCS cards, I debuted a subset of cards featuring various athletes, celebrities, politicians and other personalities that have thrown out a first pitch at Wrigley Field.

I have whittled down my collection to mostly Cubs items so these allow me to branch out a little from Cubs players while still sticking to the theme. The other day when I was cleaning up my computer and external hard drive, I ran across my folder of first pitch photos and noticed they were all in color. Now, one of the reasons I went with the ATCRCS design for the players was that older photos were in black and white and I wanted a uniform look. I figured I could desaturate the newer color photos a lot easier than I could colorize old B&W photos. I don't know why I didn't see it before but once I did, I decided to revamp the First Pitch series. Here are the new counterparts:

And one more for good measure:

 
Not sure about doing backs for these yet. The important information is now already on the front.

While looking for photos to use, I realized there was another Cubs tradition I was overlooking. I'm not if any teams do it as often (or even at all) but the Cubs also have "Guest Conductors" for the 7th Inning Stretch. Sometimes it is the same person who throws out the first pitch, sometimes not. I may look into doing something for those as well!

Let me know what you think!

ATCRCS - First Pitch Friday Edition - Hope Solo

What good is a set that doesn't have any inserts? Today's post brings just that with this card of Hope Solo throwing out the first pitch at Wrigley Field on August 21, 2011. Numerous celebrities, athletes, politicians and others have thrown out a first pitch over the years so it shouldn't be too hard to keep a subset like this going for a little bit.

The front is the same as the regular set. The back has had the statistics chart removed and font enlarged for the blurb. Nothing fancy, just a little something about the date of the game, who the Cubs played and what the featured person is known for.