Tuesday, May 14, 2013

2013 Topps Travis Wood Factory Team Set

 Most of Travis Wood's cards from last year were photoshopped from Reds uniforms after the Cubs picked him up in an offseason trade. With a year under his belt with his new team, Topps was able to find a photo of Woods in a Cub uniform.


I think they did a pretty solid job with this card. The photo was cropped well, filling out most of the card all the way around. Bold Cubs logo on his chest showing. The dirt and grass provide a nice contrast to the home pinstripe uniform.

Photo by Brian D Kersey (courtesy of Getty Images)
The caption of the photo states that it was taken during a Cubs 3-0 victory over the Houston Astros on July 1, 2012. This is one of the last photos of Wood with his long hair as it was cut considerably shorter later that month. Unfortunately, Wood may be a descendant of Samson because while this victory evened his record at 3-3, he would finish the season at 6-13, losing 10 of his last 12 decisions.

Although the party in the back is gone, he has shifted to a much fuller beard this year and is 4-2 with a 2.03 ERA. At this point, he is the only Cub starter with a winning record. There could be something to this hair thing...


The back of the card is pretty standard. Although it appears he has a ton of minor league experience, it looks like he also moved up levels pretty consistently, thus the extra lines. That's always a good sign.

The Career Chase record is Cy Young's all-time wins record of 511. With three seasons under his belt, Wood has a long way to go. In fact, I read an article the other day about how even the 300 win milestone may be a thing of the past.

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