An Awesome Card!

Every once in a while a baseball card manufacturer hits a grand slam, issuing a card whose image matches the moment. Such is the case with the Topps Now card that is the subject of this post. Although he is mired in a post-All Star Game slump, New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge is still capable of clubbing monster home runs, and he hit one a few weeks ago in the Subway Series that pitted the Yankees against the New York Mets.

With the score tied at 1 run apiece in the top of the fourth inning, Judge strode to the plate. Mets pitcher Robert Gsellman threw his first pitch, a ball. Then, on a 1 and 0 count, Judge sentenced Gsellman’s next offering, a slider, to a distance of 457 feet, a massive shot to deep left field that landed in Citi Field’s upper deck. Many bystanders said it looked more like a 500-foot home run. Yankees fans cheered. Once Judge struck the ball, Mets left fielder Yoenis Cespedes didn’t move an inch; he knew it was long gone.

What I like most about this card is its scale. You see a large portion of the grandstand as it snakes around to the Coca Cola porch. The ballpark looks like it’s sold out. Judge looms in the right foreground, dominating the scene, still balanced  in the follow through of his swing, a lone, larger than life figure dwarfing the catcher,  the umpire and the moment. The photo on the back of the card gives additional perspective to Judge’s colossal blast.

It doesn’t get much better than this.