A Decade Ago: 2004 Topps #113

First of all, may you please draw your attention to the new "header" at the top of the blog. I've finally entered the twenty teens. No more oversized banner with lame cursive font. This banner actually expresses me! The old banner was a place holder I created about two months before my first real post about cards. I'm glad to have it gone and welcome feedback on the new one. 

2004 Topps #113 Mike MacDougal

 Throughout the year I'd like to look back on a set I that I didn't collect at the time, but definitely would have had I been collecting in 2004. 2004 Topps is a lot like 1986 Topps in that it has a memorable design, but not many memorable cards. It was a great year to be a prospect and bust, so the only lasting "RC" of the year was Yadier Molina's. 2004 was the first year in a long while that Topps brought back the white border and they kind of overdid it, leaving us with small pictures. Nonetheless, the design started a general trend that has continued to this day minus the best part... the FOIL MAN.

As far as 2004 Topps goes, this is about as good of a shot as you're going to get. The first thing I noticed when scanning this card was how glossy it was. I'm pretty sure Topps dumped every card in a big bucket of glossy stuff before they boxed them that year. 

2003 was a magical year for the Royals. Despite a roster without any talent, we managed to win more games than we lost. The only other time that has happened in the last 20 years? 2013. Of the 29 (yes, twenty nine) pitchers that spent time on the roster that season, Mike MacDougal was made the closer. Any time your closer has an ERA over 4.00, you should probably look somewhere else. Instead Kansas City celebrated him like a hero. They even played a rookie prank on him by sending him to the All-Star Game! Just kidding, they did that in all seriousness. That's how bad this team was, yet they still finished with an 83-79 record. 

The most important part of any 2004 Topps card is the little foil guy in the bottom left corner. Some of them are fantastic, some are the opposite of fantastic. I'm appointing myself official foil man judge and I declare this foil man to be worth:

3.5/5 FOILS

Every foil man wants to be worth 5 whole foils, but this little guy didn't cut it. If you look at it by itself, you can definitely tell it's a baseball player. The cap, glove and all four arms are visible. You know what else is visible? An odd shape coming out of his left thigh that may or may an out of place boner.