#38 - Brian Wilson

What’s that Turtle doin’? It's always sunny on Topps Baseball cards. Err, well, not always on the front of the card. But who doesn't like a nice sunny baseball card? I like night cards too, but as I ponder this card in the depths of February, I gotta say I have always liked the way baseball cards can just brighten things up sometimes, like this one does.

This is another card that, for me, comes with an instant soundtrack - "and from the stretch..."

On this card, Topps has done a perfect framing job. Yes, the frame costs seeing 2 feet, but this is OK. I just slightly prefer when just one leg leads off the side of the card, making it look like the player is still on his way into the frame. But we know a Pitcher is going to plant that left foot and hurl the pitch, anyway, so that whole motion illusion isn't as much of a big deal, but yet on this card it is still there. Brian Wilson is playin' some baseball.

One thing I can never decide about this card is if I should add it to my The Pitcher Is Smiling At Me collection. It seems like a good possibility, but I never 100% talk myself into that.

+Bonus points for the team logo t-shirt he is wearing. Does it ever really warm up all the way right there next to McCovey Cove?

Uniform Hero? Yes. Brian Wilson has a famous name of course, and he was still a famous player as this set was produced. I sometimes wonder how many Twitter/Instragram hashtags would have circulated around him if his career had peaked today.

Where’d the egg hatch? Wilson was drafted by the Giants in the 24th round in 2003, which was a post-college date for him. He was also drafted by the Indians in 2000, that time in the 30th round. So he didn't move up all that far, which somehow seems like a match for an eventual reliever.

How about the migrations? And he did debut as a reliever for San Francisco, throwing 30 Innings in 31 games in 2006. He would become their closer in 2008.

As we are about to see on the back of the card, this card was about the last sunny time in Wilson's career; perhaps a photo from a gloomy overcast day would be more apropos. He was also no longer a Giant when this card was produced, but a photoshop effort wasn't an option at all for Topps as he didn't sign with L.A. until July, 2013. That was somewhat of a baseball story at the time - i.e., a Free Agent not being signed until that late in the season. But that was largely because Wilson was unable to pitch for most of that season, anyway, coming off Tommy John surgery.

One thing that swam back in to my memory tonight, pondering this card, is just how many players end up playing for the Giants AND the Dodgers, two famous long-time rivals. I have an odd perception that there could be a few more such players than there are who have played for both the Yankees AND Red Sox.

But ultimately, all the drama of Wilson's big new post-TJ surgery contract was pretty much a complete fizzle. How much of a fizzle? Though he pitched a full season in 2014, afterwards he was released by the Dodgers, who still paid him $9.5 Million for the 2015 season, when he was unable to return to MLB at all.

Don’t flip over real Turtles.

Topps gits r done here, with both a basic update on the state of Wilson's career, and a beard pun, too. It's not always sunny in the game of baseball, after all.

Can the Turtle Catch the Rabbit?

CAREER CHASE: With 171 saves, Wilson is 437 saves away from Mariano Rivera's all-time record of 608.

I sometimes wonder if a baseball card has ever been issued with a pitcher's position listed not as "P" or "Pitcher," but as "Closer." Surely, Mariano Rivera would have earned such a card.

Anyhow, I think this particular CAREER CHASE will definitely indicate that, in this set.

Wilson would add only one more Save in L.A. in 2014, and wrap up with 172 Saves.

Subspecies? In 2013, Topps just doesn't seem all that deep into the idea of photo variations, yet, and particularly not for Pitchers, who get very few in '13. These days, a set can have a checklist with as many as 75 Short Prints, and another raft of 25 SSPs to consider as well.

This card has no variants, aside from also being issued in Opening Day, despite Wilson essentially not having a team at all on Opening Day of 2013. But Opening Day baseball cards are designed for kids, in theory, and Topps would hardly leave "The Beard" out of that set. He did not receive a card in the 2013 Chrome checklist.

Bling That Shell I guess given that scenario, I am glad I picked the Opening Day Blue Foil parallel for this card. Foil cards do light up nicely when it is sunny out.