MLB Showdown Obsession

  Here is the inspiration for this entire endeavor. When I was younger and first heard that Willie McGee was once an MVP and a beloved player in Cardinals history, I was taken aback. All my child mind knew of him was his abysmal Showdown card from 2000, his final year as a player. His MVP card is a far cry better than what his lone official Showdown card features. Improvements across the board. Did you know Ricky Bottalico had a halfway decent Closer card? Turn back the clock to before Showdown and Ricky was a reliable stopper at the back end of Philadelphia's bullpen. Jay Buhner was another unfortunate player at the end of his playing days when Showdown debuted. He had an MVP card reminiscent of Sammy Sosa's 2000 card with an ok on-base but a mouth watering homer potential. Only difference is Buhner didn't need the steroids. Brian *L.* Hunter had one oft he most avoidable cards in Showdown. Terrible on-base with no home run boost as a trade off, I'm surprised that Show...

 I did this before, and got a lot of what I asked for in no time. I'm not suggesting that Mr. Gula updated the Bot with the logos because I asked specifically for them, but just in case it's a possibility, I'll showcase more missing logos that I'd love to see pop up when I generate a card... I'll try not to obsess TOO hard over the really old logos... ...as always, Sportslogos.net the the place to go for reference... The St. Louis Browns get one little logo to represent them for their entire history. We can do better. Still holding out for the OG Atlanta Braves logo. Can't imagine depicting Hank Aaron without it. Call me stubborn, I don't care. This is what Babe Ruth was rocking at the end of his career. That's the only reason I'm willing to die on the hill for this particular logo. The Cubs have added logos, but why not the one they had when they won their final World Series before their 100+ year drought? The 1968-1992 Reds logo I wished for was ...

  Mickey Morandini had a couple cards in the 2000 set, and both were similarly useless. Year prior would've given Mickey a more forgiving card, keeping his alright defense and giving a better on-base and a better chart that could land him on some benches. Chad Ogea had arguably the worst card ever in the 2000 set. A 0 control and could still surrender homers on his own chart. There's a reason his career was over after 1999. Back him up a few years with the Indians and Chad was a much better pitcher. As I was making his 1996 card, I realized he wasn't included in my 1995 Indians set I made some time ago, so I'm going to rectify that retroactively and just include a 2nd Ogea card as a bonus here. Mike Benjamin was another completely forgettable SS from the 2000 set, but with the Giants he featured a 10 on-base and multiple position eligibility. Brant Brown was another guy with multiple 2000 cards, but neither had as good of an on-base as he does here, and the trade off o...

 By 1964, the senior circuit had been in the midst of quite the dry spell when it came to perfect games. Not only that, but Don Larsen and the Yankees victimized them in the World Series not even 10 years ago, but Jim Bunning finally got the NL on the board in the modern era when he took the mound for the Philadelphia Phillies for game 1 of a double header against the lowly New York Mets on June 21, 1964. The future Hall of Famer got plenty of run support in the 6-0 win, including himself going 2-4 and knocking a couple runs in to help his own cause. His 10 strikeout masterpiece wasn't without it's share of close calls, including a huge defensive play by Tony Taylor to preserve the gem. All in all, Bunning needed just 90 pitches to complete the perfecto, his 2nd no-hitter in his career. Bunning ended the year with a 19-8 record, just another season for that years All Star. Bunning brought an impressive chart to 1964. The Control seems lacking for a perfect game, but let's n...

 It's the highlight of the winter for baseball fans. Hall of Fame immortality is on the line and legacies are called into question. Jim Leyland is already on his way to the Hall, but he never had a playing career to make a card of, and the Bot doesn't allow the chance to make strategy cards (yet), so just imagine something with his face on it for now. Anyway, onto the players... Bobby Abreu Year 4. Previous year: 15.4% Andruw Jones Year 7. Previous year: 58.1% Jose Bautista First year on ballot. Carlos Beltran Year 2. Previous year: 46.5% Adrian Beltre First year on ballot. Mark Buehrle Year 4. Previous year: 10.8% Bartolo Colon First year on ballot. Francisco Rodriguez Year 2. Previous year: 10.8% Adrian Gonzalez First year on ballot. Todd Helton Year 6. Previous year: 72.2% Matt Holliday First year on ballot. Torii Hunter Year 4. Previous year: 6.9% Joe Mauer First year on ballot. Manny Ramirez Year 8. Previous year: 33.2% Andy Pettitte Year 6. Previous year: 17% Brandon Phi...