Being assured of a first-time World Series Champ this year is pretty cool. Like I said last post, I was rooting for Cleveland, but I don't hate Tampa or anything. The Rays winning it all wouldn't really bum me out, but the Brewers beating the Dodgers almost has me forgiving them for beating the Padres, and ultimately I'll be hoping the NL comes out on top.
Regular readers know I was born and raised in San Diego, but fun fact about me you didn't know is that I was actually conceived in Milwaukee. Yep, sometime around opening day '77, probably not that far from Milwaukee County Stadium, my biological beginnings got underway. So the Brewers are not exactly my hometown team, sure, but for this beleaguered Padres fan, my seminal homeland might be the closest my DNA comes to knowing a World Series victory in my lifetime. Hey, I'll take it! Go Brew Crew!
I don't collect a lot of guys on the current squad, but I'll try to fill out a post. I've got a decent Christian Yelich PC, and did a post showing it off also back in 2018. That was back at the dawning of his time in Milwaukee, and so all the cards in that post are Marlins cards. I've added lots of Brewers cards to the Yeli PC since, so I'll pick out a few highlights.
Lots of shiny. Despite a down year with the bat, Yelich was given the honor of being designated Team Captain this season, so that's pretty cool.
Some horizontal stuff here, including a pair of Peak Performers that I initially thought were dupes until I noticed one was a refractor ("prizm"). The embedded "coin" card is kinda neat, though it makes me want to tear out the coin as if it were some sort of rip card. Feels like I'm just needing an autograph to top off the PC, so maybe I'll start looking around for one once the Fall Classic buzz dies down.
Late-blooming Jake Bauers finally had himself a breakout MLB season, playing a pivotal role in the club's success. Since he was originally a Padres draft pick, I vaguely knew I had some cards of his somewhere in the cardroom. After flipping through a shoebox labeled "semi-sorted Padres", I was able to pull out the above Bauers. Nothing too impressive, but nice to find a few 1st Bowmans and a signed Elite card.
Gary Sánchez came on the scene as a hot rookie when I was in the thick of buying boxes of cards to rip and digging through bins at the card show, and while never a true "PC guy" for me, I tend to hang on to cards of guys like that just in case they become superstars. Gary didn't, but has stuck around MLB as a fine backup catcher, this year being second-string behind William Contreras. He's got some representation in my collection thanks to this above "9-Pocket PC" page highlighted by a few serial-numbered cards and the Munson homage from Heritage. Somewhere I've also got a low-numbered Bowman mini black refractor that was briefly a very desirable card that I probably should have sold back when Yankees fans were pouring onto the Slamchez bandwagon for a minute.
As far as hot young Brewers, I know I've got more Miz and a few Jackson Chourio rookies around, but unfortunately my collection isn't organized well enough for me to locate them quickly enough for this post.
Any Brewers collector reading this probably hasn't had their socks knocked off yet, so let's break out the big guns and close out the post with Rockin' Robin himself..
There's a completed Robin Yount trifecta of Topps Retired refractor autos (#/25). I thought I'd get them in the sun for a group pic with the highest possible refraction, though I was sure to be quick about it. Remember, folks: don't leave your autographed cards in the sun-- especially autographed Chrome cards-- lest the ink fade. Sadly a previous owner of my '03 Robin refractor didn't get that memo, and so the signature was a bit faded when I got it.
And so there you go, a post tipping my cap to a banner season for the Brewers. Since I'm rooting for Milwaukee, that means Tampa Bay will probably win, and that's fine too. Should be a good series!
