Card of the Week: Glavine 300 Win Patch Card

2008 Upper Deck Premier Stitchings
Tom Glavine
Materials: Card Stock and Thread/Patch

The Player:
Yes, I am a Met fan posting a Tom Glavine card. I do not hate Glavine for the final game of the Mets' regular season in 2007. While I rationally understand his comments subsequent to the game as being true, I do think they were in bad taste. I also think that a HOF pitcher needs to do better than Glavine did on that infamous day in Mets history. Nevertheless, I respect Glavine as the HOF pitcher that he is and simply do not consider him a Met. This is of note because though Pedro will always be known as a Red Sox player I still consider him a Met. Pedro may be the Red Sox fans' first, but the Mets fans have a certain claim on him too. The Braves can have Glavine in his entirety as far as I'm concerned as a result of that game (I am happy, though, that it was not Glavine's final game).

The Card:
Ah yes, the manufactured patch card perhaps the most debated: is it overpriced filler, interesting innovation, or ambivalent insert? I tend to like manufactured patch cards outside the letterman stuff. However, I do actively dislike the letterman patches which are single letters from the team or player's name. Additionally, some patches are boring like the simple team logos. Yet, I REALLY like some of the patches from Upper Deck's Premier Stitchings Set. This, along with the others commemorating specific events are probably my favorites. I scored this beauty at a card show for $3 and I was genuinely surprised at the low price (it probably did not hurt that the market for Glavine cards in suburban IL is probably not what it is in Atlanta). Out of the many manufactured patch cards I have seen, this has got to be up there as one of my favorites. It has the team colors, a player image, and an indication of the event to be commemorated and, for me, these are the key ingredients of a very cool manufactured patch card.

The Materials:
I like to think that textiles in baseball cards gained popularity as a return to more traditional materials after the use/experimentation with more modern materials like acetate during the 90s. Acetate and other plastic cards remain relatively rare in the hobby while more traditional materials such as patches, silk, and even game used jerseys have become familiar staples. How true this whole assessment is I am not sure, but one could write an interesting sociological/anthropological commentary on the whole issue were it true.

One of the things I like about the manufactured patch cards is how different the process of creating them must be compared to creating a normal or even plastic baseball card. I imagine it to be like one of those machines that customizes hats at Lids, and for some reason find the thought of these particular patches being created in that way especially interesting. Maybe it is just me...

Anyway, if you have any interesting manufactured patch cards up for trade drop me an email, whether or not they are Mets (as long as they aren't yankees).