tier one three ways

birthday boy steve garvey was included in the 2024 topps tier one release with some sticker auto/relic cards. the most basic one has one plain road swatch

and is numbered to 199. i picked that card up fairly quickly upon release for 16 bucks.

there is a two swatch version numbered to 99, and a three swatch version 

numbered to 49.

i am trying really hard not to chase all of these nonsense cards anymore, and i only bit on the three swatch version because the buy it now was really low compared to the other versions of the card. i was content not having a two swatch version until i saw the patch version

and my more dominant collecting instinct kicked in.

garvey also had an auto/relic card in series 2 of 2024 topps

that has a variety of parallel versions, but i was able to hold myself to just the one example. same goes for his 2024 topps pristine insert

which has a ridiculous number of different parallels.

anyway, happy birthday to the first baseman from the team of my youth!

is this the proper use of the phrase?

oh snap!

just a month or so after i wondered if the initial brooks robinson memorial patch worn by the orioles on september 27, 2003 would make its way to cardboard, topps released 2024 pristine. that release included this card

which shows the orange number 5 on his right sleeve.

the phrase "oh snap!" is defined as an expression of surprise or dismay. maybe not exactly what i was feeling when i saw the card, but maybe it applied to my feeling when i saw the initial prices for the insert. $20? oh snap!

i waited a while and got one for much less, and now i have updated this post. for the record, the back of the card tells the story of henderson doubling in a game for a second time when all he needed was a single for the cycle. needed a single, hit a double. oh snap!

the brooks robinson memorial patch showed up on cardboard

the orioles only wore a patch in honor of the late brooks robinson for the last series of the 2023 season and during the 2023 postseason, and so i wasn't sure if any photos from those seven games would show up on cardboard. spoiler alert - they did.

the 86 year old robinson passed away on september 26, 2023, and the next night for their final game of a series with the nationals, the orioles wore their black jerseys and had an orange number 5 on their sleeves in tribute. this memorial is visible on adley rutschman's jersey in the getty images photo below

starting on the 28th of september, the black circular patch with an orange number 5 was affixed to the jersey sleeves, and i have rutschman's 2024 bowman card in my memorials collection representing it.

the patch is also visible on gunnar henderson's 2024 topps series 2 1989 35th anniversary insert

and on heston kjerstad's 2024 topps series 2 base card

i considered using henderson's card since he played a fair amount of third base in 2023 and was playing third during the game in which the photo used on the card was taken, but i settled on the rutschman card because of the orange jersey and the prominent oriole logo - both of which remind me of robinson. 

i am still hopeful that the tribute the o's wore on september 27 will show up at some point (that rutschman photo shared above would look great on a stadium club card) but for now i am glad that i have a cardboard record of the shortlived memorial for one of the greatest third basemen of all time.

[edit - the initial "5" patch worn by the orioles made an appearance on gunnar henderson's 2024 topps pristine oh snap! insert

i would still love to see that stadium club card, though!]