is this really happening, bill?

you might recognize the title from jack buck's radio call of kirk gibson's pinch-hit home run in game 1 of the 1988 world series. it came after buck exclaimed that he didn't believe what he just saw, and asked his broadcast partner bill white to verify the scene for him.

i have the same question here on the eve of what is to be opening day of the 2020 baseball season. will games actually be played tomorrow? i guess i will have to wait until then for someone to verify it for me.

in the meantime, here are some uer parallel cards from 2020 topps opening day that have the wrong date on them.

clayton kershaw (purple)

joc pederson (blue foil)

dansby swanson (purple)

i say they are uer, but i wouldn't put it past topps to issue an online only limited re-release of these parallels with july 23, 2020 on them.

just for fun, here is another joc pederson card from this year's opening day release - it's a "walk this way" insert.

this features the jocpop from april 15, 2019 that walked off the reds at dodger stadium. when opening day was first released, these inserts were thought to be super short prints, but the prices came down on them pretty quickly, allowing me to pick up two copies - one for my dodger collection and one for my 42 collection.

it will be weird to see the first walk-off hit and the lack of team celebration that was the norm. that is, if baseball really happens.