a tale of two cities

it's been over two decades since i left southern california for the land of 10,000 lakes, and that's long enough for me to feel an affinity for both states. i enjoyed living in socal, and i enjoy living in the twin cities.  so, adding these 2022 topps city flag patch manu-relic inserts for both los angeles (featuring clayton kershaw)

and minneapolis (featuring byron buxton)

were a nobrainer for me. the kershaw turned out to be the black parallel, numbered to 299.

now, truth be told, i lived closer to anaheim than los angeles during my orange county days, but i am a dodger fan so i'll stick with the cuidad de los angeles card. however, it is worth mentioning that the mike trout card in this set does feature the city of anaheim flag even though angel cards never mention that as their home. true to form, the front of the card says "angels pride", not "anaheim pride". now that i think about it, you don't see "minneapolis" too often on cards for any of minnesota's sports teams - that is by design so as to maximize the appeal to the entire state and not just its largest city. st. paul is sensitive like that.

anyway, i'll put the buxton card in my "meaningful and just because" mini-collection. while i don't live in minneapolis, i did work in its downtown for several years, and i get back there quite often. i was just in los angeles last fall, so it hasn't been too long since i visited that city, either. maybe, just maybe, i'll get out to dodger stadium to see the dodgers host the twins in august. we will see.