Seven Days of Salmon: Day 5

While on vacation, I've decided to treat you, the loyal readers of I Heart Halos! to seven glorious days of Tim Salmon cards. I do this to not only honor the greatest of all Halos, but to honor you.

SEVEN DAYS OF SALMON

Day 5: Cards That I Like for Some Odd Reason (As opposed to yesterday's cards which were just plain odd)

Circa '96 #22

This card is definitely a cluster f*@$ of a design, there is just way too much going on in the background, with the text, etc. The back is a definite improvement, as it's much more sedated, but we're not focusing on that. So what's the odd reason I liek it? The quote from Tim in the upper corner, "I don't want to over-analyze things. I just want to react." It says it all about Salmon and his approach to the game and it's exactly how I like my hitters. No analysis, just see pitch, hit pitch. I admire the Tony Gwynns of the world and their study habits and constant breaking down of pitchers, but to me baseball is so much more pure when played like Salmon.

1999 Fleer Ultra #168

This card is on the surface a very boring shot, but I feel like every star player needs at least one of these cards in their catalog. The card that says, "Yeah, he's a star, but he's not so big time that he doesn't have time for the fans". That's just what we get here, Tim giving back to his loyal fans, signing autographs alongside the wall at the Big A.

1994 Upper Deck #111

The decision to reproduce the main image in the bottom corner of the card, distorting it into something uncomfortable, was ill-advised at best. But that's not what I like about this card. I just like the image of Salmon the hustler who goes all out. After sliding into the base, Tim kneels on a single knee and contemplates what has just taken place. The dirt on his pants is a nice touch, but it's his knees that really interest me. Not only are the pants torn at the knee, this doesn't appear to be the first time, as they seem to have previously been stitched back together. The essence of Salmon.

Today's Tim Salmon Factoids:
In 2000, Bill James described Tim as an "old-fashioned hard-hat kind of player, good arm, not too much speed, works hard and rarely goes into a slump."
Salmon's career bests: Average - .330, Home runs - 34 (twice), RBIs - 129, OBP - .429, Slugging - .594, OPS - 1.024, Runs - 111, Doubles - 37, Triples - 4 (twice), Hits - 177, Total Bases - 319.
Full name: Timothy James Salmon

So ends Day 5 of the Seven Days of Salmon.

Go Halos!