Seven Days of Salmon: Day 7

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 7: Rookie/Rookie-ish Cards, Along With My Favorite Tim Salmon Card of All-Time

1993 Donruss #176 Rated Rookie

For a collector who grew up in the the 80s, there's nothing quite like coming across a Rated Rookie in your pack. Even today it gives this card a little something extra. The card design is nothing special and the image itself lacks any excitement. It almost looks as if Tim hit a sharp liner to the second baseman and is looking on in a bit of disappointment as the catch is made. One cool part of this card is that Tim is wearing a uniform from the 1992 season, a season he only played 23 games for the Angels. In 1993 the Angels switched logos to an interlocking CA and overhauled their entire look. I miss this look.

1993 Fleer Ultra #523

Here we see a 1993 rookie card that features the 1993 uniform rather than the 1992 uniform seen on the Donruss issue. In 1993 Ultra was a "premium" set, so I rarely got my hands on these cards, outside of a few packs in 1991 and 1992. The 93 design was essentially a slightly different colored variation of the 92 design, but not of that's important now. There's nothing that amazing about this card, but I do like the small rookie ribbon in the top corner, always caught your eyes back in the day.

1994 Topps Rookie Cup #397

Although this isn't a rookie card of Salmon, it does carry the infamous Rookie Cup in the corner, which was always a bonus to me as a young collector. I remember being about as excited for these Rookie Cup cards as I was for any other cards when I was young. Sometimes you were left scratching your head as to how certain players made it onto the list. Here's a look at the other memebers of the 1993 Topps All-Rookie Team:
* Mike Piazza, C, Los Angeles Dodgers
* J.T. Snow, 1B, California Angels
* Carlos García, 2B, Pittsburgh Pirates
* Mike Lansing, 3B, Montreal Expos
* Wil Cordero, SS, Montreal Expos
* Jeff Conine, OF, Florida Marlins
* Wayne Kirby, OF, Cleveland Indians
* Tim Salmon, OF, California Angels
* Greg McMichael, RHP, Atlanta Braves
* Steve Cooke, LHP, Pittsburgh Pirates

Two Halos, always a bonus. Not exactly the future stars of Major League Baseball, outside of Piazza and Salmon, although Conine was a very solid player for a number of years.

1993 Upper Deck Star Rookie Checklist #1

This is by far, my favorite Tim Salmon card in the history of all cards featuring Tim Salmon. How can any right minded person not love this card? The majestic orange sky, the big A with halo over Tim's head, the shot making Tim look larger than life and the old school 1992 uniform. Just a perfect image and a great looking card. I desperately need to get my hands on this card in better condition, as this one has some chipping along the black border. I'm not one for hyperbole, but this may be the most perfect baseball card ever made.


Today's Tim Salmon Factoids:
Tim hit 2 home runs in Game 2 of the 2002 World Series. His second home run put the Angels ahead for good in an 11-10 slugfest against the Giants.

Enjoy #2.
Down 3 games to 2, the Angels had to win their final two games at home to clinch their first World Series victory. Salmon had a great series, hitting .346 with an OPS of 1.067. At the time, he was the active player with the most number of games played without reaching the postseason.
Tim Salmon is and forever will be, Mr. Angel.

So ends Day 7, the final day of the Seven Days of Salmon. I hope these actually posted and if they did, I hope you enjoyed them.

Go Halos!