Seriously, this is one of the best baseball cards I have. There is so much going on in this card that in order for Topps to capture the essence of this action sequence, they had to print it in landscape form instead of the traditional portrait form. Even though this is a Carlton Fisk 1991 Topps card, it contains 2 Detroit Tigers players.
The first thing I notice when I look at this card is Cecil "Big Daddy" Fielder's badonkadonk barrelling down the 3rd base line with poor Old man Fisk in his sights.
Now it might seem like the 2nd Tiger in this photo (I believe its Dave Bergman but hard to tell) is signalling for Fielder to slide. But I like to believe that Bergman felt pity and utter fear for Fisk's life and was yelling "STOP CECIL. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD PLEASE STOP!!! YOU'RE GOING TO PULVERIZE FISK INTO AN UNRECOGNIZABLE PILE OF CATCHERS EQUIPMENT, BLOOD AND BAD KNEES. OH THE HORROR!!". (Yah I know, highly unlikely someone would yell such a long, well thought out sentences in what would be only a matter of mere seconds. But hey my blog, my theories.)
I'm sure Fisk's life was flashing before his eye's but you couldn't tell by looking at his face. Dude has a determined workmanlike look on his face as if thinking "No way this 26 year old, 6' 3" 220lbs tub of goo is going to score on this play. Over my dead body. I sure hope MLBPA has good medical coverage."
In 1990 Fisk was a 42 year old catcher who had played nearly 2,300 games (Can you believe Fisk finished 15th in AL MVP voting in this year? The votes were most likely given to him solely for the fact that he survived this play). Fielder was playing his first season with the Tigers after spending all of 1989 in Japan and ended up leading the league with 51 home runs. *Fielder Smash*
As a Jays fan and the upcoming free agent decision of Cecil's equally as plump son, Prince Fielder looming, if I close my eyes I can picture a 2013 baseball card of Prince in a Jays uniform rumbling down the 3rd base line with Jason Varitek's being on the receiving end of a vicious untimely death at home plate. (What?! It could happen.)
@GrubersMullet
