2013 Quarry Unlimited - #5 Minnesota Twins Part 2

The Twins are the perfect example of the inequity of the Major League Baseball large-markets vs. small-markets.  As I mentioned a couple of days ago, the Twins were among the best teams in baseball for the majority of the 21st century, but then the bottom fell out leaving the Twins near the bottom of the league for the past three seasons.  There is hope for the future as the Twins have the #1 farm system, which means they might be competitive in around 5 years assuming the prospects work out which is about a 25% success rate.  Conversely, the large-market Red Sox were among the best teams for the majority of the 21st century, but then the bottom fell out in September 2011 and Boston was near the bottom of the league in 2012.  The biggest difference is that instead of suffering for around a decade, Boston just bought a new team in one offseason and are now the World Series champs.  This is my biggest problem with baseball: small-market teams can be very competitive, but if they make a couple of mistakes it takes a LOT longer to fix them.  As you consider the ramifications of my deep thoughts, let's check out the second half of the 2013 Minnesota Twins.

My Top 5 Twins Cards
1. Joe Mauer
2. Doug Bernier
3. Darin Mastroianni
4. Pedro Florimon
5. P.J. Walters

Last year, the Twins had a pretty mediocre set of photos in the Quarry Unlimited set.  This year they have two very strong contenders for Card of the Set.  I am not usually a fan of having multiple players on a card, but the Joe Mauer is just about a perfect card.  It not only has the great overhead shot, but it also has two AL All Stars in the photo making the plural All Star banner correct for once.  As opposed to being an obvious great card of a great player, the Doug Bernier is a deceptively great card of an unknown player.  What makes that card great is the appearance of the bat (the animal not the stick), hidden in the Best Buy sign.  The Mastroianni is a really nice baserunning photo that works extremely well with this design.  On a different design, that is probably a forgotten card.  The Pedro Florimon photo makes him look like he has the ability to glide through space.  Nice timing for the photographer.  Finally the P.J. Walters shows yet another throwback, this time showcasing the 1948 St. Paul Saints.  I think the throwback uniforms may be getting close to losing their appeal for me.  There aren't there yet, but it's close.


Coming tomorrow - #6 Baltimore Orioles

Thanx for reading.