USA! USA! USA!

No, this is not a political post. I’ll spare you. If you want political posts, just go on your Facebook and read the post of your best friend from fifth grade who you haven’t seen from seventh grade. I’m sure he has some great, unbiased political insights.

This is a post to say how thankful I am for USA baseball, and because of his role on the 1988 squad, Tino Martinez is still included in some newer releases that center around these teams of the past.

I keep waiting for him to make an appearance in Archives or something – it’s not a stretch when you see guys like Bret Boone and Tony Fernandez and even Paul O’Neill included – but alas, each year passes without finding Tino in a current release. However, the non-Topps products have been a bit more generous to him over the past few years.

This was a cool set from Panini in 2013 – USA Baseball Champions. This exact card has several color, numbered parallels. This gold #’d/25 popped up for a very affordable BIN on eBay, so I snagged it, not knowing when I’d see it again. I believe all I need now is the Mirror Blue parallel /199, which shouldn’t be too tough.

Hopefully I’ll see Tino in a 2017 product, but until then, I’ve got cards like this to keep the hunt going.