While we're on the subject of National Chicle...

I'm still drooling over the awesome 2010 National Chicle Joe Mauer short print I received yesterday.

But I still can't get over how awesome this Ichiro card is, and I got it over a year ago. It's safe to say that I love this card. (I had to used the word "love" at least once today since it's Valentine's Day and all.)

I've said it before and I'll say it again. National Chicle is one of the more underrated sets ever produced. I don't remember people talking about it too much when it came out. There's a right way and a wrong way to incorporate a set comprised entirely of paintings, and Chicle definitely did it correctly. (Not like these horrifying things.)

My favorite player in the game today is Ichiro, without a doubt. I even got to see him in-person in a Mariners-White Sox game last year. (The only downside was that he was DH-ing that day.)

He's just so much of a throwback to the old days. I bet he could hit 30 homers a year if he wanted to, but it's just not his game. Much like Ty Cobb. (Cobb once hit five homers in a two-day span to prove to the media that he could hit homers with the best of them.)

However, the throwback Pilots jersey is what makes the card so cool. I love anything related to the Pilots franchise. I even own a Jim Bouton replica Pilots jersey.

So what we have here is my favorite current player paired up with the Seattle Pilots.

That's about as close as it gets to baseball card perfection.