Wouldn't it be nice

I know I already featured this card yesterday. (That one is currently my second-most viewed post thus far on this blog, thanks to all who read it!)

I came across this one again after I browsed through yesterday's pulls. It struck me as funny when I pulled it out of the pack because the Topps photographer managed to capture a brief moment where both McGehee and Gerardo Parra had their eyes closed. Not only that, but it looks like they're both balancing the batting helmet between their heads.

But this time I noticed something different. And it got me thinking.

Last summer, me and my mom took a trip up to Miller Park to see the Brewers take on the Diamondbacks. The first batter of the game, Kelly Johnson, hit a leadoff homer. It would be the only run the D'Backs would score all day. In possibly his best moment of the 2011 season, Mr. McGehee hit a dramatic three-run, pinch-hit homer in the bottom of the seventh. John Axford struck out the side in the ninth to get the save and the Brew Crew won by a final score of 3-1.

It was a strange but exciting game.

See, I kept a scorecard and everything. (I even crossed out Melvin Mora's name on the D'Backs roster because he'd just retired a couple days prior.)

On a different note, I rarely see people keeping scorecards when I go to ballgames. It almost seems like it's become a lost art in baseball. (Much like baseball cards, in a way.)

I remembered that there was a close play at third in the game I saw. Sean Burroughs hit a little looper into left field. The D'Backs runner on second wasn't sure if the ball was going to drop and took off a little too late in trying to advance. Left fielder Corey Hart nailed the runner at third on a close play. (It doesn't look to good on the scorecard, as I wasn't quite sure how to score that. It's the sixth box down after the "7" at the top of the card.)

After seeing the McGehee card, I came to a sudden thought. Wouldn't it be cool if the picture for that card was from the game I saw? How awesome would that be?

It didn't take me long to find out that it wasn't from the game I attended. McGehee did stay in the game at third base after the pinch-hit homer, but the first action he saw at third was in the top of the eighth, not the seventh. (Mat Gamel made the tag in the game I saw.) And the D'Backs runner was Miguel Montero, not Parra. Oh well.

The shot for McGehee's 2012 Topps card was probably taken during the Brewers' game on July 4th, two days before the one I saw. (The red, white, and blue hat is the first clue.)

It was an exciting thought, though. A snapshot from a game I saw in person, immortalized on an actual Topps baseball card.

Now that would be the best baseball card ever.