Nomo.
I've mentioned in this post and this post that the amount of attention Hideo Nomo got in the blogosphere was one of the first things that intrigued me and set me on the path to creating this blog.
I figure I at least owe it to myself to make a post about Nomo, taking me back to my blogosphere "roots".
This card is a perfect candidate.
What you see there is a 2008 Topps Triple Threads sepia parallel of Nomo.
When you think of Triple Threads, you normally think of the annals of baseball history. Guys like Mantle, Bench, and Cobb. Today's stars such as Pujols and Jeter.
But Hideo Nomo?
Nothing against the guy, as he was once a pretty darn good pitcher, but I didn't even know he was still in the majors in 2008.
This is one of the more puzzling yet intriguing cards in my collection. Before this Triple Threads card, the last issues I could find of his are from three years before, in 2005.
Nomo made a brief comeback to the majors in '08 when he pitched in 4 1/3 innings out of the bullpen for the Royals.
With an ERA of 18.69.
The mystery behind this card amazes me. Perhaps Topps wanted to give Nomo one last card, but why wouldn't they just put him in the flagship set rather than the prestigious Triple Threads?
There's some things in the hobby that we just can't explain.
I think this card is one of them.
Nomo was a baseball card superstar in the 90s. Card companies made a ton of his cards and people collected him. Even non-Dodger fans collected him in the 90s. He had some cool looking cards throughout his career.
ReplyDeleteJust because Triple Threads is a premium set doesn't mean it features strictly the biggest names - Topps need guys to fill out the checklist and maybe the selection is done randomly.
ReplyDeleteI am probably one of the biggest Royals fans on the planey. How did I totally forget that Nomo pitched for KC? Wow...I need to get a card of him in a KC uni.
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