Cardboard Masterpieces, Pt. 11

1998 Score #60 Carlos Delgado

I've always thought June was one of the most interesting months of the baseball season.

Well, the regular season, anyways.

Everything starts to "heat up", both figuratively and literally. The standings begin to shape themselves. Most of the teams that are in the race by the end of June are the teams that will still be there by Game 162.

This is also the time of year that tempers flare up more than ever. It wouldn't surprise me to see a brawl or two by the end of the month.

I think part of that can be attributed to the literal "heating up" of the weather. Couple that with the long marathon of a baseball season and you're bound to see some tempers flare up from time to time.

It's part of the game.

With that said, it's good to see that some players know how to "cool off". 

Some of my favorite cards are ones that show guys having fun, plain and simple. There's some great cards out there of guys sliding ferociously into second base to break up a double play, but I've always been a huge fan of the candid "fun" shots.

Take this Carlos Delgado card, for instance.

I can't tell you how many hours I wasted playing with those "Super Soakers" as a kid. They sure were fun, though.

Delgado sure seems to be enjoying himself, as are all the other Blue Jays onlookers. I'm pretty sure that's Joe Carter behind Delgado, who was in the twilight of his career at this point. And Mr. Four-Home Run game himself, Shawn Green, is looking on from the dugout steps.

The only downside to this card is that we can't see who Delgado's "target" is. Maybe he's spraying the other team's mascot.

Nevertheless, Score did a fantastic job with this card. They reminded us of something that can sometimes get lost in the world of stare-downs and hard slides.

Baseball is supposed to be fun.