The patriotic club

Let's take a break from my card show posts to recognize a great day in American history.

Independence Day.

I've actually been planning to do a post with this theme for a while now. I guess there's no better time than today.

While I might not be a fan of fireworks, I still take time every 4th of July to celebrate this great country.

And no sport has been more intertwined with the history of America than baseball. The roots of the game date back to even before the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776.

It lasted through the Civil War (where Union and Confederate soldiers would often play pickup games during downtimes), through the Great Depression, and through both World Wars.

Hundreds of years later, it's still going strong and is still our National Pastime.

Baseball cards are evidence of that.

While I've already shown my favorite member of this "club", there are still some other fantastic pieces out there.

I've never exactly set out to collect cards with an American flag on them, but the majority of the ones I've seen are so striking that I couldn't refuse adding them to my collection.

In years past, I might have passed up the above "patriotic" Seattle Mariners card. Basically, it would just be filed under the "team cards" in the Mariners binder, which weren't exactly a prominent focus for me.

This was one of the first cards that made me realize the photo is what the card is about. Not a piece of fabric or some serial number on the back of the card.

Thanks to this one, I've come to realize that there are some truly great "team cards" out there. I've added a slew of them to my collection over the last few months.

Although I don't think any of them could top this one, though.

I think it's safe to say that no set has provided collectors with better inserts than A&G over the last few years.

From hoaxes to ghosts to "This Day in History", there's never been a shortage of interesting insert sets in Allen and Ginter.

I'm already looking forward to this year's release. I'm especially intrigued as to what the "You've Gotta Be Kidding Me!" insert set entails.

However, few can top the "National Pride" set from 2009.

I love the whole set. The concept of having a player's national flag act as a backdrop always makes for an awe-insping piece of cardboard.

Speaking of which...

I've always been a refractor fan.

It's such a pure thing to just be able to look at a card and say, "Oooh...shiny!"

But the addition of an American flag on this one puts it over the top in my collection.

John Patterson is one of the more obscure players I collect. Once I saw this card in a dime box a few years ago, I knew I was looking at the best card I could ever own of Patterson.

The scan doesn't do it justice.

It looks a hundred times better in person.

My non-sports collection includes quite a few members of the "patriotic club".

I know they're not all that popular amongst most collectors, but I've always liked any cards that celebrate American history. (Or goofy ones, like what you might find inside a pack of A&G.)

There's a ton of nice ones.

But for my money, it doesn't get much better than an American flag on the moon.

Have a safe and happy Independence Day, everyone!