Gems of Junk Wax Bracketology: The Terrific 32 (Pt. 3)

Initially, I'd planned to start the voting on this "Terrific 32" region last night.

But, as has become relatively common around here lately, I had a few things come up that prevented me from posting last night.

So, albeit a day late, it gives me great pleasure to present the next batch of matchups this afternoon.

Voting for this region will close on Tuesday, May 21st, at 11:59 PM.

Let's meet the nominees.

#8 seed -- 1987 Topps #170 Bo Jackson RC

VS.

#16 seed -- 1991 Topps #530 Roger Clemens

Kicking things off is one of the greatest matchups we've seen in this tournament.

At this point, cards from 1991 Topps have gone a sizzling 7-0 in voting thus far. Mr. Clemens handily defeated Tom Glavine's 1991 Fleer issue in the last round.

Will "Bo" be able to break the streak?

As one of the more iconic cards of the overproduction era, I'd say he has a fighting chance.

At the least.

#5 -- 1988 Donruss #625 The Ripken Family

VS.

#13 -- 1988 Score #501 Reggie Jackson

An all-Oriole matchup is the basis for the second pairing in this region.

As I've said time and time again, anything Ripken-related seems to be wildly popular in this hobby. I inserted the "Ripken Family" piece into this tournament at the last minute, mainly because I wanted to see how far it could go in the voting.

Here, the illustrious Ripkens face one of my personal favorites with the Jackson. As one of the extreme few cards to feature "Mr. October" in an Orioles uniform, it's long been one of the centerpieces of my collection.

We'll just have to wait and see who'll emerge victorious in the "Battle of Baltimore".

#3 -- 1993 Upper Deck #174 Carlos Baerga

VS.

#11 -- 1991 Upper Deck #175 Fernando Valenzuela

While most of the designs were a bit lacking, I personally think Upper Deck produced the greatest overall photography of the overproduction era.

That train of thought is perfectly represented by this pair. 

Mr. Baerga was a part of the only tie we've seen in the tournament thus far, moving on because of his higher seeding. The "Fernando", of course, is a treasured piece of my "multiple-exposure" mini-collection.

This should be a fun matchup.

#2 -- 1994 Conlon Collection #1000 Ty Cobb

VS.

#7 -- 1994 UD Ken Burns Baseball #66 Bill Mazeroski

This region's "Terrific 32" closes out with a battle of the "old-timers", if you will.

Both the Cobb and Mazeroski are absolutely stunning pieces of good ol' black-and-white photography. I could go on for hours about how awesome I think each of them truly are.

But I'll leave that up to you, the voter.

Personally, I don't think you can go wrong either way with this pair.

Well, there you have it. Certainly a good series of matchups in this region. 

The polls are now on the sidebar.

Happy voting!