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Cardboard appreciation: 1993 Score Select Jose Rijo

(I just found out that this is Administrative Professionals Week. I reluctantly fall under the title of "administrative professional." I guess that means a whole week of appreciating me! That wouldn't be a bad deal, except I'm pretty certain nothing is going to come of this. So on with the baseball card appreciating. This is the 27th in a series):

I am in love with the design of the 1993 Score Select set. In absolute love. So much in love that I want to take it home and pamper it and cook it dinner.

That's a bit silly, of course. I'm not jumping through all those hoops unless you look like this, plus have some intelligence to go along with all that hotness. But chances are excellent that my wife isn't letting me cook for anyone who looks like that. Can't say that I blame her.

So, we'll suspend that fantasy and move on to this one: I will have the entire '93 Score Select set in my possession one day. Yeah, I suppose that's a few steps down from the Ms. Pressly fantasy, because I'm sure it's not a difficult set to complete. But it is one of the growing number of 1990s sets that I'd like to collect. And add that to all of the '80s and '70s and '60s sets I'd like to collect (and '50s sets when I'm feeling particularly invincible), and all of the current sets, and you're looking at someone who is going to have to live to be 300. At least.

But I cannot turn my back on '93 Select. It is so fantastic. I hope whoever came up with the design got a raise that year, because it's simply stellar. It's distinctive without detracting from the photos. In fact, the photos are some of the sharpest I've seen from that period. (Autographed Cards has been going on a '93 Select spree the last week or so).

I like this particular card because it's horizontal, which is always good for a couple thousand pretend bonus points. And the close-up shot of a pitcher releasing the ball is one of my favorites. Plus, I enjoyed watching Jose Rijo pitch quite a bit, even though the Reds of the Spuds McKenzie/Nasty Boys era weren't one of my favorite teams. Rijo was one of those dominant pitchers that I've written about, even if he wasn't dominant for very long.

Rijo's wikipedia page is fairly interesting. Among other things, he was the first player to play in a major league game after receiving a Hall of Fame vote since Minnie Minoso did that in the '70s. Also, he was once married to Juan Marichal's daughter. Had I known that, I might not have liked him as much as I did.

Rijo was recently dismissed as a special assistant for the Nationals after one of the players he scouted was discovered to have a different name and be four years older than they thought he was. And they closed his baseball academy.

So, maybe I won't be cooking dinner for Mr. Rijo either. But that doesn't mean I can't like his card. Select sure cooked up a mean card in 1993. That's something I can appreciate.

Comments

1. If you ever cook for Mr. Rijo - CALL ME. I am bringing the ettoufe and some jambalyia.
2. - Got word yesterday that he had received his Cueto card on Friday. Yours should be to you anytime.
That is all.