Thursday, October 7, 2010

1998 Pacific Omega, Tim Belcher



#111 Tim Belcher

Here is a card that I got signed at a Royals game last month. The Indians were in town and Tim is their pitching coach. The game was a Sunday day game, so there wasn't any batting practice. But, the pitchers were on the field and I was able to get this card signed while Tim was leaving the field. He only signed one card and I am glad it was this one. But, I'll get into that later.

Tim pitched in the Majors for fourteen seasons with seven different clubs- the Dodgers, Reds, White Sox, Tigers, Mariners, Royals, and Angels. He was a 15 game winner three times, but he never made an All Star team. He finished his career 146-140 and he even picked up 5 saves early in his career.

2010 was Tim's first season as the Indians pitching coach.

I found this card in a stack of Royals cards that I have accumulated since joining the blogosphere. It was the only Belcher Royals card that I could find and I love it. This is a fantastic looking card. I know the late '90s cards take a lot of crap for being overly shiney and foiled up, but not this card. This card actually looks really nice.

I have no idea how long I have had this card (less than two years) and I never noticed it until the day I pulled it out of its stack. But, once I re-found it and actually looked at it, I couldn't believe that I have had this beauty and never realized it.

It kind of looks like a '90s version of Upper Deck Sweet Spot. I love how they have the seams on the card and how they break up the three images. Even though about a fifth of the card is covered in foil, the foil is used in a way that I have never noticed before. It has a picture etched in it and it actually looks good. Even the scan looks good.

All in all, this is a great looking card and I am glad that I was able to get it signed. It certainly looks better than the '89 Donruss card of Tim that didn't get signed.

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