Miguel Tejada, 2005 Topps #694

How perfect and clairvoyant is this card? Obviously, the photo was taken during the 2004 All-Star Game Home Run Derby (July 11, 2004), when Miguel Tejada and hometown favorite Lance Berkman blasted shot after shot over the fence at Houston's Minute Maid Park. Between the two of them they hit 48 homers total, and Miggy eventually came out on top by besting "Fat Elvis" 5-4 in the final round. It was only right, as he set records (since broken) for home runs in a single round (15) and total home runs (27). Of course the duo became teammates in 2008 when the O's traded Tejada to the Astros for five players, Luke Scott chief among them.

Though Houston has struggled since they got their new shortstop, the team had a very notable inning on Saturday night highlighted by offensive milestones from the above-dubbed Kings of Swing. In the sixth inning, Tejada had an RBI single for his 2,000th career hit, making him the 29th shortstop to achieve that mark. In one of those serendipitous coincidences that make baseball so enjoyable, Berkman slammed his 12th home run of the season just two batters later to score Miggy; it happened to be the 300th round-tripper of his 11-year career.

Congratulations to both players. I've always liked Lance for his goofy nicknames ("The Big Puma" is another of them), his unassuming personality, and his unreal batting prowess. I spent four years of my life rooting for Miggy, and I still want him to succeed in spite of some of the ugly headlines he's made in the past year or two.