Brooks Robinson, 2001 Upper Deck Hall of Famers #66

Jumping onto another blogging assignment in a belated fashion, I went searching through my Orioles cards looking for cards with interesting stuff going on in the background. This isn't quite it, but I like it a lot. While Brooks Robinson's base hit stroke is and should be the driving force in this photo, it's the background that gives it context. I am 90% sure that the catcher is Johnny Bench, which would place the action squarely in the midst of the 1970 World Series. So not only do you get two Hall of Famers on one card, but also a snapshot of the five games that defined Brooksie's career. This card also provides a camera angle rarely seen in cards, the center field shot that has become customary on television. So we see not only batter, catcher, and umpire, but also the television cameraman and a phalanx of nattily-dressed Baltimore fans of a certain age. Love the horn-rimmed glasses guy in the second row directly behind the plate. This is everything that a card should be...except for that nasty gold foil. Always with the foil.