Marty Cordova, 2002 Fleer EX #68

In 2002, baseball card companies had some real flops in the name of futuristic card design. Consider this messy collage of foil stamping, semi-transparent glittery plastic stock, and an embossed splatter pattern. One decade later, we've got all sorts of futuristic touches in baseball: high-definition full-color video scoreboards at the ballpark, MLB games that can be streamed to your cell phone, a second wild card, and the list goes on. Yet we've barely got any instant replay, which could easily correct the most egregious umpiring errors in a manner of minutes. The O's are on a brief two-game losing streak, thanks in large part to some irritatingly poor work by the men in blue. In just last night's 6-3 defeat in Detroit, the Orioles had a run taken away from them in the first inning on a blown call, and then had a correct call on a play at first base overturned by home plate umpire Tim Timmons, who had a poor vantage point. That mistake was compounded by the hair-trigger ejection of Mark Reynolds, depriving the Birds of their hottest hitter in a close game. Buck Showalter was of course also booted from the game in an ensuing argument. When you read headlines like the ones from last night's fiasco, you start thinking that Bud Selig should skip instant replay altogether and go all-out futuristic: robot umpires, anyone?