Brooks Robinson, 2013 PunkRockPaint Old Hoss 100 #43

Yesterday my very own complete factory set of the Old Hoss 100 arrived. As I was flipping through the cards, it dawned on me that my very first purchase of a 2013 card product wasn't Topps, but the hard work of a very talented fellow blogger. That makes me quite happy, especially since it's a legitimately well-done and entertaining set.

A little background: PunkRockPaint is the sporadically-updated blog of Travis, a Padres fan and an excellent artist. Old Hoss refers to the parody Twitter account of Charley "Old Hoss" Radbourn, the Hall of Fame 19th-century pitcher who was famous for his 59-win, 73-complete-game 1884 season with the Providence Grays. Hoss was also a famed raconteur, and the @OldHossRadbourn account plays it to the hilt. He's usually scoffing at the sissification of the modern game, making offhand references to his scores of illegitimate children, or skewering sports media coverage. In that vein, "Hoss" spent last December commenting upon ESPN's Hall of 100, a list of the purported 100 greatest baseball players of all time. Travis was inspired to create a limited-edition set of cards featuring those 100 players, with "Radbourn"'s comments on the card backs. As you can see, it's a beautiful sepia-toned set, similar in size and presentation to the old tobacco cards. It doesn't even suffer for the Photoshopping that removes or distorts cap and jersey insignias, in my opinion.

I'm glad that I was quick enough on the draw to snap up a set, as they're sold out now. The box that the cards were packed in is serial numbered 8 of 84. It promises a complete 100-card set plus 5 "rarities". The rarities include randomly-inserted and serial-numbered cards of ESPN's 25 honorable mentions, as well as alternate photo parallel cards of base set players. My rarities were #104 Dave Winfield, #106 Whitey Ford, #110 Harry Heilmann, and #122 Edgar Martinez (each numbered to 10), as well as #72 Bert Blyleven modeling his "I Love to Fart" shirt (numbered to 5). Glorious.

There are four Orioles in the set. In addition to the Brooks Robinson card I'm showing here, you've got #31 Cal Ripken, Jr., #65 Eddie Murray, and #89 Jim Palmer. (Frank Robinson is pictured with the Cincinnati Reds.) I'm glad to add them to my team collection. I'll let Old Hoss have the final word: