Frankenset Sundays - Pick a Pudge

Welcome to Frankenset Sundays! This is the first in a series of posts which will chart the progress of my All-Time Teams project and allow you, the reader, to decide which card is chosen for inclusion in the Frankenset binder. Today we'll review the Texas Rangers and Hall of Fame catcher Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez:

I thought I had saved this issue but I looked through a box of old magazines and couldn't find it. Guess it wasn't a "keeper", hah.

These teams won't be in any particular order. I chose to start with the Texas Rangers because this team set is very close to completion. I still need three players and four cards overall to officially finish the Rangers, but there's certainly some room for improvement.

The pages you will see in these posts are not the finished product. For one thing, the pages themselves are old and well-worn. (I got some shiny new nine-pockets for this project thanks to the TCDB crew tipping me off on a sale) The labels will not appear on the pages of my finalized binder; these are just for your information (and to get some use out of my surplus labels.)

And of course, the cards are subject to change. This is what I have so far:

Throwback uniforms will almost always earn a spot in the binder. I didn't necessarily need to upgrade an Adrian Beltre card but this 2013 Finest was on Randylaw's tradelist and so I added it to the big trade. I have some nice Juan Gonzalez inserts including a Studio Masterstrokes and a Score Franchise but this Collector's Choice card has always appealed to me. The empty 'C' spot will be filled by an Ivan Rodriguez card of your choice.

Darold Knowles is the oldest card in my Rangers team set and the only original Senators single. I picked up a 1989 Score Charlie Hough in the trade with Randy, but I'll stick with the 1984 Topps card for now. Steve Foucault was acquired in a different trade, with TCDB user Colengco90. It's in okay shape but I'm not officially using it - and Bo might bump it out with the 1977 Topps Foucault he's sending my way. Jeff Russell could be upgraded as well.

John Wetteland is just visiting; I do not have a Frank Francisco card but when I get one either Feliz or Cordero will bump Wetteland out (even though statistically speaking he deserves to stay.) The outfielder I'm missing is Ruben Sierra, believe it or not. I have 12 different Sierra cards - nine are in complete sets, two are Athletics issues, and one is a Tigers card. Manager Ron Washington is also needed.


And here are the Ivan Rodriguez options for your consideration. I have 47 total cards of the Hall of Fame catcher, 18 of them are eligible for the Frankenset. I've narrowed it down to five:

1991 Fleer Ultra Update (RC)

1994 Fleer All-Star Insert

1999 Flair Showcase Row 2

2001 Leaf Rookies & Stars

2019 Topps Archives

Which Pudge should I pick? Vote for your choice in comments. 



Thanks for reading!



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