Day 1: Starting the 30 Day Baseball AND Music Challenge

Before I get into the topic at hand I wanted to give a quick aside and say that the beginning to the Mariners baseball season has been soul crushing on a whole new level.  High expectations going into the season and the roster looked good on paper.  As it stands right now, the team is 2-7.  If they don't start to creep back up to .500, it will be a long season.

When Tony from Off Hiatus Baseball posted on Twitter about making a 30-Day Baseball Card Challenge to mirror the 30-Day Music Challenge he had been doing, I was excited to take part.  Not only would it provide great blogging material but it would be a fun way to re-examine all my cards. I won't be limiting myself to only baseball since my collection spans all sports.  Regardless, baseball will likely take up a lot of these posts.

The music challenge piqued my interest as well.  I decided to give myself some extra work and take on both challenges at the same time.  As can be seen on Tony's blog, talking about music and cards makes for some interesting connections and discussions.  As I've been planning out my 30 days, I've found some great links.

Since I'm going the blogging route instead of posting these topics on Twitter, I'm going to spread the posts out every few days or so.

Without further ado, I present to you the topics for day 1:

• Music: A song you like with the color in the title
• Kishi Bashi - Bright Whites
• Cards: A card from the current year with a photo you like
• 2017 Topps Now - Team Dominican Republic #W-26

Unlike most bands, the leading instrument here is the violin.  Kishi Bashi manages to craft delightful pop.  His solo performances are a treat as he does a wonderful job creating looping samples of his violin and vocals to replicate the experience of a full band.  I've seen Kishi Bashi play only once but it was one of the most fun times I've had at a concert.

With baseball season just right around the corner [I drafted this the weekend of opening day], there is nothing like the bright white of a brand new baseball.  Fortunately, baseball fans were treated to some early, meaningful baseball this year.  The World Baseball Classic took over in March and provided a lot of memorable moments.  From USA Baseball winning it's first WBC title, to Adam Jones making a spectacular leaping catch at the wall, and to Jose Bautista making a dead-on throw to the plate.

As the Topps Now card indicates, the throw to the plate eliminated a game-winning run to send the game into extra innings. The Dominican Republic would go on to win the game.

The picture captures the moment perfectly.  It's photos like these that I hope to see more of from Topps Now this year. [Two weeks into the season and Topps Now has been underwhelming].

That wraps up day 1 of the challenge.  Like I said, I plan to put up a post on this topic every few days. Catch you next time!