3rd Base Coach, IN ACTION

While wrapping up with 2011 Topps I re-acquainted myself with this outstanding baseball card, #34 in the set. Given the excellent photo Topps selected here, that's not a surprising spot.

That's future Braves Manager Brian Snitker getting down for a close-up view of Rick Ankiel sliding into 3rd. He appears to be quite certainly OUT.

When I first found this card I thought it was depicting Ankiel attempting to return to First Base on a pick-off throw, which would make it even more fantastic. I had a quick conceptual thought on that - I don't think I have ever seen a baseball card with a 1st Base Coach doing something active. Nor can I even recall, instantaneously, a card with a 1st Base Coach on it though I am near certain some exist. 1st Base Coaches probably very rarely appear on cards, at all. Which is perfectly OK.

3rd Base Coaches might appear a little more occasionally. I can, not just some of the time, but, instantly, think of two Brewers cards with a 3rd Base Coach; on each he is merely part of a Home Run celebration as a player rounds 3rd.

On this card, I wonder what Snitker is up (down) to here. This is several years before an Instant Replay system was put in use by MLB, so he isn't getting an up close and personal view to be able to tell the bench to challenge, or not challenge the call. My guess is he simply hit the dirt worried about a hot incoming throw to the 3rd Baseman bouncing over the glove, or maybe sailing over the 3B's head.

My first thought was the Braves must have played an inter-League series with the Oakland A's, given the green socks on the Third Baseman. That's a No, the game logs on Baseball-Reference.com reveal.

OK, maybe they did the inter-League deal with the Devil Rays, who had green in their uniforms. But they were already just, the Rays, in 2010. Or maybe they were already wearing a Devil Rays Throwback one day when they played the Braves? Moot idea, says Baseball-Reference.com - when the Braves did play the Rays in 2010, Ankiel did not appear in any of the games.

One thing you can count on when pondering where a Topps Baseball card photo originally came from in the 21st Century is the high chance they purchased it from Getty Images. And there it was:

New York - SEPTEMBER 19: Rick Ankiel #28 of the Atlanta Braves is tagged out on a triple by David Wright #5 of the New York Mets at Citi Field on September 19, 2010 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)

Just don't ask me how Topps managed to change Wright's shoes and socks to a green color during production of this baseball card. A minor casualty of that greening is a loss of clarity on the cool orange Mets logos on the base there. It can sometimes be surprising, when you see one clearly, how few 'base' ball cards manage to show one of the most necessary objects in the game. Those orange tags on the vertical side of the base (and also the red line on the top of the outfield wall) should have clued me in immediately on who the Braves were playing, but I am quite unfamiliar with _ever_ seeing those tags. And green socks?

However the photo processing at Topps certainly succeeded at lighting up Ankiel's face and greatly improving this image for use on a baseball card. The cap visor on every baseball player's head 99% of the time certainly makes for a challenge in trying to use a game action photo to show the world a baseball player's face clearly, particularly on a bright sunny day that otherwise makes for appealing baseball cards.

Thus this baseball card is a good example of Topps, In Action.

As it turns out, this is the 3rd photo in a quick action sequence shot by Laham:

Here, Wright is leaping for the incoming throw (the game logs reveal that it is a relay from the Second Baseman just across the infield and thus basically a poor throw) - but Snitker is already on his knees. To avoid the ball, if Wright doesn't catch it? Or, even before the Instant Replay system, wanting a clear view of the tag attempt soon to be applied...

Ankiel starts reaching for the bag...Wright is bringing the glove down...

Yup, OUT!

There is also a 4th image in the sequence, a post-play photo -

Snitker is back on his feet quickly, but Ankiel is still busy deflating from the play.

The Braves were down 2-1 in the top of the 5th when this play occurred as Ankiel lead off the inning and attempted to stretch a sure Double into this failed attempt at a Triple - an aggressive base-running decision which came within a couple three inches of working out for him and his team. But when behind on the scoreboard...

Luckily for Ankiel the Braves would go on to win the game largely on the strength of a Grand Slam by Derrek Lee 2 innings later, after which I would imagine this close run attempt at gaining that extra 90 feet was forgotten/forgiven.

Overall, 2011 Topps Baseball #34 Rick Ankiel has got to be one of the best cards I have seen from the 2010s.

And is definitely the best 3rd Base Coach card I have ever found, that's for sure.