Jose Can You See The 206

I've voiced strong opinions about *alleged steroid users in the past few days. I'll tell you this... I have no problem with Jose Canseco. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying he's a saint. He's not. He made a mistake and he was man enough to own up to it.

I know what you're thinking. Canseco is alright in your book because he was with the White Sox. Sammy Sosa was with the Sox for many early years. I don't give Sosa a free pass. He never admitted it. Jose did. Even though he named names in his book, it was the last straw that forced MLB to finally look at the problem instead of pretending it would go away.

I've done everything from admire Jose to laugh at him during his first 15 years in the majors. I loved watching him hit homers. I cringed when he tried to pitch and ended up injuring himself in the process. I laughed when the fly ball hit his head and bounced over the wall for a home run. Yes, I've followed his career long before he ever considered putting a White Sox uniform on.

That being said, on to cards! I didn't really get back into baseball cards full time until this year. I picked up a few White Sox sets here and there the past few years, but never got into a lot of the releases that came out. To be honest, I never knew most of them existed. So, when I run across something I've never seen before, it's like a brand new release to me.

A few months ago, I came across Topps 206 while I was investigating White Sox tobacco cards on eBay. I thought I might be able to pick up one or two relatively cheap. I haven't found a good deal at the same time that I have money to spend... yet. But there these cards were. They intrigued me, so I picked up a full White Sox team set. The fact that Jose Canseco and Tom Seaver were part of the set instantly hooked me. I'm always looking for Canseco cards of his time with the White Sox. The only one I had really seen up to that point was a Donruss card.

When the set arrived, I was not disappointed. They are simply beautiful cards. They remind me a bit of the 2007 Bowman Heritage set. Very striking imagery. It seemed like slight overkill that Maggs had 3 cards, but that's OK. I can live with that. The cards remind me of artwork where markers are the medium. It sounds like it shouldn't work, but the results are beautiful.