2008 Finest

The 2008 Finest is out for this year. I haven't seen any firsthand yet. The product is a little rich for my blood right now. I'm sure I'll play catch-up in a little while, but for now I must admire from afar. I can play the cat and mouse game as long as I get my team set at some point.

As far as the design goes, it seems pretty solid. The askew hexagon wouldn't have been my first choice, but it seem to work well with the Finest line. I like how Donny Lucy seems to break out of the box that he's in.

The White Sox have 8 cards in the set, that I can see. The usual suspects are here, as well as the new acquisitions. Throw in a few rookies that played a little last year, including one rookie autograph, and there's a team set!

33 Jermaine Dye
49 Nick Swisher
51 Paul Konerko
71 Orlando Cabrera
77 Jim Thome
92 Mark Buehrle
128 Donny Lucy
156 Lance Broadway (auto)

I'm happy to see the new Sox players in this set. Nick Swisher looks airbrushed and the card has his old uniform number on it. I realize that there's no such thing as an instant card, so that's a small detail that I can overlook.

I wonder when the first White Sox card of Alexei Ramirez will be released? I was hoping for this set, since he was really hyped up in Spring Training. Maybe the next card release this year. Will A.J. Pierzynski ever get the Finest love? Probably not, but it's nice to dream.