Card Spotlight: 7-17-09

1995 Bazooka #26 - Robin Ventura

There's an innocence about the picture on this card that screams Bazooka. I was born to be on a card synonymous with bubble gum.

Robin looks like he's playing on a sandlot, smack dab in the middle of suburbia, watching the other team's kid power slugger get underneath a ball and pop it up just past the pitcher's mound. Then again, he's had half a decade's worth of Major League experience, by this point. It could be a pop up in the infield from any player.

Did Albert Belle pop that ball up? How about Ken Griffey Jr.? It could just as easily be Pat Listach or Ernie Young. There's nothing really identifying the ballpark or the opponent. All I can tell is that Ventura is wearing his road uniform pants. He could be taking infield practice, for all I know.

Still, this is the photograph that I would think of when I ponder what a bubble gum card actually is in this day and age. You won't find this photo in the flagship set. You certainly won't find this in the $400 a pack, two card type release. One of these photographs could possibly slip into the flagship set, but it's less likely. If I saw this image when I paid $400 for a pack of two cards, I'd demand my money back. Not that I would ever pay something like that.

Everything about this card says bubble gum card. The position lit up like the rarely used number board in a fast food kitchen, the font style of the player's name, the outline of that player's name and the shadow effect on the team name. They all remind me of a card that would be sold as an afterthought with gum. Not that it's a bad thing.

The bubble gum card needs a place in the modern world. Maybe Topps will eventually resurrect the Bazooka line of cards. Maybe not. Still, I could think of worse releases. Maybe the world is ready for Bazooka again. Maybe that should become the kid's set next year. In a world of complication, maybe it's time for the simplicity and comfort of a Bazooka set again.