In a brilliant marketing move, The Topps Company, Inc. has included in select new baseball card sets for 2012 a very unique card. It features the Rally Squirrel, famous in part for having briefly interrupted play during a Skip Schumaker at-bat in Game 4 of the National League Division Series at Busch Stadium on October 5. The squirrel became a good luck charm to some, as the underdog St. Louis Cardinals went on to win the 2011 World Series.
The card is labeled as Schumaker’s, but only a small part of the player’s right leg and foot are visible, as the squirrel is the featured performer. This drew mounds of attention on the internet over the past few days, with some people having expressed amusement while others exhibited anger over a perceived slight to the Cardinals’ 2011 second baseman.
One thing is for sure; it led to an avalanche of publicity the trading card company could not buy. As noted by a pleased Topps spokesman I reached on Tuesday, “This thing has really blown up.”
Concerned members of the public can stand down now, as contrary to a number of news stories, the Rally Squirrel card is an extra and does not replace Schumaker’s regular 2012 baseball card.
“Schumaker has a standard base card where he’s sliding into home plate,” the Topps representative affirmed. “The squirrel is a short printed fun card.”
As a reassurance to Cardinals fans and collectors alike, the Topps spokeman closed with the following. “There will be way, way more of his standard card available though for all the St. Louis Cardinals fans.”
Update: Enterprising private business people are already listing the Rally Squirrel card for sale in the secondary market. For example, through the online auction website ebay.com, starting prices for the special card are $200 or more.
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It appears that they are trying to sell more packs of cards by getting collectors to search for the squirrel.
Question is, why put the squirrel on Schu’s card and not give the squirrel its own card? Is that because there has never been a card designated for a non-human?
Food for thought.
Without looking it up, which of the following are you sure had enough PAs to qualify for the batting title in 2011:
Molina
Berkman
Schumaker
Freese
Furcal
Holiday
Jay
Beltran
Well, I assume it’s done like the Silver Slugger criteria, so:
Molina, Jay, Beltran, Berkman, and Holliday (maybe, did he get 3.1 AB’s per Cards games?, I know he was trending that way, but he missed a few games at the end of the season, right?) Skip might be close but his early season DL stint hurt him. Freese had less AB’s than Holliday, so, no. Furcal, same, missed too much time.
I meant 3.1 PA’s per Cards games, which 162.
Don’t know why I said “silver slugger”….
Here we go, found it….
In order to qualify for batting titles in averaged categories (Avg, Slg, OBP, OPS, RC, OW%, #P/PA, G/F), a player must average at least 3.1 plate appearances for every game his team has played.
Pitching stats qualifications is 1 inning per teams games played, or at the end of the season 162 innings thrown.
In order to qualify for fielding titles in averaged categories (FPct., RF, CS%, CERA), a player must meet the following qualifiers: Catchers must play 1/2 of their team’s games; Pitchers must average at least one inning pitched for each of their team’s games; Position players must play 2/3 of their team’s games.
It takes 502 PAs for a 162 game season.
It is somewhat disconcerting to contemplate, but of a likely 2012 starting lineup, none had 600 PAs.
Five cleared the 502 threshhold, but Jay only had 503, Molina 518, and Holliday 516.
The only two who cleared it by a margin were Berkman with 587 and Beltran with 598, probably the two least likely to stay in the lineup all year.
That’s rather amusing, or terrifying, I guess!
I wasn’t quite sure how to feel about it either. It seems noteworthy, though.
If you were on hand when the Cards hosted the White Sox at Busch II on June 16, 2001, you saw something nobody has seen since.
Sac Bunt by Albert?
Right fielder Pujols, hitting cleanup, laid down the only sac bunt of his career.
$200.00 for a Rally Squirrel card? Really?
See for yourself: link to ebay
wow, several approaching 200.00 in bidding, they’ll clear easily. Some of those buy it nows are WILD. 250????
sorry, 279, 299 buy nows. Of course the super crazy 999.00.
btw, Brian, I have several great squirrel hunting stories growing up as youngster in Mississippi
The regular Skip card with no squirrel is By Now for $4.99
Not to be nit-picky, but I do believe it is Skip’s LEFT leg and foot we see in the squirrel card, Brian.
Nope….my bad…I looked very closely, and you’re right, Brian…it IS the back of his right leg / foot. I first thought it was a “front” view, and we were seeing his shin / toe, and not his calf / heel. Sorry.