2007 charleston riverdogs team set review

2007 Charleston RiverDogs team set
Official Score – DOUBLE STEAL
Manufacturer: Grandstand
Retail price: $ 6.00

One of the teams making up the southern division of the South Atlantic League, the Charleston RiverDogs are presently the Class A affiliate of one of the major league teams from New York. They play their home games at “the Joe,” or Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park located along the banks of the Ashley River in historic Charleston, South Carolina.

This team set lacks a printed checklist and uses player jersey numbers as card identifiers on the back (without benefit of a # of # designation). Of course I won’t leave you hanging, so here is the official checklist.

Checklist: 32 cards
1 – [2] Randy Martinez (p)
2 – [3] Chris Kunda (inf)
3 – [4] Mike Dunn (p)
4 – [5] Mitch Hilligoss (inf)
5 – [7] Eduardo Nunez (inf)
6 – [9] Kyle Anson (c)
7 – [11] Kevin Smith (inf)
8 – [12] Seth Fortenberry (of)
9 – [13] Torre Tyson (manager)
10 – [15] Jonathan Hovis (p)
11 – [16] Luke Trubee (p)
12 – [17] Chris Malec (inf)
13 – [19] David Robertson (p)
14 – [22] Edgar Soto (p)
15 – [23] Ferdin Tejeda (p)
16 – [24] Brian Aragon (of)
17 – [25] José Gil (c)
18 – [26] Josue Calzado (of)
19 – [28] Greg Colbrunn (hitting coach)
20 – [29] Wilmer Pino (inf)
21 – [31] Carlos Reyes (pitching coach)
22 – [33] Brian Baisley (c)
23 – [35] Garrett Patterson (p)
24 – [36] Grant Duff (p)
25 – [38] Austin Jackson (of)
26 – [39] Ivan Nova (p)
27 – [40] Hector Noesi (p)
28 – [‘07] Vinnie Colangelo (clubhouse manager)
29 – [‘07] Tim Lentych (trainer)
30 – [‘07] Jeff Zaba (strength coach)
31 – [‘07] Charlie T. RiverDog (mascot)
32 – [‘07] Chelsea (mascot)

Interestingly, I haven’t been able to located a website for Grandstand cards, so I’m unable to identify the template used in the creation of these cards. Card fronts consist of color photos framed by an eighth-inch blue and olive border. This border provides suitable locations for player name and position, as well as the team name, logo and the year of issue. Card thinness is average minor league fare. Surface treatment is a semi-gloss that requires no additional preparation prior to autographing. The backs also feature four-color printing, with easily read player stats and short bios in black text over an image of several baseballs and a glove.

The card for infielder Mitch Hilligoss is noteworthy due to his hitting streak between April 18 and June 1, 2007 that left him the all-time SAL leader in consecutive games with a lofty 38. This card is also provides graphers with a second opportunity to get Eduardo Nunez’s signature as he is featured prominently in the photo.

The card of Austin Jackson depicts the outfielder doing one of the things he does best- burning up the base paths. Jackson accumulated 33 stolen bases during the 2007 season while timesharing between Charleston, Class A Tampa and Triple A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Four of the cards in this set turn the normal minor league baseball card mold on its side… literally. I don’t think it is any secret that I prefer horizontal alignments over portrait- assuming that the image works in that format. The card of pitcher Mike Dunn demonstrates that this concept is well understood by the designer(s) of the 2007 Charleston RiverDogs team set.

A few of the more aesthetically-pleasing cards included in this set include catcher Kyle Anson legging out a base knock…

pitcher Jonathan Hovis and an intriguing and well-captured mid-flight pitch…

and infielder Chris Kunda fixin’ to score. The drama captured by this shot is punctuated by the fact that everyone including Kunda is watching the batted ball. One gal in the stands is even waiting to see where the ball lands before she takes a drink of her beer. Perfect!

Several of the cards are a bit on the dark side, but overall, I believe that photographer Chrissa Stroh turned in some excellent shots. That said, there are three cards in the set (Greg Colbrunn, Hector Noesi and Garrett Patterson) that fall well short of the mark. Patterson’s card isn’t terrible, but there must have been better photos available of Colbrunn and Noesi that better show what these guys look like.

If you couldn’t tell from my “official scoring” whether or not I think this team set is “worth” the $6 price tag, my answer is “Yes, easily.” Cards from this set are currently available on the secondary market ranging from $3.00 each to 10-card single player lots for anywhere from $10.00 to $30.00 (depending on the player). You do the math… then order directly from the Charleston RiverDogs team shop. Keep your rss reader tuned to Cards in the Attic for reviews of older Charleston RiverDogs team sets that are still available from the team.

Subjectively yours,

– Kris

Tags: Charleston RiverDogs, Kris, minor league baseball, Single A baseball, South Atlantic League, team set review