Playing with the queen of hearts, knowin' it ain't really smart

by BubbaFan on Sep 21, 2011 8:19 PM EDT

Shhh! Joey says, "Don't tell the copyright police!"

On August 27, 2011, the Reds stadium giveaway was a deck of playing cards featuring caricatures of the players. I love caricatures. I used to do pen and ink caricatures a few years back, though nowadays I'm more into photography and digital art. I really wanted to see these cards, so I bought a pack on eBay.

They are pretty cool. Each player on the 25-man roster (at the time the deck was designed) is on two cards. With Dusty Baker, that makes 52 cards. Gapper is on three cards - the jokers, I assume.

They tried to match up players' positions with their card numbers. I wondered why Janish wasn't a 7 - his jersey number - then realized he was a 6, because he's a shortstop. Hernanigans were the twos. Arroyo and Coco were aces. Each player got either both red or both black suits for their number. (For example, Renteria is on the two red sixes, Janish on the two black.)

Some of the likenesses are better than others, but all in all, they did a good job. A lot of thought went into this project.

Chapman is a pretty good likeness, IMO:

Here's a list of which player got which cards.

Jose Arredondo - 3♣, 3♠

Bronson Arroyo - A♣, A♠

Homer Bailey - 9♣, 9♠

Bill Bray - 5♣, 5♠

Jay Bruce - J♣, J♠

Miguel Cairo - 3♦, 3♥

Aroldis Chapman - 9♦, 9♥

Francisco Cordero - A♦, A♥

Johnny Cueto - 10♣, 10♠

Jonny Gomes - 7♣, 7♠

Ryan Hanigan - 2♣, 2♠

Chris Heisey - 7♦, 7♥

Ramon Hernandez - 2♦, 2♥

Paul Janish - 6♣, 6♠

Mike Leake- 8♣, 8♠

Sam LeCure - 5♦, 5♥

Fred Lewis - 8♦, 8♥

Nick Masset - 4♣, 4♠

Logan Ondrusek - 4♦, 4♥

Brandon Phillips - Q♣, Q♠

Edgar Renteria - 6♦, 6♥

Scott Rolen - Q♦, Q♥

Drew Stubbs - J♦, J♥

Edinson Volquez - 10♦, 10♥

Joey Votto - K♣, K♠

Dusty Baker - K♦, K♥

Gapper - Joker

I've uploaded scans of one of each player's cards to Photobucket.

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Comments

These are very cool. Thanks for sharing!

Most of them are quite good—not just in likeness but just as drawings, too. I think Cairo, Chapman, Cordero, and LeCure are the best, and Rolen and Renteria are the only ones that just don’t look at all like themselves. But overall—impressive. Does it say anywhere who the artist was?

Ebay, you say? Hmm.

by the finest muffins on Sep 21, 2011 10:59 PM EDT reply actions

I couldn't find the artist's name anywhere

It says “Diamond Promos, Cincinnati, OH” on the bottom. Maybe you could track them down and ask them.

All Things Bubba: Because how can you not love a baseball player named Bubba?

by BubbaFan on Sep 21, 2011 11:08 PM EDT up reply actions

Hm, I wonder if their entire business is promotional caricature playing cards.

That’s pretty sweet, although maybe something of a niche market.

Listen to my grawling.

by andromache on Sep 22, 2011 10:48 AM EDT up reply actions

We do promotional playing card days for sports teams in conjunction with teams and sponsor companies. Our cards are custom drawn by professional artists and printed on casino quality card stock. Beats a bobble head night. Interested?

"'Walkseem' is the word Marty uses when he is angry.
And he walkseem! Walkseem again!" - Cuetotally Amazing

by Ram27 on Sep 22, 2011 11:35 PM EDT up reply actions