Notching Two Penguins With One Post

Aloha, everybody, 

If Twitter is good for nothing else, it is my source for what each day is recognizing nationally. How else would I know when National Pepperoni Day or National Catfish Day is? 

So I awoke to the Twitter announcement that today is National Penguin Day. There is only one penguin that means anything in my universe - sorry, Tony B, it's not Chicago Cubs Ron Cey - I'm talking about LA Dodger Ron Cey. 

Sure, Sir Night Owl has written thousands of words in praise of Cey, his favorite player. He's even got a wonderful penguin lamp. I don't have one of those, but as I've discovered over the years through my friendship with N.O., we've got many shared favorites and interests. One of those is, we both consider Cey our favorite player. 

Which brings up the second reason behind today's post. Peter from Baseball Every Night is running a contest, and the requirement to enter is a blog post about your favorite card from your favorite player. Which brings us to this...

There are so many good things about this card, I hardly know where to begin, and no matter how much I write, believe me, there are more reasons I love it that I left out in the name of brevity. 

I've got plenty of Dodger heroes and favorites, but Ron Cey is at the top because I grew up watching him play, on TV and at the stadium. When most Dodger fans (and the media) of the time loved Steve Garvey, I chose the Penguin. He did not disappoint. 

However, I had one collecting disappointment concerning Cey; I didn't have an autograph. I even bumped into the Penguin a couple of times at the stadium over the years, and I didn't have a ball or card ready for him to sign. I secretly envied N.O. whenever he would show his latest Cey autograph.

And then came Gavin, the brilliant custom card artist from Baseball Card Breakdown. Gavin began a BCB Signature Series in which he created custom cards and sent them off to the players for their signatures, and Cey was one of his chosen players. 

Gavin showed off his completed Cey creations, and after sending one off to N.O. and keeping one for himself, he had one left for trade. I was lucky enough to snag it for myself. 

The imagery Gavin chose is unconventional by Topps standards, and it rocks by my standards. A triumphant Penguin, celebrating toward his teammates in the dugout, with a background of the iconic Dodger Stadium pavilions and the old DiamondVision screen, topped off with Cey's perfectly placed autograph is cardboard perfection. 

And that's just the front. The backside is just as awesome. 

Where Topps would use some generic photo, Gavin chose a fantastic shot of Cey making a big play in the World Series. The write up also concentrates on Cey's World Series heroics which led to his WS MVP award. 

Showing off a beautiful custom card, made by my trading/blogging buddy, which is my only autograpgh of my favorite Dodger, is the clear choice of how I will celebrate National Penguin Day. 

Now pardon me, while I rush off to tweet about this. 

Aloha!