The votes are in, and a milestone

Another week, and another round of 16 match is complete.  To be honest, I did not expect the vote to be this close for the 59T vs 66 T match, but in an 11-9 "thriller" (the last 2 votes broke a 9-9 tie), the winner is...

1959 Topps.  I thought the '66 set would get some love, but I didn't expect the match to go down to the very end.  As always, thank you to all who voted, and I will have the tournament page updated tonight with this result.

I know that there is a blogger or 2 out there that is a fan of Russell Martin.  I've gained quite an appreciation for him while watching him play for the Pirates during 2013 & 2014.   They announced at the start of the telecast tonight that this is Martin's 1000th game behind the plate.

2013 Heritage #364

Russell earned a lot of praise for how well he handled the Pirates pitching staff last year.  The Pirates really struggled during his time on the DL this year.  He's got a few good years left in him, but I'm not sure that at age 31 he has enough time left to hit the 2000 games caught plateau, which would be quite an accomplishment for a catcher (there has only been 5 catchers to catch 2000 games in the history of MLB).

The next match for the tournament could be another lopsided affair, as 1980 Topps faces 1969.

Then again, maybe not...

thanks for reading, Robert