When a Non-Hit is Better Than a Hit

I know that a "hit" in hobby terms is defined as either a relic or autograph (or if you're Topps, a manufactured material card) but is that the best we can find? It's gotten to the point that manufacturers are putting the guaranteed hit numbers on their hobby boxes and Topps had to shell out a TON of autographed cards after their Gypsy Queen debacle. But what is all the fuss for? Was it really that big of a deal to go through all the trouble for Topps to send you an autograph of David DeJesus or Andrew Cashner?

Now, I'll admit, I love pulling hits. As you can tell from reading past entries, I get really excited about my pulls, even if it's an autograph of a player drafted late in the first round who may never see a major league ballpark without buying a ticket.

I don't see anything wrong with going after hits or celebrating when one is pulled. I sure as hell do. And you should. I guess my point is, sometimes we're so focused on autographs and relics, that other REALLY good cards seem mediocre by comparison.

Case in point, I bought a few rack packs of Topps series 2. Upon opening them, the first thing I do is hold them sideways to see if I can see some thick card stock. No dice. I'm not feeling too dejected, though, as the product has just been released and I have so many needs from it. I usually flip right past all of the diamond parallels, but I stop in my tracks when I see this beauty in front of me:

When you think about the possibility of nameless (to me, at least) relics or autographs possible with a hit, a diamond parallel of an SP of MR. CUB is far better than I could have had otherwise. I don't think I'll pull too many (if any) others this year, but for it to be of Ernie Banks, the luck was phenomenal. I would say this is pretty much the 2011 version of me pulling my only Red Hot Rookie redemption from 2010 and it just so happens to be of Cubs phenom Starlin Castro. I may not always pull Cubs cards, but when I do, I go BIG.