Exclusive: St. Louis Cardinals’ Rally Squirrel gets a 2012 Topps baseball card

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Posted on January 27, 2012 – 4:42 pm | Author: chrisolds
Baseball | , , , , , | Comments (30)

By Chris Olds | Beckett Baseball Editor

The Rally Squirrel has a rookie card.

As seen in the pages of the latest issue of Beckett Baseball arriving on Wednesday — the same day as 2012 Topps baseball — the beloved rabble-rousing rodent who became an icon for the St. Louis Cardinals‘ run to a World Series title now can be found in packs of cards.

It’s one of a few surprise short-printed variation cards to be found in the product — so it’s not really a Rookie Card — but it should be one that commands attention from collectors.  (It’s also an idea that we floated about last October — click here to read that story — when some members of the baseball world were going nutty. Maybe we weren’t alone.)

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So, who is this Rally Squirrel guy? Well, during the bottom of the fifth of the Cardinals’ win over the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 4 of the NLDS, he darted across the Busch Stadium field just as Phillies pitcher Roy Oswalt delivered a ball to Skip Schumaker — not the rodent’s first appearance in the postseason, but one that got plenty of attention.

It became, for whatever reason, a rallying moment for the eventual champs with t-shirts, Twitter accounts and more on the Internet noting the trivial moment in history — something forever linked to the Cards’ title.

Now, it’s forever immortalized on cardboard.

Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Baseball magazine. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an email to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here.

19 Comments

Danny

WHY?

Posted January 27, 2012 at 4:50 pm | Permalink
Todd Warden

I love it! I am a huge Cardinals fan, and I enjoy some gimmicky cards, so this one is aimed right at me. Hope I get one in my jumbo box.

Posted January 27, 2012 at 5:17 pm | Permalink
Craig Parker

I wonder what the card number will be? Will it also be #93 which is on the preliminary checklist for Skip Schumaker?

Posted January 27, 2012 at 6:22 pm | Permalink
Michael Poyma

Really? A squirrel on a baseball card? For once, a short print I don’t want. Nice try Topps.

Posted January 27, 2012 at 9:32 pm | Permalink
cincy Scott

Thats not the real rally squirrel!

Posted January 28, 2012 at 7:04 am | Permalink
Michael Chase

I really don’t understand some people…Why WOULDN’T you want this card????

Posted January 28, 2012 at 11:25 am | Permalink
chrisolds

Cincy: That’s just nutty!

Posted January 28, 2012 at 2:35 pm | Permalink
steve-o

hey Michael…..you mean ONE card for the rally vermin that you dont want ?!?!?!

But……….you do want the countless gobs of deceased/retired/etc. player cards that Topps has produced the last few years ( like DiMaggio, Ruth or whomever……just saying theres ‘seems to be’ an overabundance of them lately )……something like this is different. Wheres the shot of a player picking his nose (there seems to be a lot of them on the games I watched last year on DirectTV) ??? LOL

Posted January 28, 2012 at 3:44 pm | Permalink
George McFly

I’d rather have a card of the most fearless animal in all the animal kingdom according to Guiness Book of World Records.. The Honey Badger….

Posted January 28, 2012 at 9:02 pm | Permalink
Adam Shoemaker

If the card said ‘STL Rally Squirrel’ instead of ‘Skip Schumaker’, I’d be much more interested! I think it is funny and unique that Topps added the squirrel to the set and I’d like to have one. It still won’t make me buy boxes of basic Topps to find it though.

Posted January 28, 2012 at 9:42 pm | Permalink
Dan C.

Love it! Anyone who doesn’t like this please don’t complain about Topps doing the same old things every year. For anyone who actually watches and follows baseball, this was one of the big stories of the postseason, and the perfect representation of the crazy run the Cardinals have, and absolutely deserves to be represented on cardboard. Cardinal fans will be all over this card and other than the Pujols SP this might be the hottest SP in Series 1.

Posted January 28, 2012 at 9:52 pm | Permalink
Michael Poyma

But I, for one, prefer the basic, consistent, historical feel of the series 1/2/ud product, with as few gimmicks as possible. When I want to see animals, I’ll go to the zoo or buy A & G. But I do agree, that Cardinals fans / collectors might want this more than me, so if I get one, I’d be happy to trade it.

Posted January 29, 2012 at 8:31 am | Permalink
larry

Folks this is what collecting cards has become, a joke. Save your money.

Posted January 29, 2012 at 7:18 pm | Permalink
tolentinotown

What’s wrong with a little fun, Larry?

Posted January 30, 2012 at 8:50 am | Permalink
sean

I think it would have been cooler to just add the squirrel in to the photos of all the cardinal player cards here and there as a team variation kinda like the where’s waldo thing they did with the sparkle last year. still cool though.

Posted January 30, 2012 at 10:33 am | Permalink
Michael Chase

I’m not a Cardinals for nor do I care for squirrels however I vividly remember watching this and absolutely love that they chose to put it on a card. It tells the story of baseball as every card should. What is with somee of you so called collectors complaining about seemingly everything about the hobby. Everyone has a right to their opinions but some of you miserable misers are enough to turn new people away from the hobby. Speak with your wallets if you don’t like something that’s the only voice that will get heard.

Posted January 30, 2012 at 10:43 am | Permalink
Zeprock

This is definitely nuts. Why all the love for a squirrel and none for Anaheim’s Rally Monkey? I personally don’t care to have a critter on a card unless there is a ballplayer on it too (not just his foot) but how can they feature a squirrel and not the Rally Monkey? Where is the love? Equal opportunity?

Posted January 30, 2012 at 2:42 pm | Permalink
Jason Richardson

I would not mind having one. I read where they are not going to be in the regular packs. I was going to buy a box of the series 1. The seller said it would not be in it.

Posted January 30, 2012 at 6:35 pm | Permalink
JO-JO

I am a huge St. Louis Cardinals fan and think this “rally squirrel” thing is nuts! Again, bottom line it’s for nothing but money, money, money. It’s an insult to all of our talented players. Believe what you will but the skills and talents of our players won the World Series and didn’t need help from a stupid rodent.

Posted February 1, 2012 at 3:29 am | Permalink

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