Photo matching and photo dating Pujols...

[fandango]

Hello fellow collectors!

This card is a 2002 Upper Deck Ovation...since this set was first sold in the summer of 2002, the cards were produced using 2001 photos, especially considering the production process/ lag time to getting a product into packs...

Pujols aggressive swing and movement toward first base make it seem like GAME ACTION and not batting practice and not spring training when his number was 68....

So, with these minor assumptions in place, can anyone place the time or even the game this picture was taken?

Distinguishing characteristics:
1. His nike blue and red gloves
2. His Nike blue and red creates
3. The small amount of facial hair
4. The long red undershirt...

thanks for any help from the photo matchers out there ...

[fandango]

Hope jeff Scott sees this....

I heard a rumor that Pujols never used a black Sam bat in 2001 but I think that may be wrong...

[Birdbats]

Based on the shoes and batting gloves, I'd bet this photo was taken early during the 2002 season. I don't recall him wearing those kind of cleats in 2001. Check out Getty Image 522195 from April 3, 2002, and you'll see the similarities.

[hdavid_27]

I agree with Jeff. The photo on this card is from 2002. In 2001 Albert Pujols wore Red/Gray Cleats on the Road and Red/White Cleats at Home, the pattern was more of a zig zag, vertical lines pattern. In the picture its a blocked in Red/Blue pattern, which he wore in 2002. The Upper Deck Ovation product was released October 25, 2002 so I would absolutely agree that the photo is from 2002.
Also by the look on Pujols' face he did not hit it very well.

[STLHAMMER32]

I agree with these gentleman, it looks to be early 2002 in the photo...In regards to sam bats in 01... I found this photo saved on my computer. I saved it because I believed it was a photo from his rookie season using a black Sam bat.

[fandango]

Thanks for the input guys!

I do think however, that the Ovation set was released in June, making it seem less likely they could have 2002 photos make it into a new product just 2.5 months later.....

Set date reference http://www.baseballcardpedia.com/ind...r_Deck_Ovation

Again, thanks for the responses!

[fandango]

522195 nice find. Very similar is right...just can't confirm the goatee...which happens to be very distinctive goatee for Pujols...

[fandango]

This is from Oct 10th 2001...looks like very similar if not the same batting glove...and also Sam bat usage...

..

[fandango]

Glove and goatee match 8/23/2001
..

[Birdbats]

He started using those batting gloves around late July in 2001, according to photos I've seen. But, the cleats are the giveaway. And, it really isn't improbable that a photo taken in March or April would be used for a set released in June. Even in the '80s, companies would release update sets featuring guys who were traded during the season, in their new uniforms (vs. the '70s when everything was airbrushed). Given the speed of production by 2001, a same-season photo probably wasn't a big deal.