Today being National Sticker Day reminds me that I need to get a case for my current laptop so I can go back to this glorious look from a few years ago. #NationalStickerDay

The pinnacle of sticker design and technology occurred in 1983, courtesy of Fleer. Happy National Sticker Day to those who stick and peel! #NationalStickerDay

“Hello there everybody, this is Mel Allen.” were words I lived for every Saturday as a kid. It meant I was about to find out what had happened in baseball over the last week. This Mel Allen card by artist Gummy Arts is an amazing throwback to childhood. @gummyarts.bsky.social

I’m not sure how I missed this one, but apparently award-winning illustrator Kadir Nelson has a book coming out next week - BASKET BALL : The Story of the All-American Game. Can’t wait to add this one to the Beauty of a Game Library! @kadirnelson.bsky.social

I’m not saying that I was destined to write about the visual aspects of sports based solely on my first lunchbox. But I’m not NOT saying that either.

Hard to believe it’s already been a year since I joined Shawn and Lou on the Hall of Very Good podcast, talking Jack Davis, sports movie posters and more! @hovg.bsky.social @louolsen.bsky.social www.hovgpodcast.com/2025/01/epis...

Another @gummyarts.bsky.social masterpiece!

Does this count?

Idk if it's my favorite, but it's the most recent one I added to my pc!

Today on the Beauty of a Game Substack - Gummy Arts Reimagines Baseball Cards. @gummyarts.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/beautyof...

Hometown Hero Sighting! beautyofagame.substack.com/p/in-honor-o...

Two For Tuesday Challenge - show me your favorite card featuring two players. Here’s mine. #Twosday

My face when my wife asks if I’m going to spend all day researching my next Substack article.

In 2026 I want to connect with more: 🎨 Sports Artists 📸 Sports Photographers 🖥️ Sports Designers 🖌️ Sports Illustrators ⚒️ Sports Makers / DIYers 📝 Sports Writers 🧢 Sports Fans 📜 Sports Historians 🏆 Sports Collectors - Jimmy Parker, Beauty of a Game

@beautyofagame.bsky.social Found while looking for something else ... Ed Hinrichs cartoon from The Capital Times of Madison, Wisconsin, of Monday, Nov. 12, 1951. It's his take on the Wisconsin-Pennsylvania football game from the previous Saturday. Dig that!

Repurposed 1952 Postcard featuring Hank Aaron of the Indianapolis Clowns, by artist Gypsy Oak.

Since countdowns are all the rage in these final days of 2025, here are 4 of the year’s most popular posts on the Beauty of a Game Substack. beautyofagame.substack.com

Looks like I’ll be adding the June 20, 1956 issue of The Sporting News to my Tom Brewer, Hometown Hero Collection. beautyofagame.substack.com/p/in-honor-o...

I art directed this photo shoot for @johnthorn.bsky.social and Total Sports Publishing, at old Yankee Stadium, August 2000. Stand back, let Leifer do his thing, don't get in his way.

My personal favorite Leifer photo is of Koufax on the mound at Dodger Stadium.

But Leifer really loved the concept, and he ended up using it in 1980 for Time Magazine.

My favorite Leifer story: Tex Maule convinced his editor at SI that it was a foregone conclusion that the Colts would beat the Browns in the 1964 NFL Championship Game. Leifer took this picture well in advance of the game. The Browns won a major upset, so the photo was scrapped…

Happy 83rd Birthday to legendary photographer Neil Leifer, born on this date in 1942. Leifer has been behind the lens for some of sports most iconic shots.

We’re less than a week away from the launch of artist Eric Kittelberger’s Project76! It’s a celebration of 50 years of collecting for him and it’s gonna be great to follow.

25 Days of Christmas - Day #25 A plush E.T., a Members Only jacket, AND an Atari 2600?!? A Christmas this memorable could only come from 1982. I hope your day is filled with joy, peace, and hope. Merry Christmas, from Beauty of a Game. #25DaysOfChristmas

Even though he was battling cancer, baseball legend Babe Ruth still suited up as Santa Claus for children with polio. (December 1947 - New York City) ⚾️🎄 #MLB #Hero #Christmas ⚾️🎄

Between his play on the field and his courage off the field, Curt Flood should be in the Hall of Fame.

25 Days of Christmas - Day #24 My wife says she doesn’t like getting me books for Christmas. But when they’re top-notch additions to the Beauty of a Game Library like Field of Play by Michael Zagaris or Jim Chapman’s Baseball Photography of the Deadball Era, I’ll never complain. #25DaysOfChristmas

25 Days of Christmas - Day #23 Public health records going back that far are incomplete, so we may never know just how many minds were blown in 1979 when Sears introduced The NFL Bike in their Christmas Wishbook. #25DaysOfChristmas

This Christmas, be sure to drink your Ovaltine. And be sure to keep an eye out for Ralphie’s vintage baseball cards. beautyofagame.substack.com/p/forget-a-r...

This is the type of Sears Wishbook page that would have been on my Christmas list as “One of everything”

25 Days of Christmas - Day #22 ”Even if you don’t believe in Santa Claus, you can believe in Willis Reed.” Reed was coming off his iconic performance in Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals, so belief in him was at an all-time high. #25DaysOfChristmas

#OTD in 1968 you could get this beautiful NFL Eastern Conference Championship program for 50¢. In 2025 dollars, that's a 538% increase in awesomeness.

25 Days of Christmas - Day #21 You’re gonna need something to store all those great Christmas gifts. And what better than the Official NFL Footlocker? PLUS you got a 1980 NFL schedule and a 18x24 wall poster with every team’s helmet design. #25DaysOfChristmas

It’s still hard to believe HOFer Rickey Henderson passed away one year ago today. I created this tribute billboard last year when I heard the news.

25 Days of Christmas - Day #20 Unwrap a shirt for Christmas? Dud. Unwrap a Rawlings NFL Jersey for Christmas? Stud. #25DaysOfChristmas

25 Days of Christmas - Day #19 Ah, the Carry-all - essential gear for all sports practices, summer camps, birthday sleepovers and visits to grandparents. #25DaysOfChristmas

Here’s Ty in a Cleveland uniform. I wrote about why here. sabr.org/gamesproj/ga...

Ty Cobb was born on this date in 1886. Here’s a look at when he suited up for the St. Louis Cardinals.* *not really, but sort of... beautyofagame.substack.com/p/when-ty-co...

Me, a grown man, trying to stifle my excitement when I get baseball cards for Christmas.

25 Days of Christmas - Day #18 Bright colors, festive design, funky typography - this 1961 Wilson ad for their “Famous Player” sets is like a Rankin-Bass Christmas cartoon come to life. #25DaysOfChristmas

What fresh hell is this?

Straight from the Hall of Fa la la la la - Christmas ads, and athletes, from the past. Now on the Beauty of a Game Substack. beautyofagame.substack.com/p/a-visit-fr...

25 Days of Christmas - Day #17 In 1979 you could have Luke Skywalker face off against Darth Vader, Boba Fett or Terry Bradshaw. #25DaysOfChristmas

25 Days of Christmas - Day #16 Board games based on sports always hit the spot on those winter days that were too cold to go outside and play for real. In 1969 the Ideal Toy Co. used some of the day’s most popular athletes to debate just which of their game is the best. #25DaysOfChristmas

Norman Rockwell poses Brooks Robinson in his studio, while the Bergmans family looks on. Rockwell’s painting “Gee, Thanks Brooks!” was initially used in an ad for Rawlings gloves.

25 Days of Christmas - Day #15 For a stretch of the early ‘80s it seemed like every Christmas brought a new Baseball Hall of Shame Book. Filled with offbeat stories & featuring covers by the legendary Jack Davis, these books were always a Christmas treasure. #25DaysOfChristmas

25 Days of Christmas - Day #14 I like my Christmas tree ornaments capable of hitting the high 80s on a radar gun. #25DaysOfChristmas

Happy Birthday to HOFer Fergie Jenkins! I absolutely love this shot - Fergie in classic Cub pinstripes, bear cub patch, Wrigley Field ivy in the background, and the fans holding all those glorious Otis Shepard illustrated scorecards!