Monroe Tobacco Cards: Holiday, McCoy, and Nash
All of the images were traced from T206 cards using Inkscape and then texture was added using GIMP. The GMs in the league were offered the opportunity to sign the card for their team as the relevant player. So, that’s the source of the signatures on the cards below.
Simply, Matthew Holiday is the greatest pitcher the Legacy Baseball League has known. Joining the Cleveland Athletics at league inception in 1895, the big righty from Kansas City has befuddled LBL hitters in each of his professional seasons. By the time he finally hangs up his cleats, he will have nearly single-handedly written the LBL pitching record book. At 6'2", the mammoth right-hander is an intimidating sight when he takes the mound. Emerging from the old independent leagues in the Midwest, Holiday has never posted a season with less than 6.0 WAR/100 games. He has won 4 League Pitcher of the Year awards during his career (and come in second twice and third once) and has continued his dominance into his mid-30s after a trade to the Eastern League’s Richmond Rifles for a king’s ransom.
Two-time Western League MVP and two-time Legacy Cup Champion, Ricky "Lightning" McCoy was the first LBL power-speed threat, while playing an above average defensive CF for most of his career. An extremely productive player in the field and at the plate, McCoy is a national fan favorite for his uniquely exciting brand of baseball. He plays with an all-consuming edge, unparalleled in the Western League, that has earned the respect of his teammates and competitors alike. McCoy led the Western League in stolen bases in nearly all of his professional seasons, finishing outside the top spot once in 1901 (he finished third). The all-time LBL leader in both stolen bases and homeruns, McCoy has amassed nearly 800 SB in his twelve-year career and 56 homeruns (ten more than second place). He has won the WL Golden Bat Award for CF four times.
Moe Nash. Humble and hardworking, Moe debuted with the Bakers—the more humble of the New York franchises—and the fit should have been perfect. In limited time in 1900, Nash slashed .292/.346/.417 as a 20 year old rookie. He displayed a jack-of-all-trades skillset that made him a promising piece for the Bakers’ future. Unfortunately, Nash has yet to regain the initial spark that led to such a sterling slash line at a young age. Floundering in each of the next four seasons at the major league level, Nash now plays part-time for the Bakers’ AAA squad in Syracuse where he has shown promise of recapturing his initial exciting form. Nash is currently slashing .324/.410/.441 for the Syracuse Stars.