Did Baseball Card Forecast Country´s Current Financial Crisis?

Call it an omen. Or maybe just a quirky coincidence. But a little more than four months ago, the Upper Deck Company released a series of Presidential Predictor "Issues" cards inside its 2008 Series Two Baseball card product, one of which eerily reflects just how the candidates are treating the country´s current financial crisis.

The insert card in question is entitled "The Economy" and its illustrated cardfront reenacts a notorious Major League Baseball skirmish from 1976 in which then-Yankee right fielder Lou Piniella´s hard slide into home plate ignited a fracas with Red Sox Hall-of-Fame catcher Carlton Fisk. Upper Deck changed the participants to be Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama as Piniella and Republican White House hopeful John McCain playing Fisk. Intended to be timely and humorous, the card´s text is now prescient to say the least:

"It´s that time again, folks – the battle of Blue versus Red. Just like the epic rivalry between the Yankees and Red Sox, Barack Obama and John McCain have the same goal in mind – saving jobs for American families – but have distinct views on how best to do it. McCain comes in from right field with calls to lower taxes and reward individual enterprise – and is hesitant to bail out those who took risks in the mortgage debacle. Playing from the left side of the infield, Obama wants to protect workers´ rights, raise minimum wage and cut taxes mainly for the middle class. In the mortgage crisis, he wants Uncle Sam to help low-income people keep homes that are at risk."

"It´s interesting that this particular card forecasted so much that is currently on everybody´s radar," said Kerri Stockholm, Upper Deck´s director of Sports Marketing. "We pride ourselves on getting things right here at Upper Deck, but this is almost clairvoyant."