Black Refractor History Month

These two men set out to make things right. And they succeeded. And although both didn’t live long enough to see the magnitude of their work that ended up moving mountains - these men are now mountains of humanity themselves. First Ballot pays tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King and Jackie Robinson in Black Refractor History Month. And frankly, for everyone who is for oppression of any kind – you can all go fuck yourselves.

The refractor first made its appearance in the debut of the landmark set 1993 Finest. The cards were not denoted in any way other than they looked like a disco ball reflecting light.

Well a lot happened in between that moment and when Topps unveiled the black refractor but lets just focus on the black refractor!

In 1996, Topps debuted Topps Chrome. Another instrumental moment in marketing gone awry but let’s fast-forward to 2002. Topps decided it’s time for a black version of the chrome because, why not?

Here is an example of the 2006 Topps Chrome Black Refractor. As far as I’m concerned it’s just an exercise in redundancy. 

2006 Randy Johnson – Bad, very bad. From April 29 -  May 24 in a span of 6 starts here are the numbers. Children please turn away now. 31.2 IP, 43 hits, 28 earned runs, 13 walks, 24 ks, 7 HR allowed, 8.07 era

Record? 3 -2. Of course, in the 3 wins the Yankees had to score 17, 10 & 8 to win.