The Dog Days are over and we’re now going Old School, but let’s go back one more time for a Dog Days of Summer Program Postmortem.
Dog Days Are Over
Breaking from the status quo, the Dog Days of Summer Program featured only three bosses to choose from this time around. For Diamond Dynasty veterans, this program probably looked all too familiar. This breaks from the standard fare so far in The Show 22 where players had a chance to add multiple new bosses to their squads. So while it might be a bit disappointing for those expecting multiple new cards from their grind, flashing back to the “old ways” was a bit of Diamond Dynasty nostalgia for me.
I think SDS did us some favors with the player choices in this pack as well. This is one of those packs where there’s a true standout card in terms of competitive viability while offering other players who might not play online a chance to add two massive names to their squad.
The Mick
The Dog Days of Summer Program featured another mini-boss in the form of 1961 2nd Half Heroes Mickey Mantle. Mantle was featured at launch as one of the pre-order Takashi series cards and, at least as far as pre-order cards go, was at the top of my list of outfielders and played very well for me. Since joining Diamond Dynasty’s roster in 2020, Mickey Mantle has become one of the most popular cards each year. And for good reason. Elite switch-hitting with typically elite speed and very good fielding, Mantle is one of the best five-tool players that Diamond Dynasty players have access to. Many were excited to see a free Mantle being offered in the program.
Many more were also disappointed by the attributes. Keeping in mind that this card was a mini-boss, it was still a bit disappointing to see this card carry a 98 overall rating at this point in the year. A card with 77 contact is a tough sell outside of the first month and seeing it in August is pretty rough. For reference, that Takashi Okazaki version that was available on day one featured 75 contact vs. RHP. Yes, everything else is better across the board, but it just kind of leaves a bit of bewilderment that this is the Mantle we got. He’ll most likely get another version towards the end of the year but that doesn’t always feel great. That said, a retro Finest Mickey Mantle will surely be one of the best cards in the game, if not the entire history of The Show.
Who’s The Boss?
3. Johnny Bench
Johnny Bench clocks in as my number three boss in the pack. Bench is one of my favorite players in MLB history and one of my least used cards in Diamond Dynasty history. Falling victim to the “bad swing” reputation, there’s just something about Bench cards that keeps him from resonating with a majority of the competitive community. At no point since I’ve been playing The Show have I ever hit well with Johnny Bench online — no matter how good the card attributes are. I gave his Awards card last year a good run and simply couldn’t hit well with him. This Milestone version is arguably a lesser version of his card from ’21.
Last year, Bench had 89 contact vs. RHP stock and absolutely killed LHP with a 114/125 contact/power split. This year, Bench hits RHP better in both departments but is significantly worse against LHP. Offensively, this card falls a bit short of several catchers already in the game and even at Parallel 5 he’s a tough sell attributes-wise. The one caveat with Bench, as with many of his cards, is the fact that he has a plethora of secondary positions where he’ll play diamond defense. So you can really find a spot for this dude if you want him on your starting squad. However, 46 speed is as scary as always in the outfield so playing him there is a risk. Even then, sticking him in a corner is almost a necessity if you want any chance of running balls down.
Unfortunately, even his 3B and 1B secondaries don’t feel as special with the crazy options available already. You could take Rafael Devers and Austin Riley’s Player of the Month cards and start them at the infield corners and not even sniff in this Bench’s direction.
Until and unless Johnny Bench gets some SDS love in the swing department, I fear his cards will always fall into this category. Having said that, for Reds fans or people that just love Johnny Bench, being able to use his 99 overall at this point in the year is a big win.
2. Cal Ripken Jr.
If the third boss was anyone other than who it is, I think this Ripken Jr. card would have been number one. Cal Ripken Jr. has traditionally fallen into the same group as Johnny Bench: The Awful Swing Club. Year after year, Ripken cards would play below his attributes because his swing just didn’t perform very well. I remember using him a ton in 2019 before I really knew about swings and tendencies and didn’t think anything of his paltry statistics. As I became a more experienced Show player, I slowly realized that Ripken cards seemed to play down for a lot of folks. Another one of my favorite historical players of all time, Ripken has routinely been an afterthought for many experienced players.
That all changed this year. SDS finally upgraded Ripken’s swing and this dude absolutely rakes. It’s always interesting when this happens — a player seemingly getting a new swing and suddenly becoming a DD superstar. But whatever the fine details were that got changed, it resulted in Ripken Jr. finally finding his place near the top of the best SS in Diamond Dynasty.
Ripken now resides in the “swing that plays up” category and his attributes are already pretty solid. In fact, I think Ripken is now the second best SS in the game behind Oneil Cruz. Retro Finest Ripken is a juiced version of All-Star Dansby Swanson, but I think Ripken’s swing is actually better than Swanson’s. That’s saying a lot because that Dansby Swanson card was bonkers good and still is. I mentioned in the previous postmortem that I think Cruz is the best SS in the game, and I think that holds true. Ripken might have maxed out fielding attributes, but Cruz’s maxed out speed and huge reach makes him a literal vacuum.
If you took the best card (up next) out of this pack, I think buying Ripken Jr. off the market is a pretty solid play. He doesn’t have secondaries, so he’ll be your starting SS, but you can move pretty much all the other meta SS around and fit them in somewhere.
1. Pedro Martinez
If you look up the word “redemption” in the dictionary, you’ll see the picture above. Pedro was one of the most requested players in Diamond Dynasty and was finally added to the game last year. He debuted as a 42 Series card that I found to be one of the better SP the first month, but we all awaited his 99 overall. Pedro put up one of the best single-season pitching performances of all-time in 2000 and had an outstanding career of dominance. The potential for his cards was insane and then…we got a mediocre Signature Series card. In fairness, the card seemed so mediocre because SDS had a love affair with No-Hitter cards that had insane H/9 all year. It even got to the point that Topps Now cards of random SP that had one impressive outing had better competitive attributes than our boy Pedro. It wasn’t exactly the homecoming for 99 overall Pedro we were wanting.
But boy is this card better. Attributes-wise it isn’t really better. This Awards version has slightly better stamina, marginally better H/9 and that’s about it. The H/9 is helped by the fact that SDS has done a much better job this year managing the H/9 power creep so this card falls into the competitive category. The BB/9 is actually a fair bit worse here, which means bigger PAR sizes. But what sets this card apart and makes him the second best SP in the game is Outlier. Yes, SDS gave Pedro Martinez Outlier on his 4-seam fastball, which means he hits 102 with ease. Outlier alone wouldn’t make this card elite, but the pitch mix behind it is absolutely deadly. For starters, Pedro’s trademark circle change floats around 80 mph. A 22 mph difference between his fastball and circle change is already nutty. But when you get a cutter and slider to pair with it, Awards Pedro Martinez is virtually unhittable in the right hands.
Pedro’s cutter coming in around 95 mph has enough of a speed differential from the 4-seam that you can get hitters off-balance with ease. One of the best sequences with cards like this is the 4-seam up followed by a cutter up and away. You’ll get many swings and misses or very weak contact. Pedro’s slider is also slow enough compared to the cutter that you can manipulate bat speed even more on virtually the same plane.
I still think Randy Johnson is the best SP in the game. Let’s be honest, that dude will probably be the best SP for as long as he’s a featured legend. I shudder at the thought of a Perfect Game version with 125 H/9 and BB/9. But this Awards Pedro gives Signature Randy a run for his money and is a beautiful compliment to the LH king.
If you play online, Pedro Martinez will be one of the toughest SP you face and one of the best you could use. If you’re strictly an offline player, you probably aren’t missing out too much by passing on him in favor of the other bosses.
But for me, this was one of the easiest boss choices of all time.
Bottom Line
A nostalgic trip, the Dog Days of Summer program brought us back to the good old days of 3 boss Choice Packs. Grabbing only one of these cards is a marked change from the pace this year and an interesting design decision by SDS. As the game’s life cycle ticks away and rival sports games arrive, SDS seems to be speaking directly to the hardcore community now. The Back to Old School Program is more of the same and features three huge names releasing earlier than usual. If SDS really is focusing more on the hardcore player base, a balancing update to online play would be fantastic, but I still don’t expect it.
SDS recently revealed the beginning of the Fall Circuit a mere four days before it began so nothing has really changed on the communication front. If we do see an update it will most likely be a surprise. Regardless, props to SDS for finally releasing some of these hugely desired legends at a reasonable time. The 99s haven’t been getting pumped out for too long so getting access to cards like this is certainly a solid move.
