Upper Deck promised to step up its efforts to assist shop owners when it launched a "Certifield Diamond Dealer" program in May and the process is apparently underway.

Masterpiece Baseball is not set to arrive until mid-October, but dealers are getting an early look at some of the artwork from the set. In the latest mailing to Diamond Dealers, Upper Deck included canvas 8×10 promotional pieces to showcase some of the hand painted images that will be included in the set.

There were nine different 8×10’s produced for the mailing with three showcasing retired players and six focusing on active players. The retired canvas pieces feature the following players:

• Lou Gehrig – Farewell speech at Yankee stadium
• Ozzie Smith – Performing his famous back flip
• Kirk Gibson – Circling the bases for walk off World Series home run

Active players included canvas pieces for the following players:

• Ichiro Suzuki – Making a great catch
• Derek Jeter – Making a clutch throw
• Vladimir Guerrero – Celebrating another home run
• Ken Griffey Jr. – Performing a big catch from his days with the Mariners
• Daisuke Matsuzaka – Pitching his way to victory (Short Print)

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