Giancarlo Stanton remains an enigma on field and with autographs

With Giancarlo Stanton‘s six homers in his last six games, he’s helped everybody re-focus on players who aren’t those two rookies with all those home runs and he only needs two homers in his next two names to tie a major-league record.

The Miami Marlins slugger has an MLB-leading 44 homers on the year — a pace that’s actually right with Roger Maris‘ pace in 1961 — and that’s a career-high as well as a Marlins franchise record with plenty of games still left to play. (Yet, ironically, Stanton reportedly just cleared waivers — so some of those games left could come in a different uniform.)

But that’s not the only enigma that is Stanton, and it’s something that you can see on his earliest cards like this one from 2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition when you compare them to today. What is it?

Card Gallery: 2015 Bowman’s Best baseball cards

Bowman’s Best officially returns tomorrow for the first time in eight years and it’s going to pack two autographs into each mini box, four per master, when collectors tear in.

First introduced in 1994, Bowman’s Best ran for more than a decade before a year off and a return in 2007. It’s been sidelined ever since. This time around, the brand replaces Bowman Sterling and offers a selection of young stars that have captivated collectors already this past season or so along with a crop of new draft picks as well. Nearly all autographs are signed on-card for this release.