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Wait til Next Year . . . is making a come back.

I am going to mix a bit of the philosophy of my life into this blog as I continue to highlight some of my baseball card collection. (hoping the card collectors of this world welcome me back)

Its been a tough 18 months for me . . . the Chicago Cubs have had it rough as well.

This site will be devoted to all those who need to define what "wait til next year" means.

Friday, January 30, 2009

What was Topps thinking ?

In the past six weeks, since starting this blog, I have read hundreds of posts and have learned so much about card collecting that my personal collection has taken on a new life of its own. I am now looking at my cards differently (with a more tuned mind and closer eye) yet with the same interest and passion I have aways had for the game of baseball and the cards of yesterday.

Many of you have taught me to look at cards with this question: what were they thinking ?
So in my thumbing through my 1973 cards I noticed two that stand out.
What was Topps thinking . . .

This is a Steve Garvey card yet his face is completely in the shadows and Wes Parker stands taller and closer. Yes Garvey probably just hit a homerun (he only hit nine in 1972) and as he approaches home plate is being congratulated but Steve Garvey deserves better. Ok, he did not really come into his own until 1974, winning the NL MVP and 8 straight gold gloves at first base from 1974-1981 but still . . . couldn't Topps come up with a better picture ?

and then there is Jim Kaat


. . . a twenty-five year major league career as a left handed pitcher, winning 283 games and earning 16 (yes sixteen) consecutive gold glove awards from 1962 - 1977. Here is Jim Kaat . . . hitting ? Probably watching one of his 2 HR's he hit in 1972. Kaat was a "great" hitting pitcher and did hit 16 career round-trippers so I guess in 1973 Topps decided it was time to showcase his "power" not his pitching or fielding.

Just my question of the day: What was Topps thinking ?

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3 comments:

  1. JohngyJanuary 30, 2009 at 12:09 PM

    The Garvey card is ridiculous, but I actually like Kaat's. It's different, yet still a great shot of him. And he was a great hitter for a pitcher.

    ReplyDelete
  2. James B. AnamaJanuary 30, 2009 at 5:42 PM

    I love seeing cards of pitchers at bat. It breaks the monotony of seeing them on the mound.

    Regarding the Garvey card, I think you can find a number of cards that makes people wonder...WHAT WERE THEY THINKING!!!

    Sincerely,

    JayBee Anama
    bdj610

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousMay 2, 2009 at 9:08 AM

    Steve,
    Ironically, I am a blog writer over at Freudian Slips. I was writing a short story about a childhood incident involving my passion for collecting baseball cards. I came across your blog in my research. What i am writing about is that when i was 12 my friend said he found a cardboard refrigerator box at a dumpsite half filled with early 1970's baseball cards. i made arrangements to meet him despite being grounded on punishment by my stepfather. my stepfather followed my fast pedal biking to the site of the cards in his cadillac. while swishing my hands through thousands of discarded cards and talking low ball price, my father swooped me off the street. now my father was signed by the Phillies, loved baseball, but had no empathy for me ignoring my punishment. he swooped me off the street and I never saw those cards again. i left card collecting for decades. at the age of 45, i used the internet to complete a 1973 set, with my luck paying mega dollars for the same pennywise cards I had been seperated from. the last card I needed was Steve Garvey and yes, i thought the same damn thing...I waited thrity two years to see the back of Wes Parker's uniform.......lol -Joseph Tornatore

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