1956 Topps Elston Howard question

[Georj]

I was just looking at the 1956 Topps Elston Howard card and noticed that the other player on the card is a Detroit Tiger. Does anyone know who that is, or better yet have the original photo that they used for the card?

[swarmee]

https://img.comc.com/i/Baseball/1956/Topps---Base/208/Elston-Howard.jpg?id=e4214a74-0bca-41be-a9bc-72e664197170&size=zoom
Reference picture

[Georj]

Thanks John for posting the picture of the card but I am really looking for the actual photo that they used to make the card

[commishbob]

The angle is switched up but it's Billy Hoeft. Likely this game on August 6, 1955 (https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA195508060.shtml). Hoeft scored on a Harvey Kuenn double in the sixth.

edit..lemme try again

Here's a link to the pic on Getty (https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/howard-hoeft?phrase=howard%20hoeft&sort=best)

https://i.imgur.com/54hxXHl.png

[Bigdaddy]

Good job Bob. The truth is out there.

[Georj]

That's a very interesting photo. Who is the Detroit Tiger with his hand in the
air and why is he so close to the plate almost screening the umpire? If Billy Hoeft, the runner, scored on a double, the batter should not be standing in the batters box should he?

[savedfrommyspokes]

That's a very interesting photo. Who is the Detroit Tiger with his hand in the
air and why is he so close to the plate almost screening the umpire? If Billy Hoeft, the runner, scored on a double, the batter should not be standing in the batters box should he?

On deck hitter standing there?

[commishbob]

On deck hitter standing there?

Bill Tuttle hit behind Kuenn that day and that certainly looks like him.

[Volod]

Well, he's actually standing just behind the batters box and to the side of the plate ump while giving the runner (Hoeft) the arms up signal that he can score standing and does not have to slide. In those days, any teammate at the plate or in the on-deck circle was expected to provide that help and might be chastised if it was not given. In the modern era, that basic team rule is routinely ignored in many cases. It appears that the wirephoto was taken a second or two after the photo image used on the card because the ump is completely out of the card shot. Seems strange that he would have been intentionally edited out and even stranger that he could move that fast in just a second or two.

[commishbob]

Topps had fun with this sort of thing (there's a terrific thread here on N54 showing pics used for cards).

The action on Sandy Amaro's '56 has the shot of him sliding in under Yogi in the '55 Series. It's is pretty similar to the Howard/Hoeft thing:

395969

395970

Mighty crowded there around the plate. Topps took out everyone but the two principals:

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HccMtSZfrJQ/Wlzqu0xKQbI/AAAAAAAAodM/0hsAEEbsI-0XzCAx2IK-vRloOWjGYEODwCLcBGAs/s400/img153.jpg

Not exactly the same since Amoros' head took up the space where the on deck hitter and the coach(?), batboy(?) were positioned. But still kind of neat.

[Volod]

I think you're right, Bob - Topps must have edited the ump and Tuttle out of the card, but it must have been important to them to have gone to that much trouble - on the Amoros card, they merely had to paste his huge noggin over the other guys - but on the Howard card, it took some really fine detailing to eliminate those guys. Was Topps afraid of legal issues about using images of people not under contract, or something?

[swarmee]

It's not a photograph; it's a drawing based on the picture. So they didn't have to do any fine editing.

[Phil68]

It's not a photograph; it's a drawing based on the picture. So they didn't have to do any fine editing.

Actually...they are colorized photos. Wax pencils were used to edit out things that were not wanted by the mid-50's. The '53 set was actually canvased--which is unreal when you think about it. 1954-1956 were hand colored b/w images...as was '52. The use of the most FANTASTIC looking medium is responsible for the unique look of 1952 Topps. It was called Flexichrome.
Oddly, I have tried numerous tools to prepare art for the cards I produce but nothing quite compares to the magical vibe of Flexichrome.
It screams "1950's".
Here's an outstanding article on the details of Flexichrome and how it came to be and how it was done...
https://www.thetoppsarchives.com/2011/08/mama-dont-take-my-flexichrome-away.html