Roberto Clemente Signature "Bob"
 

Came across this and it looks like he signed it Bob Clemente instead of Roberto. I always thought that he did not like to be called Bob and preferred Roberto. Can anyone verify if that was just a story that wasn't true or did he only want to be called Roberto.
https://i.postimg.cc/xCvYtqZq/lf.jpg

We had a lengthy discussion of this topic, perhaps several months ago, if you can find it. Bottom line, there is evidence he did not in fact, like to be called Bob. Still, it’s not terribly surprising that once in a while he might’ve signed that way.

One other possibility here is that PSA missed the mark with their "opinion" that this signature is indeed authentic. (I'm not rendering an opinion that they for sure did miss it...just pointing out that it is in the realm of possibility.)

This might be the previous thread that Peter mentions:

https://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=243547

and a shorter thread where some examples of Clemente signing as "Bob" are given, and his signature is discussed:

https://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=230416

I had an authentic "Bob" Clemente signature at one time I sold it through REA a few years back. It looked nothing like the one posted above. I have never seen an autograph on 1955 Topps card that I would be comfortable buying.

Well I bet "don't call me Joey" Albert Belle wouldn't sign a card with Joey. And Giancarlo Stanton didn't sign many items "Mike".

Why would a player sign something with anything but what they preferred to be called?

I've heard Roberto Clemente being called "Bob" Clemente, but most of the time it's always been "Roberto". Maybe Roberto saw a HUGE line of people that wanted his autograph and figured he could get through the line faster by signing them "Bob". :p

I have less faith in TPG authentication of autographs than I do with TPGs subjectivity in grading of cards.

While it is oft said today that "Bob" was offensive or he hated it on blogs and boards, I have yet to see a primary source for this claim whenever I ask for one. He seems to have signed his name as Bob some of the time, making it difficult for me to see how the narrative can be correct. Perhaps evidence will surface to clear it up.

There aren't a ton of Clemente interviews out there if you are looking for primary sources. But there are numerous articles describing his objection to being called "Bob."

For instance, this SABR article: "Prince was celebrating his 25th anniversary in broadcasting, and Clemente invited him to Puerto Rico, where he described him as “one of the best friends I have in the world” – indeed, Prince might have been the only person who could refer to Clemente as Bobby and not be upbraided for it – and bestowed on him one of his prized possessions: The silver bat he was presented in 1961 for the first of his four batting titles."

I'm aware of these much later articles stating this claim. Where they got this claim is the question, as nobody can seem to locate a primary source.

Let's use this SABR example here to illustrate the problem, and its claim that Clemente didn't like the name and would upbraid anyone but Bob Prince who called him Bobby. No citation is made directly for this claim, but the content of the Prince discussion here seems to come from citations 9 and 11 (10 is an endnote without a citation about something else). These citations are to Kal Waggenheim's 1973 biography of Clemente. I don't have a print copy, but I have a digital. I searched for every instance of "Prince" in the book and read every page it appears. Nowhere in this book, which does not have any footnote or endnote citations of its own sourcing, does the claim appear at all. So then I searched for "Bobby" and checked every time that word appears.

In fact, the book does quote Bob Friend referring to Clemente as Bobby. It also has a long section from Tony Bartirome, about his memories of "the good friend he called Bobby". Tony said "Everybody knows what kind of ball player Bobby was, but I'll miss him the most as a man. He was probably the best friend I ever had in this game", before recounting some anecdotes about Clemente through which he repeatedly calls his friend Bobby (Clemente called him "dago").

So where did SABR get this claim from? I don't know. Certainly not from this book that the rest of the Prince comments are taken from. This book, in fact, strongly suggests he had other friends who called him Bobby without any controversy.

I ask each time it comes up, I've never seen a real source for this story. Everything from the time seems to suggest the opposite, as far as I can find. When something is linked, it is a secondary source that, upon reading its citations, reveals the citations do not support what it says at all. It seems to be a story that people like, but that does not make such a story so. A claim to fact needs to have evidence, in all things. If I say Bismarck did this, or Frederick Douglas did that, or Babe Ruth did X or Roberto Clemente thought Y, I should be able to point to actual evidence.

We do know that Albert Belle hates "Joey", but he indeed signed that way as a rookie. Don't you dare ask him to do so now, though!

The fact that he allowed his close friends to call him Bob or Bobby is not a great indicator that he didn't dislike the press, or people that weren't his friends to call him Bob or Bobby. But yes, there may be no primary sources proving that he didn't like to be called Bob.

IF Clemente hadn't objected to Bob, why did Topps change his cards back to Roberto in 1970?

Somewhat of a fair point, but if it was indeed his objection that stopped the practice, it took him about 13 years to say something, so he couldn't have cared all that much.

Just because it took Topps 13 years to change it back to Roberto doesn't mean it took Roberto 13 years to object.

Exactly.

Not a primary source, but from the Hall of Fame.

Another practice of the media also upset Clemente. It did not involve his teammates, but rather had to do with his heritage and ethnicity. A number of writers and broadcasters insisted on calling Clemente “Bob” or “Bobby,” instead of his given name of Roberto. Even Clemente’s baseball cards listed him as “Bob Clemente,” a practice that persisted through the 1969 Topps set. Clemente did not like this practice, an effort at Americanizing him. He felt that it was disrespectful to his Puerto Rican and Latino heritage. When members of the media interviewed him and called him Bob or Bobby directly, he would correct them. “My name is Roberto Clemente,” he said repeatedly. In spite of his complaints, the practice of referring to Clemente as Bob, especially in print, would continue throughout the 1960s.

Maybe because he was also and more commonly known by Roberto.

Any claim to fact should have an evidentiary basis, whether I like it or not. If there is no evidentiary basis, it is just a myth people have created. There’s not a separate rule set for claims I like or dislike. Maybe there is a real source for this claim, but I’ve never seen one and nobody ever provides one. Thus I am skeptical of the claim, as one should be of any claim to fact they hear from anyone about anything for which no evidence surfaces. In this particular instance of the general “Bob” legend, the source even contradicts the story being told and unequivocally does not say what the article claims. There are many stories of history told that I like; but it doesn’t make them so.

Of course a primary source would be better, but I am betting there are all sorts of things we accept as received wisdom for which there are no primary sources.

Yes people believe many myths. That doesn’t make it correct, or true or wise. If we choose to believe myths we like just because we like them, without evidence, we are not rational people.

1) We have, for the narrative: unsourced claims of current writers and internet boards, and that Topps called Clemente Bob on only some, instead of all, of his Topps cards.

2) We have, against: that he sometimes signed as Bob and primary sources claims that at least some of his friends called him Bobby and that there is apparently no evidence he objected (if it exists, it can be posted and terminate the debate instantly).

To believe 1 over 2, with the evidentiary body provided, demands throwing reason away to select what one would like to select anyways.

It would be nice to know where the Hall of Fame writer got his facts.

That is how we should feel about any and all claims to fact, and the importance of citing one’s sources (and then checking said sources; many times it turns out the document cited does not say what the writer claims it says, as in the SABR case) and prioritizing evidence over feeling.

It's interesting that in 1963 Fleer called him Roberto. Also 1962 and 1963 Post Cereal. I think too all the Kahn's issues. Supports, somewhat, the Topps were assholes about it theory.

OK, maybe, but maybe not. Let's say he objected early on and "Topps were being assholes" for years after the fact. If it truly mattered so much to him, why didn't he just pull a Maury Wills and tell Topps to take a hike when it came to using his image, etc.? Surely, Roberto didn't need their insulting chicken scratch or a new dishwasher or whatever. He could buy whatever he wanted without Topps' paltry payout.

Suppose he wanted his cards available to the young Latin fans for whom he was a hero and pioneer>

This 'Bob' talk is from a while back, post #1239 in the “365 Days of Roberto Clemente” thread, but it fits in here.
https://www.net54baseball.com/showth...249493&page=16

It references this video (which is very cool!):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFEH5nxSoKc
.................................................. .................................................. .......

There was something, perhaps unnoticed by most, rather interesting in the video I posted, and I forgot to mention it. The interviewer repeatedly (respectfully) addresses Clemente as Roberto. And when he mentions how the press skipped over his 3,000th hit, he says something to the effect of, "Roberto Clemente only got a line or two in the magazine," etc. But at times when they're chatting, he unhesitatingly calls him "Bobby." They were clearly friends, or friendly towards each other. The demeanor between the two, the body language, etc., shows warmth, if not affection. These days (in hindsight), people love to bring up how 'racist' it was that he was called 'Bob' on many of his baseball cards (those same people just ignore the fact that a gazillion other players of all colors named Robert or William were called 'Bob' or 'Bill' on their cards, as that's clearly the accepted American shorthand for those names.) But if the people around him were using 'Bobby' when they conversed, then you have to wonder if that specifically ever really was as big an issue as some would have you believe.

(Please, for the love of God, no one start a friggin' argument about this. I'm just noting something that has puzzled me the last couple of years since I first heard that particular claim. While growing up, not once did I ever hear that 'Bob' Clemente was a racist thing.)

On a side note, I did a quick ebay search for "1964 Topps Bob" and came up with this long list of other (baseball) players who had the name 'Bob' or 'Bobby' on their cards that year. Surely, some of these 33 players went by Robert (or some other name) in their everyday lives, right??

Bob Allen
Bob Allison
Bob Aspromonte
Bob Bailey
Bobby Bolin
Bob Bruce
Bob Buhl
Bob Chance
Bob Duliba
Bob Friend
Bob Gibson
Bob Heffner
Bob Hendley
Bob Johnson
Bob Kennedy
Bobby Knoop
Bob Lee
Bob Lillis
Bob Meyer
Bob Miller
Bob Perry
Bob Priddy
Bob Purkey
Bob Rodgers
Bob Sadowski
Bob Saverine
Bob Shaw
Bob Skinner
Bob Taylor
Bob Tiefenauer
Bob Tillman
Bob Uecker
Bob Veale

You know I love you Jolly, but I am not sure these Bobs apply. Aren't they all Americans? I think it is different to call an American Robert Bob than it is to call an Hispanic Roberto Bob.

That being said. Maybe it was just a Topps employee’s oversight, rather than overt racism or evilness.

There's no argument either way here with me, just pointing out some facts. We'd have to ask each player if labeling him 'Bob' on his card was what he wanted. Is there any first-hand info from Mr. Clemente himself?

My point is that 'Bob' has always been a ready shorthanded version of Robert in America, so it naturally would also be used with the 'semi-strange' name of Roberto (spelled the same with an additional 'o' at the end). Were there many Robertos playing at the time? It's a pretty common name in America now, but back then?

We are supposed to make the assumptions required to arrive at the conclusion that was determined desirable before the inquiry, and dismiss the primary evidence and testimony of his friends that there was not a real issue here.

Random tidbit: Roberto Clemente Walker chose the number 21 because his 3 names added up to 21 letters:

""He was hitting nothing but line drives and making lots of outs," recalls infielder Geene Freese, whose Forbes Field locker was next to Clemente's. "Meanwhile, I'm hitting blooper all over the place and batting .340. I told him, "You have a terrible number there. He said "What do you mean?" I said, "13 that's unlucky".

Clemente resolved to find a new number. He wrote out his full name-R-o-b-e-r-t-o-C-l-e-m-e-n-t-e-W-a-l-k-e-r (in Hispanic cultures, the mother's maiden name follows the father's surname)--added up the letters and decided 21 was a good fit.

The number was available because first baseman Tony Bartirome, who opened the season wearing 21 had been sent down."

Source: Indiana Gazette article by Bob Fulton, June 17, 2005

Bob/Roberto debate notwithstanding, I'm no autograph expert but a cursory search of his known signatures makes the 55 look suspect as hell.

We had a "Bob" Clemente autographed piece from 1957 a few auctions ago. It seems it was not long thereafter that he changed to Roberto. I've never seen a later piece autographed as Bob.

https://thecollectorconnection.com/b...e?itemid=41345

Interesting conversation, I’ll voice no opinion one way or another. Nor will
I judge anyone for their comments or opinions. Nonetheless, Clemente was not from a foreign country. Like all Puerto Ricans he was born an American citizen. As such I would disagree that calling him Bob was an effort to Americanize him.

Beto is usually the shorten form of Roberto in Spanish speaking countries.

Yes, Puerto Ricans are technically Americans. But to White America, they were foreign sounding (and looking), and were treated differently. I should have more accurately said that calling Roberto Bob may have been a way to "Anglicize" his name.

Check out the attached article from June 7, 1955 in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette where Roberto firmly states what he wants to be called and where the newspaper goes to great lengths to emphasize the different way he pronounced certain words:

""My name eet is Roberto Enricque Clemente Walker….Just Roberto Clemente, thas all….This Enricque is middle name. Walker eet is my mother's name. In Puerto Rico, people she use father and mother's name. I use Roberto Clemente in thees country.""

I'm wondering, did Topps try to Anglicize any other players names.

I see Roberto Pena and Roberto Rodriguez were named Roberto on their 1960's Topps cards, so obviously there was no giant conspiracy to eliminate the Robertos of the world. :)

I’ m not sure if Topps was the reason but Vic Power is really Vic Pellot. In fact, he played in the PR Winter League as Vic Pellot.

Mine was on a 1967 Topps card, so it was at least late 60s.

Americanize is the wrong word, they tried to Anglicize him. Call him an English language version of his name instead of his actual Spanish name.

When Roberto came to the mainland, he was shocked at the racism he faced, both as being black and Latino. He was American and wasn't subject to racism in Puerto Rico. So when white Americans would call him an Anglicized version of his name, he was not receptive of it. As has been pointed out, when it was friends, he knew it was not meant badly, but from strangers he was always skeptical due to the way strangers treated him.

This name has nothing to do with Topps and the Power name predates Topps.



I can’t find any evidence that Topps was renaming people to be
assholes, or even renaming people at all (who all continued to sign with them every year for basically nothing). I’m sure some evidence will come up soon. Any minute now. Yep.

It is interesting though, as I pointed out, that every other manufacturer called him Roberto throughout the same period; at least as far as I can tell.

Not from Clemente's mouth, but his friend Osvaldo Gil says in this video that Roberto Clemente didn't want to be called Bob at 20:38: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwGfbgg88fY

Split the difference
 

Calling him Bobbyo should satisfy both sides.;)

This is a piece of actual evidence.

~Ten seconds before it, Dick Groat calls him Bobby.

For: Osvaldo Gil says in this documentary that he corrected people who called him Bob or Bobby to Roberto.

Against: Similar testimony of several teammates and Pirates, Bartirome's foremost. That he sometimes signed his name as Bob. That he continued to give Topps his rights for almost nothing even as they called him Bob, as many people did.

It could be he was OK with people with whom he was close calling him Bob or Bobby but not with the world in general. I would get that if it was true. My family always called me Pete but I never went by that otherwise.

Yes, this point has been made several times. I guess Greg isn't buying it.

And if it really was his common and acceptable nickname, why didn't other companies use it, and why did Topps change it back in 1970?

It very well may be. I just don't know why we would ignore evidence to assume that. That doesn't make sense. Gil's claim is not this, that he liked one name from friends and another from the public. He says Roberto corrected "everyone". Other testimonies don't seem to mesh with this, the only piece of evidence found in favor of the general narrative.

Again, just go with evidence. That's it.


This has increasingly become a part of the Clemente legend as time has passed; I would guess because it fits with our cultural perspective in 2023 but I won't claim to know others thoughts without direct evidence. I buy whatever evidence shows, not whatever people say or like. I know that evidence, then conclusion, instead of the reverse, is a generally unpopular concept on the board.

You are biased just like every human. You just like to hide it in your talk about Aristotle, and reason. If I had a nickel for every time you used the phrase "Any claim to fact should have an evidentiary basis" while at the same time showing your biases, I could afford a '52 Mantle .

To me, the 1970 change -- on its face -- is at least some evidence supporting the general narrative.

And here's another issuer from 1963 calling him Roberto.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/11572172299...Bk9SR4DPyZmAYg

Why did they change it to Bob in 1957 in the first place? His name is Roberto on his 1955 and 1956 Topps cards, why change it?

Obviously every person has a bias - I have many of them. I claim we should separate statements of my opinions from claims to actual fact. I claim that we should provide evidence for a claim to fact. Feel free to point out a claim to fact here that is incorrect.

I think that claims to fact should be built on evidence, and that the research should be before the conclusion. You know, very basic logic of the middle school variety. I know that’s unpopular with people that prefer to not have an evidentiary basis or have to ascertain facts. I have never noticed a correlation between being correct and ignoring an evidentiary basis. If my biased dumb ass can handle basic logic, I’m sure you brilliant gentleman may do so as well.

Unless Topps has some sort of documentation of both changes in their archives, we will never know.

People hear stuff and read stuff and just repeat it without ever checking to see if its true. Nowhere is that more true than when it comes to 1919 Black Sox, people continually repeat the lies of the 8 Men Out book and movie. But thats a different discussion. :)

Not taking sides here, but I note that Clemente's 1967 Topps card has a facsimile signature of "Bob". Assuming it was taken from an actual handwritten exemplar, it would seem he had signed in this way. I suppose it could be fake or that Topps scoured all over to find a "Bob" sig to reproduce. I could not find such usage in any of his other cards, including Kahn's, Kellogg's and a couple of local issues. Maybe our friends from the autograph side can shed some light on how frequently Clemente signed as "Bob".

Hate to burst the bubble in the room but in my opinion I see a rushed and squished Roberto and not the "Bob" everyone's talking about. Look at the first letter of the signature. It looks just like the facsimile R for Roberto's signature which leads me to believe it is an R and not a B.

But it very clearly cuts off after "b." So you think he signed it "Rob" Clemente? Very confusing.

Speaking of his facsimile sigs, what's going on with 1959?

I think what I said: that it’s just a rushed and squished version of Roberto. His last name comes right up the border of the card so maybe he just squished it in. I don’t know what else to think about the R in his facsimile signature, which is pretty distinct, looking like the first letter in his in person signature. I don’t see two different letters I see two R’s.

The one in our auction was very clearly Bob.

I’m glad you brought this up. One of the biggest myths on this Board is that “ears don’t change” when aging. This fallacy is used to ID players in photos (especially in comparing the photos of the younger player to his older shelf).

This is from WebMD:

“You may have heard that your nose and ears never stop growing. As you get older, you might notice that your nose looks bigger or your earlobes look longer than they did when you were younger. Is there any truth to the idea that they are still growing?

Your nose and ears indeed change as you get older, but it isn’t that they’re growing. Instead, what you’re seeing is the effects of skin changes and gravity. Other parts of your body change in the same ways, but your ears and nose are more visible and more noticeable.”

The encyclopedia Britannica:

“ While Clemente amassed a mountain of impressive statistics during his career, he was often mocked by the print media in the United States for his heavy Spanish accent. Clemente was also subjected to the double discrimination of being a foreigner and being Black in a racially segregated society. Although the media tried to call him “Bob” or “Bobby” and many of his baseball cards use “Bob,” Clemente explicitly rejected those nicknames, stating in no uncertain terms that his name was Roberto.
There was also confusion over the correct form of his surname. For 27 years the plaque at the National Baseball Hall of Fame read “Roberto Walker Clemente,” mistakenly placing his mother’s maiden name before his father’s surname. Only in 2000 was it changed to its proper Latin American form, Roberto Clemente Walker.”

My $0.02 : Clemente suffered the Dick Allen Effect.

Double post

Bob
 

Yea, after looking at that sig again.. its looks like a lot more then just - b-o-b,..I think a rushed scribbled Roberto

I'm pretty unconvinced by all of the supposed "Bob" Clemente signatures.

I think its pretty easy to forge a signature, and the memorabilia world is rife with fakes that have been identified as authentic by the "experts".

I am also unconvinced by the 1967 Topps card's supposed "Bob" Clemente signature. We are talking about a company that routinely airbrushed and tampered with photographs. At least one person doesn't even think it says Bob, but rather "Rob" which adds another wrinkle.

I am also unconvinced that Topps was overtly racist or had malevolent intentions in calling him Bob. On the back of both the '57 and '62 cards, for instance, he is referred to as Roberto. I think Topps calling him Bob was probably a sloppy oversight.

What we can say for certain, is that he unequivocally told the Press in 1955 that he wanted to be called Roberto Clemente (see post#34). Whether that changed later in his life, we may never know for sure.

This is a very interesting topic. The Topps usage and changes over time especially. Why would Topps unilaterally make the change to Bob without asking him? And why was the change made to Bob in the first place if no one called him Bob? Surely if he asked for a change back to Roberto, Topps would have made the change for him, right? Certainly for the year after he requested the change. Why would Topps refuse to use the name he wanted? I don’t buy the idea that he allowed “Bob” just so he had a card. There would be a card of him every year either way, why not have it be the name he wanted? And why was the change made to Bob in the first place if no one called him Bob? That’s the part I’m confused about. Some random, rogue Topps employee doing this and having it stick for years doesn’t logically make any sense.

On the flip side, no one calls me Andy, always Andrew my whole life. If I had a card, and it said Andy on it, my initial thought (now) would be like you gotta change that thing asap. Like yesterday. However, when I was a young kid 15 1/2 working my first job, they made a shirt for me that said “Andy” on it. They didn’t ask me, just printed it that way. And I wore it that way the entire time I worked there because I thought it was funny. So who knows!

I guess the threshold question to answer is: as a general matter, do we know what power players had over what exact name was put on a Topps card? And are there other players whose name/nickname changed on the front of their cards over the course of their Topps run?

Dick Allen. When he came up the Phillies called him “Richie” to make him less threatening. Allen hated that name. But his cards from 1964-70 had either “ Richie” or “Rich”.

Someone already mentioned Albert/Joey Belle. Topps decided to use "Rock Raines" on Tim's cards, but I want to say that was only for one year.

Tony Oliva was Pedro on his RC. There have been many others.

Ironically or not, Roberto, Bobby, and Bob Avila all appeared on different cards. Topps used Bobby. Bowman and Red Man used Roberto.

Orestes Minoso.

One guy who did not mind being called Bob. Signed his name that way all the time.

Then, there's Carlos Trevino, the elder, lesser-known brother of Alex. He had no major issue MLB cards, but was called "Bobby" for reasons unknown to me. He also apparently didn't mind the nickname, as he usually signed "Carlos 'Bobby' Trevino" post-career.

Miguels Gonzalez and de la Hoz are among several Miguels who had no problem being referred to as Mike, as they usually signed with the Americanized version of their first name.

Fun stories. Reminds me a bit of my own family history.

My great grandfather, Giuseppe Tranquillo Pinoli, immigrated to the US in 1901, ultimately landing in a rural part of NorCal known as Anderson Valley, along with his 4 brothers. On old maps of the area, there's even a part of Philo labeled as "Ite-Town", showing where the Italians all lived. Shortly after arriving, Giuseppe started to go by Joe. Even went so far as to sign just about everything Joe. After convincing my great-grandmother to move to the US (they were married in San Francisco after she arrived in 1913), and when they started having kids, a family friend convinced them to give the kids all solid American names - Arthur, Inez, Norris, and Raymond. If you happen to go to the Evergreen Cemetery in Boonville, you will notice that even his grave stone uses Joe.

Fast forward a few generations, and after serving a mission in Italy, my father decided all of his kids needed good Italian names. But growing up, everyone at school gave me crap for having a foreign sounding name, so I went by Nick. Took me a while to get a little confidence and realize that I should lean into it a bit more. When I went off to college, I discovered real quick that the ladies all seemed more interested in the exotic fellows. At that point, I dropped Nick and went by my full name Nicolo, and have never gone back.

Of course, if you talk to my mother or any of my siblings, I'm still Nick. And aside from my little nieces who call me Uncle Colo, everyone else calls me by my full name.

Except I guess for BobC, who took it upon himself to call me Nic, and I haven't had the heart to correct him.

I would think the overall chances of Roberto Clemente signing his name as "Bob Clemente" would be pretty slim. Think about Giancarlo Stanton. As long as he went by "Mike Stanton" he didn't sign his name Giancarlo Stanton. Even now that he goes by Giancarlo Stanton professionally, he still uses his original "Mike Stanton" signature because I'm guessing that's how he was used to signing his name his entire life before he decided to go by his birth name.

He didn't start signing his name any differently and as far as I know unless specifically asked to sign Giancarlo he doesn't.

Long after he changed his name, didn't Ali occasionally sign as Cassius Clay?

He definitely did because there are some Cassius Clay signatures out there that were clearly signed late in life but again he wouldn't just be walking around doing that. I'm sure that was part of an organized signing.

Slight diversion, but who said about Clemente, he could field a ball in New York and throw out a runner in Pennsylvania?

Vin Scully: https://calltothepen.com/2018/04/13/...clemente-mays/

Such a great line. Now back to his signature before Trent gets on my case for going off topic. :D

This guy:

David Ortiz' LAST name changed.

George/Jorge Orta. I actually wrote to Topps thinking I found another incredible variation. Alas...