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?
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