Players who are more known for a card than their career.

[novakjr]

Got to thinking about players who are probably more known for a card than their career. I can think of a few. Pre- or Post- war.

Irving Lewis- T207 Brown Border
Bill Ripken- 1989 Fleer F***Face
Alex Gordon- 2006 Topps

I'd probably even add Andy Pafko to this list with his '52 Topps card..

Can anybody think of anyone else that may fall into this category...

[HRBAKER]

Louis Lowdermilk

[novakjr]

After a little more thought, there alot of players who ended up on multi-player rookie cards that would fall into this category. And as great as Jerry Koosman might have been, he probably falls into this category as well. I'm hoping to avoid any multi-player suggestions with this list though..

[Bicem]

Wagner, at least to the general population.

[novakjr]

Originally Posted by Bicem

Wagner, at least to the general population.

Good call. He crossed my mind, and I was wondering if anyone else would even consider him on a list like this. I do agree, he probably belongs here.

[scooter729]

How about Benny Bengough and Dick Hoblitzell...

[sportscardpete]

What about Mr.Magee!

[glchen]

I think most of the short prints fall into this category, including the T206 Big 6. This would include even important HOFers like Nap Lajoie who would not be as famous except for his 33 Goudey card or Lindstrom for US Caramel.

[sb32]

Ten Million, the name definitely helps.

John Halla

[sayhey24]

Shag Shaugnessy and John Halla.

Greg
http://www.baseballbasement.com

1. Ivy Andrews - George C. Miller
2. Fatty Arbarkle- Zeenut
3. Guz Zinn- Baltimore News
4. Mays- NY Nationals Kalamazoo Bats
6. Childs- Just So Chewing Tobacco
7. Baltimore Tip Left Matthewson
8. All the PCL old judge cards
9. All the players in PSA8 in 1949Bowman PCL
10. Niles in J+K

There are literally hundreds, if not thousands of examples, we can site.

Bruce Dorskind
America's Toughest Want List
bdorskind@dorskindgroup.com

[aljurgela]

I may add Plank. He was a great HOF pitcher, but his T206 is legendary.

[hunterdutchess]

To early to say Strasburg?

[rhettyeakley]

T206 Joe Doyle

I disagree agree with the Zeenut Fatty Arbuckle, even my wife knew who he was. She said "isn't he the guy who killed a girl..." Alas, the story isn't true (a girl did die but not like many think) but nonetheless he is much more well known for that incident than he is for a card.

[almostdone]

What about Harry Aggainis from the '55 Topps set?
Drew

[cliftons8]

Mike Mitchell and Andy Pafko

I realize Pafko had a decent career, but most don't know his stats. Most vintage collectors do know the player on card #1 in 1952.

[jp1216]

Originally Posted by novakjr

Bill Ripken- 1989 Fleer F***Face

+1....

[Shoeless Moe]

Bump Wills

[byrone]

To me, just about every player profiled in "The Great American Baseball Card Flipping, Trading and Bubble Gum Book".

At the last National in Baltimore, I bought a baseball autographed by Carlton Willey, just because their brief blurb about him meant so much to me.

[canjond]

Rebel Oakes

[btkpath]

How about Del Pratt from the 1914 Cracker Jack set!

[Bilko G]

Honus Wagner is easily the best fit for this question.

[Jcfowler6]

1984 Olympic Team

[T205]

I go as far as to say 52' topps Mantle.

[Bosox Blair]

Dennis Sullivan

Cheers,
Blair

[Bosox Blair]

Originally Posted by Bilko G

Honus Wagner is easily the best fit for this question.

I respectfully disagree. The easiest answers to this question are players whose careers are long forgotten (or were never worth remembering to begin with), but who happen to have sought-after and/or rare cards.

It is a much tougher argument to say that a man with a spectacular career - a member of the inaugural group elected to the Hall of Fame - is better known for a card than his amazing on-field accomplishments.

Cheers,
Blair

[Collectorsince62]

How about all the "other guys" on multi-player rookie cards? Fritz Ackley is my favorite ('65 T Carlton).

[novakjr]

Originally Posted by Bosox Blair

I respectfully disagree. The easiest answers to this question are players whose careers are long forgotten (or were never worth remembering to begin with), but who happen to have sought-after and/or rare cards.

It is a much tougher argument to say that a man with a spectacular career - a member of the inaugural group elected to the Hall of Fame - is better known for a card than his amazing on-field accomplishments.

Cheers,
Blair

I kind of agree and don't agree with your statement. Amongst true baseball fans, maybe, maybe not. Let's not forget that this is legitimately THE most famous card ever, and the legendary nature of this card might even outshine his spectacular career, or at the very least be on equal footing.

Now outside of a true and knowledgeable baseball fan, often times if you were to mention his name, most people would know him as "that guy with the famous baseball card". You know, "the one that the nuns sold", or "the one that some guy found in their grandpa's attic, that's worth a lot of money." Hell, just about everyone alive has once heard about one of these being found in an attic somewhere. It's pretty much an Urban Legend, right up there with Sasquach, the Chupacabra, the Lochness Monster, and maybe even "Pop-Rocks and soda"..

[cdn_collector]

The two names that immediately jumped into my mind when I read the title of this thread [both already mentioned]:

Bill O'Hara
Ten Million

As for the debate on Honus Wagner, I think I actually agree. If we're considering the general population, I would argue that many know his name simply because of his card. In fact, many people I talk to just know that there is *a* really expensive card -- referring to it as 'the card that Wayne Gretzky used to own' works well up here in Canada -- but very few know who is even on it.

Regards,

Richard.

[murcerfan]

Dreyfus, Konstanty, Bruton, Houtteman and Jablonski
...no, not ambulance chasers

[BleedinBlue]

Oscar Gamble
1976 Topps Traded

1916 PCL Zeenut Jimmy Claxton

[sox1903wschamp]

Originally Posted by almostdone

What about Harry Aggainis from the '55 Topps set?
Drew

You could put Brian Piccolo (69 Topps FB) is this category.

[hangman62]

From that 30s US Caramel set..what was that guys name ? Lindberg ??

[Ejm1]

Originally Posted by BleedinBlue

Oscar Gamble
1976 Topps Traded

The afro is more of a legend than the player and the card.

[itjclarke]

Originally Posted by Ejm1

The afro is more of a legend than the player and the card.

I'm with BleedinBlue on this one.. EVERY kid collector I knew growing up, knew Oscar Gamble (for greatest ever fro) and Bake McBride (for awesome chops) by name, only because of these two cards, but we had no idea who these guys were as players.. turns out both were pretty good ballplayers!

[alanu]

When I first started collecting I had heard a lot more about these cards before I knew a whole lot about the players behind them, even though they are all HOFer's

t206 Wagner
Goudey Lajoie

Bowman Mikan

National Chicle Nagurski

[mets41]

Strasburg--isn't he releated to Joe Charboneau?

[williamcohon]

I think arguing that Honus Wagner fits this category because his t206 is better known to the man on the street than his career, misinterprets the sense of the question. To me, the question means who was not a famous player, but has a famous card?

Some cards of obscure players have become well-known within the hobby. I know Ten Million was mentioned, from the t212 set. But I think Frank Miller may fit even better.

Miller played seven seasons of minor league ball, but had, when the dust settled, a thoroughly forgettable career. He also had a t212 card. Lately, a wealthy descendant has been buying up all of the cards, creating a scarcity and a stir.

Anyone working on the t212 set thinks of the Miller card as a major acquisition. But in 1911, nobody ever pulled Miller out of a pack of Obak cigarettes and celebrated.

The rare R328 card to which you refer is Fred Lindstrom

Only two examples have surfaced.


Bruce Dorskind
America's Toughest Want List
bdorskind@dorskindgroup.com

[Bilko G]

Originally Posted by williamcohon

I think arguing that Honus Wagner fits this category because his t206 is better known to the man on the street than his career, misinterprets the sense of the question. To me, the question means who was not a famous player, but has a famous card?

No the question is "Players who are more known for a card then their careers" and Wagner DOES fit that question perfectly.

Case in point, i was on the phone with my 74 year old mother a few hours ago and asked her of she knew who Honus Wagner was. Exact question to her "Do you know who Honus Wagner is" after about a 5 second pause she said "Isn't he the guy on that rare baseball card?". That was her exact answer. She knew exactly who he was because of his T206 Baseball card. She didn't say nothing about him being a great Baseball player or the first group of members of the HOF. About a minute later as we talked about the card she even asked me "If this was the one that Wayne Gretzky owned"

[vargha]

Don Mossi (at least to card collectors)

[k-dog]

This guy seems to come up a lot on the PSA forums....

[Bill Stone]

Guy Titman ----Richmond T210 ---his name shows up on this board on a regular basis.

[quinnsryche]

I completely disagree with the Christy Mathewson referrence. That card is more famous than the player? Not a chance. I would bet many on this board have never even heard of this card (especially me) but most baseball fans know who Matty is.
Just my .02

[Mark]

On the Wagner question, I think it depends on where you live. If you polled people in the Pittsburgh area asking who Honus Wagner was, most would tell you that he was a great player for the Pirates 100 years ago, when the Bucs were really good. Outside of Western Pa., it might be a different story.

[novakjr]

Originally Posted by alanu

When I first started collecting I had heard a lot more about these cards before I knew a whole lot about the players behind them, even though they are all HOFer's

t206 Wagner
Goudey Lajoie

Bowman Mikan

National Chicle Nagurski

The Wagner and Lajoie are extremes cases in this instance. And while I didn't originally have these two in mind when starting this thread, I did imagine Wagner would potentially come up. Didn't really think much about Lajoie, but that card is perfect as well, but nowhere near the Wagner extreme. Looking back to the 80's and early 90's, we all remember seeing those generic "baseball card starter kits". They usually came with a handful of garbage cards and a few reprints, with the two most memorable being the Wagner and Lajoie. On the backs of these, they both talked about the history of the card, and what it's worth as opposed to talking about the player. I think that things like this helped lead to people caring more about what a card's worth, then they do the player that is on it..

Actually, your mention of Nagurski, got me thinking that the 1955 Topps All-American Four Horsemen card might fit into this category... Sure the nickname is probably more known than the individual players, but I think the card may be even more known that the nickname..

[scmavl]

Somebody beat me to Don Mossi. My other pick would be Wally Moon.

[vargha]

Damn! That is quite the unibrow.

[scmavl]

Originally Posted by vargha

Damn! That is quite the unibrow.

EVERY year, EVERY card... He never trimmed that thing.