The odd, the interesting… cards that have a hellluva story
 

I’ve been toying with this for awhile - my baseball cave is stuffed with great old HOF legends, cards, programs, memorabilia, etc. I love it.

But I would like to create a small area of the room for cards that are either themselves odd and/or have a backstory. Or the cards are of players whose stories are interesting, especially to the non baseball guest in my own little happy space.

I just made 3 purchases today to start:

- Michael Jordan, 1991 UD baseball card
- Billy Ripken FF card 1989
- and matching 1972 Yankees cards of Fritz Peterson and Mike Mekich (assume most of you know THAT story! 😬)

I’m trying to keep this budget friendly but would welcome other suggestions for my own little oddball baseball stories told through cardboard.

Thx for any suggestions!

Jeff

You might as well get matching 1978 Indians cards of Rick Manning and Dennis Eckersley while you’re at it.

There’s plenty of funny cards to add, as they are great display pieces for the layman. I keep the 1996 Pinnacle Bob Hamelin on my desk as I think it’s right up there for the worst card ever produced and I like when people ask why I have it there.

The 1984 Fleer Glenn Hubbard Snake card is a good one and has a funny back story- https://www.mlb.com/news/glenn-hubba...story-revealed

A darker card would be the 1990-91 Hoops Mark Jackson card as it features the Menendez Brothers sitting in the front row.This set was issued several months after they were arrested for the murders and was not noticed for quite some time.

Yep, those definitely meet the criteria… I’m also trying to recall the old timer ballplayer who died (sorry, another dark story) when he fell over Niagara Falls… that may be another candidate “card with a story” criteria.

Do you mean Ed Delehanty?

That would be Ed Delahanty. A couple of Cubs come to mind, Billy Jurges and Eddie Waitkus, but I would steer clear of a third, Mel Hall. ETA, a minute late as usual.

Eddie Waitkus is a good suggestion. How about Ray Chapman and Carl Mays?

Oh, and Moe Berg of course.

Sherry Robertson

There are a lot of cool cheap oddball cards. A fellow member has a few listed on his website. Go to www.billripken.com and click on the adult card link.

Everyone should own this Chuck Finely card:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...42e2b7618d.jpg

The Waitkus to include is the 1955 Bowman with his greatest thrill in baseball

I doubt that David Coverdale owns one or has any interest in one :D.

I was always fascinated by cards of Ted Davidson. (1965 to 1968 Topps)

https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=MT19670310.2.67

When a hearing was held to determine her case, Ted did not testify. In fact, he did not show up and his wife was free.

Mike

This is basketball but the 1989 Hoops Mark Jackson card is famous for featuring the Menendez Brothers sitting courtside. This is a very difficult card to find signed by Jackson:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...a9fe4e1e_w.jpg

Didn’t know that. He was never the same and was out of the Majors the next year. He went by Ted because his acronym was TED.

1966 Topps Dick Ellsworth
 

One of the more embarrassing Topps mistakes is the 1966 #447 Dick Ellsworth card.

It actually pictures Cubs 2nd Baseman Ken Hubbs who Died in a Plane crash in February 1964

1. This one is known by everyone, but how about the 1969 Topps #653 Aurelio Rodriguez card where the photograph actually shows the bat boy. A pretty funny switcheroo.

2. Speaking of the ole switcheroo, the 1959 Topps #440 Lew Burdette (a noted righty posing as a southpaw) could be one of a series where the players are shown purposely using the wrong hand.

Here is a card that always makes me smile when I see it and might fit your criteria. Can't remember exactly what the story is behind it, but I believe they used athletic tape to stick the ball to his crotch as a spur of the moment joke when the photographer was there.


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Thanks to Roy Carlson's recent Topps team card work for Sports Collectors Daily, some "new" interesting cards surfaced.

* Pre-RC Tim Raines appears on the 1980 Topps Expos team card
* Thurman Munson appears on the 1980 Topps Yankees team card; he lacks a personal card following his death in a 1979 plane crash
* 1967 Topps White Sox team card shows equipment manager Ephraim Colledge for the final time, that franchise's last link to their Black Sox team
* Stan Musial continued to appear on Cardinals team cards until 1965 due to Topps photo reuse

My favorite "story card" is the T206 George Browne.

Browne was the right fielder for the New York Giants who gave up his position late in a meaningless game to a rookie names Archibald "Moonlight" Grahame.

Wonder what ever happened to that Graham kid?

Those 2 are some of my favorites.

1. Topps messed up again with an Angels rookie when they put Gary Pettis' brother on his 1985 card.

2. Once this happened, many players tried to trick the Topps photographer. I believe there's a 1969 proof of Seaver pitching lefty.

Not Post-war and well not even a card in the normal sense - but interesting none the less. Sorry coudn't resist....

From SCP Auctons....

This rare 1914 Detroit Tigers team panoramic photograph features the legendary Ty Cobb, not once, but twice. Cobb was in his prime, and therefore able to outrace the photographer as he panned from one end of the player lineup to the other. In the old days when this photo was taken, it was necessary for the players to stand still for several seconds as the exposure was completed. This allowed for Cobb to be captured at one end of the picture when the camera shutter opened and sprint behind the camera to the other end before the camera caught up with him. Thus, he appears in the photo twice.

Holy heck, YES to this one for sure!

Who can forget the 1990 Donruss MVP card of John Smoltz that pictures Tom Glavine.

1989 Upper Deck DeWayne Buice. Buice was one of the founding partners of Upper Deck while he was pitching in the Major Leagues

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeWayne_Buice

https://www.ebay.com/itm/38628575418...Bk9SR5ac-Mm9Yw

https://www.ebay.com/itm/33519847325...Bk9SR7Ltq8q9Yw

I am skeptical about Cobb moving during the exposure from one side of the photo to the other. I would think in the daylight in 1914 the exposure time would be a second or two.. or less…. And even if it was a longer exposure Cobb would appear as a “ ghost image “ on both sides of the photo since he didn’t stay stationary for the exposure. Edvard Muybridge was able to successfully stop the action of a horse running in the late 1800s so fast shutter and stop action photography was around well before 1914. Maybe Cobb was printed a second time on the photo in the darkroom with a second negative ?

Here are a couple of good stories that fit this thread:

https://www.sportscollectorsdaily.co...d-revelations/

https://www.sportscollectorsdaily.co...ll-team-cards/

How about these two Michael Jordan cards? These two cards are from the exact same set. These photographs were snapped at the exact same instant, from two different photographers from two different angles.

https://i.postimg.cc/G2gv7Jzy/80-Jor...me-Instant.jpg