I didn't realize this was a mystery. I thought Ted was famous for negotiating hard with card companies and Bowman didn't actually have the right to produce his card thus switching over to Piersall. Topps had to pay him AND agree to give him first and last card. Similar to Fleer getting him exclusively in 1959 except they gave him the whole set.
May just be urban legend but it's what I had always heard.
|