Quote:
Originally Posted by Mungo Hungo
I don't have a dog in the fight, but does it not strike anyone else as odd that "rookie" cards of HOF managers are designated in these lists as their first cards as players? I scan some of these items, and it's hard for me to go any further than Sparky Anderson, whose rookie card is said to be 1959 (or even earlier). To me, it makes no sense. He played one year in the majors and hit .218, so why is his player card the "rookie"? Should it not be his first manager card?
|
Interesting question. So, what do you do with someone like Frank Robinson, who was a player, player/manager, and then a manager? Do you then consider him to have two rookie cards, one as a player and a second as a manager? His '57 Topps card is obviously his player rookie card, but then do you consider his '75 Topps card as his managerial rookie card, even though he was also a player, or do you wait until his '77 Topps card when he quit playing and was just a Manager for the Indians as his rookie managerial card? For all the credit Jackie Robinson got as the first black player in MBL history, the importance of Robinson's accomplishment as the first black manager in MLB history shouldn't be overlooked and just dismissed so easily. Had Robinson not been an obvious HOF caliber player, it is quite possible he would/should have deserved HOF status for being the first black manager in the majors anyway. I figured I'd throw that out there before someone says it should only matter for something a person deserves HOF recognition for.
If you're going to separate and consider a not so great player who later on went into the HOF for his managerial accomplishments instead, and determine and recognize he has a separate managerial rookie card, I would think that concept has to go both ways. So, someone that went into the HOF as a player, but also later on managed, should have separate managerial rookie card as well. And you really can't/shouldn't just limit such thinking to only HOFers, I would think it should be across the board for all players and managers then, and you recognize separate rookie playing and managerial cards for everyone, or you only recognize one rookie card for everyone based on when they first started playing.