N690/N172 Whitey Gibson

[z28jd]

I discovered this purely by a typing accident because I hit the wrong years on Newspaper.com, but I noticed today that the rare N690 Kalamazoo and N172 cards of Whitey Gibson actually show him on different teams. I checked around to see if I could find that info out there, but didn't see it.

Gibson actually caught for the 1887 Phillies in exhibition games during the season. He was loaned out mid-year for a couple of months, but he was with the team for a majority of the year. He ended up in the Kalamazoo set

He then signed with the A's for the 1888 season and got in one game before being released on May 4th. Still was enough time to get him in the 1888 OJ set.

I'd guess that not too many guys show up on cards of two Major League teams with one career game played in the majors. Couldn't find a better N172 scan of him due to rarity.

[oldjudge]

Neat story, John. Gibson is indeed a rare Old Judge card. By my latest count there are three copies known, two in private collections and one at the HOF.

[kkkkandp]

Great discovery, John! 👍