Monday, April 13, 2020

Vintage backgrounds: Payne Park

Moving into the 1973 Topps set. Some fabulous photos in this set, perhaps none more popular than the famous "parking lot card".
Was this a high school field? A used-car lot? Nope, this was Payne Park in Sarasota, FL, spring home of the White Sox from 1960 to 1988. As you can see in this photo from the Sarasota Herald Tribune, there was a parking lot immediately behind the right field fence. Probably team and/or stadium employees, maybe even player parking. Must have been a lot of broken windows!
The ballpark (and the building you see behind right field, also visible on the card, were torn down in 1990. The site is now the location of the Payne Park Tennis Center.
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2 comments:

  1. gcrlApril 13, 2020 at 2:58 PM

    this is good info bo! i can't wait for heritage in a couple of years to see how they mimic many of the cards in the 73 set.

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    Replies
    1. night owlApril 13, 2020 at 11:40 PM

      Unfortunately, this card probably won't get Heritage treatment because it is card No. 627 and Heritage goes only to 500. (Unless they extend it into Heritage High Numbers, which I don't think Topps has done before).

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