Wednesday, April 16, 2025

1988 Topps Big Cartoon Deep Dive: Carney Lansford

Bit of an awkward looking swing at Cleveland Stadium.

Some interesting cartoons in the back.
Brother Joe in his Padres robes that look like a bathrobe. Joe played in 25 games for the Padres, hitting .200 with 1 HR and 5 RBI. His biggest accomplishment was in the semipro Alaska League, setting a record for the longest home run hit at Anchorage's Mulcahy Stadium.

The center cartoon has the factoid that Lansford was a descendant of Sir Francis Drake, which was also mentioned on his 1987 Topps card. The cartoonist doubles down on the claim - "Really, it's true!"  It turns out that Sir Francis Drake had no known children, and claims to be the heir to a supposed Drake inheritance were so common at one point that the British government put out a statement that there is no Drake fortune. (Drake's wife inherited the pirate admiral's fortune, which was later turned over to the government.) The 1980 Topps Blog says he is also related to Tex Ritter (and therefore, I suppose, John Ritter) but there is no source for that claim and I did not see any other references to that connection.
 

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2 comments:

  1. gregoryApril 16, 2025 at 1:00 PM

    I could picture Carney yukking it up with John Ritter during the Three's Company era.

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  2. FujiApril 17, 2025 at 9:58 PM

    I'd love to hear Lansford talk about him being a descendent of Sir Francis Drake. I wonder if he used it to pick up chicks. He probably would have had better luck telling them he was related to Jack Tripper.

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