Now you see him...

Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn lets the fan in on what the player sees when getting his baseball card photo taken.

Joe Morgan's bodyguard

David had some good guesses about what might be the strangest everyday object on a baseball card. Upper Deck has done the football gimmick a few times. I don't know of any cards with pizza or a video game - does anyone else know of any?

No, the most unexpected item I ever saw on a baseball card is a handgun. If you look at the figure sitting next to Red Sox manager Joe Morgan, you can see the butt of the gun on his hip.


I know a lot of people hate the Red Sox, but do they really need to pack heat in the dugout for protection?

Unexpected objects

It can be interesting to look for non-baseball related objects on baseball cards. Sure, there are the gimmicky cards which have players holding hockey sticks or fire hoses or surfboards, and these are great, but it can be fun to look for ordinary non-baseball-related objects which find their way into the picture.

You may be surprised how many times cars find their way into the shots. OK, so draft pick Wayne Gomes was photographed in his high school parking lot:

But a lot of early 80s cards taken in spring training seemed to indicate that you could practically park your car in right field.


Garbage pails make their way on cards once in a while as well. This happens on minor league cards:

as well as big leaguers in spring training:


But what is the most unexpected, out-of-place object you never thought you would see on a baseball card? To keep you in suspense, I will not reveal it until tomorrow. To give a hint, it is on the card of a Red Sock in a 1991 set. And no, it's not the shopping cart Dennis Lamp used to buy some baseball bats at Safeway in Oakland.


Any guesses?

EPIC FAIL

As the George Brett card I wrote about yesterday shows, baseball cards don't always catch players in their best moments. Usually, however, it is pretty subtle, as was the case in that card. However, there are other times where they show the player clearly doing poorly.

Here's Tyler Houston catching a pitch with his chest instead of his glove:


Scott Bullett lunging for a ball that is juuuuust out of reach:


Mike Greenwell getting gobbled up by the Green Monster as a ball hits way over his head:


And my favorite, Joe Carter missing a home run ball in Yankee Stadium. Looks like that ball is going to hit the kid in the Mattingly T-shirt right in the chest:


I wonder how players feel about pictures like this ending up on their baseball cards?

Painful night for George Brett

Here is one of my favorite cards from 1994 Topps, one of my favorite sets. It features Hall of Famer George Brett batting against the Brewers, with the outfield scoreboard and grassy knoll of Royals Stadium (now known as Kauffman) in the background, one of the nicer pieces of ballpark landscape.

Thanks to the clear view of the scoreboard, it is easy to find out which game it is. The Royals are hosting the Brewers, and it is 4-1 KC in the bottom of the second. A quick search at Retrosheet reveals the game to be one played on June 6, 1993. The Royals actually built up a 6-1 lead in this game, but Milwaukee exploded for a six-run sixth off of starter Chris Haney and reliever Mark Gubizca (didn't know he ever relieved). KC ended up prevailing, with a walk-off double by Chris Gwynn off of Jesse Orosco scoring Hubie Brooks.

So what about Brett? In the second inning, he grounded out to second. That may be what we see here, but it also may be the pitch referenced here, where he fouled a ball off of his foot. He ended up leaving the game, being pinch-hit for by Brooks, who ended up scoring the game's winning run. X-rays were negative, and he was back in the lineup the next night, going 2 for 4. From this angle, it is hard to tell whether the ball is on a trajectory forward toward second base or up in the air after hitting Brett's foot.

Lasorda U

Roger McDowell might be a proud member of Lasorda U, but Bobby Ojeda looks like a more reluctant student.

Judging by that grimace, whatever Tommy is doing here is making Bob very uncomfortable.

Roger McDowell

Madding of "Cards on Cards" speculates that the fire that Mickey Hatcher was putting out was set by notorious pranskter Roger McDowell. If so, it would just one of many odd things Roger has done on cardboard. He has also:

- taken the water hose to Wrigley Field fans


- used a disposable camera with two super soakers aimed down his pants


- stolen teammate Lee Mazzilli's gloves while playing for the Mets


- ignored a kid's request to autograph his Mets program after they traded him to the Phillies


- and, his favorite, sucked on a lollipop while wearing a bandana.


Roger is a red, white and blue blood graduate of Lasorda U.

Great on the front, even better on the back Part Two

Here's another card that was even more fun on the back than on the front. Here is Mickey Hatcher posing with his famous oversize glove on a 1991 Upper Deck card. (He also does this on a 1986 Fleer card that I do not have.

When I finally got the card recently, I was intrigued by the picture on the back even more than the one on the front.

How, exactly, did the bullpen pitching rubber at Dodger Stadium catch fire?!?!

Great on the front, even better on the back.

My favorite part of reading baseball card blogs every day is finding new cards to add to my wantlist of funny pictures on cards. Sometimes, when I get the card, there is an even better bonus on the back. For example, here is a card of Rockies pitcher Roger Bailey, squirting a water gun. It is just those kind of off-beat pictures on cards that I love.

At first, I thought the picture on the back was just a generic shot of Bailey holding a baseball. Then I looked a little closer:

The ball says - "Hi Mom, Send $". Did he know that this picture was being taken for a baseball card that wouldn't be published until the next year? Hope he didn't need the money too soon!

Super Sunday

While Pink Hat Day is a notable example of how multiple card companies carried action from the same game, one can sometimes tell that more than one company was also around for the pregame action.
In 1991, Donruss's photographer caught some New York Met football action before a game at Wrigley Field.

Donruss leaves us in suspense as to the outcome of the play - David Cone is trying to block Jeff Innis's kick. Was he successful?

Upper Deck gives us the answer - yes! The ball must have been blocked, because here is holder John Franco picking up the, er, pigskin, and attempting to run it in for a score. Was he successful? Maybe someone has a Topps or Fleer card with the end of the play?

No Giants in the Super Bowl this year, unfortunately, not even baseball players who think they are Giants, so I'll just be rooting for a close game.