User Lists

If you thought you had finished collecting your favorite player, check this list ... he might be in the background of these cards.

For now, I'm going to omit "traditional" action cards to make the list more manageable in length.

This is my first attempt at a list. I wanted to come up with one that was quirky and challenging to create. I got the idea by watching the 1965 YouTube video of the Reds' Jim Maloney no-hitting the Cubs. Pete Rose batted with a soft cap which had some kind of padded liner on the inside of it (the outline through the cap was quite visible).

As background, by the late 50s the NL and AL said all players must wear batting helmets, but the rule was not enforced. At the Dec. 1970 winter meetings, the major leagues mandated the helmet rule for all players who signed up after that point and "grandfathered" players who signed before that.

Feel free to suggest additional players, but please include a source for them. Thanks.

My detailed daily sports memory didn't start until about 1970. Somewhere along the line I learned about Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito and that was it!!!! It didn't matter that I was in northern NJ (Rangers country) ... it was Boston Bruins all the way!

I'll be adding samples periodically with the goal of getting every team in alpha order. I'm excluding unmarked windbreakers or windshirts. Plus, I won't count jackets worn under jerseys.

Speaking of outerwear, check out the video below for Opening Day at Yankee Stadium in 1970. The NY bullpen pitchers are wearing knee-length hooded parkas (1:43 thru 1:53). Can't recall ever seeing that before in baseball.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jk_fNaL8tz4

Athletes with alternative careers in medicine.

I can think of more, but there are no cards for them:

Jerry Wilson, ex-Hab and later Winnipeg Jets team doctor.

Delano Meriwether, sprinter and hematologist.

Debi Thomas, figure skater and orthopedic surgeon.

Sam Sheppard, pro wrestler and Osteopathic physician-neurosurgeon.

MUST SEE!!! I wasn't a Cubs fan in the early '70s, but I sure knew they had a few stud ballplayers. "King of the Hill" focuses mostly on Fergie Jenkins, but you'll also see many of his teammates and opponents.

PLUSES - Fantastic photography, vintage cactus league uniforms, revealing conversations.

MINUSES - They added a completely phony after-the-fact play-by-play by Jack Brickhouse. Plus, they showed games out of order to create a fake narrative, which only works for people who know nothing about baseball.

High def. version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJfqgY-6B4k

Low def. version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfeArcOP2Yw

UPDATE: I think 32 cards is a good amount to call it complete and I mixed in a few non-Yankee cards for spice.

My dad came home from work one day in 1979 and gave me Sparky Lyle's book as a gift. I had not asked for it, but I guess he knew that I had lived and died with the Yankees during the '76 thru '78 seasons. Holy cow, I assume he did not know how profane and scatological this book was! However, it was also a laugh riot! Here are a few clean or cleaned-up excerpts in chronological order ... the list will be finished when I get to the 1978 World Series.

I queried Louis Requena (1919-2013) under the editorial category at gettyimages.com and it returned 832 pictures! It's a beautiful collection. I'll bet a lot of his 8x10 prints were used for autographs at card shows.

He was NY-based and I'm sure he was on Topps' speed dial ... I posted a few of the cards he must have done, along with his pics that were near duplicates (link included).

I also think many cards were produced from his photo sessions, even if a similar card photo is NOT in Getty. I put in examples of my guesswork, too.

Thanks to the NJ Guv restrictions, I can now play an extra in a remake of 'Slap Shot'. That was just a movie, but here are few genuine shaggy examples during my youth.