Names, Tags, Labels and Slang

My last blog entry featured a link to this page of hobby-related slang used by members of OBC, a group of "old school" style collectors that happens to include me. That list includes several "names" given to refer to certain sets.

For example:

1955 Bowman is referred to as the "TV set" for obvious reasons.

 "Horizontals" refer to 1960 Topps, although I argue that 1955 and '56 Topps should also have that name. Especially when you consider that not all '60 Topps cards are horizontal.

1962 Topps are called "Woodies." I suppose the label could also apply to 1987 Topps, but OBC officially stops paying attention in 1980. I didn't say that was right...it's just the way they do things.

"Burlap" refers to the outer edges that appear on 1968 Topps cards.

"Cool Gray" is a nickname for the 1970 Topps set, whose design has been mentioned as one that has aged a lot better than many expected.

 1971 Topps are called "Black Beauties," a name that is quite apt.

 "Psycho" is the name given to the 1972 Topps set, both as a result of its design and that little issue of the higher-numbered cards that keep many from completing it for an awful long time. Not that I'm bitter about it or anything...

And then there's the term "jiggler," which is said to refer to the 1962 and '63 Jell-O sets even though the term is rarely used. In fact, I don't recall ever hearing it used in any type of conversation.

Of course, OBC isn't alone when it comes to giving names to various sets. Right here in the Blogosphere, Night Owl is keeping a list of "define the Design" nicknames for several sets, both within and beyond the scope of what OBC deems its "window." There's one thing for certain...we collectors definitely use slang and jargon, which we can use to identify each other in our own unique geekiness.

The Ultimate "Double Threat"

In its 1955 baseball card set, Bowman got around the problem of not having all the players under contract by issuing cards of umpires in the final series. There were 31 in all, including this one:

Card #315 -- Cal Hubbard

There's one little thing to note, however: while the other 30 arbiters are shown in those black uniforms they once wore during the games, Cal Hubbard is shown in a suit coat and tie. And he's wearing glasses, which umpires usually get told by fans and managers alike that they need.

There's a reason for this picture. Hubbard had been a major league umpire from 1936 until a hunting accident after the 1951 season damaged the vision in his right eye. He was forced to retire, but was named the supervisor of umpires in 1954. So, he was an executive when this card appeared, which explains the suit.

Before Hubbard took his place behind the plate, he excelled on a gridiron. He was an offensive tackle with the Giants, Packers and Pirates (the team now known as the Steelers) from 1927 through 1936. He was considered to be one of the league's best players, good enough to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame's inaugural class in 1963. He actually began umpiring in the minor leagues during his playing days, as his "summer job" when he wasn't playing football.

When he was inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1976, he became the fifth umpire to earn the honor. He also remains the only person who's been inducted into the Hall of Fame in both sports.

What's On the TV Set?

Last week, I showed some cards sent to me by a fellow collector from the 1951 Bowman set. Here are some other cards that came with them from the 1955 Bowman set. There are four in all, and three are Yankees players:

The other card came from the team that had just beaten them for the American League pennant in 1954.

Mike Garcia was known as "The Big Bear" and made up a solid starting rotation of the early 1950s along with Hall of Famers Bob Feller, Bob Lemon and Early Wynn. In '54 he had led the league in ERA and shutouts in what would be his last truly effective year. He remained with the Indians through 1959 and then pitched a season with the White Sox and one for the Senators before retiring.

Born in California and being of mixed Mexican and American Indian heritage, Garcia aspired to become a jockey before he filled out into his 6'1", 200-pound frame. Before playing in the majors, he served in the Army as a signalman during World War II. After hanging up his glove, he stayed in Ohio and ran a dry cleaning business in Parma. He passed away in 1986, on the day of his 35th wedding anniversary.

One of Garcia's later teammates will be remembered by a line drive from this guy:

In 1957, Gil McDougald hit a line drive that struck Herb Score in the right eye. Score had been a promising pitcher who tore up the league the previous two seasons, but that was ended by one unfortunate placement of a ball. While things like line drives are part of the game, McDougald was shaken by the incident, saying he'd walk away from the game if Score were blinded. Fortunately, he came back from the injury in 1958 and it was arm trouble (not a lack of vision) that led to Score's decline.

Despite that one unfortunate incident, McDougald was a solid hitter who remained with the Yankees for his entire ten-year career. In that decade, he appeared in eight World Series and was on the winning team in five of them. In fact, when Bill Mazeroski hit that home run to win the 1960 World Series, he ended more than the Yankees' season...it would be the last time McDougald (who was standing near third base) would play in major league game.

McDougald later became the coach for Fordham University's baseball team and passed away in 2010.

I'm not sure which Yankees players are lining up for their turn in the batting cage in the picture above, but McDougald could be one of them.

Tommy Byrne was part of the Yankee rotation in the late 1940s, earning the nickname "Wild Man" because of control trouble. He led the league in walks issued three times and in hit batsmen five times. He was also dangerous with the bat, hitting 14 home runs and two grand slams. In 1951, he was traded from the Yankees to the St. Louis Browns, a team that lost more than 100 games. After splitting 1953 with the White Sox and Senators, he returned to the Yankees in 1954 and remained with them through 1957.

He had attended Wake Forest, and returned there after retirement. He even served as the mayor of Wake Forest, North Carolina from 1973-'87. He passed away in 2007.

In 1955, Byrne led the American League in Winning Percentage. He didn't lead the team in wins, however. This guy did:

It's not the prettiest card, but it's still welcome in my binder.

More Players on the Tube

My entry on Friday showed different sets that used a television design, and it occurred  to me after I posted it that I really could have given a little more attention to the most famous set that used it, the 1955 Bowman. Yes, I put up a link to an article I wrote about them, but I overlooked the set after that. This post should help rectify that somewhat.

The final baseball card set issued by the Bowman Gum Company before Topps bought them out was designed to look like a color TV set:

Card #4 -- Eddie Waitkus, Baltimore Orioles

The woodgrain border gave it the right look, since televisions then were built inside a wooden box, not the plastic shell most of us are familiar with. The "picture tube" is curved, and the design even features a border that looks like the one that separated the screen from the exterior. The card also featured this element that made the visualization even more perfect:

A faceplate. While this one didn't use a logo for RCA, Admiral or any other maker of televisions, you can see two knobs. The volume knob is on the left and the channel selector (VHF) is on the right.

No, there was no vertical hold on the back. Instead, the cards looked like this:

Most of the cards feature a short passage with a title like "My Biggest Thrill," "The Toughest Pitcher (or Batter) I've Ever Faced" and "My Advice to Youngsters." Reading through these cards, it seems Ted Williams and Stan Musial were the most respected hitters (although neither appear in the set) and Bob Feller was named often among the pitchers.

I'm going to stop for a moment and show something from the Waitkus card shown above:

That's quite a way to begin a story. I'm not going to rehash it -- that can be a topic for another post -- but Eddie Waitkus's story is interesting. I'd recommend looking it up if you're not familiar with what happened to him.

The first 64 cards in the set were given a blonde-colored wood border, but it was decided that the pictures stood out with a darker color. So, just like the models in the showroom at the appliance store, a new border was added:

Card #95 -- Sal Maglie, New York Giants

Sal looks a little bit disturbed, so I'll move on...

The change from a blonde wood to cherry wasn't sudden. The new color was introduced along with the older, as this Dick Cole card can attest:

Card #28, Dick Cole, Pittsburgh Pirates

There is a streak of a cherry-colored border down the left side. Some collectors need to know that cards like this are occasionally found short, since collectors sometimes trimmed off the extra border. Other collectors, however, didn't stop there:

Card #108 -- Lou Kretlow, Baltimore Orioles

While that's an extreme example, the darker borders are very susceptible to damage. They are frequently found trimmed or recolored to hide some of the damage. I knew a collector who was well on his way to building a killer top-grade set and eventually quit out of frustration after finding that some of his cards had been altered when he began submitting them to a third-party grader.

As you may have noticed, many of the photos used in the set have noticeable towers in the background. They were taken at Shibe Park in Philadelphia, which had been home to the Bowman Gum Company as well as two major league teams. While there are other stadiums used (notably Ebbets Field and Yankee Stadium), most of the pictures were taken there during the 1954 season. Unfortunately, the A's moved to Kansas City for the 1955 season, so Bowman would not have had the benefit of two leagues passing through their home city to get photos for '56. Topps took care of that little problem by purchasing the company.

Card #239 -- Edwin Rommel

The final series of 1955 Bowman cards included a subject that had never been seen on baseball cards: umpires. There were 31 in all. While the kids of '55 likely had issues with cards of old men in their uniforms, collectors find them intriguing, since a number of the arbiters are now Hall of Fame members and these cards represent their only appearance in a mainstream set.

Several errors appear in the set as well. Here's a card for a young player from the Detroit Tigers:

Card #204 -- Frank Bolling

There are two different backs for this card:

Frank and Milt Bolling were brothers who played at the same time. Despite being on different teams, Bowman still managed to confuse them. Not only did they mess up card #204, the same error was found on card #48 (Milt Bolling's card).

Bowman also managed to confuse the non-related Don and Ernie Johnson (cards 101 and 157) and also had to go back and correct Harvey Kuenn's card after spelling his last name as "Kueen." In all cases, the corrected versions are the rarer ones. Additionally, Card #195 of Erv Palica can be found with or without a line on the back saying he'd been traded to Baltimore. I'd show mine, but a former owner already placed the notation on the back for me.

Despite not being able to get their Bollings straight, another brother combo was given their own card:

Card #139 -- Bob and Bill Shantz

Interestingly, each brother had his own card in the set as well. There was no confusion, though. Perhaps being in Bowman's home city was a benefit.

Players on the Tube

On Monday, I revisited an article I'd written several years ago. Today, I'll do it again.

In 2004, I wrote a newsletter article about the 1955 Bowman set and the then-new invention of color TV. The article appeared again in 2007 in the SMR magazine that PSA puts out. Click here to read it (in PDF format).

However, what many collectors don't realize is that the '55 Bowman set wasn't the first to use a television design. That honor goes to the 1950 Drake's set:

Card #22 -- Eddie Stanky

While many collectors remember Drake's for the cards they included on the packaging of their various snack boxes during the 1980s, in 1950 they were a smaller regional bakery and these cards were available in packages of oatmeal cookies or "Jumble" cookies. The cards aren't impossible to collect, but they weren't widely collected when they were new and the black borders make them tough in high condition.

For more about the 1950 Drake's set, here's a link to the set description in my main site.

After 1955, the TV-inspired design never went away. Topps would return to the concept in 1966, for both its football and hockey cards:

The football design used cherry-colored woodgrain, similar to the one used in the '55 Bowman set. However, they removed the "Color TV" faceplate and the knobs below the picture tube to place the player's name, team and position.

The used the exact same design for their hockey cards that year. I borrowed the image of this Mikita card; it very well may be an O-Pee-Chee, judging by the Canadian-styled spelling of "Centre." (Edited: the explanation appears in the Comments section.)

Too bad Topps didn't use the TV-design for its 1966 baseball set. The design they went with is often pointed out as one of the more unimaginative of the 1960s, and even a horizontal design may have been neat, since there hadn't been one of those since 1960.However, Topps didn't toss the TV out the window:

In fact, they used the design as part of the next two years' World Series recaps. That was a good use for the designs, since many fans watched the games on their own televisions.

They even revisited the concept a couple of years after that:

But of course, that was a TV show, so the design was perfectly suited for it.

My 50th Follower...Means a Giveaway!

Last week, this blog reached a milestone. In only nine months, it has picked up 50 followers.

While I am of the impression that this blog should be required reading for everybody, I do realize that many collectors don't always spend a lot of time looking at "old" stuff. There is also the possibility that some just don't have a lot of older material in their collections and therefore don't spend a lot of time looking around at stuff they would be tempted to pick up.

Well, let me see if I can help you out with a giveaway.

In celebration of Follower #50, it's only appropriate that the first prize have something to do with the number 50, and we'll go to the set I blog about three times each week:

This is card #50 from the '73 Topps set.

For those who read my 1973 Topps photography blog, this card was featured there last year. It was the last card Topps made for Roberto Clemente and was included in the first series of the '73 set before the news of his plane crash could get it pulled. As a result, the back of the card shows his final career statistics.

This is one of three cards I'll be giving away. The second one comes from the 1955 Bowman set, which was the subject of this article I wrote in SMR in 2007 (the link brings up a PDF file):

Sadly, George Kell passed away in 2009. However, he lives on in the memories of those who watched him play, listened to his broadcasts and collected his baseball cards.

Finally, this one is not quite what it might seem:

It looks like a 1978 Topps card, but it's actually a 1978 Burger King card of Jim "Catfish" Hunter from the final years of his Hall of Fame career.

That gives three vintage Hall of fame cards to give away. They're not "investor-grade" quality, but they're cards that would do better in a collection than in my dupes box. Just to clarify: there will be three separate giveaways (and three separate winners), not just one.

Unlike last time, there are no restrictions to who can enter. All you need to do is enter a comment below. There will be three separate drawings, all involving a time-honored method involving scissors, paper and a hat. Any bloggers who post about this contest will get an extra entry into the drawing. I'll keep this up until Sunday evening and announce the winners on Monday. Good luck!