Gambo and T_Wil1 Photopack

[Merkle923]

Given that he was their starting shortstop in 1974 and platooned at the position the following two years, there are precious few images floating on the net of Jim Mason with the Yankees.

Scarcer skill are images of him with the club in the inaugural year of the remodeled Yankee Stadium, 1976. Topps didn't even make a card of him that year.

The '76 Mason image posted today also reminds me of a trivia question that will usually stump (and enrage) any Yankee fan: Who hit the club's only homer in the gob-smacking sweep (New York had one lead, which lasted for exactly three innings, in the four games) at the hands of the Reds in 1976? Of course, it was Mason - and in his last at bat in a Yankee uniform.

[ssacc98]

Aurelio Lopez Royals

[Pinetarpress]

This was listed by Dr.JTeee as 1976 Angels player...he has another one listed the same way that is Mike Miley...but, this one stood out to me because it is 2 game Angels pitcher Gary Wheelock...Wheelock was taken by Seattle in the expansion draft and his rookie Topps card has him as a member of the Mariners

[Merkle923]

The latest Topps upload is photos actually used on cards, and highlights the strange case of Leon McFadden, an Astros infielder for whom no color image is known.

The explanation for these weird looking shots (this was used on his 1969 Astros rookie card) is that they actually depict McFadden in an Oklahoma City uniform and were taken during the MLBPA boycott of 1968. They ain't great but they're better than nothing:

[Merkle923]

Forgive the multiple posts - phone will only upload one image per. This is the image from McFadden's lone solo card, from 1970. Again, the photo was taken somewhere indoors in the PCL in 1968.

[hobbs11]

Originally Posted by Merkle923

The latest Topps upload is photos actually used on cards, and highlights the strange case of Leon McFadden, an Astros infielder for whom no color image is known.

The explanation for these weird looking shots (this was used on his 1969 Astros rookie card) is that they actually depict McFadden in an Oklahoma City uniform and were taken during the MLBPA boycott of 1968. They ain't great but they're better than nothing:

Hey Merk, any color image or just a Topps color image? We had located a "general" one awhile back and posted here:

http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...ml#post3561360

As found then on ebay by seller allstarjef4ydp....

[Merkle923]

Not a scarce image in an Astro uniform, but I've never seen him before in this Astro uniform, which he wore only in 46 games in 1971.

BTW on McFadden, the 1968 Oklahoma City shoot for Topps produced the only color images I'm aware of in which you can see his face (the Brace one you linked to is, well, a Brace).

[hobbs11]

Originally Posted by Merkle923

Not a scarce image in an Astro uniform, but I've never seen him before in this Astro uniform, which he wore only in 46 games in 1971.

.

Then perhaps these additional ones might also apply...courtesy of the Vault.

[Merkle923]

Not enough images out there - particularly in the pre-1971 uniform color scheme - of this tragic Astros' pitcher, author of two no-hitters (including the first in a dome and the first on artificial turf), repeated controversy, and a nightmarish early death. Topps did not get him in 1966 or 1967, and because of the controversy involving the Astros' name and their previous identity as the Colts, they blacked out the cap logo on the cards of 1968 and 1969.

Another product of the newly-obtained collection.

(A note about Mayberry: notice the low resolution on the two other Vault shots compared to the one added today).

[DeweyintheHall]

Out of curiosity, what was the controversy concerning the name Colt .45s?

[SDL]

Originally Posted by DeweyintheHall

Out of curiosity, what was the controversy concerning the name Colt .45s?

Trademark infringement, I think, but supposedly they decided to capitalize on NASA having the Manned Spacecraft Center there.

A bit OT but there was a pro soccer team in Boston in the early 70s called the Astros.

[Merkle923]

Right as the season ended in 1964, the Colt .45s were notified by Colt Firearms that while the company wasn't objecting to the team using what was its copyrighted name, it did object to the owners sub-licensing the name to the makers of souvenirs and "novelties" sold at stadiums around baseball.

When owner Roy Hofheinz bailed out from that potential festival of lawsuits and chose a name reflective of Houston being the 'home of the Astronauts,' he wound up jumping into yet another legal hassle. By 1968 the manufacturers of AstroTurf got an injunction against the club using the star logo or the Astros' name to sell anything. That was resolved at some point in 1969. Hence, "Houston."

[SDL]

Originally Posted by Merkle923

Right as the season ended in 1964, the Colt .45s were notified by Colt Firearms that while the company wasn't objecting to the team using what was its copyrighted name, it did object to the owners sub-licensing the name to the makers of souvenirs and "novelties" sold at stadiums around baseball.

When owner Roy Hofheinz bailed out from that potential festival of lawsuits and chose a name reflective of Houston being the 'home of the Astronauts,' he wound up jumping into yet another legal hassle. By 1968 the manufacturers of AstroTurf got an injunction against the club using the star logo or the Astros' name to sell anything. That was resolved at some point in 1969. Hence, "Houston."

That why from '68-'69 Topps had to airbrush out the hat logos and call the team "Houston" instead of the Astros?

[Merkle923]

Yes. As I said in my last two posts.

[SDL]

Originally Posted by Merkle923

The latest Topps upload is photos actually used on cards, and highlights the strange case of Leon McFadden, an Astros infielder for whom no color image is known.

The explanation for these weird looking shots (this was used on his 1969 Astros rookie card) is that they actually depict McFadden in an Oklahoma City uniform and were taken during the MLBPA boycott of 1968. They ain't great but they're better than nothing:

And there was at least one rookie card with *two* hatless minor league images from 1969.



Can't remember if there are any more rookie cards with what my mom (who saw this card when I had it as a kid) called "mugshot photos."

Looking at the Gary Gentry/Amos Otis rookie card here makes me wonder. Gentry played for the Mets then-AAA team; the Jacksonville Suns in '68. Is that a Jacksonville logo on his cap that the Topps artist failed to completely airbrush out?

[DeweyintheHall]

Apologies if this is slightly off topic, but given the preceding posts, I need to ask - was the 1968 MLBPA boycott also behind the lack of team photo cards in the 1969 set? I know Topps relied upon the teams to provide these images (vice taking them themselves). Are the two related?

[rico43]

I was a fledgling baseball fan in my early teens when the horror story that was Tony Conigliaro's life played out. First, I was, as card collector, aware that Tony C was one of the game's bright young power hitting stars. It was also common knowledge that Jack Hamilton was a grizzled veteran who was unfraid of throwing inside. (A head hunter? Only Hamilton knew for sure).
But that grainy footage of Hamilton drilling Conigliaro in the face was disturbing on several levels. Video highlights from games was still a relatively novel concept for fans, and this was the first such of these incidents I ever saw (missed Roseboro pummeling Marichal with a bat). Then, as an SI subscriber, THIS cover arrived on my doorstep. Impossible to look at, impossible to turn away. That was brought back vividly by this great portrait of Tony C in the new Topps Vault release. What might have been ...

[cheech411]

tony c still the youngest player to reach 100 hrs!!!!!!!!!!!!! past away 1990 will be 26 yrs in feb

[Merkle923]

I don't think the MLBPA boycott had anything to do with the incomplete set of team cards in 1968 nor the absence of any in 1969 - it had to do with many teams still supplying nothing but black and white team photos and the aesthetics changing at Topps.

Before 1968, I think the only team shown with a natural background was the Braves in the '67 series. A majority of images were colorized B&W superimposed on a one-color background. Starting in '68 Topps stuck - with rare exceptions - to color images with natural backgrounds. Evidently they started off printing team cards in the 2nd Series of '68 and then...ran out. Try finding color images from '67 of the teams that didn't get their own cards in '68.

As to the 1969 Mets rookies, I've seen the original images and both Gentry and Otis have the script "J" for Jacksonville.

[Merkle923]

Not a lot of him during his overnight stay in Baltimore, 1972 (though this dates to spring training '73)