Hey Joe

A while back I included a scan of a pretty well known Joe Garagiola business card produced by Topps in 1976.  It featured the man who made Yogi Berra a sage in an airbrushed  chest protector on a very well done version of a 1973 Topps baseball card.  I had known at the time there was also a 1991 version of the card but did not have a scan handy for posting.  I have since managed to snag a scan off eBay of one and there is a design difference or two worth showing:

Ignoring the autograph, which was not part of the design, the cards features the 90's Topps logo and a Today Show logo. He is also shown as a "Today Show All Star" and not an "NBC All Star."  As you can see here, the 1976 version had none of these elements:

I always wondered why an updated card was made by Topps and it turns out Joe rejoined the Today Show in 1990 before leaving again in 1992 (he had been there previously from 1967-73). The original baseball card was produced since he was member of the broadcast team for Monday Night Baseball  on the network at the time, in addition to some other duties.

I do not yet have a back scan of the '91 card but I am sure one will turn up.

Forever Blowing Bubbles

Today's post just about came pre-written and gift wrapped, courtesy of Jeff Shepherd, who provided all of the scans.

If you collect 1976 Topps Baseball you either love or hate this card:



My innate gravitation to all things odd means I love this picture. That's an 18 1/2" bubble by the way! The back of the card always intrigued me too:



Why is the back so awesome?

A) The brackets are great;

B) The fact the Tigers and Pirates did not participate always struck me as odd;

C) The little bubbles are neat-o;

D) The A's had to use a substitute bubble blower!

Now I had always assumed each player in the finals just had his best bubble measured in spring training by Sy Berger or something like that. Little did I know this was a highly organized event!

Don't believe me? Well, here's the rule book:





I find it hard to believe the contest was so complicated! Among other things, the rules state: "The tournament is to be conducted in a formal and serious manner." Yeah, sure...... The winner got a thousand bucks and a case of Bazooka, as did his favorite charity.

Here is a picture of the finals:



The man with the calipers sure looks formal and serious....geez, lighten up Bud!

What you are seeing above is Joe Garagiola (he was a major TV personality at the time on NBC) watching the final blowdown between eventual winner Kurt Bevacqua of the Brewers and Johnny Oates of the Phillies.

Let's take a closer look:



That's an uncut sheet of 1975 Topps baseball cards behind Johnny Oates. Take a look behind Joe G, you can see another uncut sheet:



That, ladies and gentlemen is Garagiola's ersatz 1973 Topps business card. I think it highly likely said pasteboards were created for him to hand out at this event. The card does have a 1976 copyright on it and I have to think the contest was held after the end of the '75 season based on the Joe G. card copyright date.

There is more at this site though I'm not certain all the facts presented are correct. In addition, the contest rules state the player had to have spent 30 days on an active major league roster in 1975.

I wonder how long this was actually held as an annual event?

Mind Your Own Business

There is a small but distinct list of baseball issues from Topps that consist of a single card. The most famous of these is Joe Garagiola's 1976 NBC Business Card that is a dead ringer for a '73 Topps baseball card on the obverse:



The front might fool you for a minute but the back gives away the true purpose of the card (and is lifted from the regular 1976 back design):




Joe allegedly had another Topps created business card made up a few years later (early 90's I believe) but I haven't been able to find a scan or even a solid reference. The ersatz '73 above can be found with relative ease. I vividly remember seeing it on an episode of This Week in Baseball in the mid 70's and wanting to buy one. Back then, not an easy task. Now, with the Internet and card shows, totally do-able. I found my copy last year at a local show; the dealer had a few extras so I picked the best of the bunch for $20.

Now the Joe G. card is an actual business card; other Topps singleton "sets" exist for a different reason.

Before he became a Hall of Famer, this scarce 1969/70 card of newly minted baseball commissioned Bowie Kuhn could be had at a reasonable price, despite its scarcity (100-200 cards printed by most accounts). I would have to say it was printed up for a testimonial dinner.



I nailed the scan but the card eluded me a few years back on Ebay. I am kicking myself now for not bidding higher. Here is the informative back:



And while scope of of this blog really only extends to 1980, there is another card from a decade later that is quite famous. This blog will remain apolitical but the card is decidedly from inside the Beltway:



The story is that Bush 41 asked Topps to print these up and they complied, giving the President 100 cards for his own use. Now, Topps was still using 132 card sheets back then so that leaves us with an errant 32 cards, possibly explaining how some of them were pulled from 1990 baseball wax packs back in the day. These are quite valuable and interest goes far beyond our little hobby. The Orlando Sentinel ran a nice piece (and a great scan for me to steal) last year on this interesting pasteboard.

Nowadays, anyone can have Topps print up a card of them for about $15 so the romance is gone. I think these are some of the neatest things Topps ever did-back when it was OK to be whimsical in the business world.

The best part about having one of these cards made up for you? The fact you were #1 in the set!