Airbrushed Fridays: 1978 Topps #644

Hi, folks. I'm a little late with today's airbrushed beauty. I opted to watch The Office and related shows last night before going to bed instead of talking about baseball cards. I'm back on track this morning, however, so let's take a look at Jim Dwyer.

Jim Dwyer was a bit of an odd duck. He hung around for 18 MLB seasons, playing for 7 different clubs including multiple stints with some of those teams. At best he was a lefty platoon outfielder, garning about a half-season's worth of at-bats. He also found himself doing spot duty as a DH, a pinch-hitter and a late innings defensive replacement. He was a bench guy, basically. Dwyer also managed the AAA Portland Beavers in their final season before the Beavers were moved to Salt Lake City in 1994.

Why did Topps airbrush Jim's photo? Jim seemed to be a rather elusive player to capture on film, especially early in his career. In 1977 he only appeared in 13 games, all with the Cardinals. He had previous played his first few seasons for the Cardinals before departing in the middle of the 1975 season. It makes you wonder why Topps didn't go back and use an older photo, but clearly not appearing to be dated was more important than looking... well... sane.

What's wrong with this picture, anyway? Although the shirt is the color of some sort of nondescript sky blue that someone might draw in a beginner's art class, this one is all about the hat. The logo is goofy. There's weird dark smudgy lines that are probably supposed to be the creases of the cap. And I can't stop looking at the really odd point of the top right of the cap (near the 'OF'). Let's just hope Jim's mustache isn't an airbrush job.