Airbrushed Fridays: 1990 Topps #254

I know that I'm supposed to set these posts up... maybe make a little small talk. I could tell you about my day. I could complain about the Blazers. I could talk about the weather. I could talk about how frustrating and sometimes downright sad it is to be a Blazers fan, actually. I could talk about being anxious about the pending Pujols extension offer. I could hype my contest again. I don't know... let's just get on with it.

Francisco Cabrera was a reserve catcher and first baseman who essentially did nothing in his career but for a fleeting moment when he ended the Pittsburgh Pirates' last ever run at being relevant with a walkoff Game 7 NLCS pinch-hit that drove in a hobbling guy that looked like a math teacher (Sid... Bream?)

Why did Topps airbrush Francisco's photo? After playing three... yes, THREE entire games for the Toronto Blue Jays, the Canadian team packaged him with Tony Castillo to pry the venerable Jim Acker away from the Atlanta team. Cabrera would go on to play just 193 more games in his career before heading off to Japan.

What's wrong with this picture, anyway? 1990 was the last official year for airbrushing as far as I can gather, and Topps was determined to go out with a bang with this one. This card is just shy of Mike Laga for worst looking airbrushed card since the '70s. Some poor soul reinvented the cursive 'A' logo as well as the baseball cap itself and made the already awkward- looking Cabrera look like he was hiding a small family of finches in his lid.

If you are interested in obtaining a card featured here, please send me an e-mail. If you have a card you would like to nominate for Airbrushed Fridays, please get in touch as well. I will require that I am able to see the card in person, either on loan or as a donation, so that I can examine the card and experience it in all its cruddiness.