Friday, June 15, 2012

Airbrushed Fridays: 1974 Topps Traded #270T


Here it is: the triumphant return of Airbrushed Fridays after a bit of a layoff. The layoff itself wasn't intentional, but the regular Friday posts were the first thing I consciously let go of when I realized this whole blog thing needed a reboot. I haven't quite hit the reset button yet, but some more subtle changes are in the offing that hopefully will lead to me getting back to what I always wanted to do here: get rid of cards while I acquire things I enjoy.

Who is this week's victim, and why do we care? Ron Santo was a nine-time All-Star catcher third baseman and Cubs lifer. That's about to be slightly disproven by the existence of this card, however. Santo was revered as a longtime team broadcaster as well, and he will be inducted into the Hall this year.


Why does this card exist? Ron Santo was traded in a deal that saw current White Sox broadcaster (and former longtime Cubs broadcaster) Steve Stone head across town in the opposite direction. Santo would struggle through his worst season as a pro before calling it quits. It's also easy to forget that the White Sox had orange hats at one point. I wonder if they'll make a return someday during a retro game?

Airbrushed Fridays is a regular, weekly feature as the name seems to imply. If you know of a card with an altered photograph that you'd like to see featured, please contact me. You probably won't win anything other than a hyperlink and a stack of David Wright "Topps of the Class" filler cards, but you never know!

4 comments :

  1. Orange? I don't recall orange ever being a color in the Sox uni history. I think that's just a crappy shade of red in the shoppage.

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  2. Not to pile on but yes, those hats were red, more like the Phillies than the Astros. The White Sox are wearing their red uni's this year, I think on Sundays or at least on some throwback day or another. I still like them better than the current black. I have to own the White Sox Santo cards since he's my favorite player but he had a miserable time on the South Side. He retired with a guaranteed 1976 contract on the table for a considerable sum just to get out of there.

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  3. Just jokes guys! Except, er, saying that Santo was a catcher. That's no joke.

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