Airbrushed Fridays: 2010 Topps #544

Has anyone seen a Photoshopped 2013 Topps card? I'll admit that I've only purchased one rack pack and one blaster so far, but I haven't personally run across any. I know that they went overboard with Photoshop last year with all of the Marlins and Blue Jays cards while it looks like they've left the poor Astros, who will don new duds, alone this year. I'm sure with next month's Opening Day set release, we'll see plenty of shenanigans, but for now I'm still mining sets from the past few years for Photoshopped fodder.

Who is this week's victim, and why do we care? Kevin Kouzmanoff was at one time considered one of the better third baseman in the league, but has seen his stock fall considerably in recent years. Last year he split time between AA and AAA ball. Before returning to the American League, it had been five years since he played minor league ball. He was a 6th round draft pick for Cleveland before San Diego picked him up and made him their every day guy at the hot corner. Oh, and Sooz used to collect him. You know, before she went all Beckett on us. (Maybe she still does. I have no idea.)

Why is this a thing? Things really started to go south for Kouz when he was included in a trade for Aaron Cunningham and Scott Hairston, where (as mentioned above) he returned to the League he broke in with. Things didn't go so well in Oakland, and he's bounced around ever since. As for the card, while his cap was conveniently tilted so that you couldn't see the logo, the "Athletics" on his jersey just seems too small and weird to be real.

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 an unofficial internship at Beckett Media, but you never know!