Airbrushed Fridays: 1974 Topps Traded #454T

A man gazes up to the sky, lost without his bubble gum.

Who is this week's victim, and why do we care? Kurt Bevacqua is perhaps best known as the Bubble Gum King, but before his iconic gum-blowing card came to be, he was traded three times and wound up on this Traded set card in 1974. Bevacqua was a career backup infielder who lasted 15 years in the league, and his biggest on field contributions happened in the Padres ill-fated appearance in the 1984 World Series.

Why is this a thing? Bevacqua was traded in the offseason to Pittsburgh, but by July 8th the Pirates were ready and willing to return him to the Royals team from which he came, and so they did. Bevacqua may not have started a trend of bubble gum tourney cards, but he may have inspired this little Ken Griffey Jr. gem.

Airbrushed Fridays is a 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 Walter White's soul, but you never know!