Airbrushed Fridays: 1972 Topps #64

He'll be your bro... berg.

Who is he? Pete Broberg was a starting pitcher for the better part of the '70s, albeit not a very successful one. He was the first overall pick in the June draft of 1971, back when there were multiple drafts in a calendar year.

How did he get here? Broberg was drafted by the Washington Senators and went straight to the majors in what would prove to be Washington's last season in MLB until the Expos were moved there in 2005. As such, he was subject to the Topps airbrushing department, where his red cap could remain but traces of his Senatorhood were removed. These days, Broberg is a partner in a Palm Beach law firm.

Repeat offender? No

Other versions of this card: None

Airbrushed Score: 8

Comments: I don't know... sideburns?

Airbrushed Fridays: 1972 Topps #255

Cheers.

Who is he? Jim Lonborg was an All-Star and Cy Young Award winning pitcher, his accolades all occurring in a magical 1967 season that saw his Red Sox team come up just short against the Cardinals in the World Series. TV nuts will note that it was Lonborg's photo that was used in the background as a stand-in for Ted Danson's character on a certain popular '80s TV sitcom.

How did he get here? After spending his first 7 seasons in Boston, Lonborg was part of a massive 10 player swap that moved him to Milwaukee. Other notables in this trade: George Brett's brother and Tony Conigliaro's brother.

Repeat offender? No

Airbrushed Score: 10

Comments: It's a perfect 10. Perfectly awful! It does look like the back of his head is glowing, though.

Airbrushed Fridays: 1972 Topps #148

Do you want the cap on... or off? Too bad.

Who is he? Dick Billings was a part-time catcher and utility man throughout his eight big league seasons. The bulk of his playing time came from 1971-1973, as he spent most of his final seasons in AAA ball. Billings' biggest claim to fame was catching Jim Bibby's no-hitter in 1973.

How did he get here? Billings didn't actually go anywhere, but wound up with this dubious photo as a result of his Washington Senators team moving to Texas to become the Rangers. He spent his final seasons under the Cardinals control, but he only managed to get into a few games with St. Louis.

Repeat offender? No

Other versions of this card: None

Airbrushed Score: 2

Comments: So it's probably not airbrushed, but it's an awkward photo nonetheless. I feel like the Topps photographers would take a couple of different headshots of each player just in case someone got traded (or the team moved!) You see these "looking up into the scary sky" photos quite often.

Airbrushed Fridays: 1972 Topps #529

No logo, no identity.

Who is he? Dave Nelson was an infielder who spent most of his career with the Rangers franchise, earning an All-Star appearance in 1973 and a playoff appearance as a Royals reserve in 1976. Currently, Nelson serves as a color analyst for Brewers regional TV broadcasts on Fox Sports Wisconsin.

How did he get here? Washington's second attempt at an MLB franchise was the Washington Senators 2.0, who lasted some ten years in the nation's capitol before bolting for North Texas. Nelson didn't switch teams, but he fell victim to the airbrush just as all of his teammates did. Topps apparently didn't think putting the new team name (Rangers) at the top of the card with photos of the old Senators logo would get kids to plunk down their dimes on packs of cards for some reason.

Repeat offender? Yes - see his 1976 Topps entry

Other versions of this card: None

Airbrushed Score: 8

Comments: This seems so pointless. Then again, so did the 2012 Topps cards with newly Photoshopped Marlins and Blue Jays logos.

Airbrushed Fridays: 1972 Topps #360

It's come down to this. In just a half hour from now, the Cardinals will square off against the Nationals for a series-deciding Game 5, with the winner moving on to the NLCS. This is the final game of all of the Divisional Series games, and it pits a nearly untouchable pitcher (Gio Gonzalez) against a guy with loads of playoff experience (Adam Wainwright). My heart is with the Cardinals, but this is nervous making time. Let's look at a goofy baseball card for a temporary diversion.

Who is this week's victim, and why do we care? Hey, it's our good friend Dave Roberts. We recently spoke of him in March.

"Dave Roberts was a left-handed starting pitcher who famously pitched for 11 teams in his 13 year career. Despite this card's suggestion, he did not play for the NFL's Cincinnati Bengals. He passed away in 2009, a victim of lung cancer."

Why does this card exist? Roberts was shipped over from San Diego to Houston prior to the 1972 season in exchange for Bill Greif, Mark Schaeffer and Derrel Thomas. Those are three not-so-noteworthy players who have terrible spellings for names. As much as this set shouts color, I guess the airbrushers decided that the Houston hat had to be as festive as the card design itself.

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 a hyperlink and a coupon for 2 free Jack in the Box tacos, but you never know!

Airbrushed Fridays: 1972 Topps #591

So it's come down to this: the Cardinals hold a three game lead in the race to see which teams earns the right to be in a play-in game with the Braves for the so-called Wild Card spot. 162 games of work will be whittled down to 9 innings for 4 teams, 2 in each league. St. Louis will play their final 6 games at home (good) against the teams with the two best records in the league (bad) but both of those teams, the Nats and the Reds, have already clinched and don't have much to play for (good.) Meanwhile, the Dodgers (the team chasing the Cards) have 6 home games of their own against Colorado (bad) and the Giants (not so bad.) I don't know where this leaves me as a fan exactly, except that I still hate Bud Selig and everything he's done to the league.

Who is this week's victim, and why do we care? Paul Casanova was a catcher who was an All-Star in 1967 and once caught a no-hitter by Phil Niekro. Catching a no-hitter by a knuckleballer should earn you, like, three catcher no-hitters. Contrary to what his name would lead you to believe, Casanova was actually quite unlucky with the ladies and once took his best friend's sister out on a pity date.

Why does this card exist? Casanova spent most of his career with the Washington Senators, but apparently they wanted no part of him once they moved southwest to Texas and dealt him to Atlanta in exchange for one Hal King. This picture of Paul Casanova may well be a shot of him alone in RFK Stadium after the team had already packed his bags and moved.

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 a hyperlink and a position as a future NFL replacement official, but you never know!

Airbrushed Fridays: 1972 Topps #213

THREE Rookie Stars. AH AH AH AH AH!

Billy Parker was a second baseman who logged 278 plate appearances over three seasons with the California Angels. He was taken by the Yankees in a Rule V draft where he spent three additional seasons at their AAA level before concluding his career.

Art Kusnyer was a backup catcher who played in parts of 6 MLB seasons with 3 teams, spending most of his time with the Angels. He hit just .176 in his career with an unsightly .461 OPS. He later became a coach for Tony La Russa during his time with the White Sox and A's.

Tom Silverio was an outfielder who had a few cups of coffee in three separate seasons with the Angels, logging just 32 plate appearances in 31 games. He had an 8 year minor league career that was apparently cut short by today's standards at the age of 26 and was a productive hitter throughout.

Why did Topps airbrush these photos? There's a common theme here, of course, and it's that these players probably didn't make enough appearances in the majors for Topps to get a decent photo of them in their proper team's gear. It should be noted, however, that all of these players played for the Angels at some point in the previous season (1971) so they must have come to spring training with California as well.

What's wrong with this picture, anyway? If you assume for a moment that Billy Parker's photo is the only one that isn't actually airbrushed (certainly possible), his cap provides a stark contrast to Kusnyer's and Silverio's. They glow. And the little halos look more like tiny footballs for some reason.

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.

Airbrushed Fridays: 1972 Topps #521

Hey guys! Kyle4KC over at young blog Juust a Bit Outside has a group break going on, and it runs the gamut from the inaugural releases of Donruss and Stadium Club baseball to some brand new 2011 shtuff. Go check it.

Alan Foster was a right-handed starting pitcher who bounced around 5 organizations in 10 big league seasons. He put up decent numbers over his career, but usually could not find the winning side of the ledger. He's also known for giving up the longest home run in Dodger Stadium history, off the bat of one Willie Stargell.

Why did Topps airbrush Alan's photo? After his time with the Dodgers was up, Foster spent a year with Cleveland before returning to the greater LA area as a member of the Angels immediately following the 1971 season as part of a trade that also involved Vada Pinson.

What's wrong with this picture, anyway? Unfortunately, there were no teams with misshapen electric sky blue caps back in the day, so this one is certainly the result of a bit of trickery. Do the Angels ever wear the lowercase 'a' with a halo logo anymore? That would make a decent retro cap.

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.