Airbrushed Fridays: 1974 Topps Traded #390T

The Group Break starts later today. Until then, here's an airbrushed guy. You probably know him.

Who is he? Before he became the base-tossing fiery manager man that led Seattle to a record setting regular season and guided Tampa Bay through their waning Devil Ray years, Sweet Lou Piniella was a pretty solid outfielder. With the Royals in his early years, Lou would be named the Rookie of the Year and was selected to an All-Star team.

How did he get here? The Yankees acquired Piniella during the offseason in 1973, and he'd spend the rest of his playing career -- more than a decade -- in pinstripes. And when his playing days were done, Piniella quickly got his first taste at managerial duties when Billy Martin got fired by Yankees owner George Steinbrenner for something like the 57th time.

Repeat offender? No

Other versions of this card: 1974 Topps #390

Airbrushed Score: 5

Comments: Although this one is of the hatless variety, we can see that someone's duty was to draw squiggly pinstripes all over Lou. I'm really not sure what's going on with some of the stripes near and above the 'D' on this card.

Airbrushed Fridays: 1974 Topps Traded #151T

Or we could talk about Topps Archives, I guess? Nah.

Who is he? Diego Segui could throw a forkball, and he pitched for a long, long time. He was in and out of Venezuelan winter ball and pitched for 6 MLB franchises over the course of a couple of decades, including three separate stints with the Athletics. He's also the father of former MLBer David Segui.

How did he get here? The backs of these early Traded set cards tend to explain it all. In case you don't like looking at the backs of cards for some weird reason, I'll say that he was traded by the Cardinals to Boston as part of a six player deal. He would spend two seasons in Boston before making his final MLB stand with Seattle.

Repeat offender? No

Other versions of this card: 1974 Topps #151

Airbrushed Score: 7

Comments: This is clearly from the same photo sessions as his regular issue card as it's shot from the same angle, but he's facing a slightly different direction and looking a bit gloomy about the trade.

Airbrushed Fridays: 1974 Topps Traded #630T

"Please don't airbrush my face!"

Who is he? Tommie Agee was an All-Star center fielder who starred with the Amazin' Mets, who won the World Series in 1969. He was the 1966 American League Rookie of the Year, but was out of baseball just eight years later.

How did he get here? Agee's final big league season was with St. Louis in 1973, which was the tail end of a deep offensive slide that began late in his term with the Mets. The Cardinals traded him in the offseason for Pete Richert, but Agee would fail to make the Dodgers roster out of spring camp and was released, making his inclusion in this traded set completely inexplicable.

Repeat offender? No

Other versions of this card: 1974 Topps #630

Airbrushed Score: 6

Comments: I continue to be fascinated by how each player in the '70s was seemingly asked to do at least one pose looking upward to obscure his cap as much as possible, in anticipation that said player would be traded at some point. Every player is just another replaceable cog in the machine according to Topps.

Airbrushed Fridays: 1974 Topps Traded #330T

Daylight Savings is approaching! So is Opening Day!

Who is he? This man hardly needs an introduction. This Hall of Fame hurler was a 10-time All-Star and threw a no-hitter at the height of his powers. He spent most of his career with the Giants, which makes this card a strange little anomaly.

How did he get here? On the back of a killer pun, of course! Actually, the Giants sold Marichal to Boston near the end of his career, where he didn't pitch well despite a 5-1 W/L record.

Repeat offender? No

Other versions of this card: 1974 Topps #330T

Airbrushed Score: 5

Comments: Not much of Marichal's cap is visible, but they seem to have toyed with the small part that is. The Red Sox and Giants both have dark primary colors so things probably could have been left alone, but nope, this is Topps in the '70s.

Airbrushed Fridays: 1974 Topps Traded #262T

Sometimes you just get traded.

Who is he? Ed "Spanky" Kirkpatrick was a wily utility player who spent 16 seasons in the majors, in the sense that virtually any player with that kind of longevity and no position to call his own could be considered wily. He succumbed to throat cancer and died in 2010.

How did he get here? After spending his career with the Angels and Royals, Kirkpatrick was sent to the Pirates to join the National League for the first time, as part of a multiplayer deal involving Nelson Briles and the Bubble Gum King.

Repeat offender? No

Other versions of this card: 1974 Topps #262

Airbrushed Score: 6

Comments: Nothing airbrushed in bright yellow can escape the gawkers. Ed's cap looks like the remnants of some yellow mustard left on a plate after being overly ambitious with your corn dog accoutrements.

Airbrushed Fridays: 1974 Topps Traded #516T

The Cubs have hired a new manager. He's the Portland Beavers old manager. This is not that guy.

Who is this week's victim, and why do we care? Horacio Piña was a right-handed reliever who spent more than a decade in the majors, bouncing around among six different franchises. Piña was a submarine style (think Dan Quisenberry) pitcher whose most important contribution was out of the bullpen of the World Series winning Oakland A's in 1973. He would go on to star in the Mexican League after his MLB career wrapped up.

Why is this a thing? After the champagne popped, the Cubs traded their own Bob Locker for Piña, where he would last until July. He finished up his final full MLB season as a member of the Angels. The Phillies actually brought him back for a couple of innings down the stretch in 1978, on loan from his Mexican League team.

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 but a inflated BCS ranking, but you never know!

Airbrushed Fridays: 1974 Topps Traded #43T

We check in on Jimmy Wynn, a repeat offender.

Who is this week's victim, and why do we care? When we last saw The Toy Cannon, Wynn was being airbrushed of of his own team due to some sort of licensing issue. Here Wynn is about to embark on the most prolific period of his career, which finally saw him change caps for real.

Why is this a thing? Wynn was traded to the Dodgers for Claude Osteen, a crafty lefty (is there such a thing as a lefty that isn't crafty) who would pitch for a couple more seasons before hanging it up. Wynn had a big year in Dodger blue, winning the Comeback Player of the Year award in 1974 and notching two consecutive All-Star appearances.

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 wooden nickel, but you never know!

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!

Airbrushed Fridays: 1974 Topps Traded #59T

I'm almost caught up with trades, but I still owe cards to Potch, Backstop Cards, Buck Store Cards and The Writer's Journey. I am also trying to work out deals with 1st & Home/iCollectBallCards, Scott Crawford and The Sandlot. I also am waiting to hear back from a few people in the basketball card club. Did I miss anyone? Let me know. I'm pretty disorganized.

Who is this week's victim, and why do we care? Ross Grimsley was a lefty starting pitcher who bounced around from team to team, playing mostly in the '70s. His best season came in 1978, where he was voted to the All-Star team, won 20 games and pitched 19 complete games. His (completely awesome) nicknames included Scuz and Crazy Eyes.

Why is this a thing? Grimsley had spent his entire major league career up until this point with the Reds. As you can also read on the back of the card, he was traded to the Orioles in exchange for Merv Rettenmund. A few other players were involved in the swap, but Topps deemed them to be of little consequence. The cartoon bird on Grimsley's cap looks a little sheepish about the whole thing.

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 this card, I guess, but you never know!

Airbrushed Fridays: 1974 Topps Traded #485T

Consider this the B-side to the Felipe Alou single dropped last month. See this post for the hit single.

Yes, I'm officially phoning it now... at least for today. At least you got to see a magic hat.

Airbrushed Fridays: 1974 Topps Traded #616T

This is the time of year where my college football fandom begins to interfere with my baseball thing. It's easy to switch over to the handegg when your team is playing out the string and experimenting with young players to see what sticks. The Cardinals are teetering on the verge of collapse, especially with the news that Rafael Furcal may need Tommy John surgery, but what else is new? This team seems like a sinking ship at this point, but last season's sinking ship had to rid itself of nearly all of its passengers before they patched up the leaks and made it to its final destination at the last possible moment.

Who is this week's victim, and why do we care? Larry Gura was a lefty hurler, a prominent piece of the Kansas City Royals rotation from the mid '70s to the mid '80s. He was an All-Star in 1980. For some reason, I was completely oblivious to his existence until now and I even followed the American League a lot in the '80s.

Why does this card exist? Before Gura found his footing as a Royal, he came up as a Chicago Cub. The Cubbies dealt him to to Texas for Duke Sims. The Rangers actually stashed Gura in the Pacific Coast League for his only 7 appearances for their franchise, making this a bona fide member of the Zero Year Club.

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 some broken CD jewel cases, but you never know!

Airbrushed Fridays: 1974 Topps Traded #649T

I thought today's card represented the so-called dog days of summer pretty well. There's nothing that says "meh" more than this moppy-headed, mustachioed man from the '70s ballfields, except for maybe that U.S. gymnastic girl.

Who is this week's victim, and why do we care? Fernando Gonzalez was a utility guy who spent 6 seasons in the majors with four teams, including two stints with the Pirates. After his second tour in Pittsburgh, he was shipped to San Diego where he became Ozzie Smith's double play partner during the Wizard's rookie season.

Why does this card exist? It was after Gonzalez's first run with the Bucs that he traded to the Royals in a deal that involved master bubble-blower Kurt Bevacqua. Topps gave our man an electric blue collar, but decided his Pirate teammates in the background could stay in their original colors.

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 "1/1" sketch card of your favorite player as illustrated by someone with no more than a 2nd grade art class level of talent, but you never know!

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!

Airbrushed Fridays: 1974 Topps Traded #319T

Two updates here on a Christmas Eve before the Eve. First off, for those of you who weren't on the email, check out this cool thing that is going on at Crackin Wax. It all ends up going for charity, and I've always considered myself a charitable guy. Secondly, in looking at some early results for the Bowl Pick 'Em Contest, The Lost Collector has jumped out in front of the pack. He leads both the group standings and the total possible points. It's that latter point that is the most crucial, especially if all your heavily weighted games are still to come.

Randy Hundley was a former All-Star and Gold Glove winning catcher who logged 14 seasons in the Majors, spending most of his time with the Chicago Cubs. And if you're my age, when you think of catching Hundleys, Randy's son Todd comes to mind. Todd Hundley spent 15 seasons in the bigs himself.

Why did Topps airbrush Randy's photo? Hundley was dealt to the Twins by Chicago in the offseason for one George Mitterwald. After a season with the Padres, Hundley would eventually return to the Cubs to finish out his career.

What's wrong with this picture, anyway? Well, it's a '70s Topps Traded card. Do you have to ask? I've seen worse, of course, but Hundley's cap has that dark/blotchy/glassy look that is evident on a lot of doctored card photos in this era. Of course, that TRADED banner conveniently blocks out a good portion of the photo that might also have needed some dressing up.

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: 1974 Topps Traded #73T

Merry Christmas, everyone! Here's this week's airbrushing victim, just in time to enjoy with some holiday nog.

Mike Marshall was one of the most durable relievers of all-time, not to be confused with the similarly named Dodgers outfielder who primarily played in the '80s. Marshall relied heavily on the screwball, an old-timey pitch that nobody seems to know how to throw anymore.

Why did Topps airbrush Mike's photo? The back of the card tells the story. (I prefer it when they actually show stats on the back, but what do I know?) Marshall would go onto set MLB records for most appearances in a season (106), most consecutive appearances (13) and also logged more than 200 IP in the year the Dodgers acquired him.

What's wrong with this picture, anyway? The huge "TRADED" banner does its best to obscure pretty much all of Marshall's uniform, but they still had to do something to the hat. Unfortunately, that something resulted in this unearthly glowing blue hat. If only there were red and green caps to match this, it would be quite fitting for the holidays. Unfortunately, it seems like it's mostly the blue caps and the occasional orange one that get this kind of treatment.

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: 1974 Topps Traded #496T

I had grand plans of starting something new on this blog with my next post before I got to today's Airbrushed Friday feature, but a giant box of cards from faithful reader Scott stood in my way when I got home from work. A full report will come later, of course, but rest assured there is now plenty of material to keep this thing going for quite some time.

Tom Murphy was a right-handed pitcher who began his career as a starter, but spent the majority of it as a reliever, saving 40 games over two seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers. He first hit the majors in the late '60s and hung around until the '70s were over. Murphy also had the misfortune of being stuck with a 6-17 record in 1971 as a member of the Angels. His ERA that season? 3.77. He also threw 7 complete games and had otherwise very respectable numbers.

Why did Topps airbrush Tom's photo? Murphy spent one season with the Cards and as the text on the back of this card explains, he was dealt to Milwaukee in the offseason prior to 1974. Topps was phasing out releasing their product in series and had begun experimenting with a "Traded Set" concept which became the only place to catch a player in their "new uniform."

What's wrong with this picture, anyway? It's easy just to look at the color, but what in the world is going on with that collar??! It looks like some sort of electric sea creature is about to swallow Murphy's head. It's do distracting that I'm overlooking the "I'm being captured by aliens" look on Murphy's face, the fact that you can see up his nostrils a bit, and that whole jersey thing which is obscured by the very dominant TRADED banner.

Thanks again to Scott for pointing me in the right direction, sometimes literally, with these "great" cards.

(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.)