I've been sorting and storing a lot of cards lately. Getting organized comes hard for me since I am by nature just a 'stack it and forget it' kind of person. I came across my stash of assorted 'Favorite Orioles player non-Orioles cards' last week. Out of that stack of Frank Robinson, Mike Cuellar and Dennis Martinez-dominated stuff I pulled these 'FRobby as a Red' gems.
Hard for me to pick a favorite out of these. The '64 at the top looks to be a Polo Grounds shot which you make it seven years old when the card was issued. Frank looks young in the pic but not THAT young so who knows?
A pair of 62s are next. I'm becoming more and more enamored of this set as I look at more of them. I'm almost positive that the regular card is a Polo Grounds shot. I'm basing that on what I've seen of the seating area behind home plate.
Now the All Star card shows red seats in the background. That would be Connie Mack in Philly.And I know based on my '59 blog research that Topps used that place for some of their photography.
And finally we have his '57 Topps, a classic rookie card of the 50s. You get a look at his slightly choked-up grip in this one. With that unfocused background it's hard to say where this one was taken. I'd say the Polo Grounds based on the light standard but again I can't be sure.
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See the comments. My friend Joe Shlabotnik takes me to school on the background of these.*
Hey, thanks, Joe!!! You are the man!
*-I'll refrain from mentioning the fact that he's pretty much in cruise control over at his blog while I'm snowed under with about six year school related projects and can't be expected to have my head on straight. No I won't mention that at all. ;-0
Wow all four of those are beauties. The '64 is on my list as I've slowly been picking up HOFers from that set over the years. Great cards!
ReplyDeleteFRobby seems almost like a different person as a Red than as a Oriole. I think it's because how divided the leagues were back then.
ReplyDeleteTime to play Uniform Detective!!!!
ReplyDeleteIn 1961 the Reds had a black "armband" added to the left armhole of their vest in memory of the recently deceased owner Powel Crosley... So we can tell that the two 1962 cards have photos from 1961 (as you'd expect).
The Reds added the black around the right armhole for 1962, so the 1964 card has a photo from either 1962 or 1963... and the Mets played in the Polo Grounds both those years, so there you go.
As long as I'm at it, the 1957 card features the one-year "Mr. Redlegs" road uniform the team wore in 1956.
This information is all courtesy of the HOF's "Dressed To The Nines" uniform database: http://exhibits.baseballhalloffame.org/dressed_to_the_nines/database.htm
After I took off my detective hat, I realized I forgot to mention the cards themselves... I particularly like the 1962 "regular" card. The 1964 "Giant" card of Frank is particularly nice as well (and I'm biased as it's one of the few 1960's Frank Robinson cards I own).
DeleteNot sure how the Mets Polo Grounds days blew past my skull. Hell I saw a couple of games there.
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