Today's post is the first in what I hope will be a recurring series
called "What Were They Thinking?!", which will highlight random cards
from the 1970's that used awful photographs, or were inexplicably
cropped, etc.
The reason I even thought of doing this was because I was recently
reminded of that awful photo Topps used for Steve Garvey's 1973 card
#213.
Seriously, who on earth looked at this photo and thought, "PERFECT. That's what we'll use!"??? Was this
really the best photo they had on file for Garvey?
You know, I have a theory: perhaps Wes Parker had some relative working for
Topps, and THEY were the one to slip this shot in there. What else would
explain how Parker is actually the player prominently displayed on the
card?
Sure, there's a bit of karma here in that Garvey ended up taking
Parkers job over at first base that very season, but come on. Why didn't the photographer wait the extra couple seconds until Garvey was in the shot unobstructed?
Actually, the 1973 set will garner a ton of attention for this
on-going series since it is littered with terrible photography,
especially for many of the horizontal cards used that year. (I already have "Part II written, and it depicts one of the all-time hilarious classics from the '73 set).
As I was
perusing the "Topps Baseball Cards" book last night, I was reminded
of how bad many of those cards really were, especially some pictures
that seemed like they were taken from the ballpark parking lot or through a telescope!
OK, but that will be for a different day. Today, we celebrate the folly that was THIS card:
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| "Is that Garvey peeking over Parker's shoulder?" |
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| A revised "quickie" with a better photo |