Now, I love the 1973 Frank Robinson card (#175).
I love the horizontal layout, the action shot of Robinson following
through on a swing and the catcher and umpire looking up, making me
believe he just smashed one over the wall for one of his 586 career
dingers.
However, I just cannot look past the fact that he is obviously in a
Los Angeles Dodgers uniform that was airbrushed, and he was obviously
playing against the Phillies as evidenced by the catcher's uniform.
The airbrush job wasn't awful. But to be honest it's not like Topps tried to do much.
All they did was airbrush away the team logo on the front of his
jersey, but left the distinct Dodger red player number right there on
the right side of the lower chest area.
It sucks since this is one of the better Hall of Fame player action
cards of the '73 set. However, it DOES say "Angels" at the bottom of
the card, so I'll go ahead and redesign a 1973 Topps card for Frank
Robinson, using a portrait image I found online.
Sadly I couldn't find a useful landscape action shot of him to keep the same format as the original.
Here's to you Frank! Just an awesome player who was overshadowed by
the Mickey Mantles, Willie Mays, Hank Aarons and Roberto Clemente's of
the world, even with two M.V.P.'s, a Triple Crown, and becoming the
first African-American Major League manager in
baseball.
1973 would actually end up being his last really "big" season in
the big leagues, as he went on to hit 30 homers with 97 runs batted in
as the first designated hitter for the California Angels organization
before moving on to Cleveland and managerial destiny.
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| As issued by Topps. Notice the airbrushed Dodger uniform. |
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| Robinson in an Angel uniform. |