You ever notice how Lou Brock had a bunch of cards in his career that used lame pictures?
Sure, his 1976 card is a beauty, but take a look at his other cards, they generally had poorly posed shots and NO action photos.
His 1978 card always bugged me. The man just looks beat down and ready to fall asleep!
And the shadow across his face doesn't help, as it makes it look
like he had giant bags under his eyes. Take a look at his 1978 card as
issued by Topps:
This was definitely a card I had my eyes on to redesign with a nicer photo.
Think about it: this was the greatest base-stealer B.R. ("Before
Rickey"), and yet except for his 1976 card, there were NO cards of him
in action, on the base paths, at the plate, or heck, I'd even settle for
some nice posed shot, like the one I used here.
Take a look:
At least there's some humanity to the man, right, some mystique worthy of a star ballplayer?!
It really is a wonder why Brock's cards through the years had such
"ho-hum" photos used. Was there really no chance of getting the guy on
the diamond during a game? Or even to have him in some classic baseball
pose?
Anyway, I guess it shouldn't surprise me since the man has become
somewhat of an overlooked super-star from his era. When you're up
against the Mays, Aarons, Clementes, et al, it's pretty easy to see why
Brock got lost in the shuffle.
Think about it. In Brock's 19-year career, a man who had over 3000
hits, over 900 stolen bases and 1600 runs scored, he was only named to
six all-star teams, and the last came during his final season as a
tribute.
Well, at least he wasn't overlooked when it came time for
Cooperstown to come calling. He was elected on his first try in 1985,
getting named to 315 of 395 ballots cast.