Sunday, August 9, 2015

ANOTHER HEAD-SCRATCHER: 1973 STEVE DUNNING

Let's take a look at another classic from the Topps 1970's family: a 1973 card of former pitcher Steve Dunning.


Beyond the painfully obvious airbrushing of the cap (love the crazy shadowing on the "C" logo), many of us are left wondering as to exactly what uniform he is wearing on the card.
I've read a few places that think it can be an older Cleveland Indians home jersey, with "Indians" across the chest, while I've also read that it could be a minor league uni form their Portland Beavers Triple-A franchise.
I'll be honest, the very little we do see of the letters look like neither the end of the word "Indians" OR even the end of the words "Portland" or "Beavers".
Anyone know for sure what uni Dunning is wearing here?
You have to wonder why Topps didn't just leave a photo of Dunning unaltered for the card since he pitched for Cleveland for three years up to this point.
Granted the Indians did switch over to that cap from a dark blue one the previous year, so it was a dramatic change in attire for the Tribe.
But nevertheless….
And speaking of Dunning, seems he has TWO "missing" cards that I need to tackle in the future, a 1974 card with him as a Texas Ranger, and a 1977 edition with him as a Montreal Expo player.
I'm having no luck tracking down an image of either options. Any help?