Admittedly,
today’s card is a bit of a cheat since he wasn’t really an active
player in 1977, but I couldn’t resist creating a “Then & Now” card
for the great Minnie Minoso, who made his historic appearance as a
player during the 1976 season:
As I stated recently when I posted his “Nickname of the 1970’s” card
about a week ago, I always felt the appearances he made in both 1976 and
1980 may have actually hurt him as far as Hall of Fame selection in the
future, with the circus-like feel of the promotional gimmicks.
Nevertheless, the man’s career is incredibly underrated, and perhaps in
the future he’ll find his way into Cooperstown, though sadly after his
passing.
Of course we remember that Minoso had a card in the 1977 set as a
“Record Breaker” for becoming the oldest player to collect a hit when he
did so over eight at-bats at the age of 50, hence the 1977 template for
this card.
Definitely a fun card to add to the collection! I would have been in awe
of seeing a 1952 card way back then, at the age of eight. Probably
didn’t see one until a couple years later.