"I Don't Care If You're Not Ready For Your Close-up!"

A handful of singles from 1972 Topps Baseball recently landed in my mailbox. Flipping through them, they all shared one thing in common: an awkward photo. I haven't had a ton of cards from this set in the past so I'm not sure if this is the same with most of the set or just some cardboard coincidence. Either way, here's some awkward mugs put to a classic art deco design.

175. Tom Haller, Detroit Tigers

Forget looking into the camera. Haller is looking all deep and intellectual as he ponders the meaning of life, why the sky is blue and something so terrible it makes him wince just a little bit.

181. Ed Kranepool, New York Mets

Of the lot, this one shows someone who was at least ready for the shutter. Too bad his forced smile was channelled from his Grade 9 class photo.

196. Mel Queen, California Angels

Queen's expression of surprise seems more suited for a guy walking to the curb in his flannel housecoat for the morning paper and being ambushed by some creeper with a camera hiding in the shrubs.

 201. Phil Roof, Minnesota Twins

Another one of those staring off into nowhere photos. Add to that either a windy day or the tragedy known as picture before a haircut and you've got a card that's tipping toward "awkward" on the "Awkward or Not Awkward" Scale of Baseball Card Photographs.

 

202. Scipio Spinks, Houston Astros

Unlike Tom and Phil, Scipio (for his sake I hope it wasn't pronounced 'Skippy-o') is watching a bird circle overhead, hoping that he doesn't decide to drop a birdy bomb on his shoulder.

 

210. Denny McLain, Texas Rangers

Finally, we have Denny McLain who looks like he's had a rough night on the town and is ready to go off on anybody who gives him the chance.

In the Game Pays Tribute to 1972 with 1972 - The Year in Hockey

A few months back, hockey manufacturer In the Game offered collector's a unique opportunity to pick a future set. An online vote was conducted where participants selected the year they thought was most important for hockey history. The winning year was 1972, synonymous with Canadians for the dramatic Summit Series victory versus the USSR. While the USA and USSR were embroiled in the Cold War over Nuclear weapons and such at the time, for Canadians the real cold war was played on the ice with pucks and sticks replacing bombs and tanks.

Today ITG offered a first look at 1972 - The Year in Hockey, which will combined old school set building with plenty of hard-signed autographs.

1972 also marked the first year in which the rival WHA set up shop and began play. It was a new era of expansion and global recognition for the sport.1972 - The Year in Hockey will consist of a 200-card base set featuring players from the NHL, WHA and international play.

Autographs will all be done on-card and the checklist is extensive. ITG plans to have around 150 signers for the set and judging by the preview you can expect two find a mix of superstars as well as lesser-known fan favorites. ITG also promised some signers from the USSR team, which one would expect to be relatively tough to find. Autographs will be inserted at a rate of 1:7 packs (two or three per box).

ITG also plans for several game-used inserts: Game-Used Number, Forever Linked, Scoring Leaders, Trophy Winners, First All Star Team, Second All Star Team and Quest For The Cup.

The Genius of Jenkins

Last week Matt from Heartbreaking Cards of Staggering Genius sent over an unexpected package of Canadian Hall o' Famer Fergie Jenkins. And what a treasure trove they were. I've long been a fan of the weird and strange things that oddball sets bring. They're something different and out of the ordinary. Make said oddball joys of a more vintage variety and I'm all squealy with cool card goodness.

The first work of cardboard art is this 1972 Kellog's card. It measures right in between a regular card and a tobacco card so it's a little smaller, but man does this set pack a lot of info. The front shows a happy Ferg chilling in front of some empty bleachers. Wait a second. The bleachers have depth. They're in 3-D! On the backside you get the best of all worlds: headshot, full name (Ferguson Arthur Jenkins), career stats, 100-word biography, important biographical info and licensing. Now why can't a lot of modern sets offer that kind of information?

Skip ahead one year and you've got the next card in the package - 1973 Kellog's. The cereal folks have another keeper of a design, although this set is noteable for not having the 3D backdrop. It's a pity too because the sky would have worked well with it.

Matt also included another more mainstream addition from the same year. It's a 1973 Topps Fergie. Here he's in a posed wind-up position looking like he's just been told to look at the birdie the photographer's holding to the side of his shoulder.

Jumping ahead in time we arrive at the over-sized 1985 Donruss Champion set. It measure's 3 1/2" x 5" and looks a lot like a postcard size-wise. I hadn't seen this set before but I like it from first glance. Fergie's looking strong on a distinctly Donruss frame. On the back his stats are matched up with Cy Young. While I get the point of comparing then "new" guys with old timers, comparing the strong Jenkins with the legendary Young makes the Canadian look bad.

The lone "modern" card MAtt sent over was an insert from 2001 Upper Deck Decade 70s - Arms Race. I like the foil front but the American patriotic color scheme doesn't really work when the subject isn't an All-American. I didn't bust any packs of the set so I'm not overly familiar with it, but them more I see of Decade 70s the crazier I think it is - in a strangely good way.

So thanks again, Matt! All Fergies are good Fergies and these are some stellar Fergies!

A Day at the Movies: King of the Hill featuring Fergie Jenkins and the Chicago Cubs

King of the Hill

Filmed over the course of the 1972 and 1973 seasons, King of the Hill is a laid back yet informative look at Fergie Jenkins, the only Canadian in the baseball Hall of Fame, and baseball in general as it was at the time. Interestingly, there's lots of talk of big contracts and baseball becoming a big business, just as we talk about them today. Perhaps it's a timeless thing. Yet there's still lots of nostalgia and history in the documentary.

If you have an hour to spare, check out this little slice of Canadian filmmaking.

Welcome Home, Fergie Jenkins

As of right now, Fergie Jenkins is the only Canadian player with a spot in Cooperstown. While a small argument could be made for Larry Walker to sit alongside him in a few years, I suspect it's going to be another couple of decades before another Canuck makes it, namely Justin Morneau. But he's still a young buck and lots can happen.

At any rate, below are a trio of Fergies sent to me by Matt from Heartbreaking Cards of Staggering Genius who is very busy today.

The first is a 1972 Topps "NL Pitching Leaders" card featuring Jenkins alonside Steve Carlton, Al Downing and Tom Seaver. Fergie has a great pose, albeit the picture is cropped very tightly. Although I did already have this card, the one Matt sent is an excellent upgrade from the one I previously had. The colours are much more vibrant compared to the old faded one and the corners look very nice too.

The second card is a 1974 Topps card in which Fergie looks like he just rolled out of bed. His eyes look very sleepy and his hair appears as though its had a hat on it for a while. That said, I do like the portrait set against a blue sky with the flag design Topps used that year.

The final card shows Jenkins as a grizzled veteran [I love that term] on the mound for Texas. He's clearly been in better shape but marching on to finish his career with 3,000 strikeouts.

 

Thanks, Matt, for the awesome additions to my Canadian-born player collection!