It wasn't really Topps' fault; the blame lies with the Cubs themselves. The cards come from team pictures that the Cubs sold at Wrigley Field. I'm guessing that there weren't any regular team pictures available, leaving Topps stuck with the floating heads.
The question for you today is....Which Cub player was the floatiest? Which player was featured more than any other?
The answer is a player that is known, but not someone that's a major Cub star. It really comes down to longevity from the early '70s to the early 80's. This was the tail end of the '69 team through several rebuilds. Not many players remained through the various purges.
Got your guess?
The answer is....
Rick Reuschel, who started floating in 1974 and was in each of the following, a total of seven floats. We also get to see that the Cubs weren't very good with updating their headshots. There are just three different pictures of Reuschel over the seven years.
The irony....the biggest guy on the team floated the most. You would have figured Big Daddy to sink instead of float!
Great post. This one made me laugh out loud!
ReplyDeleteMy uncle had the poster pictures on the 1971 card. I wondered at the time (mid-70s) who Cleo James and Boots Day were.
ReplyDeleteThat's still a good question today...Who are Cleo James and Boots Day??
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DeleteBoots Day was the first-ever batter at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. He led off for the Expos in the Phillies' first home game in 1971.
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