As a New Yorker who collected in the 70,s Lou Piniella for his 1977 Burger King card that Steinbrenner had them add.CN

1977 Burger King.
http://gothamist.com/2008/08/31/the_...wentythird.php

One more comment on Wagner. This forum, an audience of card-collecting obsessed folks, may not appreciate it, but there is a whole world of people who love baseball (and baseball history), but don't give a hoot about cards/collectibles.

I personally know several people who have read "The Glory of Their Times", but have never ever purchased a baseball card. To those people, Honus Wagner was one of the greatest ballplayers ever (which is repeated frequently in that book...the book is not about baseball cards...), not some guy on a baseball card.

There are hundreds of other books about baseball from which one learns about Honus Wagner the great player, not Honus Wagner the card.

So Bilko, Honus Wagner is *an* answer to the question, but not a very good one. There are quite a number of answers given in this thread that are not even debatable - I think that makes them much better answers.

(Frankly, Mantle is a much worse answer...pretty much everybody in North America knows of Mantle's career, and very few of those know or care about 1952 Topps...)

Cheers,
Blair

+1 I was going to say Mike Mitchell as well

Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle

Art Houtemann.
Bill Denehy.
Fritz Ackley.
Hank Allen.
Sonny Jackson.

Another from my youth...
 

1976 topps kurt bevaqua bubble gum blowing contest card.

How about the O'Brien brothers from '54

Fatty Arbuckle is famous for being Fatty Arbuckle, and for a notorious trial. When I think of Hank Allen, I think of his relation to Dick Allen. Is there something special about his baseball card?

Your point about non-debatable answers being better makes a lot of sense to me. But saying that Wagner is "not a very good answer" sounds to me like you're saying Bilko's opinion is wrong because it differs from yours.

That said, for each of the hundreds of baseball books that speak of Wagner the player and not Wagner the card, how many other forms of media exposures do you suppose exist that discuss just Wagner the card? I have absolutely no numbers to back this up, but if I had to guess, I'd say there are just as many articles, blog posts, news reports, etc. that discuss Wagner the card. In fact, with how things syndicate so easily across the Internet, I'm guessing those articles also get as much or more views/imprints/etc as any of those books.

Until we qualify the audience, I'm certainly of the opinion -- based on people I've encountered -- that Wagner is known more because of his card than because of his exploits on a baseball diamond.

Regards,

Richard.

No. Bilko said Wagner was "easily the best fit" for the question, and further that Wagner was the perfect answer.

Anyone can have an opinion, but when you phrase it like that, you invite informed criticism.

Wagner is not "easily the best fit" for the question, and far from the perfect answer.

Cheers,
Blair

How about this guy?
 

One for the type set?.....Here's my choice.
Pitcher, catcher, infielder or outfielder?? I don't know. The card is a keeper because of his name.

From the Old Judge Set...
 

I am always amazed at how fervently collectors pursue and generously they pay for the cards of Billy Sunday and John Francis "Phenomenal" Smith considering how truly pedestrian their careers were.

Pancho Herrer(a).
Masanori Murakami.
Was Hobliztel mentioned yet?
Johnny Ray.

What about 1969 Aurilio Rodriguez (batboy card)?

Billy Sunday is known more for being a preacher though. I'm pretty sure that's the main reason his items get as much love as they do..

Re: Mr. Sunday
 

No doubt the lifestyle of professional baseball players in that era had a lot to do with driving Billy Sunday into the profession for which he is best known.

According to accounts of the time he did have some skills that were baseball-worthy (such as his speed), but had he never become a preacher I don't think his cards would get nearly the attention they do.

William,
While I will not argue the premise of your post as it relates to the subject of the thread (although you did fail to mention 5+ years in the majors), I do take exception to you claiming to know anything about my financial status. In my 11.7 years of collecting, I have averaged 4.03 cards per year at an average cost of $150.97 per card. If that is the new benchmark of wealth, this has to be the wealthiest group anywhere on the web.

How about T206 Demmitt

Hi Mark,

You are correct in regards to Arbuckle's career and his notorious trial.

I should have been a tad more specific. Arbuckle was part-owner of the PCL's Vernon Tigers, which ultimately landed him a Zeenut card during that era.

A very rare, amusing and desirable card as you probably know:

http://www.robertedwardauctions.com/.../2011/534.html

i was going to say herrer(a) beat me to it lol

Glenn Hubbard
 

All collecting kids from my generation think of this 1984 card when we hear Glenn Hubbard's name mentioned.

<a href="http://s1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa471/abothebear/?action=view&amp;current=Picture10.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa471/abothebear/Picture10.png" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Me too... surprised this thread went 64 posts before his name came up.

I like Wagner as an answer, but I think Pafko has him beat. Only the hard-corest of baseball fans will remember AP at this point, and as they age and pass on that memory will wither even more. Wagner will always be an all time great, and serious baseball fans, at least, will know of him as a player first.

Consider how the Pafko card has been immortalized by the movie Cop Out, as bad as it was. The card was a vehicle for the whole silly plot.

Shoeless Joe Jackson"....54 career HRs, 1700 hits.....banned from baseball. Am I crazy?