Players who are more known for a card than their career.
 

Got to thinking about players who are probably more known for a card than their career. I can think of a few. Pre- or Post- war.

Irving Lewis- T207 Brown Border
Bill Ripken- 1989 Fleer F***Face
Alex Gordon- 2006 Topps

I'd probably even add Andy Pafko to this list with his '52 Topps card..

Can anybody think of anyone else that may fall into this category...

Louis Lowdermilk

After a little more thought, there alot of players who ended up on multi-player rookie cards that would fall into this category. And as great as Jerry Koosman might have been, he probably falls into this category as well. I'm hoping to avoid any multi-player suggestions with this list though..

Wagner, at least to the general population.

Good call. He crossed my mind, and I was wondering if anyone else would even consider him on a list like this. I do agree, he probably belongs here.

A couple
 

How about Benny Bengough and Dick Hoblitzell...

What about Mr.Magee!

I think most of the short prints fall into this category, including the T206 Big 6. This would include even important HOFers like Nap Lajoie who would not be as famous except for his 33 Goudey card or Lindstrom for US Caramel.

Ten Million, the name definitely helps.

John Halla

Shag Shaugnessy and John Halla.

Greg
http://www.baseballbasement.com

Cards more important than players
 

1. Ivy Andrews - George C. Miller
2. Fatty Arbarkle- Zeenut
3. Guz Zinn- Baltimore News
4. Mays- NY Nationals Kalamazoo Bats
6. Childs- Just So Chewing Tobacco
7. Baltimore Tip Left Matthewson
8. All the PCL old judge cards
9. All the players in PSA8 in 1949Bowman PCL
10. Niles in J+K

There are literally hundreds, if not thousands of examples, we can site.

Bruce Dorskind
America's Toughest Want List
bdorskind@dorskindgroup.com

I may add Plank. He was a great HOF pitcher, but his T206 is legendary.

To early to say Strasburg?

T206 Joe Doyle

I disagree agree with the Zeenut Fatty Arbuckle, even my wife knew who he was. She said "isn't he the guy who killed a girl..." Alas, the story isn't true (a girl did die but not like many think) but nonetheless he is much more well known for that incident than he is for a card.

What about Harry Aggainis from the '55 Topps set?
Drew

Mike Mitchell and Andy Pafko

I realize Pafko had a decent career, but most don't know his stats. Most vintage collectors do know the player on card #1 in 1952.

+1....

Bump Wills

To me, just about every player profiled in "The Great American Baseball Card Flipping, Trading and Bubble Gum Book".

At the last National in Baltimore, I bought a baseball autographed by Carlton Willey, just because their brief blurb about him meant so much to me.

Rebel Oakes

How about Del Pratt from the 1914 Cracker Jack set!

Honus Wagner is easily the best fit for this question.

1984 Olympic Team

I go as far as to say 52' topps Mantle.

Dennis Sullivan

Cheers,
Blair

I respectfully disagree. The easiest answers to this question are players whose careers are long forgotten (or were never worth remembering to begin with), but who happen to have sought-after and/or rare cards.

It is a much tougher argument to say that a man with a spectacular career - a member of the inaugural group elected to the Hall of Fame - is better known for a card than his amazing on-field accomplishments.

Cheers,
Blair

How about all the "other guys" on multi-player rookie cards? Fritz Ackley is my favorite ('65 T Carlton).

I kind of agree and don't agree with your statement. Amongst true baseball fans, maybe, maybe not. Let's not forget that this is legitimately THE most famous card ever, and the legendary nature of this card might even outshine his spectacular career, or at the very least be on equal footing.

Now outside of a true and knowledgeable baseball fan, often times if you were to mention his name, most people would know him as "that guy with the famous baseball card". You know, "the one that the nuns sold", or "the one that some guy found in their grandpa's attic, that's worth a lot of money." Hell, just about everyone alive has once heard about one of these being found in an attic somewhere. It's pretty much an Urban Legend, right up there with Sasquach, the Chupacabra, the Lochness Monster, and maybe even "Pop-Rocks and soda"..

The two names that immediately jumped into my mind when I read the title of this thread [both already mentioned]:

Bill O'Hara
Ten Million

As for the debate on Honus Wagner, I think I actually agree. If we're considering the general population, I would argue that many know his name simply because of his card. In fact, many people I talk to just know that there is *a* really expensive card -- referring to it as 'the card that Wayne Gretzky used to own' works well up here in Canada -- but very few know who is even on it.

Regards,

Richard.

Dreyfus, Konstanty, Bruton, Houtteman and Jablonski
...no, not ambulance chasers

How about...
 

Oscar Gamble
1976 Topps Traded

1916 PCL Zeenut Jimmy Claxton

You could put Brian Piccolo (69 Topps FB) is this category.

player
 

From that 30s US Caramel set..what was that guys name ? Lindberg ??

The afro is more of a legend than the player and the card.

I'm with BleedinBlue on this one.. EVERY kid collector I knew growing up, knew Oscar Gamble (for greatest ever fro) and Bake McBride (for awesome chops) by name, only because of these two cards, but we had no idea who these guys were as players.. turns out both were pretty good ballplayers!

When I first started collecting I had heard a lot more about these cards before I knew a whole lot about the players behind them, even though they are all HOFer's

t206 Wagner
Goudey Lajoie

Bowman Mikan

National Chicle Nagurski

Strasburg--isn't he releated to Joe Charboneau?

I think arguing that Honus Wagner fits this category because his t206 is better known to the man on the street than his career, misinterprets the sense of the question. To me, the question means who was not a famous player, but has a famous card?

Some cards of obscure players have become well-known within the hobby. I know Ten Million was mentioned, from the t212 set. But I think Frank Miller may fit even better.

Miller played seven seasons of minor league ball, but had, when the dust settled, a thoroughly forgettable career. He also had a t212 card. Lately, a wealthy descendant has been buying up all of the cards, creating a scarcity and a stir.

Anyone working on the t212 set thinks of the Miller card as a major acquisition. But in 1911, nobody ever pulled Miller out of a pack of Obak cigarettes and celebrated.

hangman
 

The rare R328 card to which you refer is Fred Lindstrom

Only two examples have surfaced.


Bruce Dorskind
America's Toughest Want List
bdorskind@dorskindgroup.com

No the question is "Players who are more known for a card then their careers" and Wagner DOES fit that question perfectly.

Case in point, i was on the phone with my 74 year old mother a few hours ago and asked her of she knew who Honus Wagner was. Exact question to her "Do you know who Honus Wagner is" after about a 5 second pause she said "Isn't he the guy on that rare baseball card?". That was her exact answer. She knew exactly who he was because of his T206 Baseball card. She didn't say nothing about him being a great Baseball player or the first group of members of the HOF. About a minute later as we talked about the card she even asked me "If this was the one that Wayne Gretzky owned"

Don Mossi (at least to card collectors)

http://media2.cardboardconnection.co...-Don-Mossi.jpg

This guy seems to come up a lot on the PSA forums....

http://www.nerdbaseball.com/wp-conte...ely-alan_1.jpg

Guy Titman ----Richmond T210 ---his name shows up on this board on a regular basis.

I completely disagree with the Christy Mathewson referrence. That card is more famous than the player? Not a chance. I would bet many on this board have never even heard of this card (especially me) but most baseball fans know who Matty is.
Just my .02

On the Wagner question, I think it depends on where you live. If you polled people in the Pittsburgh area asking who Honus Wagner was, most would tell you that he was a great player for the Pirates 100 years ago, when the Bucs were really good. Outside of Western Pa., it might be a different story.

The Wagner and Lajoie are extremes cases in this instance. And while I didn't originally have these two in mind when starting this thread, I did imagine Wagner would potentially come up. Didn't really think much about Lajoie, but that card is perfect as well, but nowhere near the Wagner extreme. Looking back to the 80's and early 90's, we all remember seeing those generic "baseball card starter kits". They usually came with a handful of garbage cards and a few reprints, with the two most memorable being the Wagner and Lajoie. On the backs of these, they both talked about the history of the card, and what it's worth as opposed to talking about the player. I think that things like this helped lead to people caring more about what a card's worth, then they do the player that is on it..

Actually, your mention of Nagurski, got me thinking that the 1955 Topps All-American Four Horsemen card might fit into this category... Sure the nickname is probably more known than the individual players, but I think the card may be even more known that the nickname..

Somebody beat me to Don Mossi. My other pick would be Wally Moon.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Rk6GBqQuP1...1323150845.jpg

Damn! That is quite the unibrow.

EVERY year, EVERY card... He never trimmed that thing.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_YMTMWMyiMU...lly%2BMoon.jpg
http://www.baseball-almanac.com/play..._autograph.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zeUx1G7XHX...venezuelan.jpg
http://images.sportscarddatabase.com...1000/11008.jpg

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?