Players Who Went The Longest Without Cards?

[packs]

I came across this article today about Mariners pitcher Justin Topa. He's currently on the disabled list, but did appear in 75 games for the Mariners last season. He also appeared in 17 other games between 2020 and 2022, with a career spanning 92 games over 4 big league seasons.

But he still doesn't have a major league baseball card.

Is there anyone else like him out there who either had to wait 4 plus seasons or more or even never got a card at all despite seemingly appearing in enough games to warrant one?

https://torontosun.com/sports/baseba...-baseball-card

[nolemmings]

There's always the mysterious Tony Horton. And of course Maury Wills.
BTW, Topa is now on the Twins, theoretically. He has yet to be seen on the field in uniform, although he was spotted in St. Paul getting hurt again.

[Lucas00]

If you only count big releases (Bowman/topps) Stan Musial had to wait 7 years. I'm sure there are other players even from the late 30s who had to wait until '48 bowman as well. Pre war, 19th and early 20th century wise I'm sure there are a ton as well.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Joe Mantiply. 2016 debut. In majors since 2019 steadily. 2023 RC, I believe.

[packs]

For the purposes of the thread lets leave out anyone during the war years or prior to them.

[dgo71]

Xavier Cedeno has 254 games spanning 2011 through 2019 without a single card having been made.

Anthony Misiewicz, from 2020-24, 131 MLB games. No cards yet but maybe his brief stint with the Yankees this year will get him his RC.

Nick Vincent has only a 2019 Topps Total (online availability only) to show for 412 games from 2012-2021.

In short, much like linebackers and guards hardly ever have cards, Topps shows middle relievers no love.

[JustinD]

If I am allowed to switch sports and ignore years without major releases. The Pistons Bad Boy era teams had a human celebration player…Chuck Nevitt. We all knew the game was over and the crowd would chant “Nevitt! Nevitt!” Until he hit the floor to rousing cheers.

A great memory for us locals, but even with the tongue in cheek fame, Chuck only received one card in his 10 season career and well toward the end.

[packs]

Such a shame for these guys. Bowman produces so many cards every year of guys who are playing in the Dominican Summer league and yet nothing to show for some actual major leaguers.

[judsonhamlin]

Did Marshall Bridges ever get onto a card? I don’t think so, despite several years of steady play in the 60’s.

[clydepepper]

A lesson in knowing somebody who can get something done...I guess.

It's not who you know, it's who you know.

Kinda Cool:

Harvey Riebe1.jpg

Harvey Riebe2.jpg

He lived long enough to see it happen...passed away in 2001.


.

[clydepepper]

I found this fascinating (from Wikipedia):

Harvey Donald "Hank" Riebe (October 10, 1921 – April 16, 2001) was a Major League Baseball catcher for four seasons with the Detroit Tigers (1942, 1947–1949). He also received a Bronze Star[1] and two Purple Heart medals while serving in the United States Army during World War II. He was a survivor of the sinking of the troopship SS Leopoldville off the coast of France on December 24, 1944, in which 763 soldiers lost their lives.[1]

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Riebe signed with the Detroit Tigers after graduating from Euclid Shore High School in Cleveland. Riebe played in the minor leagues in Beaumont, Texas, Alexandria, Louisiana, Muskegon, Michigan, Henderson, Texas, and Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Riebe later recalled: "Detroit really moved players around a lot."

In August 1942, the Tigers called Riebe up to the big leagues. He played his first major league game in Philadelphia on August 26, 1942, in the second game of a Sunday double-header. Riebe hit a two-run double down the left field line. He went 2-for-4 in his major league debut and 4-for-4 a week later in his first game at Briggs Stadium. In all, Riebe hit .314 in 11 games for the Tigers in 1942.

After a promising start to his baseball career, Riebe was drafted into the U.S. Army after the 1942 season ended. He served in the 66th Infantry Division in Europe. On Christmas Eve 1944, Riebe was aboard the SS Leopoldville headed for Cherbourg, France, when it was sunk by torpedoes fired by a German U-boat. Riebe floated in the icy water of the English Channel and a Coast Guard cutter pulled him out. Over 750 American troops lost their lives in the sinking of the Leopoldville. Riebe was awarded a Purple Heart medal for injuries suffered in the Leopoldville sinking and later served with the 66th Infantry as it moved across Europe. In the spring of 1945, Riebe was injured by shrapnel from German artillery, earning his second Purple Heart award.

Riebe recalled listening on the radio from a tent in France as his teammates on the Detroit Tigers won the 1945 World Series.

Released from the military in early 1946, Riebe returned to the Tigers for spring training in 1946, but he did not make the team. He played the 1946 season in the minor leagues with Buffalo and Dallas.

In 1947, Riebe was elevated back to the major leagues but was the Tigers' third catcher behind Bob Swift and Birdie Tebbetts. Riebe played in only 8 games in 1946 and went hitless in 7 at-bats. When the Tigers acquired yet another catcher, Hal Wagner, Riebe was sent to Memphis in the minor leagues.

Riebe played briefly for the Tigers in 1948 and 1949, but he never came close to his .314 batting average of 1942. He hit .194 in 25 games in 1948 and .182 in 17 games in 1949. He played his last major league game for the Tigers on September 17, 1949.

Riebe played in a total of 61 major league games and had a career batting average of .212 and 11 RBIs.

Riebe also played for the Toledo Mud Hens in 1950 before retiring from baseball at age 28.

From 1951 to 1977, Riebe worked for a brass and copper company in Cleveland. He died of cancer in 2001 at age 79. He was born and died in Cleveland.

Riebe's brothers Mel Riebe and Bill Riebe played professional basketball in the National Basketball Association from 1944 to 1949.


Some Years back, when I was regularly biking down the Riverwalk, I would finish up at the 'old' National Infantry Museum on post (Fort Benning; now Fort Moore). I would rife around reading all the inscriptions on monuments and one of the was about the sinking of the SS Leopoldville. It found it amazing that so little has been told about this tragedy, though there were many others. I just read the Wikipedia information before sharing this and NOW, I will definitely read the book about it that I purchased long ago.

[KJA]

It's not baseball but Tom Chambers was a rookie in the NBA during the 81-82 season but didn't get a rookie card until 86-87 Fleer. Mainly due to nobody was producing basketball cards from 81 to 86 outside of those Star sets.

[ALR-bishop]

Originally Posted by nolemmings

There's always the mysterious Tony Horton. And of course Maury Wills.
BTW, Topa is now on the Twins, theoretically. He has yet to be seen on the field in uniform, although he was spotted in St. Paul getting hurt again.

A Lemke Tony