The
1977 Laughlin Erorrs
set (yes the misspelling is intentional) is a 40 card set that is dedicated to
errors that appear on baseball cards! It's a great little set with those great
Laughlin cartoons, and I thought it would be fun to do a semi-regular series
dedicated to the set and errors found within!
Question: When is an error not an error?
Today's card features 6x All-Star Ewell Blackwell, a great name if ever there
was one. According to the Laughlin card, the error on his 1952 Berk Ross
card involves a case of mistaken identity - the stats on the back of his cards
belong to Hall of Famer Nellie Fox!
Now, cards with the wrong backs are not uncommon. Most of the time these are
not errors. They are simply printing mistakes, and cards with the correct
backs are significantly more common. I tried to find other instances of cards
where the card truly was printed consistently with the same wrong back, but I
did not have much luck. Truth is, I didn't put much effort into finding one.
Why? Well, lets take a look at the card:
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Notice anything? It's not the back that features Nellie Fox, it's the front!
Which means that the Laughlin Erorrs card is itself an error card!
Cards with the wrong player on the front? Those are much more common! In fact,
while I was doing my internet researching, I came across this well-written piece by our own Night Owl! His article contains some of the most famous examples,
but I will add a personal favorite of mine here:
This error card got better over time, as both Tom Glavine and John Smoltz
ended up in the Hall of Fame. If anyone knows of any other card where two
eventual Hall of Famers got confused, I'd love to know!
What's your favorite "wrong guy pictured" card?
Willie Mays is the player shown in action on Hank Aaron's 1956 Topps card.
ReplyDeleteGood one! Easy to miss!
DeleteThat 56T Hank Aaron is my personal favorite, but there are a few from the 80's that stand out too.
DeleteA. 85T Gary Pettis (featuring his younger brother)
B. 88T Al Leiter (featuring Steve George)
Love this Laughlin set (wish I owned the entire set). Looking forward to this series.
ReplyDeleteBernie Williams and Gerald Williams got switched at least once. I have some cards from an '80s Yankees police set where Guidry and Righetti got switched.
ReplyDeleteMan that Laughlin set is so great.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of my favorite topics and that post you linked to is also one of my favorites. Not sure I have a favorite "wrong guy" so I'll just mention how terrible it is that 2006 Topps confused a black man (Lloyd McClendon) for a white man (Pete Mackanin) on the Pirates manager card.
Is it possible that there's both--they they switched the plates so that there were some Fox cards with Blackwell backs and vice versa?
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorites is a 2004 numbered reprint of Duke Snider's Donruss Hall of Fame Heroes card. The front is Snider, and Snider's name appears on the back...but then the bio is for Lou Boudreau! "Duke Snider combined shortstop prowess, solid hitting and managerial acumen...." No, he didn't!