Comical Erorrs: Milt Bolling

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!  

 

 

The last time I did one of these posts, we were once again dealing with a card that supposedly had the wrong back. In that case, the front was actually wrong but I mentioned how I had a hard time finding another instance of a card where the back was consistently printed incorrectly. I guess I just needed to look at the next card in this set, because Milt's card initially had his little brother Frank's information on the back.

 

 

However in later productions, this card was corrected:

 

It's easy to see where someone at Bowman could get confused. Milt and Frank were roughly 14 months apart in age, and both played the middle infield for an American League team. They even looked alike:

 

 

Frank was the more accomplished player, making 4 All-Star teams and winning a Gold Glove. Milt's career on the field was cut short by injuries, but spent over 40 years in the Red Sox organization as a scout and executive assistant.

 

As far as error cards go, that sibling connection is the most noticeable thing about the card. It's also not the last time we get an error card featuring a mistaken identity with someone's brother:

 

 

The story of Gary's brother Lynn appearing on his 1985 Topps card is well known by those of us that grew up in the mid-80's. It remains one of the most recognized error cards of all time.

 

Other Comical Erorrs:

Bob Ueker' 1963 Topps card

Bill Dickey's 1933 Goudey card 

Ewell Blackwell's 1952 Berk Ross card 

 

TCDB Trade Recap: Cards From Aurora, CO

Nothing like getting hit with another round of Covid right after one's birthday. April Fools on me! Fortunately, this was a mild one with no fever or symptoms outside of a cough. Still, it did make it so I didn't feel like doing much, including post. I'm back now, and hopefully I can finish up all the posts I had intended to have published already.

 

This is a nice small trade with a TCDB member named Chris. He's always looking to complete some sets and I was able to help him a little bit in exchange for some Red Sox needs:

 

Favorite Card: I just adore that high leg kick on Crochet! 

 

Thanks for the trade Chris! 

Repack Haiku #455 (Don August)

Two historic wins:

Olympic semi-finals

And SkyDome's first game

 

1988 Donruss #602 Don August

 

August earned the win in relief during the 1984 Summer Olympics semi-final game against Korea. That win put Team USA in the finals, where they earned the Silver Medal. August also was the winning pitcher in the first ever game at Toronto's SkyDome in 1989.

 

Source: https://stateofbaseball.substack.com/p/interview-49-don-august

Repack Haiku #454 (Sidd Finch)

Oh what could have been!

Threw ball at unheard of speeds

Chose different path

 

1986 Topps #793 Sidd Finch (RC)

Finch was a former Mets prospect who wowed coaches with his incredible fastball. The reclusive pitcher eventually decided that baseball wasn't what he wanted to do and left the game before ever throwing a Major League pitch.

 

Source: The Curious Case Of Sidd Finch 

 

 

 

It's been awhile since I did something for April Fool's Day, so I thought a haiku to one of baseball's great imaginary players was in order. This was my first attempt at using ChatGPT to create a mock-up baseball card. Not bad huh?

This Day In Baseball History

Hope springs eternal in the game of baseball. One of the best things about the sport is that you don't have to be the star player to win the game. The history of the game is filled with guys who have tried and failed, only to try again. Guys who have gotten knocked down, gotten up and persevered.

One individual spent over 40 years playing the game he loved, and more often than not found himself on the losing end. On this day in 1993, the impossible happened:

 

https://www.gocomics.com/peanuts/1993/03/30

 

Charlie Brown, baseball hero.

Happy Anniversary Charlie Brown! May your never-give-up attitude and love for the game be an inspiration to all!

(...and Happy birthday to me!)

A Couple Of Small Trades

Ah...it's good to have baseball again!

 

Just doing a quick post today to show off a couple of small trades I made recently. Starting off, we have a trade with TCDB member named Mike from Kirkland, WA. My trade with Mike was initially a Time Travel Trade where he requested 2 cards from 1975. It was only after I accepted that I realized one of the cards I was sending wasn't in the Time Travel Trade stack! Turns out it was a Time Travel Trading remnant card that I had retired, put into my collection, and forgot to update in the database! Not a big deal, as I put one card in the stack and kept this one:

 

 

Next, we have a trade with another TCDB member, Dave from Cotuit, MA. In exchange for a hockey card I had, he offered up two cards from my want list:

 

 

The Benintendi is a nice bonus, but that Yaz was the key card for me. I'm now down to needing just one more Red Sox card (Carlton Fisk) from the 1975 Topps set! 

 

A big thank you Mike and Dave for the trades! 

Repack Haiku #453 (Jake Fraley)

Bigger than baseball

Fraley's daughter beat cancer!

Ring that bell sweet child!

 

2023 Topps #657 Jake Fraley

 

It is downright serendipitous. I went to create this haiku a little over a week ago, and Googled Jake Fraley. Right at the top some recent news, and I couldn't be happier for Jake and his family. Congrats to little Avery on winning a big battle!

 

Source:  Former Reds Outfielder Jake Fraley’s Daughter Rings Bell After Beating Cancer