Friday, January 14, 2011

Now THAT is Noticeable...

This card looks a little off.

While the condition may leave a lot to be desired, the picture on this card is a real eyesore:

Card #587 -- Rich McKinney, Oakland A's

Let's look past the fact that Rich McKinney looks a little bit like Owen Wilson here. This photo is such an obvious airbrush job, it refuses to let me flip through my 1973 binder without stopping to look at it again. The green color is wrong, and so is the perspective of the logo on his cap. Even a six-year old kid with crayons may have been able to do a better job here.

Rick McKinney had spent the '72 season with the Yankees after two with the White Sox. He was traded after the season as part of the deal that brought Matty Alou to the Bronx. He was used only sparingly in Oakland, spread out over several positions and at DH but never being more than a part-time player. After several trips to the minors and short trials with the club through 1977, McKinney was out of the game. He never managed to appear on another Topps card after 1973, nor did he get into any of the A's postseason series.

2 comments:

  1. Man, I found this card disturbing as a 5-year-old kid buying his first baseball cards! I knew nothing about airbrushing, but I was wondering why a heavy-set woman (he looks like Julia Child to me for some reason) was playing baseball! Sorry, Mr. McKinney, but this card frightened me.

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  2. To me he looks like a cross between Jimmy Page and Weird Al Yankovic. It looks also from the black border around his outline that this could be a cut and paste as well as an airbrush. Where is he? In the front row of the third deck? I can't imagine this photo being taken at field level. Yankee Stadium had small foul territory and the infield skin over his shoulder is too far in the distance for him to be on the field.

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