A series where I post some thoughts about favorite cards. Previous cards in the series are available here.
Have a look at these three "in action" cards from the 1982 Topps set.
Why did I place the phrase "in action" in quotes? Well, I don't know about you, but I'm not seeing much action captured in those photographs. Might as well delete the space between the two words, and make it "inaction".
Unfortunately, there were a bunch of these static-type cards in the subset. But Topps didn't get it all wrong. Some of the images are very good.
One of them is exceptional.
If you were at the ballpark that afternoon, you'd be on the edge of your seat, watching a potential highlight-reel play unfold before your eyes. Just look at everything the photographer captured.
The baseball has been popped up in front of home plate, maybe on a poor bunt attempt. It's just out of frame, somewhere near the Topps logo, and Fisk has his eyes right on it. His catcher's mask has been tossed (you can see it just above the name "FISK"). On the very left-hand side of the image, you can even spot the umpire running out from behind home plate to get a clear view of the play. I think Fisk is going to make the grab.
You know what else? After some quick scanning of the checklist, this is the only card in the entire 40-card subset that's in a horizontal layout. That means the folks in the Topps design department thought this image was so good that it was worth making an adjustment to the design. Just for this card. Pretty cool when you think about it.
And speaking of so good, let's discuss Mr. Carlton Fisk for a minute.
Your knees might hurt just knowing that the guy spent almost all of his 24 MLB seasons crouching behind home plate. (He logged 2,226 games as a catcher. The next highest amount of games he played at any defensive position was 41, as an outfielder.)
I suppose for Fisk, a.k.a. "Pudge", some of that pain was lessened over the years by all the accolades and accomplishments. Rookie of the Year, Gold Glove, 11x All-Star, 3x Silver Slugger, and some records set during his playing days that have since been eclipsed, like total games caught and total home runs by a catcher. (He still holds the A.L. record for home runs by catcher with 351.)
A Hall of Fame induction helps, too.
Oh, and some rather famous body English on a World Series home run.
The guy was a total workhorse, team leader, and heck of an overall player.
And for showing us that you can capture all of that on a 3.5 x 2.5-inch rectangle, 1982 Topps #111 has a spot in my box of favorite cards.
