As a child, I was obsessed with baseball cards. As an adult, I am obsessed with seemingly innocuous copy written on printed products, especially cereal boxes and other food items. I’ve often dreamed of a job where I do nothing but proof and copyedit advertising drivel to free the public from the bad grammar and diction forced upon it by helpless copywriters.
So I don’t know why it never occurred to me to long for a job which combines the two: writing copy for the back of baseball cards. You know, anecdotes about a player’s nickname, when they were drafted — silly things like that. But apparently someone did, and applied for a job at Topps. It apparently sucked. Oh well…
(Pictured: a Kevin Mitchell card from the 1987 Topps set. Funny how well I remember this card–probably because of the dynamic action shot.)
Was that game played in a desert or something?
Comment by Jeff Martin — September 28, 2006 @ 1:43 pm
My guess is that it was a summer game at Shea (the Mets are wearing their home uniforms–which by the way look totally awesome) and it hadn’t rained in a while.
I love how you can see the catcher’s mask right in front of the cloud.
Comment by edwardhenry — September 28, 2006 @ 2:51 pm
‘87 Topps was my favorite set when I was a kid–I loveed that woodgrain border. Hard to believe it’s the same company that produced the ‘86 set or the ‘87 set (so ugly!).
I remember this Terry Mulholland card for some reason. Again: dynamic action shot?
Comment by A. Horbal — September 29, 2006 @ 3:04 pm
I have a bit of a soft-spot for the ‘86 set: the bold colorful letters at the top have an excellent retro feel.
The Mullhollad card is great. Pitching coach/guru Tom House calls that position “the perfect T.”
Comment by edwardhenry — September 29, 2006 @ 4:38 pm