Wednesday, April 23, 2014

#285 - Dan Driessen


What a card: Last post I said it wouldn't take us nearly as long to find the next airbrushed card. That's because it is the very next card. This is Dan Driessen's first Topps card as an Expo, although as you can see he's not really an Expo in the photo. He was traded from the Reds to the Expos on July 26, 1984, and Topps didn't have a chance to find him in an Expos uniform.

My observation on the front: This is the third Expos card in the set that is airbrushed and it's pretty brutal execution. Driessen looks like he stuck his face in a hole of a cardboard cutout Expos player.

More opinion from me: What struck me about this card when I first saw it in 1985 was how pleased Driessen looked. It was very disorienting because most of Driessen's cards show him either hard at work or somewhat grumpy.

Something you might know: Driessen was the first designated hitter for a National League team in World Series history. It happened in 1976 when Driessen's Reds played the Yankees. He hit .357 in that Series, but he started out 0-for-4 in Game 1, hitting a ball to deep center field in his first at-bat.

Something you might not know: Driessen never played high school baseball. Neither of the high schools he attended had baseball teams. He was signed by the Reds after a tryout.


My observation on the back: That's some complete family information there, right down to his kids' birthdates.

The blog wants to speak now: The Music category is updated.

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