30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Thursday, January 21, 2021

Now Up to Bat... #46

Now that #46 has officially been sworn in... let's see what this administration can do.  Personally... I hope President Biden and company will be able to bridge the growing gap between the two major political parties.  Okay... that's enough politics.  Let's check out some cards.

In honor of #46... let's look at a few athletes who have donned that number on their jersey.  Now when I originally planned this post, I figured it'd take me twenty to thirty minutes to pull some cards of guys wearing #46.  I couldn't be more wrong.  I spent two hours digging through 5,000ct. boxes looking for Mike Bordick cards I eventually discovered I don't own.

So let's start with him...

1992 Leaf #364

While brainstorming for this post, I wanted to use cards with photographs of the athletes wearing #46.  Due to my lack of organization, this proved to be very challenging.  Thanks to COMC, I did discover that Bordick who wore #46 with the A's from 1990 to 1992 has two cards clearly featuring him wearing that number: 1991 Score and 1992 Stadium Club.

Both of those cards are from the Junk Wax Era... so I figured I owned multiple copies sitting in my A's collection.  Unfortunately... I've never taken the time to organize the multiple 5,000ct. boxes that house the bulk of my A's cards.  Well like I stated... I eventually discovered that I don't own either of these cards.

But I did find multiple copies of his 1992 Leaf card... which features him wearing #46 on the back:


Here's a closer look:


Moving along... the lone hall of famer I discovered in my collection was Lee Smith:

1983 Topps #699

He wore #46 with the Chicago Cubs from 1980 to 1987.  Like Bordick, Smith has multiple cards featuring him wearing this number... but after spending all of that time digging through boxes... I just pulled out my 1983 Topps set to quickly scanned this card.

Personally... I think it looks awesome.

Andy Pettitte is another popular player who wore #46 at certain points in his career (1995 to 2003, 2007 to 2010, 2012 to 2013) for the New York Yankees.

2014 Topps Trajectory Relics #TR-AP

This card doesn't feature him wearing #46, but it does reference his jersey number.  It's hard to see, but if you look closely you'll see the number printed in silver foil right under his glove.

And rounding out the baseball players is Yuichi Honda:

2007 BBM #95

Can't say I know anything about Mr. Honda, but he's the lone #46 I discovered in my Japanese baseball card binders.  Like Pettitte, he's not pictured wearing the number, but it's clearly printed on the card.

I also spent a lot of time digging through boxes looking for a Craig Kimbrel card other than this one, but struck out looking.  The search for a Paul Goldschmidt card with him wearing that number with the Cardinals came up short as well.

On the other hand, I was able to locate a pair of football cards featuring players wearing #46 while flipping through my vintage football card binder:

1961 Fleer #152

I've never heard of Austin Gonsoulin, but apparently he was a 5x Pro Bowler for the Denver Broncos back in the 60's.  He's clearly wearing #46 on this card, but according to Football Reference, he wore #23 for them.

And rounding out this segment of the post is Herm Edwards...

1980 Topps #377

I was pretty happy to find this card.  Seeing it instantly reminded me that "you play to win the game".  Thanks for the motivational speech Herm!

I apologize to basketball and hockey card fans out there for not being able to come up with any cards featuring #46 on them, but I assure you that I did look.

Maybe these will make it up to you.  Here are a few other random numbers in honor of our new leader...

  

     

This sheet of Presidential Pitches trading cards came out of this issue of Tuff Stuff Magazine:

Tuff Stuff May 1992

This
issue was part of a care package that SumoMenkoMan sent me back in August.  There's nothing like flipping through old issues of Beckett, Baseball Cards, or Tuff Stuff and reading the articles, looking up card values, and checking out old sales adsThanks Ryan... these magazines are the gift that keeps on giving.

That wraps up another post.  Best of luck #46.  Let's see what you're made of.

Happy Thursday and sayonara!

18 comments:

Elliptical Man said...

Herm Edwards scored the winning touchdown in the Miracle at the Meadowlands.

gcrl said...

Today I learned about don Fleming for whom the Cleveland browns retired #46. Sad story.

Nick said...

I'm horrible with jersey numbers, so I'm not surprised I couldn't think of a single #46 off the top of my head. Seems so obvious when I see those Lee Smith & Andy Pettitte cards though.

Sean said...

AH! A post about Yuichi Honda!

I used to live in Fukuoka when he was a star with the Hawks about 10 years ago, I remember my wife and I going to games and cheering for him (literally for him, the fans had specific cheers for specific players).

And that 1992 Tuff Stuff also brings back memories, I had that same issue once upon a time (I don't suppose it was issue #46?)

Brett Alan said...

Mike Bordick is not a name we Mets fans want to hear. We traded for him as a rental and he didn't work out well, and we gave up a young Melvin Mora in the process. I mean, it's not like when we gave up Nolan Ryan or even Amos Otis, but I would have liked to have Mora at his best. Bordick didn't wear 46 as a Met, but it doesn't have a great history. I suppose Neil Allen wore it best.

Swing And A Pop-up said...

Jacoby Ellsbury wore 46 with the Red Sox. Thats the only one I could think of off the top of my head...oh yeah Bob Stanley did too. How could I forget that? Every time I have to watch Mookie hit the ground ball between Buckner's legs the pitch originates from number 46.

Steve at 1975BaseballCards.com said...

Clever! Also nice how watching the news just stopped being full of hate and narcissism.

RunForeKelloggs said...

Tuff Stuff was a must read for me when Starting Lineups had feature articles each month.

sg488 said...

Checking my NFL Hall of Fame binder for #46,I came up with Lou (the toe)Groza. And not quite a HOF but a Niner great, Tim McDonald.










Groza

night owl said...

I know No. 46 as Burt Hooton's number, currently worn on the Dodgers by Tony Gonsolin.

SumoMenkoMan said...

46, let's do this! I'm surprised you found a decent amount of players with 46. It does seem like an odd number for sure for a jersey. Awesome post and I have a stack of Tuff Stuffs waiting for you if you want them.

The Lost Collector said...

I definitely went to Andy Pettitte right away when I started reading.

I have several family members who race cars, and two fo them use number 46.

Bo said...

Nice Pettitte card. I'll take a look to see if I have any extra Pettitte cards that show his jersey number. A lot of my Pettitte's went to my street vendor buddy, back when I was going to the city for work.

Peter K Steinberg said...

Very cool cards and I like that you showed the Sandberg Tuff Stuff and it ties in to your blog post because he wore 23 which is half of 46.

CinciCuse Bill said...

Love those Tuff Stuff cards!

The Snorting Bull said...

I always associate 46 with Lee Smith and Craig Kimbrel. Paul Goldschmidt has been wearing that number since he was traded to the Cardinals, but I feel like it looks odd on him. That old Broncos card is sweet!

Adam said...

I've been thinking of picking up the Topps Now set commemorating the inauguration but I haven't set. There's only two cards I want from it anyway.

Also, I couldn't think of a single person who wore #46 until you pointed all these players out. Also, that Tuff Stuff sheet is super super cool.

Fuji said...

elliptical man - i had to look it up... but ouch. that hurts (if you're a giants fan)

gcrl - wasn't familiar with that story, but i just looked it up. very sad

nick - i didn't know any of these guys wore #46 until i looked it up. hope i didn't come off as sounding like this was obvious info. i totally used baseball reference. as for the football cards, i just flipped through my binder

sean - i hope to one day attend a japanese baseball game and witness these chants in person

bret alan - bordick stopped wearing 46 by his 3rd or 4th season with the a's.

swing and a pop-up - oh. i probably have an ellsbury card laying around somewhere. but i'm done doing research for this post. invested way too much time already ;D

steve at 1975baseballcards.com - let the healing begin

runforekelloggs - that was the main reason i bought the magazine back in the 90's. loved checking the price guide and the articles (every other month)

sg488 - groza is a nice find. sad i don't have a card of his. and most of my 49ers are in my classroom.

night owl - nice call on hooton. and i just recently pulled out my 1978 kellogg's set which shows #46 on his card

sumomenkoman - yeah... not a lot of big names wearing #46. at least not in the sense of superstars

the lost collector - that's pretty cool that you are related to race car drivers. until a few months ago, i didn't know pettitte wore that number

bo - i wonder how your buddy is doing these days. miss those posts

peter k steinberg - good eyes. maybe next time i'll use all of the factors of 46 ;D

cincicuse bill - me too. the other issue sumomenkoman gave me had stadium cards which were really cool too

the snorting bull - up until a few months ago, i couldn't name one person who wore #46. thankfully there are sites like baseball reference

adam - looks like topps is selling the individually now. i should have been more patient. as for #46... i didn't know anyone with that number either. i used the internet.