Hollywood bum (another edition of "What Tha?")

Well, no one has much of an idea about how to store '75 minis, Lineage or otherwise. I was afraid of that. This might cause me to be "innovative," which means my card supplies should be looking for a place to hide.

No big deal. After all, the blog has been invaluable for receiving collecting help. I don't know where I'd be without my readers, especially those who comment. A lot more stupid about cards, I know that.

For example, in the last post I noted how the Koufax base Lineage card has a different photo than the '75 mini Lineage.

I wondered about other players in the set possibly having two different photos. As usual, you guys came up with some examples, like Adam Jones and Mark Teixeira. I'm sure there are a number of other ones that I could find, if I could just get myself to tackle the task.

But one of the comments from Lifetime Topps caused me to stumble across something else.

He said:

The question part of the comment caused me to go back and look at the mini Koufax, because after reading the comment, the back of my brain knew something wasn't right.

There's the mini card again.

And here's a close-up of his uniform:

Yup. That's "Los Angeles" all right.

Now, here's a close-up of his cap:

B?????????

As in Brooklyn?

Is he a member of the "Brooklyn-Los Angeles Dodgers"? Had Koufax gone Hollywood yet remained a Bum? What is going on?

I know Koufax was good, but I'm pretty certain that he didn't pitch for both Brooklyn and Los Angeles at the same time.

"Perhaps," I thought, "Topps found some photo where Koufax was goofing off and dug up an old Brooklyn cap and wore it for a gag."

But that would be highly unlikely, especially since I've seen a photo of the '75 Lineage Koufax pose on at least one other card.

It appeared on the titanicly hideous diaper/uniform auto-relic card in Topps Marquee:

Take a close look at the photo -- if you can even find the photo.

OK, it's pretty blurry, because it's a swipe of a swipe of an image. But you get the idea. That's the same photo. But there is no "B" on his cap. That's an interlocking "L" and "A."

So why in the world would Topps place a "B" on Koufax's cap when he's wearing a Los Angeles uniform? Is there some still-bitter Brooklyn Dodgers fan working in the art department at Topps? Is there a stealth variation of the correct version of this ca...

You know, I've got no answer for this one. I think if I think about it any more, I'll go as loopy as the people manufacturing baseball cards.

I give up.