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I recently came across this 2021 card of Mike Brousseau and it all came rushing back:
All the shock and horror of a baseball player on my card, not wearing a cap.
Why would they do this to him? Why? He's got no hair, put a hat on him, Topps!
I think the fact that it took me more than a year for this card to register in this way is a sign that it's not as big of a deal to me as it was when I was a kid. I'm older. I actually associate regularly with people who have lost their hair. I've even suffered some hair loss. No matter, even though, still, I'd rather see a player on my card wearing his ball cap.
With my new frame of reference (i.e., I'm old), I decided to put a pleasant twist on the phenomenon of players lacking caps on their cards. What are the best, the most notable, the most interesting cards of players without a key element of their uniform?
After doing a little bit of research, I've decided to break this up into a few separate posts. I'm going to dedicate one to the '60s, one to the '70s, one to the '80s and then I'll see about a '90s-present day post, as well as one pre-1960. Heck, let's see if I remember this after writing the first one.
I'm starting with the 1960s, which is the Golden Age of Naked Heads, according to the history books. There are hundreds of players without hats in this decade, a couple of Topps sets from this time devote a full one-fifth or so to players' hair, or lack of it.
So I found 12 -- although I could have shown at least 100 for this decade -- of the greatest '60s heads. Let's count 'em in reverse order of greatness:
12. Arnold Earley, 1967
A personal favorite, one of the few on this list that I own, and a card I've written about prior. Maybe the greatest thing about this card is this is Arnold Early's rookie card. Sure, he looks like a corrupt sheriff in a '70s road movie, but the card insists he's a mere 34.
11. Bob Veale, 1969
This is a classic look from Bob that he first debuted in the 1965 Topps set. But, for me, the letterman-style jacket with the monstrous "P" adds that extra punch that puts this card over the top. The goggles are sweet on both cards.
10. Bob Miller, 1968
The bed-head look is an interesting choice by Topps, which was either so enamored or ignorant of it that it used the same shot in '69 but cropped in even closer on the rat's nest atop Bob. It looks like he has just removed his hat, on orders of someone, who didn't have the heart to hand him a comb.
9. Pat Corrales, 1966
Pat Corrales isn't the only player in the '60s to receive a rookie trophy but missing his hat. There are a number of them. But Corrales is the only one who appears to be searching for what happened to the hat he was wearing.
8. Joe Schultz, 1969
The Budweiser-pounder himself displays the greatest expanse of baldness to ever show up on a baseball card. Long before shiny cards THIS was a shiny card.
7. Jerry Lumpe, 1964
The 1964 Topps set escaped the cavalcade of hatless players that other sets from the '60s contained. There are not even 30 in the set somehow. But Jerry Lumpe makes up for the lack of quantity with quality. Wearing green-and-gold while playing for the Tigers, Lumpe's unusual haircut looks like it's sprouting horns.
6. Frank Robinson, 1966
The Cincinnati Reds' mistake is here for everyone to see right here. The only thing that would've made it more devastating if Topps used actual Orioles colors instead of the puke green.
5. Warren Spahn, 1965
Warren Spahn looks like he works in a bakery, and it's a steep drop from the days of pitching the Milwaukee Braves to a championship to losing his cap with the bumbling Mets. The position line is fun as Spahn was both pitcher and pitching coach on the Mets in '65 so it could read "pitcher/coach" or "p(itching) coach."
4. Yogi Berra, 1965
The Mets were loading up with the big names at this time. A similar card to the Spahn, and one of Berra's most memorable cards if you ask me. This will come into focus a little more in the '70s, but I think cards with players lacking hats reveal more of the player's character.
3. John Anderson, 1962
I've written specifically about this card before and am also happy to own it. It still boggles my mind that this dedication to Alfalfa appeared on cardboard. I wish Anderson was still around to fill in the details on his rookie card.
2. Johnny Bench, 1969
The vast majority of hatless cards in the 1960s are head shots. This card kicked off a new look that would continue through the following decades as Topps would use hatless shots to convey the player's star power. In a way, you don't even think of it as a hatless shot.
1. Cal McLish, 1961
What the heck. Cal has the sympathy of every kid whose parent took a picture of him while they were facing the sun.
Honorable mentions to Tito Francona (1967), Roger Maris (1960), Smoky Burgess (1965), Pete Mikkelsen (1966), Clay Carroll (1969), Bob Uecker (1964), Duke Snider (1963), Johnny Temple (1962), Bob Tillman (1968), Don Drysdale (1960) and many, many others. It was the '60s, you know.
Up next (but not right away): The '70s.
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