One for the thumb

All the talk this week about "The Big Lebowski" and the creation of virtual cards of missing toes, etc., made me think about a certain childhood obsession of mine concerning former player Carlos May.

White Sox fans will remember May as a promising outfielder who had some decent seasons for Chicago back in the early-to-mid '70s. They also probably remember what happened to May's right thumb early in his career.

May was on duty for the Marine reserves in the summer of 1969 when a mortar unit that he was cleaning misfired and blew off part of his right thumb. The accident could have killed his career, but after several operations, he was back playing for the White Sox the next season.

Years later, when I was a kid, I heard about May's accident and I started searching his baseball cards to see if I could spot his right thumb (I was a weird kid). May was playing in Japan at the time, so it wasn't like I could watch him on TV. Cards were all I had to go on.

But I could see no evidence of any thumb damage on any of the cards. You can see on the 1971 card that May is wearing a white glove on his right hand, and his left hand is covering the thumb portion of the right hand.

The 1974 card features May with a black glove on his right hand and his thumb portion away from the camera.

The 1975 card is similar to the 1971 card, except with the white glove on the left hand, but still the top hand is covering the thumb portion of the right hand.

Although I don't have them scanned, I have seen the 1973, 1976 and 1977 Topps May cards. On the '73 card, he is shot at a bit of a distance and the thumb is out of view. The 1976 card is an action shot of May swinging and you can't see the thumb portion. The 1977 card is a close-up, and May's arms aren't even in the frame.

The one card I haven't seen is the 1972 Topps card. I wonder if it's like the others? And I wonder if May requested that Topps keep his damaged thumb hidden.

If that was the case, we've come a long way since then. Who hasn't seen a Jim Abbott card that showed, without a doubt, that he didn't have a right hand? Maybe Abbott was the guy that made it OK: Yeah, I don't have a right hand. So what? Everyone's got their burden, right?

Obviously, Jim Abbott and Carlos May did pretty well with their "handicaps." Meanwhile, I've got two hands and all of my fingers and toes, and I've never been able to hit or throw a curveball. I guess that's my burden.