Patch worthy?

I've been thinking about this for some time. In fact, I've been thinking about it so long, that I've lost all perspective on whether it's a good idea or just plain morbid.

It has to do with patch cards. I've mentioned a couple of times that I don't understand the fascination with them at all. I especially don't understand manufactured patches, which don't have any connection to an actual patch worn on baseball uniform.

But one thing that might be intriguing would be related to patches that were used to commemorate a ballplayer or other baseball figure who had recently died. The No. 21 worn here by Rennie Stennett to honor the late, great Roberto Clemente. The No. 19 worn by the Dodgers throughout the 1978 postseason. The No. 10 worn by the Yankees after Phil Rizzuto's death a couple years ago.

Is it too callous for me to suggest that it would be a good idea to later feature patch cards of the deceased player, in which the card consisted of pieces of those commemorative patches? I think it would be a fitting tribute to present a well-designed card of, say, Roberto Clemente, with part of the No. 21 patch as a key element in the card.

I have no idea how card companies would go about acquiring patches like these, but I think it'd be worth the effort. It'd be more worthwhile then creating a manufactured patch that doesn't have anything to do with anything. Perhaps they would have to wait a year or two because marketing anything too close to a player's death would be perceived as profiting off that person's passing (some eBay sellers are asking right now, "What? Is there something wrong with that?").

Maybe this has been done already. I don't know. I'm just trying to find meaning in patch cards, because right now, for me, their meaning is non-existent.