C.A.: 1962 Topps Larry Osborne

(For a brief moment, I thought of starting a non-card blog to document the music I've been listening to, sometimes while writing this blog, but mostly while driving or working late at night. In the last 2-3 years I've really gotten into current music -- not the stuff on the radio/charts -- and it's kind of more fascinating than cards right now. But I'm not great at expressing my musical appreciation or criticism and I already run a blog that nobody reads so that thought disappeared until it popped back into my mind right now. Anyway, time for Cardboard Appreciation, this is the 332nd in a series):

One of the best ways for me to discover cards that amuse me is when doing research for posts. That's how I stumbled upon this card, while going through cards for the First Manager Card Invasion post a couple weeks ago.

I had never seen it before. It's a high number in the 1962 Topps series, one of the highest. I immediately wondered whether that is the most tobacco stuffed into a cheek on a baseball card ever in the history of baseball cards. I'm still wondering that. People really should be documenting stuff like this, rather than what so-and-so's rookie card is.

I had also never heard of Larry Osborne before spotting this card. He played for the Tigers and Senators, mostly as a back-up first baseman and is on Topps cards from 1959-63. He was also known as "Bobo" Osborne and returned to cards in the TCMA 1960s set in 1981.

 

Yes, that's really the same guy.

But back to the enormous chaw on the '62 card.

I've written a lot about players chewing tobacco on cards. Seeing players chew and spit on TV was part of my childhood and if you search for the word "chaw" on this blog, quite a few posts come up. I've admittedly romanticized the time period, while also noting that it's a nasty habit that has adversely affected a number of baseball players, even leading to their deaths in some cases.

So I shouldn't be so flippant. But if you have an obsession for players packing in tobacco like squirrels with nuts, then by all means check out the 1976 SSPC set. Also, just for the record, the three most notable tobacco fiends on baseball cards for me that I've found over the years are Don Zimmer, Rocky Bridges and Nellie Fox.

Some well-known examples of each.

 

I don't think, though, that they can touch the sheer size of Osborne's chaw-deforming cheek.

 

Once I saw that card, I immediately got on ebay to see if I could find an example for my collection. It wasn't a problem at all. In fact, it was shipped to me instantly, which has been about the opposite of all my other ebay orders this month, which have been insanely pokey.

 

Also, we've got to tell ebay to stop being such a tease:

 

"Delivered" apparently to somewhere other than my mailbox because they weren't there at that time, nor was any mail because it might be one of those days where there's not enough mail people to deliver stuff.

 

Hopefully tomorrow. 

 

Here is the back of Osborne's card just for those who haven't seen a '62 high number back. Check out that advertisement for 1962 Topps football at the bottom.