When Being Imperfect was Perfect

In terms of authenticity, one of the best airbrushed cards is that of St. Louis Cardinals’ Dave Rader. You probably wouldn’t notice that it was airbrushed upon first glance. It is truly an example of a well painted card. One example of what I call the full body airbrush is Doyle Alexander of the Rangers. The packed ballpark in the back of this card looks really cool (imagine a packed ballpark, weren’t those the good ‘ol days). Another example of the full body airbrushed cards is Eric Soderholm (I gave my nephew Jimmy a Three Musketeers candy bar for this one- truly, my greatest trade ever). It comes in a close second to Dave Rader’s as being a card that doesn’t appear to be airbrushed.

Gary Gentry’s 1973 Topps card is another example of a good airbrush job. He had played for the Mets that year, but was later traded to the Braves. They redid the hat, but it appears that they may have accidentally left his Mets shirt. Look it up and see for yourself. Interesting tidbit, Ken Brett was airbrushed six times in his career. Sometimes, it pays to be bad. His brother, George Brett, was never airbrushed. Ken-6, George-0. Ken wins.

As the airbrushing of cards went by the wayside and companies discovered more effective methods of updating baseball cards, the good ‘ol days of baseball seem to have faded away as well. It makes me wonder if we are better off embracing the perfected baseball cards and doing away with allowing the imperfections to be seen, or are we just spoiled with getting the perfect baseball card almost every time. In conclusion, I ask that you look through your own old baseball cards that don’t look as great as you’d like them to look with a different mindset and relive your childhood memories as you look through them. Try to see if you can tell if they were airbrushed. Each card tells a story if you’re willing to listen. Turn your cell phone off, shut down your computer, grab your old baseball cards, go back in time, and truly enjoy your cards as they were meant to be enjoyed.

Joel Frankle has been employed with Arby’s Roast Beef since 1984 and now owns and operates his own store with his wife, Jennifer. He and his wife have been married for 36 years and have four daughters together. He is known to love all things UFO’s, Bigfoot, and conspiracy theories. Joel is a lifelong Chicago Cubs fan. Go Cubbies!