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The Saga & Story of finding the 1981 Boston Globe Bobby Doerr #16 (or is it 1978? Or 1982? Or 1

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Aug 7, 2008
821
6
Tampa, FL
The Saga & Story of finding the 1981 Boston Globe Bobby Doerr #16 (or is it 1978? Or 1982? Or 1

I was waiting until I had this card in hand until I posted about it, but it has long been in the top 5 of my Most Wanted Doerr cards.

Information was always sketchy on the card and set in general, and it was only about 6 months ago that I finally found a visual of it, let alone one for sale. For a massive 128-card set, you would think that more would be known and it would be more common. However, this set isn't that straightforward, as it has about 4 different names. Without further ado I present the
1981 Red Sox Boston Globe Bobby Doerr #16 ,

uhh actually I mean the

1982 Boston Red Sox Favorites of the 1950s & 1960s.

Wait, actually I mean the

1982 Boston Red Sox Favorites.

No wait it's actually gotta be the

1978 Boston Red Sox of the 1950s.

Yeah that's it, Right?! Right?! Smh 🤦*♂️

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As you can see this card does not come with out controversy, as no one can agree on the name or year, with even SCD disagreeing in themselves in two different publications!

Below is what is listed in the 2011 SCG Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards, the last one produced.
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No saying SCD disagrees with itself isn't exactly fair as the next listing comes from a more up to date book from 2015, the 5th Edition of the Standard Catalog of Vintage Baseball Cards.
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As that listings says, the most current information attributes to these to the Boston Globe being the publisher of these, which most likely happened in two sets of 64 in 1981 and 1982.

However, Beckett stills lists these as the 1981 Red Sox Boston Globe set
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I have done numerous google searches and completed listing searches thru the years trying to track down any information on this set. Even came across a site which I can't find now that claimed these cards were produced illegally after a Boston Globe employees stole the plates to newspaper inserts the paper planned on doing and produced the cards himself. Won't comment on the legitimacy of that as I haven't found anything else to back it up, but could explain why there is so much confusion.

So years and months went on with no sign of this card. Then one day a month ago, was doing my weekly COMC search and DallasCardboys of all people suddenly drops a listing for the following right out of the clouds

1978 Boston Red Sox of the 1950s
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Could it be the missing card listed under yet another year and title?! After seeing the back scan and seeing that it match the #16, I decided it was worth the gamble and was 99% sure it was this set so I jumped on it with a offer that was accepted. Before I even had a chance to ship it a week later, a second seller listed another set of them which I grabbed as well. Unbelievable how things come in bunches sometimes on this hobby.

Because these rarely appear, I also picked up a few others including
Johnny Pesky
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Birdie Tebbetts
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And the only card appearance of the Red Sox player with one the greatest names ever, Riverboat Smith
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To wrap up, I finally have this Doerr card which may have been issued by the Boston Globe sometime between 1978-1982 and may not even be legitimate. Still stoked to finally cross it off my list, and maybe one day soon we will be able to add more depth to this story.

Thanks,
Jeff


Sent from my iPhone using Freedom Card Board
 

banjar

Well-known member
Mar 22, 2015
2,540
883
Lafayette, Colorado
Awesome find. I like cards with stories like this behind them. Congrats on getting it.

The set has to be 1982 or later, since the trivia answer on the back of the Doerr card reads Carney Lansford in 1982.
 

mrmopar

Member
Jan 19, 2010
6,187
4,087
Congrats on the score. It is always satisfying to find something like that, especially if the search was long. I had a similar experience with what is called 1982 Montreal News. They are not even cards, but photos cut from a newspaper supplement. Now I am basing this on what I found on my own, so there is a chance I was wrong and there are actual cards still out there undiscovered, but I am pretty confident in my findings and research, enough to post it online.

http://1978theyearitallbegan.blogspot.com/2010/03/garvey-spotlight-march-4.html
 

rebelpawn

Active member
Aug 7, 2008
2,666
10
La Jolla. CA
Congrats Jeff! That must feel good to finally get that one off the want list.
Any idea how these cards were distributed?
I gotta think they were produced after '82, because of the trivia question on the back of the Doerr.
Congrats again!!!
 

RStadlerASU22

Active member
Jan 2, 2013
8,881
11
Congrats Jeff! That must feel good to finally get that one off the want list.
Any idea how these cards were distributed?
I gotta think they were produced after '82, because of the trivia question on the back of the Doerr.
Congrats again!!!
Ha, one of the things I saw and yup, I would lean 1983+. Very nice oddball and regardless of the year, cool add. I would think with the Lansford info, throat could be sent to the sources to at least advance it to 83 or newer. I wonder what other questions in the set may lead it to the correct year.

Ryan
Will Clark / Mike Brown Collector
 

bstanwood

Well-known member
Sep 24, 2016
3,666
332
Mystic, CT
Congrats on the pickup. I've never looked into the set with that level of detail but I have a small Pesky collection and I had never seen any either. It's always great to knock something like that off the list.
 
Aug 7, 2008
821
6
Tampa, FL
Thanks everyone! Very excited about it-now if I could just find the 1975 House of Jazz card!

And good catch on the trivia providing info on the year! Missed that completely- went back and looked at the Tebbetts to see if it gave any more info, and suffice to say I'm more confused lol.

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The Red Sox retired Ted Williams number in May 1984, but they also retired Joe Cronin's #4 that month as well. So either this trivia answer is wrong, or they were produced in a span of 5 days between the retirements.

Thanks,
Jeff


Sent from my iPhone using Freedom Card Board
 
Aug 7, 2008
821
6
Tampa, FL
Congrats Jeff! That must feel good to finally get that one off the want list.
Any idea how these cards were distributed?
I gotta think they were produced after '82, because of the trivia question on the back of the Doerr.
Congrats again!!!

Thanks James. I've tried to research distribution for years and no luck. I know it wasn't in the paper, which is where I stumbled upon the theory of the stolen plates and a employee self making them. The picture quality, especially on the Riverboat Smith card, is not the greatest at all. Continues to be a mystery for sure (for now)....

Thanks,
Jeff


Sent from my iPhone using Freedom Card Board
 
Aug 7, 2008
821
6
Tampa, FL
Another wrinkle to add to the mystery...

I searched the pea registry to see what they officially grade these as- turns out they have only graded 4 all time and they have graded them as 1981 Red Sox Boston Globe.

However, of course it's not that simple...


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They will no longer accept cards to be graded under that name. None of the other names appear in their database from what I can find...

Thanks,
Jeff


Sent from my iPhone using Freedom Card Board
 

mouschi

Featured Contributor, Bridging the Gap, Senior Mem
May 18, 2012
3,105
170
Congratulations! What a great find and cool feeling :)
 
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