Ripken Minor League item few have ever seen ('81 WTF Sheet)

RITM · Mar 18, 2011

I thought some of you might appreciate seeing this. In 1981, Steve Kozel received permission from the Rochester Red Wings to print the 1981 WTF Rochester Red Wings set. In exchange for permission, Steve agreed to give the Wings promotional cards of Doc Edwards to be given away during the 1981 season.

The sets were printed one complete set to a sheet. In addition, the sheets contained three copies of the promotional Doc Edwards card. Of the 1,800 sets/sheets printed, 50 of the sheets remained uncut. However, 49 of the 50 sheets had the promotional cards of Edwards cut from the sheet. Here are scans of the only fully uncut sheet of cards. The images are courtesy of a gentleman named Bob Schomper:

theplasticman · Mar 18, 2011

That's awesome!

RITM · Mar 18, 2011

theplasticman said:
That's awesome!

Glad you enjoy. I received a tip from Kozel himself about the sheet. The story is that a guy with a shop was going to sell the sets but wanted some form of poster to display so he would not have to bust a pack to display them. Steve went to the press and literally took a sheet off the stack and gave it to the guy. It was posted to his store wall until he closed the shop. The guy who owns the sheet was a good customer of the guy. When he closed the shop he asked if there was anything he wanted from the shop in return for his business. He chose the sheet.

And for those wondering, WTF does stand for the slang expression. Seriously.

Greg Cleveland · Mar 18, 2011

Here in Wisconsin, it used to stand for Wisconsin Tourism Federation, but they changed it to Wisconsin Federation of Tourism. Seriously. They had a sign outside the office with big letters, "WTF".

Great item, too! You find the best stuff!

RITM · Mar 18, 2011

Greg Cleveland said:
Here in Wisconsin, it used to stand for Wisconsin Tourism Federation, but they changed it to Wisconsin Federation of Tourism. Seriously. They had a sign outside the office with big letters, "WTF".

Great item, too! You find the best stuff!

Thanks Greg!

Another interesting point of consideration is that a copy of the Doc Edwards Kodak card hit auction earlier this month (ebay 290540033203) and sold on March 5 for $10.93. Had I known about the auction it would've sold for more. The guy who sold it worked for the Wings in '81. He could not remember how he got the card but assumed he got it while working for the Wings. The Edwards promotion card also has a different front. It looks the same as the WTF card but the picture is cropped different.

I was granted access to Cal for another interview for the site. This one is to focus on questions about his 1981 cards as well as the 1981 season. The questions have been forwarded to him for his consideration. Once he gets a chance to answer them they will be forwarded back. Can't wait to read his recollections.

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Ripken Minor League item few have ever seen ('81 WTF Sheet)

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