What's your "baseball card mystery"

wallyscards said:

My mystery would have to be these 1994 Finest Baseball. The fronts are like the regular cards but the backs are like this. I bought them around 1998 from some guy that said he had some sort of connection to Topps. I have been trying to find some infor but have come up empty so far.View attachment 39588

Click to expand...

What players do you have ?

Ryan

Ryan,

I have around 20 different but I'm not looking to get rid of them. I'm just wondering if anyone has seen them or has any information on them.

wallyscards said:

Ryan,

I have around 20 different but I'm not looking to get rid of them. I'm just wondering if anyone has seen them or has any information on them.

Click to expand...

That's fine in terms of moving , but am interested in seeing who was made anyway for a CL sake

Ryan

Could be...

NCAA baseball playoffs for whatever reason had me thinking about Frank Thomas being in his college uniform on his Topps RC. Remembered that Ross was wondering who might appear on that card with him. Going on the notion that the other player was from Tulane, I think I have a pretty good suspect.

If you look at Tulane photos from that period they did play in similar uniforms. Except that the word "TULANE" was printed across the white area of the uniform and the yellow stripe on the Topps player's uniform probably would have been white (seeing what they wore in 1988 season - of course 89 may have been a little different). Topps would have had no problem altering/airbrushing the uniform in this way and clearly had altered the face of the player in question.

There are really no internet accessible records from that period as far as seeing a team photo, etc. From what you can see in the few pictures out there, Tulane in that era (like most college teams of today) lacked non-white players. This helps us narrow potential candidates. Found the 1989 Tulane baseball roster and there would be two obvious non-white players on the team. Both were skilled players from the Caribbean. First guy was Elliott Quinones from Puerto Rico. He was a great hitter and went on to play in the Reds system. He actually has some minor league baseball cards so you can get a good look at him. He is a big guy. It would not appear to be him as the guy in the Thomas RC would seem to be smaller than 6'1 210 lbs.

Next candidate is a guy named Lauren Flores from Panama. He was named outstanding defensive player on the team in 1988 and 1989. He came in at 5'9 160 lbs which seems to be more in line with the guy in the picture. Could very well be him. Unfortunately can't find a picture of him anywhere. He is also on Tulane lists of "lost" alumni they can't locate. I bet if we could find a Tulane yearbook from 1989 we might be able to more or less confirm that it is him.

Something to chew on.

Found his linkedin page. Might be someone who would respond to an inquiry as apparently he is the current commissioner of Panamanian winter ball.

[h=4]Commissioner[/h][h=5]Probeis Panama[/h]2011 – Present (4 years)PanamaBaseball Commissioner-Professional Baseball League.
The Panamanian Winter League takes place in four different fields. It is composed of four teams, individually managed by private ownership.
The league takes more than $1MM to be successful every year.


[h=4]Baseball Analyst and Commentator for MLB games[/h][h=5]Grupo TVN[/h]2005 – Present (10 years)PanamaMLB Baseball Analyst and Comentator.
For the past seven years I have been working as a baseball analyst and commentator for TVN Group. TVN Group is the biggest TV station in Panama and probably a pioneer in broadcasting MLB games nationwide as well as in Central America through SKY services.


[h=4]President[/h][h=5]Private Farm[/h]2005 – Present (10 years)PanamaWe produce and distribute all year around vegetables for the panamanian domestic market. Mainly, Green Peppers, Tomatoes, Onions as well as other vegetables in a less scale.


[h=4]Financial Services Manager & Sales Manager[/h][h=5]Grupo Ricardo Perez[/h]2003 – 2009 (6 years)Panama° Head of the Financial Services Division for 6 yrs.
° Organized and led the Financial Services Division since its beginnings.
° Direct liason with major Local Banks and Insurance Companies. Main responsibility was to negotiate the loan and car policy portfolios.

Branch Manager Sales Division- Toyota
° Responsible of monthly car sales goals.
° Develop and implement new car sales strategies for the region.
° Mantain and help to enhance customer satisfaction indicators.
° Mantain key indicators in order to keep Toyota's Certification Award in a yearly basis. Car sales and services (Car Maintenance & Spare Parts Sales).


[h=4]Legal Department Manager[/h][h=5]Econo-Grupo, S:A.[/h]2001 – 2003 (2 years)Legal Department Manager – 2001 – 2003

Head of the legal department, including the direct supervision of 9 lawyers nationwide.
Responsible of the design of the entire process flow regarding the accounts with high risk of default.
Set the legal strategy and procedure for accounts already in default as well as the foreclosures.
Responsible for the coordination and execution of all lawsuits done by the company.


[h=4]Credit Manager[/h][h=5]Econgrupo, S.A.[/h]1993 – 2001 (8 years)Panama City° 10 Yrs. experience, loan analysis and approval in the retaling and comercial sector.
° Head of the Credit Policies Committe. Developed all credit policies to be implemented during any given year subject to world and national economic situations as well as the market needs.
° Help design a new credit scoring application as well as the enhancing in the time of loan approvals.

° Member of the Board for the National Association of Financing Institutions (ANIFI).
° Head of the legal department. Mainly responsibility involved the collection of past due accounts and special recovery of doubtful accounts. Loan Porfolio of more than $50MM.
° Designed the operation model layout for the special recovery unit
° Repossessed Assets for sale: Help design and led a new business unit with working models according to the company's needs.




[h=3]Skills[/h]

• 1Microsoft Office
  
  • 
  
  
  
• Consulting Agriculture...
  
  
  
  
• Kaisen Toyota Way
  
  
  
  
• Consulting Sports
  
  
  
  
• PM Toyota Way
  
  
  
  
• Project Management
  
  
  

[h=3]Languages[/h]

1. [h=4]Español[/h]Native or bilingual proficiency
   
2. [h=4]Ingles[/h]Native or bilingual proficiency

[h=3]Education[/h][h=5][/h][h=4]University of Louisville[/h][h=5]Master of Business Administration (MBA), Management, MBA[/h]2001 – 2002


[h=5][/h][h=4]Tulane University - A.B. Freeman School of Business[/h][h=5]Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA), Finance, General[/h]1985 – 1989Activities and Societies: Baseball Team

saucywombat said:

NCAA baseball playoffs for whatever reason had me thinking about Frank Thomas being in his college uniform on his Topps RC. Remembered that Ross was wondering who might appear on that card with him. Going on the notion that the other player was from Tulane, I think I have a pretty good suspect.

If you look at Tulane photos from that period they did play in similar uniforms. Except that the word "TULANE" was printed across the white area of the uniform and the yellow stripe on the Topps player's uniform probably would have been white (seeing what they wore in 1988 season - of course 89 may have been a little different). Topps would have had no problem altering/airbrushing the uniform in this way and clearly had altered the face of the player in question.

There are really no internet accessible records from that period as far as seeing a team photo, etc. From what you can see in the few pictures out there, Tulane in that era (like most college teams of today) lacked non-white players. This helps us narrow potential candidates. Found the 1989 Tulane baseball roster and there would be two obvious non-white players on the team. Both were skilled players from the Caribbean. First guy was Elliott Quinones from Puerto Rico. He was a great hitter and went on to play in the Reds system. He actually has some minor league baseball cards so you can get a good look at him. He is a big guy. It would not appear to be him as the guy in the Thomas RC would seem to be smaller than 6'1 210 lbs.

Next candidate is a guy named Lauren Flores from Panama. He was named outstanding defensive player on the team in 1988 and 1989. He came in at 5'9 160 lbs which seems to be more in line with the guy in the picture. Could very well be him. Unfortunately can't find a picture of him anywhere. He is also on Tulane lists of "lost" alumni they can't locate. I bet if we could find a Tulane yearbook from 1989 we might be able to more or less confirm that it is him.

Something to chew on.

Click to expand...

Could be Flores (bottom row - first player on left). Skin tone is right and facial shape/build seems right. Quinones was dark skinned.



Haven't done too much digging (only looked at 1988 - about to leave work) but these digital yearbooks might help:
http://tuarchives.tulane.edu/collections/digital/yearbook_jambalaya

When Matt Wieters will have some Topps cards...

The magic is in the mystery and once the mystery is gone, so is the magic.

gt2590 said:

When Matt Wieters will have some Topps cards...

Click to expand...

ask and ye shall receive.... many Matt Wieters Topps Redemptions!!!! :evil:

1. Does the 1989 Astros Smokey Biggio card exist?

2. Picture of the 1992 High 5 Biggio?

BiggioBrooks755 said:

1. Does the 1989 Astros Smokey Biggio card exist?

2. Picture of the 1992 High 5 Biggio?

Click to expand...

You were part of this thread on multiple posts , but here is a pic (inside thread)

http://www.freedomcardboard.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123086

Ryan

What's the deal with that Jerry Hairston topps heritage chrome card?

Sent from my HTCONE using Freedom Card Board mobile app

RStadlerASU22 said:

You were part of this thread on multiple posts , but here is a pic (inside thread)

http://www.freedomcardboard.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123086

Ryan

Click to expand...

Thanks

Any info on my 1st question? (any pics of anyone on the set)

Only problem with the Tulane / Frank Thomas theory is that Auburn did not play Tulane in 1987, 1988 or 1989.

Auburn did play UNC-Wilmington whose school colors are navy blue, teal and gold.

Unfortunately UNCW has even less info than Tulane to make comparisons.

Where is the Longoria superfractor?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

DiebytheCubs said:

Where is the Longoria superfractor?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

This.

Does anyone have any updates on this?

Where is the 1/1 bob Gibson jumbo patch from 2005 sweet spot classic patches?

My current theory on the No Face On Front on the No Name on Front (NFOFotNNOF) guy is that it's a photo from practice, and NFOF is another Auburn player, and a Topps airbrush artiste modified his jersey to look a bit like another team's. The yellow and green stripes on NFOF's jersey look very fake, and the deeper blue and white part on the chest don't look completely real, either. The modification would have been included removing the buttons and turning it into a v-neck, but maybe it's a home jersey while Frank is wearing away? The color of NFOF's pants and blue part of the jersey just to the right of his hand, along with his stirrups, are close to what Frank is wearing, slightly darker, but no so much you'd definitely say it was another team. And the darkest blue strip across the solar plexus does sort of line up with the big stripe flourish under "Auburn." In any case, don't let the yellow and green throw you off.

They are wearing different brands of shoes, but I think this was before every team had deals to all wear the same brand, and even then the players aren't obligated to do so. They just won't get them for free.

Another thing is the weirdness of the whole setup. Frank's very non-chalantly jammed his glove against the guy's knee. The expression on his face does not indicate very intense game action, even though based on where he's kneeling, presumably inside the bag towards the mound, it was an unusual play.

And if it is a live game, why would Topps show the Auburn name and not the other team's? I can understand brushing out the face, and I don't know what licensing was like in 1989-1990, but that seems odd. Maybe "Auburn" was not trademarked/copyrighted (I can't imagine they licensed the name for this one card), but the other team, which was presumably the home team and wearing a jersey that had their team name could have been protected and needed brushing out. But if they were at practice and wearing the same uniform, perhaps the photo editor thought it odd and added in something to differentiate them.

Well I got one little mystery of mine solved yesterday.

For the last few years, I've wondered why no panini product EVER shows a Yankee player in pinstripes.

In a conference call with panini yesterday, they told me that while they are allowed to show pinstripes on other teams uniforms, legally they can't with Yankees because lack the mlb license.

Sent from my HTCONE using Freedom Card Board mobile app

The actual stripes are trademarked/licensed? Friggin lawyers.