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Hey all. I finally made a Phillies pick-up from a recent ToppsVault auction.
My favorite player growing up was Bake McBride, and I can't even explain why this pickup makes me so happy. If you aren't familiar, Topps used to sign every player in spring camps to a perfunctory contract for $5 (after the Maury Wills incident). Then when the guy made a major league roster, I believe, he was paid I think $75 a year (in the 70s), and more if he was used on a card. Except their normal process wasn't to send them checks, but to keep the money in an account. Topps would send the players catalogs of stuff they could buy, or they could take a cash payout. Players could roll over the account year over year, and build up a fair amount (for the era) over a long career. The awesome Baseball Card Flipping, Trading, and Collecting book (whatever it's called) has an interview with Sy Berger, I think, circa 1972, and he talks about Al Kaline cashing in his account to buy a big color TV. Anyway, they kept track of all these transactions on these little cards. I think it's a fascinating snapshot of a much simpler time, both for the baseball business and the players, and the 70s in general. Back when players often had to find real jobs in the off-season, I'm sure the bonus of a "bug killer" or movie camera and projector were appreciated. This is a real look at Bake's life. I think he had 2 kids. Here he's buying a movie camera, 2 bikes, 2 matching headboards, a calculator that probably went up to 99,999. I don't know about the 2 chainsaws, though. Fascinating.