Card Lies: 1960 Topps Norm Cash

While I try to expand this series past just White Sox players, mistakes involving the White Sox just keep haunting me. I tried to keep the White Sox away, but it just followed me.

We'll take the case of Norm Cash's 1960 Topps card, which features three different teams.

Norm played for the White Sox in the 1958 and 1959 seasons. On December 6, 1959, Cash was traded to the Cleveland Indians with Bubba Phillips and John Romano for Minnie Minoso, Don Ferrarese, Dick Brown and Jake Striker. But wait, Norm's travels were not done yet. On April 12, 1960, before playing an official game with the Indians, Cash was traded to the Detroit Tigers for Steve Demeter. Norm would play fifteen seasons for the Tigers.

Just how weird is this card? It was done in time to list Norm on the Tigers, so kudos for Topps being current. It used an unaltered photo from Cleveland as the large picture. The smaller black and white photo has a Detroit Tigers logo placed upon Cash's hat. The uniform is clearly from his time with the White Sox. Owner Bill Veeck put large numbers on the sleeves, as well as the back. If I recall correctly, he called them "TV numbers" because they were easy to spot on the game television broadcasts.

I actually appreciate the Cleveland photo. Norm was on the team for such a short time, it's nice to see that represented. The card still looks good, despite the mess. I wonder what made Topps fix the Sox hat logo and not the Indians hat logo? Whatever the reason, it's a cool little oddity that some people might overlook.

This is the only three team card that immediately comes to mind. If I come across another, it will probably be featured here at some point.