Cards That Never Were #4

Ricky was the first pick for the White Sox in the 1979 draft. He was up in the majors on July 5, 1980, where he came in the game in the late innings as a defensive replacement, when catcher Bruce Kimm was pinch hit for by Bob Molinaro.

He was in 21 games for the Sox and went down to the minors for more seasoning after the August 8th game in 1980. He stuck around the White Sox organization until 1986, but he never again came up to the majors.

With 21 games played, one of the three card companies should have given him a card in 1981. Alas, no one thought enough of him to include him in a release. Even the Topps Traded set for 1981 did not include Ricky Seilheimer.

He did make a decent argument for card love. His only home run in the majors was off Hall of Fame pitcher Fergie Jenkins.

This card has been the hardest to create. I had to take a picture of Ricky from a card on the Bisons, which were a minor league affiliate of the Sox in the mid eighties. I took that photo and used it as the base photo.

The problem with using that photo was obvious. The colors and design of the Bisons uniform mimic the design of the mid eighties White Sox uniforms. After pouring through cards from 1980 and 1981, I found one match for the pose. Claudell Washington's 1980 Topps card.

So, Ricky is "borrowing" Claudell's jacket and helmet. A few tweaks in Photoshop and there is a presentable image of Ricky Seilheimer on a 1981 Topps card. This also mimics the heavily airbrushed look of the 1981 Topps set. So, this card should fit right in.

Johngy, this is the best I can come up with unless I get an actual image of Ricky from his stint with the White Sox.

The First Card Spotlight

1981 Coke - Bob Molinaro

Molinaro was a left handed DH basically. In 1981, he was 9-35 as a pinch hitter, the best in the AL. From scrounging around on the net, I found out that he almost quit baseball to become a blackjack dealer in Las Vegas after doing that in the off-season after the 1975 season.

This card seems to epitomize the early 80's. The hair, the look, the player, out of focus, in the background looking impatient, waiting for the photographer to capture him trying to drink from an invisible Coke bottle. I'm actually surprised that Coke didn't insist on Topps airbrushing a Coke bottle in Bob's hand. I mean, the Coke logo isn't big enough in the corner. I think the blind man may have missed it.

As I slowly build my collection of White Sox cards, this is the best photo of Bob I have found. Every other photo I have seen makes him look really cheesy, like a poor man's Don Mattingly.

Yes, these are the thoughts that inspired this blog. Incidentally, these are also the thoughts that kept me out of the really good schools.