10 September 2009

tom haller and the team collector dilemma

i posted a while ago about a dilemma i faced as a team collector. that post had to do with the 1975 topps world series cards and whether they belonged in the dodgers team binder, and i decided that only the card featuring the dodger victory qualified.

this situation, however, is different. i submit for your consideration the case of tom haller. 1972 tom haller. from 1968 through 1971, tom was a catcher for the dodgers. he was traded to the tigers in december of 1971 for cash and a minor leaguer - just enough time for topps to pull out the anonymous 'shot from below' and change the team name on his card from dodgers to tigers. fair enough, i suppose, they did the same thing with richie (dick) allen and larry hisle, among others. what makes haller different is that he also had an 'in action' card.

while there is no direct team identifier on the card or on haller's uniform (although the blue piping on the pants and the blue shinguards are telling), clearly he is featured as a dodger. the card itself features a play at the plate with a new york met, and is actually a pretty interesting situation. there's a head first slide, an elevated bat, and haller is about to turn around to discover that the player has slid around him.

i had always considered this to be a tigers card simply because of haller's base card, but i have recently realized it's not that simple. upon further review, it looks like a dodgers card, so it must be a dodgers card.

so, 37 years later, welcome to the topps dodger binder 1972 tom haller in action. we're happy to have you.

at

5 comments:

  1. night owlSeptember 10, 2009 at 10:34 AM

    Questions for the Dodger binder:

    1. Is he pictured in a Dodger uniform?

    2. Is he listed as a Dodger?

    If one of these are so, then it goes in the binder.

    An exception is the first Haller card. For me, the jersey isn't apparent enough as a Dodger jersey, so I've excluded it.

    (I don't put postseason cards in unless a Dodger is featured as the main subject -- which usually means a Dodger win).

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  2. JimSeptember 10, 2009 at 11:22 AM

    I applaud Tom Haller's addition to your binder. My rules for inclusion into a Phillies binder are the same as Night Owl's.

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  3. DocSeptember 10, 2009 at 12:14 PM

    What do you do for League Leader cards, Double/Triple/Quadruple Rookie Cards, MVP Cards, etc?

    If you include them, isn't it conceivably possible that an on card Giant could end up in the Dodger book? Seems unholy to me, and that is coming from a Padres fan.

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  4. capewoodSeptember 10, 2009 at 5:12 PM

    I agree with the criteria set up by night owl for my Phillies and Astros collections. As for League Leader cards and the like, if there is a Phillie or Astro on the card I include it. If there are both on the card (I can't think of a single instance) I'd probably put it in the Phillies collection since they are my first team. Once you have a rule, all you have to do is stick to it. No thinking needed.

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  5. dealSeptember 10, 2009 at 8:50 PM

    Haller's 73 Topps photo has an airbrush cap on it and appears as if it could have been taken seconds prior to or following the 72 card presented here.

    ReplyDelete