NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1974 CURT MOTTON

Up on the blog today we have a "not so missing" 1974 card for former Baltimore Orioles outfielder Curt Motton, who was at the tail-end of his Big League career when this card would have seen the light of day:

Motton appeared in only five games for Baltimore in 1973, hitting .333 with two hits over six official at-bats, with two runs scored and four runs batted in.

He would be back in 1974 to appear in what would end up being his last Major league games, seven to be exact, going 0-8 at the plate before calling it a career shortly after.

Over his eight-year MLB tenure, he hit .213 with 121 hits in 567 at-bats, but most importantly was a member of the juggernaut Oriole teams between 1969 and 1971, with a World Championship in 1970.

 

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1973 CURT MOTTON

Time to go and create a 1973 “not so missing” card for former outfielder Curt Motton, who was left out of the Topps set after only 48 games played during the 1972 season:

Motton began the 1972 campaign as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers, for whom he hit .167 over just six games, going 1-for-6 at the plate with a couple of runs batted in and a run scored.
On may 26th, he was traded to the California Angels for pitcher Archie Reynolds, and he went on to hit .154 over 42 games, collecting six hits in 39 at-bats for his new team.
It would be his only time with the California franchise, as by the time the 1973 opened he was back with his original team, the Baltimore Orioles, who he came up with in 1967.
Between 1973 and 1974, Motton would appear in only 12 combined games for the O’s, going 2-for-14 at the plate with four RBIs before calling it a career.
Over his eight-year MLB tenure, he hit .213 with 121 hits in 567 at-bats, but most importantly was a member of the juggernaut Oriole teams between 1969 and 1971, with a World Championship in 1970.

"WHEN AIRBRUSHING GOES TERRIBLY WRONG"- PART IX

Today I want to take a closer look at the stellar airbrushing job on Curt Motton's 1972 Topps card (#393). 
After five seasons as a fourth outfielder for the Baltimore Orioles, Motton was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers on December 9th of 1971, just in time for Topps to try and get him into the correct uniform for his 1972 card.
What they ended up with is the card shown below:

Dig the bouncer standing guard behind him!

Love it! The "neon-y" purple-blue cap with that crazy "M" goes oh-so-well with the airbrushed Orioles uniform that oddly turned into what looks like a Detroit uni.
And to top the photo off we have that anonymous figure behind him who was also airbrushed (except for his orange stirrups), standing guard like a "V.I.P." bouncer at some bad club in Midtown Manhattan.
What I love best about the airbrush job was the added effect of shadowing on the "M" logo, giving it that "jumping off the card" look.
I gave an "A" for effort on that one!
I just cannot get enough of airbrush jobs that make the finished product look like it's actually a sticker that was placed on top of the card.
Here's a little funny coincidence related to this blog: In his career, Motton was traded for two of the three "Reynolds" pitchers I profiled a while back, Bob and Archie.