Night Owl Cards

I selected this card today because of the action illustration on it. As you can see, it shows Chuck Stobbs, a pitcher for an American League team, diving head-first into a base. Living in the baseball world that was created for us 40 years ago with the advent of the designated hitter (an anniversary that just passed 12 days ago by the way), the illustration strikes the modern card viewer as odd, depicting something that never happens anymore. And, of course, that makes it wildly fascinating to me. I like it because we have a certain perception about cards in the '50s: Paintings. Static poses. Staged and exaggerated photos of players pretending to field or hit or pitch. The players are doing what they "should do." Hitters hit. Fielders field. Pitchers pitch. We think of cards from the '50s as staying within the boundaries of card decorum. Tightly defined roles, just like the way of the world in the 1950s. You want "unorthodox" on a baseball card? T...