A Big Mac With Mayo

Pretty gross sounding combination.  Big Macs are bad enough with Thousand Island Dressing.  Luckily, I am not talking about hamburgers, but a few new baseball cards that came into the collection a few weeks back.  

First up, the Big Mac.  

I was not specifically going after this card, but it was being sold by the same seller as the other cards in this post and was dirt cheap.  I like that the wood border from the original 1987 Topps version of this card is minimized.  A lot go people are fans of that border.  Me?  Not so much.  The picture is a little busy, but like all Topps 2020 artists, this is the signature style of the artist.  Actually feel like I could zoom in on all the different sections of the card to show off all the little details.  

You can see the 1985 Topps Olympic card of Big Mac on his front jersey sleeve, the photo from his 1988 Topps card is behind him, and numerous other pictures all around the card.

Here is the back of the card.  

The artist's bio is on the back of the card.  Meh.  Not really my cup of tea, but everyone has there own likes and dislikes with art.  

Let's talk about Mayo.  

I've done a few Mayo Smith cards before in the past.  He was a career Minor Leaguer outside of a brief appearance with the Philadelphia A's in 1945.  Most of his Minor League career was spent with the Buffalo Bisons, but he was also player for the Durham Bulls during the 1936 season.  

After his playing career fizzled out, he went into managing, and eventually got a job with the Phillies during the 1950s managing the "Whiz Kids" Phillies teams.  He did not last long in Philadelphia, but did manage to appear on a few cards with the team.  

A few centering and surface issues, but I always love finding vintage cards.  

Mayo Smith was probably better known for his time managing the Tigers.  He was in Detroit for roughly a decade, and helped the team take home the World Series crown in 1968.  I did not have any Tigers cards of Mayo Smith in my collection, so these are new cards.  

First up is the 1970 Topps.  Nice card, but I like the second card better.  

This is from a small set that the Detroit News put out in 1981.  There are two versions of this set, the red border, and another one with white borders.  Not sure about all the details, but seemed like it might be the only modernish card of Mayo Smith.  He has literally appeared in nothing since this card was made.  

Interesting that they put his playing stats on the back considering he was a manager for the Tigers, and his playing time was with another team.  Odd choice.  

Bland Mayo

Another night, and another old pair of cards connected to the Durham Bulls.  Last weekend I picked up two cards of longtime Reds farmhand Mayo Smith.  He appeared for the Bulls during the summer of 1936 staring alongside Frank McCormick and Johnny Vander Meer.   They went on to be a little bit better than Mayo.

Mayo Smith actually appeared in 73 games for the Philadelphia A's during the 1945 season, but he was better known for his time as a manager. 

You've never heard of him? 

He was better known as a manager.  Mayo Smith managed the Phillies and Reds during the 1950s, and moved on to manage the Tigers for a few years in the late 1960s.  His best year as a manager was easily 1968, but he was not really a standout member of the team.  Hard to believe the manager could fly under the radar, but he was described in Jerry Green's book about the 68 World Series winner as, "a bland man without any imagination"

Hmm. 

Still, Topps threw him into some baseball card sets.  I could have gone with some Tigers cards, I will get there, but the 1950s cards were a little more intriguing.  I ended up with a copy of his 1955 and 1956 Topps cards. 

The 1955 Topps is up first.  I find the right side picture interesting on this card, that Smith is shown in a player pose instead of something to do with managing.  The only other managers card I have in this set is the Ed Stanky card, he was the Cardinals manager, and he is shown pointing, like he's giving a sign.  Just an interesting quirk. 

Next. 

Same picture on the left side of the 1956 Topps as his 1955 card.  Topps made his other picture on the right more fitting for a manager, but the pose looks a little ridiculous.  Is that a stop sign?  His arms look enormous. 

Mayo may of been a really dull manager, but I really like his cards.  Maybe some Tigers cards the next time I make a post about him.