Wednesday, December 16, 2009

#59 - Ken Henderson

Card fact: Just the second switch-hitter featured in the set. Joe Lovitto was the first.

What I thought about this card then: I pride myself on knowing exactly which cards I saw during my first year of collecting. But this card photo and player are so non-descript that it's possible I did see this card as a 9-year-old and it didn't register.

What I think about this card now: I believe I just gave you my thoughts on that. Otherwise, it looks like Henderson and his teammates are playing on a tilted American Legion field.

Other stuff: For me, the most important thing about this card is that it is the bridge between his 1974 Topps card:

And his 1976 Topps card:

Now that is a metamorphosis. The interesting thing is Henderson appears in the mustache and tinted glasses only in his '76 card. He goes back to clean-shaven Henderson for the remainder of his career.

Back facts: First, Kenneth Joseph Henderson is one of those names where if you've never seen the player before, you might assume he is of a different ethnic background than his is.

Secondly, I see that after writing that "Ken does everything smoothly" they narrowed it down to hitting, throwing, running and sliding. No mention of fielding, though. Apparently that's not important.

Other blog stuff: I've scanned in just six cards since my last update. So I am going to fix that right now and start scanning!

3 comments:

Matt Runyon said...

I always thought Ken Henderson was a better ballplayer than he actually was. In about '73 or '74 I had Slurpee cups of him and Greg Luzinski. I figured if a player was on a Slurpee cup that he must have been a great one.

Hackenbush said...

Until the most recent Yankees copy, I always liked the red White Sox uniforms he best.

Play at the Plate said...

I like the Red too.