Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Mike Squires Returns to Chicago

The Cincinnati Reds are in Chicago to play the Cubs. Special Assistant to the GM for the Reds is Mike Squires, who played his entire career (10 seasons) in Chicago, although on the south side with the White Sox.
I am not even sure if Squires travels with the team, but I am taking this opportunity to present my Top 5 favorite baseball cards of Squires, my all-time favorite White Sox player (borrowing the idea from Brian at 30-year old Cardboard, who presented his Andre Dawson Fab 5).

My Top 3 are all Fleer cards, 1981, 1983 & 1984.

The '81 Fleer comes from Fleer's first set. While many cards in this set are slightly blurry, the Squires card is crisp. Squires is seen apparently in the on deck circle, studying the pitcher. It's a clean full-view shot of Squires, highlighted by a bright unfocused background.
The '83 Fleer shows Squires poised to make a throw, presumably during infield practice. I don't believe the Sox ever used that jersey in a game. It's just a nice in-action shot.
The '84 Fleer card shows Squires (again in warmups) just after releasing the ball on a throw. Squires has some facial scruff, looking the part of the grizzled veteran. The visible #25 on the pant leg is a plus.
Rounding out the Top 5 are 1984 DonRuss and 1985 Topps, with an Honorable Mention to the 1989 Toronto Blue Jays local issue.

The '84 DR is a nice closeup of Squires leaning against the batting cage. This is a very colorful card. Although the 'White Sox' and 'DR 84' are somewhat hard to read, this is a very attractive card.
The '85 Topps card is the last year of cards for Squires, as he retired at the end of the season (technically, 1984 was his last real season, as he only came back in September of '85 for a few games to reach an mlb service point). Squires is shown on defense, ready to handle anything hit his way.
The '89 Toronto issued card is an Honorable Mention because it is not a standard issue card. Still, it was good to see Spanky on a new card and in a new uniform. I like the straight-on shot of Squires batting, although it would have been more appropriate to show Squires giving fielding pointers to someone.

5 comments:

Steve Gierman said...

Awesome! I didn't realize he had a coach card.

Johngy said...

He actually has 3. I'll be posting them soon.

Scorehead Zeke said...

I didn't know of the Squires cards with the Jays either. What do the others look like?

ribkid said...

WOW. I thought I was the only one growing up who liked Squires. He and Harold were my favorite players growing up. Have Harold's autograph, would like Squires' also.

Johngy said...

Ribkid-
Thanks for your comments. Squires is a great signer. You could write to him c/o the Cincinnati Reds, where he some sort of Special Asst. He has always signed my stuff quickly through the mail.