Saturday, June 8, 2024

Cards That Never Were: Paul Casanova Topps 1966

Cards That Never Were is a recurring series in which I create virtual trading cards for players missed in various sets over the years. It is a concept I have borrowed from far too many to list, but I appreciate all of their efforts.

Catcher Paul Casanova was the penultimate Negro Leaguer to make his major league debut. Ike Brown debuted later. He started in the Cleveland Indians system in 1960, but returned to the Negro Leagues in 1961. In 1962, he played for the Chicago Cubs system. After the season, he signed with the Washington Senators and debuted in 1965. He stayed with the Senators through the 1971 season, with a couple minor league stints in the mix. He was traded to the Atlanta Braves and spent the last three years of his career with them. In his career, in parts of 10 seasons, he played in 859 games, hitting .225, with 50 home runs, 627 hits, 252 RBIs and 214 runs scored.

For his efforts, Topps gave him cards from 1964 through 1975, except for 1966. When I set out to find a decent picture to correct this omission, I discovered Lynn from the Custom Baseball Cards group on Facebook already made one. LThe group is a fantastic place to find and request such cards. Many of my creations are there, but Lynn is the king of customs. With no reason to create my own version, I present Lynn's 1966 Topps card for Casanova.

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