Cards That Never Were is a recurring series in which I create digital trading cards for players missed in various sets. It is a concept I have borrowed from far too many to list, but I appreciate all of their efforts.
Not content with just creating standard missing cards, I felt there was another missed opportunity for card makers. Players sometimes appear with a team for a short period before joining another team. I call these cards "Mids," but I'm open to other renaming options. Either way, Ed Kirkpatrick needed one.
Kirkpatrick signed with the Los Angeles Angels before the 1962 season and actually made a brief appearance in the MLB that season. He played with the Angels through the '68 season, then was traded to the Kansas City Royals. After the '74 season, he was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Here's where it gets fun. In the middle of the '77 season, he was traded to the Texas Rangers, then traded a few weeks later to the Milwaukee Brewers. He finished the season with the Brewers to end his career. For his career, in parts of 16 seasons, he played in 1,311 games, collecting 824 hits for a .238 average with 85 HRs, 424 RBIs and 411 runs scored.
Topps gave Kirkpatrick a card in every set 1963-78. Ordinarily, that would suffice, but Kirkpatrick played 20 games with the Rangers in the middle of the 1977 season, which are not represented on any card, until now. His '77 and '78 cards are with the Pirates and the Brewers as expected. When I set out to make a '78 card of him with the Rangers, I saw Lynn from the Custom Baseball Cards Facebook group already did the honors. No need to duplicate things, especially when Lynn is such a master.
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