If you’re a trading card collector, chances are high you sort your collection one of four ways: 1) by number, 2) by team, 3) by player or 4) by alphabetical order. Of course there are probably other lesser-known ways, such as players by position or athletes with cool moustaches. Well, there’s one person I know who, as an experiment, sorted his sets in a way I had never heard of – by cartoon artist. This methodical hobbyist is Eric White. Eric was “drawn” to the images on the backs of baseball cards from early childhood.
“I was always drawing baseball players as a kid,” he says, “and dreaming of being a cartoonist myself some day. I was also interested in older cards, which fits with my lifelong inclination toward studying the past. So it was natural that I was memorizing the old cartoons at the same time that I was memorizing the players’ stats. After all, the cartoons are what made the backs of the cards distinctive and unforgettable across the years.”
If you follow my articles on Sports Collectors Daily, you met Eric last month in a Topps vintage update called Pigskin, Presidents & Imposters. Eric pointed out interesting details that supplemented my stories. Today I’m excited to share a sampling of his fascinating Topps cartoon findings. But before diving into Eric’s additional discoveries, a little background on him. He lives in New Jersey but was raised a Twins fan in Minnesota. He’s been married 32 years to his wife and they have two grown children. Eric has an undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania, an Art History doctorate from Boston University and a Master of Library Science from the University of North Texas. He now works at the Princeton University Library as a rare books and manuscripts curator. Before turning to antiquarian books, he spent time as an art historian.
Eric’s also a talented artist. At his 40th high school reunion in 2023, he got reacquainted with a buddy he hadn’t seen in 40 years with whom he used to trade cards back in grade school.
“It was a great friendship. He was the best athlete in the school (he went on to suit up for Notre Dame’s football team), while I was the biggest nerd, artist, violinist, etc. But baseball cards brought us together,” Eric recalls. “When I asked him what it would take to get the ’52 Mays back that I stupidly traded him in fourth grade, he remembered I used to be an artist. He collects sports art, and wanted me to “do” the 1956 Clemente big so he could hang it on the wall. I spent weeks on it, he loves it, and I have my Willie back after 50 years of thinking back on childhood mistakes.”
PHOTO BOMBS
So, what has Eric discovered from all his cartoon categorizing? Let’s start with 1962 Topps baseball. It’s widely known that madly talented artist Jack Davis drew a great majority of that set’s cartoons, 395 by Eric’s count. The exquisite details Davis sketched that were ultimately squeezed into a 1 ½” x 1 3/16” cardboard box are beyond impressive. But Eric believes another less inventive artist drew the other 67.
“Davis was a master of dynamic draftsmanship, using fluid lines to create convincing heroic action, versus his colleague’s somewhat stiffer drawing style, which introduced a lot of fussy wrinkles and blotchy shadows that make the figures less active,” Eric explains. “With a couple exceptions (so far), I feel Davis’ approach was mostly to draw action scenes from scratch using his imagination.”
What he’s uncovered about Davis’ counterpart is quite the opposite in some cases. That unknown illustrator used an assortment of famous photo moments that served as a nearly exact guide for some finished 1962 drawings; many of the sources simply await identification. Eric believes Davis also used photos to aid his drawings, but to a far lesser degree. Check out the following eight renditions, of which the first six Eric attributes to the unnamed artist:
1962 TOPPS JOHNNY WEEKLY CARD #204
In the photo below, St. Louis Cardinals batter Red Schoendienst attempts a bunt against Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Vic Lombardi in the 6th inning of Game 2 of the 1946 National League playoffs at Ebbets Field. Flatbush catcher Bruce Dewards and umpire Babe Pinelli are seen racing toward the batted ball, though Pinelli didn’t make the cartoon cut. The comic touts Weekly’s home run power, yet in reality, the pictured batter, Schoendienst, safely sacrificed the Redbird runner (Murry Dickson) to second.
1962 TOPPS CHUCK HILLER CARD #188
St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Stan Musial is seen hitting a line drive, circa 1947, at Sportsmans Park in St. Louis in the photo that follows. The catcher and umpire are unknown. Stan the Man sported #6 on his jersey while San Francisco second baseman Chuck Hiller wore #26. The unnamed Topps artist faintly drew “6” on the batter’s back (a Hiller half match), so we’re left to wonder if the Giants lefty lumberman knew the comic swinger wasn’t actually him but instead a future Hall of Famer.
1962 TOPPS ROBIN ROBERTS CARD #243
Brooklyn Dodgers pinch hitter Cookie Lavagetto’s famous game-winning double with two outs in the bottom of the ninth broke up New York Yankees Bill Beven’s no-hit bid in Game 4 of the 1947 World Series.
The undisclosed cartoonist captured a scene from Cookie’s celebrated plate appearance on the backside of 1962 Topps Robin Roberts card #243, but the photo used for the cartoon is actually Lavagetto’s swing and miss against Bevens, one pitch before connecting on his walk-off 2-bagger.
For proof, check out these two screenshot sequences from this silent historycomestolife YouTube video.
This radio call by Yankees broadcast Red Barber, courtesy of ThisDayInBaseball, of Lavagetto’s ninth inning plate appearance confirms a two-pitch at bat.
Topps wrote a Minor League pitching performance blurb on Roberts’ cartoon panel, so a swinging strike drawing is fitting. However, Lavagetto’s hugely historical offensive moment would have made a grand photo cartoon on a hitter’s card elsewhere in the set, like this mock job…
1962 TOPPS TERRY FOX CARD #196
Cleveland Indians fireballer Bob Feller is shown below delivering a pitch to New York Yankees superstar Joe DiMaggio in the bottom of the 4th inning en route to a no-hitter on April 30, 1946 at Yankee Stadium. Umpire Eddie Rommel, Cleveland catcher Frankie Hayes and second baseman Ray Mack are seen in action. Hard-luck pitcher Bill Bevens (yes, him again) opposed the Heater from Van Meter that day. You’ll notice the photo served as inspiration for the artist’s drawing and is not an exact replica. The cartoonist changed the stadium background, tightened the pitcher/batter duel angle and, most telling, made the umpire prematurely raise his right arm indicating a strike, although the ball has not arrived at home plate yet.
1962 TOPPS IKE DELOCK CARD #201
Here’s New York Yankees Joe DiMaggio’s classic swing captured on film during his record-breaking 56-game consecutive hitting streak in 1941. Once again, it appears this photo (or one very much like it) served as a preliminary blueprint as the drawing is not an exact duplication. It’s interesting how Topps used this image to depict Delock’s pitching prowess, when it’s possible it could actually be showing a modified snapshot of one of the greatest batting feats ever.
1962 TOPPS BILL SHORT CARD #221
You gotta love this wonderful high kick photo of 6’ 2” New York Yankees ace Lefty Gomez. The mysterious illustrator must have loved it, too, as that person used it to pen this high-steppin’ cartoon used on Baltimore Orioles 5’ 9” pitcher Bill, ahem, Short. Topps amusingly took advantage of the O’s lefty hurler’s short last name and stature on the cartoon headline, yet ironically, the sketch features a towering Hall of Famer.
1962 TOPPS LENNY GREEN CARD #84
According to Eric, it appears Davis may have used a photo of an outstretched Roberto Clemente of the Pittsburgh Pirates robbing Chicago Cubs hitter Bobby Thomson of an outfield hit at Wrigley Field on August 19, 1958 as a model for his 1962 Topps Lenny Green card #84 drawing. The body shape is strikingly similar, though the flying hat and position of the right hand and foot don’t mirror the photo.
1962 TOPPS WILLIE MAYS CARD #300
Say, hey, that’s New York Giants slugger Willie Mays swinging away in batting practice prior to the 1956 Baseball Hall of Fame game against the Detroit Tigers. Eric believes Davis used this photo to replicate the pose on his 1962 artwork of the Amazing Mr. Mays, theorizing that he was taking special care to capture the Giants star just right.
COPYCATS
Jack Davis drew a slew of magnificent, meticulous art pieces for the 1962 Topps baseball set. Imitation is the highest form of flattery, and six annual sets later, Eric noticed Davis’ work was parroted in parts of the 1968 set.
The following three pairs of cartoon comparisons show a similar 1968 drawing to its 1962 counterpart, though the 1968 pieces all have supersized baseball circles added, are cropped and have far less intricate detail.
#1 
#2
#3
Next, courtesy of Dick Stigman’s 1962 card #532 cartoon, here’s another baseball enlarged in 1968. The artist also converted the pitcher’s 1962 head into a 1968 cubby bear, a nod to a Chicago Cubs quiz question printed on North Sider Bill Stoneman’s card #179 backside.
Speaking of Stigman, here’s another interesting observation. How are Stigman and Jack Sanford’s 1962 Topps cards connected with the 1967 Topps card of Terry Fox?
Those two 1962 cartoons made a relief appearance in 1967. 
Ted Savage’s 1968 card #119 introduces another Cubs trivia question, and yet another 1962 noggin transformed into a baby bear, this time replicating a throwback Chicago mascot.
The end result is quite a hot mess, looking more koala bear when magnified or printer’s ink blotch when viewed on the actual card.
Along the lines of transforming two fine 1962 drawings into overly characterized Cubs cartoons, Topps did it again by converting a couple of Davis’ 1962 superb action figures into Atlanta Braves. The artwork on the 1968 card backs of Hank Aaron and Pat Jarvis have now been adorned with Indian headdresses, attire Topps thought suited Braves trivia questions. Topps even converted a bat into a totem pole. It’s unimaginable any of these ethnic antics would play today.
The Topps 1961 All-Star Rookie trophy portrayed on the front and accurately drawn on the back of Floyd Robinson’s 1962 card #454 got swapped out for Vernon Law’s not-so-accurately sketched 1960 Cy Young award on the back of Roberto Clemente’s 1968 card #150 quiz question.
Here are both men with images of their true hardware.
Cartoon cribbing was rampant in the early 1968 series, and when placed side-by-side with parallel 1962 Davis drawings, the result feels like shopping at an outlet mall where discount knock-offs and imperfect bargains serve the purpose but come up short on style, comfort and quality. These next seven match-ups prove the point.
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
Eric suspects the copycat artist featured in the above examples used Davis’ 1962 art files as shortcuts to meet a tight 2nd series deadline. Those are not rough sketches by Davis either, given that modifications like adding baseball circles, Indian headdresses and cubby faces appear to be made years after the originals were created. Furthermore, Eric asserts there were at least six different 1968 set artists who were given card assignments in small batches. Hence, the drawings are all over the place on style and quality. We’ll review those, and other Eric observations, in the near future.
It’s been fun to collaborate with Eric and share some of his insights with The Hobby. If you’d like to read my previous Topps vintage articles, click this Sports Collectors Daily link. If you know other collectors who might enjoy them, please share.
