Friday, February 5, 2010

1978 Cramer Spokane Indians #5, Jamie Quirk

I recently picked up a large quantity of minor league #5s, thanks to some of the larger dealers on Beckett Marketplace. The haul included this interesting--or at least colorful--Spokane team issue of long-time major league Jamie Quirk, then playing in the Brewers system. (He went on to log 17 years in the bigs, primarily with the Royals.)

Card front

Jaime's full name comes off very stilted for a baseball card. Doesn't "James P. Quirk" deserve to be followed by an "Esquire?" (It might also explain his puzzled expression.)

Card back

That's right ladies, Mr. Quirk was single back in 1978. Wait, did we really need to know this? Who can Jamie collar for that random, third-party disclosure of his marital status?

Cramer, who would later become Pacific, produced a bunch of minor league sets in the 1970s. Quirk's stats include a mixture of MLB and minors performance, something often seen on Topps cards. If Spokane's team set came out in mid-1978, I assume the set editor cribbed them from the back of Topps #95. (Scan at CheckOutMyCards.com.)

Value: Guides typically price minor league cards by the full team set, since they're rarely broken up. Most individual players that didn't become big names in the majors cost $.50 to $2 on Beckett Marketplace.

Fakes / Reprints: I doubt there are any reprints of this Spokane set. Quirk's teammates from that year include future managers Ed Yost and Tony Muser. (Checklist at TeamSets4U.com.)

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