1975 Caruso Phoenix Giants Baseball #5, Skip James

Why the long face, Skip James? Haven't you heard Vin Scully's returning for 2014? Even Phoenix loves Vin Scully.

Card front (blank back)

Caruso used a different color for each PCL team in 1975 and maybe Skip's put off by their choice of lime green. Remember, it could be worse! You could be the 1980 Tucson Toros.

James himself didn't disappoint in AAA Phoenix, playing everyday for 5 seasons and earning a pair of San Francisco call-ups (career stats).

"Skip" is just one of many nouns and verbs in Caruso's Phoenix team set. See also: Hypes, Speed, Pepper, Mull, Rose, etc. And that's not even counting Johnny "The Master." (Players with MLB experience in bold.)

1. Leon Brown
2. Jim Williams
3. Horace Speed
4. Tony Pepper
5. Skip James
6. Jack Mull
7. Rick Bradley
8. Glenn Redmon
9. Larry Herndon
10. Bruce Christensen
11. Mike Edan
12. John LeMaster
13. Tom Heintzelman
14. Rob Dressler
15. Greg Minton
16. Bob Knepper
17. Tommy Toms
18. Ed Sukla
19. Tony Gonzalez
20. Kyle Hypes
21. Don Rose

If "Greg Minton" sounds familiar, it might be because his 1978 card sprang fully-formed from the tip of a Topps airbrush.

1978 Topps #312, Greg Minton

Greg's like a baseball pitcher from the Dutch Realist period.

Value: This #5 cost $2 at MinorLeagueSingles.com and eBay sellers ask $20-40 for team sets.

Fakes / reprints: Haven't seen any in the marketplace.