1976 Caruso Hawaii Islanders Baseball #5, Dave Roberts

I like it when cards get a little ostentatious, going the extra mile to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, as the saying goes. Let's say you can only print in two colors on white. Any other year, you might seem cheap, but that's no problem in 1976! Red + Blue = America!

The bicentennial was all over the place for 1976, hence the stars and stripes and bunting borders for Caruso's PCL team sets. Barack Obama would've been 15 and living in Honolulu at the time, so it's not beyond the pale to think president #44 saw this set for sale at an Islanders game himself.

The Islanders played AAA for San Diego, who drafted Dave Roberts first overall in 1972. While never a star, he played long enough to overlap careers with another Dave Roberts, hence my confusion as an 8 year-old when these came around.

1981 Topps #57, Dave Roberts

Being a kid in Seattle, this was "my" Dave Roberts. The "other" Dave played in Texas.

1981 Topps #431, Dave Roberts

Topps didn't stop there, because "other" Dave switched Texas addresses during the 1980-81 offseason.

1981 Topps Traded #824, Dave Roberts

No matter what decade you're in, that's a lot of Dave. (Gotta whole lotta Dave! Whole lotta Dave!)

UPDATE: Enjoy even more Dave Roberts in my 1977 Hawaii Islanders post. This time, there's video of Dave's only post-season appearance, as he pinch-hit with two outs in the ninth in the deciding game of the 1981 NL Division series.

Value: Bought this on eBay in July 2024 for $7. Teams from this era cost $15-25, since Caruso-made sets rarely include a major star.

Fakes / reprints: Haven't seen reprints in the marketplace, as Caruso's PCL sets are obscure and inexpensive enough to discourage the requisite investment of time.