Last week, I got into a Bluesky chat over the reflection in Reggie's glasses on 1982 Topps card #300. New York often wore these pregame warmup tops, so it's common enough to see them in photos of that era. Few guys wore glasses like Reggie, so interesting reflections prove harder to come by.
Zoom closer to spot a guy in a lighter uniform talking to Reggie at the batting cage.
Topps also gave Reggie an All-Star card (#511) taken from the same photo series, which shows scalloped second deck bunting around Yankee Stadium above his helmet.
Most years, bunting alone says little. It's used for patriotic holidays and special events as well as postseason games. That year's work stoppage, however, split the 1981 season into two halves, narrowing things down. No games took place in Yankee Stadium during Memorial Day week or near Independence Day, but New York did reach the playoffs as its "first half champs." (More on that year's Jeckyll & Hyde results.)
Given context, I speculate this red/white/blue bunting anticipates New York's upcoming playoff series, making it best suited for display during late-season home games. Boton came to town for a September 11-13 series and wore these light-colored uniforms.
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| 1981 Boston Red Sox uniforms |
Boston's 1981 roster included one Joe Rudi, who got card #388. The team relegated him to pinch-hitting duties by late season, so it made sense to find Joe at the batting cage before games.
Joe Rudi and Reggie Jackson shared the glory of Oakland's 1972-74 World Series titles side-by-side in the A's outfield and continue to appear together today when those champs get recognition.
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| Joe Rudi, Sal Bando, Reggie Jackson, Mike Epstein at Oakland Coliseum, 1972 |
There's a decent chance Topps caught Joe and Reggie chewing the fat during warmups before a mid-September NYY/BOS game at Yankee Stadium, giving Joe a reflected cameo in Reggie's glasses.
What do you think, do the details match up? Have someone you like as Reggie's reflection even better
Update: Readers pointed me to Cleveland's All-Star Game for Reggie's card photos and I found an even better pick than Joe Rudi for part II of this investigation. Thanks!
5 comments:
That's really cool - never noticed reflecting glasses like that on a baseball card before.
Actually I thought the photos both regular card & All-Star were taken when Reggie was in Cleveland for the 1981 All-Star Game
Great, I'll also check out photos from that All-Star Game. If so, that would more-or-less eliminate Joe Rudi. :-)
Fun post! Never looked that hard at the reflections!
There was no bunting on September 12: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDl2kEJ-DoI
Agreeing with Stuart/Poison - that looks much more like Cleveland Stadium than Yankee Stadium. No columns obstructing thew view in the "new" Yankee Stadium.
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