THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 23, 1995 TAG: 9504230180
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BRIAN L. BIGELOW, SPECIAL TO THE VP/LS
LENGTH: Short : 44 lines
Baseball players are highly visible. The umpires, who monitor those players, are also in plain view but remain almost anonymous.
That's how it's been on the baseball labor front. Events affecting the athletes have been widely publicized, and news about the umps is an afterthought.
This pattern also applies in card-collecting. Many collectors would be surprised to learn that umpire cards exist and that they have an enthusiastic, though small, following.
The most prominent umpire cards are those issued in the high-number series of the 1955 Bowman Baseball Set. The big-name umpires of the time were interspersed among the player cards. Included are Jim Honochick (of TV-commercial fame) and Hall of Famers Cal Hubbard and Jocko Conlan.
The Bowman umps enjoy more popularity today than they did at the time of issue; the demise of the Bowman Company, in combination with hobbyist apathy, limited the umpires to the one-year card appearance. The cards have become expensive ($20 to $100 each in prime condition) because they're sought by those attracted to that niche of the hobby and because they're essential to the completion of the 1955 set of cards.
Later attempts to generate enthusiasm for umpire cards have floundered. Small umpire-only sets were released in 1974, 1989, and 1990; they failed to attract significant attention.
Nevertheless, umpire cards are an interesting sideline, worth exploring by anyone determined to see the complete game as it's been represented by baseball cards. MEMO: Brian L. Bigelow is store manager and appraiser for Candl Coins &
Stamps, located on Independence Blvd. and North (Lynnhaven) Mall Drive
in Virginia Beach. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
A 1955 Bowman card, in prime condition, of Hall of Fame umpire Jocko
Conlan could be worth $20 to $100.
by CNB