Tigers without cardboard

[BoomGaspar]

Researching for a thread over at tcdb.com, I thought someone here might be interested in this information.  The question at hand:  What player has appeared in the most total games with the Tigers without ever receiving a baseball card with the team?  This considers players who appeared from 1952-onward (the "modern era" of baseball cards).  I'll leave this post for a little while to see if anyone cares to venture a guess (no peeking at the other thread) before posting some semblance of an answer.

[IdahoBert]

I have no idea who it might be, but I am deeply intrigued. 

[RedRamage]

I'm in the same boat. Don't hold us in suspense anymore @BoomGaspar. Who is it?

[MichiganCardinal]

I just want to know what "some semblance of an answer" means for a question that sounds like it would have a fully correct answer.

[Evil Roy Slade]

Any hints? Such as decade?

[lordstanley]

I have no idea, but I'm guessing it is someone who logged a lot of games all in one season after being acquired by trade around May and then released at the end of the season. As opposed to a fringe AAAA player who got called up in September a few times but never made the roster out of spring training. Could be an everyday player acquired by trade in May, but maybe the chances of being gone from the Tigers at the end of that season would make it more likely to be a utility player or middle innings relief pitcher? I'll also take a wild guess that it was sometime between 1952-1989, my thinking being that it seems like there were more competing cards companies and specialty cards after that may have snagged a player for a card mid-season. So now I'll go and see if there was a utility infielder who, say, played 80 games for the Tigers in 1977 but never again, maybe even was released late in the season.

Update: 1977 didn't work. So went back to 1976, and found 2B Pedro Garcia who played 77 games for the Tigers after having played 41 games for Milwaukee that season, then played all of 1977 with Toronto. I remember, even though he played so little with the Tigers. I must remember him getting coverage as an inaugural Blue Jay. Hell, I'll go with Pedro Garcia as my answer. 

Edit: Damn!

Edited February 26 by lordstanley

[IdahoBert]

Billy Beane

[papalawrence]

Don't have a guess - been thinking about players detroit signed and then traded in the first season. No luck. 

My hunch is it's someone from the mid 50s. It was common for some players to not have a card in every set. Now it seems like every player and their mother has a card in some set.

[papalawrence]

I'll throw out a guess, Joe Coleman (senior, not the 1970s pitcher). He pitched in 17 games for Det in 1955. I'm sure there are plenty of guys who played longer but it would take too long to research 

[Hongbit]

Unfortunately it’s not Javy Baez

[Shinzaki]

Ken Szotkiewicz?  Or maybe Phil Mankowski...or some other Polish guy

[papalawrence]

Mankowski is on a few cards. Basher that he was. I may have once had his autograph

[BoomGaspar]

I've been away from this thread too long.  As for the "some semblance of an answer"...the answer depends on what one considers a "card".  The winner COULD be outfielder Elliott Maddox, who played in 109 games with the Tigers in 1970 but is pictured capless as a member of the Washington Senators on his 1971 Topps card.  He does appear as a Tiger on a stamp and on an oddball card...do these count?  Similarly, catcher Gus Triandos got into 106 games with the Tigers in 1963 but is listed as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies on his 1964 Topps card (despite being pictured in a Tigers uniform)...does that count?  Utilityman Kevin Witt made 93 appearances for the 2003 Tigers as a DH, first baseman, pinch hitter, and left fielder.  He's on a promo card for the 2004 MLB Showdown card game...does that count?

Moving forward in time, we find some players who could be outright winners.  Casper Wells appeared in 100 games for the Tigers in 2010-2011 and has nothing to show for it.  Forum favorite Jim Adduci similarly has nothing to document his 88 games in 2017-2018.  Australian reliever Warwick Saupold pitched 82 times from 2016-2018 and comes up empty.  Outfielder Alex Presley had 74 appearances in 2016-2017 but is missing in action.  Also playing 74 times and never appearing on a Tigers card was outfielder Josh Anderson in 2009. Infielder Scott Fletcher played in 67 games for the 1995 Tigers but fell victim to companies limiting their production of players from bad teams to pull out of the "junk wax" era.  A short skip away on the same team is Franklin Stubbs, with 62 games in a Tigers uniform going unrepresented. A second Aussie, Brad Thomas, pitched in 61 games between 2010-2011 but has no cardboard proof of it.

A few other players have hit the 50 game mark with no Tigers cards, including catcher Ron Tingley (54 games in 1995), pitcher Louis Coleman (51 games in 2018), and pitcher Shelby Miller (51 games in 2024).

So there you have it.  Discuss.

[papalawrence]

Fun question, very difficult to research. I attempted and got up to 1958 then stopped. Arduous and time consuming, but fun. I did learn of some former Tigers I had never heard of. Bob Hazle was an outfielder who played in 43 games with Detroit in 1958 with no Detroit card. He only had 261 lifetime at-bats and had a career BA of .310 and ops+ of 134. Didn't get much of a chance. Makes me wonder how many players through the decades could have had a decent career but they were on the bubble and didn't get much of a chance? Also saw info on  Coot Veal who played infield with the Tigers in the 50s. I have a ton of Tigers cards back to the early 1900s and have never heard of Coot, but he does have Tigers cards. And I saw that Joe Coleman (father of 1970s Tigers pitcher Joe Coleman) pitched in 17 games for Detroit in 1955. No Tigers card.

[Tenacious D]

22 hours ago, BoomGaspar said:

I've been away from this thread too long.  As for the "some semblance of an answer"...the answer depends on what one considers a "card".  The winner COULD be outfielder Elliott Maddox, who played in 109 games with the Tigers in 1970 but is pictured capless as a member of the Washington Senators on his 1971 Topps card.  He does appear as a Tiger on a stamp and on an oddball card...do these count?  Similarly, catcher Gus Triandos got into 106 games with the Tigers in 1963 but is listed as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies on his 1964 Topps card (despite being pictured in a Tigers uniform)...does that count?  Utilityman Kevin Witt made 93 appearances for the 2003 Tigers as a DH, first baseman, pinch hitter, and left fielder.  He's on a promo card for the 2004 MLB Showdown card game...does that count?

Moving forward in time, we find some players who could be outright winners.  Casper Wells appeared in 100 games for the Tigers in 2010-2011 and has nothing to show for it.  Forum favorite Jim Adduci similarly has nothing to document his 88 games in 2017-2018.  Australian reliever Warwick Saupold pitched 82 times from 2016-2018 and comes up empty.  Outfielder Alex Presley had 74 appearances in 2016-2017 but is missing in action.  Also playing 74 times and never appearing on a Tigers card was outfielder Josh Anderson in 2009. Infielder Scott Fletcher played in 67 games for the 1995 Tigers but fell victim to companies limiting their production of players from bad teams to pull out of the "junk wax" era.  A short skip away on the same team is Franklin Stubbs, with 62 games in a Tigers uniform going unrepresented. A second Aussie, Brad Thomas, pitched in 61 games between 2010-2011 but has no cardboard proof of it.

A few other players have hit the 50 game mark with no Tigers cards, including catcher Ron Tingley (54 games in 1995), pitcher Louis Coleman (51 games in 2018), and pitcher Shelby Miller (51 games in 2024).

So there you have it.  Discuss.

That’s some impressive work.  Take a well-deserved break and enjoy a Fresca.