Mark Armour
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markarmour04.bsky.social
Mark Armour
@markarmour04.bsky.social
Baseball writer/historian, music, baseball cards. Founder SABR’s Biography Project & Baseball Cards committee, author 7 books, former SABR board president, creator Satchel Paige Project. https://marklaurencearmour.wordpress.com/
I did not propose a hypothesis! Fwiw, I suspect (but can’t prove) that Topps thought Americanization was a compliment, as many did (and still do). Sy Berger later said it was what all the writers called him which is (surprise!) not true.
November 17, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Definitely remember this on a Red Sox message board when Lohan was approaching 18 (now approaching 40) and wondering how long the countdown might have been going on.
November 17, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Can you graph the annual % so that his increased fame doesn’t swarm the data ? For 1960-64 I still get 48 to 632.
November 17, 2025 at 2:49 PM
They spelled out Masanori Murakami even though he was commonly known as Masa.
November 16, 2025 at 10:53 PM
Sure, that could have been the reason (though Yaz and Killebrew also had 15 letters). They called him Roberto in 1955 and 1956, then switched. Other companies figured it out.
November 16, 2025 at 10:50 PM
My set has not seen the light of day in years. Too much work to even view one, let alone 24.
November 16, 2025 at 3:28 PM
19 of 20 votes.
November 16, 2025 at 3:38 AM
That 52 Topps price seems a little steep. Geez man it was $50 like two years ago!
November 16, 2025 at 3:12 AM
This made me recall my first time seeing him—Schenectady NY in October 1979–but then I did the math and now I’m all sad. Have a great time!
November 14, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Wow, brilliant thank you! I can’t believe that I, a Red Sox diehard who knows Early, never put together that he never had a Red Sox card. (He is in the uniform in 1967, but as a “Cub”.) Great response!
November 13, 2025 at 1:53 AM
Shoulda tagged @phungo2008.bsky.social. Ran out of room!
November 12, 2025 at 10:56 PM
Fortunately I am old enough to be a “sound it out” kid.
November 12, 2025 at 8:44 AM
Chris, do you have this postcard?
November 12, 2025 at 12:50 AM
November 12, 2025 at 12:36 AM
My mother, still kicking at 88, was a big Reggie fan. It was a bit of a crush tbh.
November 12, 2025 at 12:30 AM
Scoring on only 21% of your hits seems extremely low even before accounting for runs he must have scored without getting a hit.
November 11, 2025 at 4:42 AM
But I think Topps could have put in a few extra minutes to figure this out.
November 11, 2025 at 1:24 AM
The Red Sox (like many teams) changed uniforms a few times in the 1970s, but (unlike in modern times) they only had two uniforms (home/away) for a season.
November 11, 2025 at 1:20 AM
November 11, 2025 at 1:17 AM
Nice work Nick.
November 11, 2025 at 1:14 AM
I assume an artist’s creation? I don’t believe the Red Sox wore red hats until 1974 (unless they delayed giving him his trophy!)
November 11, 2025 at 1:10 AM