1976 Topps Traded: The Missing Cards - #115T Ken Holtzman (part 2)

I'm calling this Missing Card "part two" because Holtzman was traded twice in 1976: in April from the A's to the Orioles as part of the Reggie Jackson trade, and then at the June trade deadline to the Yankees. To see the front of "part one," check out our Facebook page.

(And yes, I plan on creating backs and pairing them with fronts in a permanent gallery page when the "Missing Cards" project is complete.)

1976 Topps Traded: The Missing Cards - #140 Vida Blue

As part of the Great Finley Fire Sale of 1976, the Oakland A's sold Vida Blue to the New York Yankees on June 15th. Three days later, the league voided the sale, returning Blue to Oakland. This custom card is how I think Topps would've handled it.

Cardboard Fenway: 1972 Topps Danny Cater

Cardboard Fenway - #64. 1972 Topps Danny Cater

Thanks to the miracle of airbrushing, Danny Cater is rocking both the Red Sox cap and Yankee pinstripes.

The Tao of Fred McGriff - Day 4

Fred McGriff was selected by the Yankees as the last pick in the 9th round of the 1981 June draft, fresh out of high school and then as soon as he started to get his feet wet BLAM! Traded to the Blue Jays with Dave Collins and Mike Morgan for Dale Murray and Tom Dodd. Drafted one summer, traded the end of the next year. That's either a major confidence booster (that another team would want him) or a huge letdown (the most storied team in the sport gave up on him enough to throw him in on a minor trade).

As fans it's exciting to welcome new players onto our favorite teams, but what about how the players themselves feel? It's no wonder that many reiterate to the media that it's just a business and this is the way this business works. Because what are the alternatives? You can pout, go AWOL, or grit your teeth, say goodbye to your friends and pack your suitcase for the next town.

I'm a Red Sox fan, but it's not hard to see why Brian Giles, though marooned on a terrible Padres team, wouldn't accept a trade to the contending Sox. He has a life to consider, and he's been around long enough to be afforded a choice in his future. Why would you sacrifice that?

(I've never been traded. But if I were, I bet I could bring at least fifteen head of cattle and a few bushels of wheat. Or a bag of balls.)

How Much is $1 Worth?

(Hold on to this idea for a moment: New York City has a very large diplomatic community, many of whom live and work in the city on very low salaries.)


Barring a major meltdown, Alex Rodriguez will play for the Yankees in 2008. It's also generally accepted that the total compensation of his new deal will eclipse the mammoth contract he signed back in 2001 with the Texas Rangers. And while Rodriguez's new contract will take care of the next ten generations of his family, why did he sign for so much? Is he that insecure about his ability? Or are the Steinbrenners that nervous that he'd jump to a rival? (And for the record, much of the Red Sox fan base hates Rodriguez with such a passion that it would have been a very risky move had the Sox tried to sign him.)

Signing for that much not only makes him look greedy beyond compare, it forever boxes him into a corner: if he screws up, he's a monstrously overpaid duffer. If he wins the MVP but fails in the postseason, he's a major letdown. And in the unlikely situation that the Yankees win the World Series despite his usual unfocused postseason performance, he's a deadweight. He's put himself in a no-win situation.

It's come out that Warren Buffett advised Rodriguez to sidestep his agent and approach the Yankees on his own. Now let's go back to my original thought. What if Rodriguez had gone down to Tampa, cap in hand, and asked for a symbolic salary of, say, $1?

I don't know how long Buffett talked to Rodriguez. But hopefully the idea of doing well versus doing good came up. If he had signed for a symbolic $1 salary, not only would he have become the ultimate Yankee and consummate international baseball diplomat overnight, Rodriguez would have set the press and the public on its ear, showing them that he was really playing for love of the game.

What is he playing for now?