Even if youβve never seen it before, Iβll bet commons to donuts that the 1988 ProCards Auburn Astros Kenny Lofton pre-rookie card looks familiar to you.
Here, take a gander while you let that mouthful of a card title settle into your ears/brain β¦
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So β¦ does it look familiar?
Sure does to me, and itβs notΒ justΒ because young Lofton would become such aΒ mainstayΒ of All-Star lineups and postseason games and highlight reels for the Cleveland Indians in a few short years.
And itβs not just because this, Loftonβs first professional baseball card (issued the same summer he was drafted), reminds me that he really did once toil in the Astrosβ system. Even appeared in 20 games for the 1991 big league βStros before they shipped him north that winter.
And itβs not evenΒ justΒ the rainbow sleeve curving behind that old-school Astros logo.
Mix all those ingredients together, and you for sure have a recipe for some good olβ Familiar Brew.
But thereβs something else here, something more fundamental, that sets off the bells in an old collectorβs head.
The warm, earthy borders β¦
The rounded inner black piping β¦
The Astros logo (again) in the bottom left-hand corner.
Where I have seen something like that before?
*snaps fingers*
Oh, thatβs right!
It was here β¦
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That 1983 Fleer gray/brown issue was the first Fleer issue I everΒ caredΒ about, and it was a major upgrade over the 1981 and (especially) 1982 sets, at least to my kid eyes.
Better photos, better borders, photos on card backs(!), Super Star Specials β¦ 1983 Fleer was a good-looking, fun set.
No surprise, then, why my subconscious picks at me whenever some other set comes even close in design β βHey, that Lofton card could be a 1983 Fleer if you squint just a little.β
But if youβre looking for aΒ realΒ Lofton doppelganger in the β83 Fleer set, at least among the Astros, well, youβre going to be looking for awhile.
Dickie Thon comes sort of close in pose, but the mirror image effect (lefty v. righty) sort of kills the sameness vibe. Not to mention that Thon is decked out in a midnight blue Astros jersey, while Lofton dons the blazing white version.
In fact, if you click through ALL of the Astros on that team checklist up there, youβll find just two guys who can match Loftonβs laundry.
First is utility man (non-infielder division) Danny Heep β¦
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And next is reliever Dave Smith β¦
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Both in Astros home whites while the rest of their teammates sport the dark jerseys.
Neither Heep nor Smith match up with Lofton at the pose level, of course, but their Cloroxed shirts add to the case for familiarity.
So β¦
Have we seen the 1988 ProCards Kenny Lofton card before? Maybe, maybe not.
But we sure have seen its pieces, and they always feel like hobby home when we run across them again.
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