Lowell Palmer: Created The Tom Cruise Sunglass Look

Lowell, dude, what is up with the shades in your 1970 Topps card? And, if you're going to be in the Bigs, what is up with a first name like, "Lowell?" Didn't someone in the minors give you a nickname like "Blue Jupiter" Palmer or "Salmon" Palmer. I checked your stats. Five years in the Majors, a 5-18 career record and a 5.67 career ERA. OK Lowell, now I understand why you wanted to wear dark sunglasses as to not be recognized (though showing up in a Phillies uni for your Topps card kinda gave you away.)

Craig Counsell: Will The Real Craig Counsell Please Stand Up

You're a lucky guy, Craig Counsell. The 2002 Topps set included not one but two Craig Counsells. OK, the Counsell on the left is actually a guy by the name of  Greg Colbrunn and the real Counsell is the guy on the right. I suppose it might be easy to mix them up because not only are the first two letters of their last names the same, both completed rather lengthy tenures in the Majors given their skill set. Counsell, the scrappy utility infielder who scored the winning run for the Marlins in Game 7 of the 1997 World Series, batted a career .255 during a 16-year career that included stops with the Rockies, Marlins, Dodgers, Diamondbacks, and Brewers. Colbrunn, also a utility guy who played first base, played 13 years in the Bigs, batting a career .289. His best year was with the Marlins in 1995, when hit cracked 23 homers and drove in 89. Like Counsell, Colbrunn played for the Marlins, Rockies and Diamondbacks. He also sported the unis of the Expos, Twins, Braves and Mariners. 

Rich Allen: One Photo Was Good Enough For Two Cards

Hmm, something look fishy here? The 1970 Topps card of former slugger Rich Allen as a Cardinal has an uncanny similarity to the 1972 Topps card of Rich Allen as a White Sox player. I always enjoyed watching Rich Allen or Dick Allen or Richie Alen or whatever name he chose to use. He swung a stunningly-heavy bat and smacked 351 home runs during a 15-year career. As a 22-year-old with the Phillies in 1964, he led the National League in runs scored with 125. And he led the American League in home runs in 1972 and '74. He played for the Phillies, Cardinals, Dodgers, White Sox and A's -- but I just thought a slugger of Allen's caliber deserved a fresh photo for his 1972 Topps card.

Carlos Delgado: He Swings A Mighty Super Soaker

Carlos Delgado belted 473 home runs during a 17-year career, but I spent half a night trying to find this beauty of a baseball card. It was victory when I found this 1998 Pinnacle card of Delgado in a shoe box stuffed in my closet. He played most of his career with the Blue Jays, ending it with the Marlins and Mets. But I'll always remember Carlos for deploying this super-soaker during the 1997 season with the Blue Jays.

Mike Kekich/Fritz Peterson: Not Crazy Baseball Cards, Just A Crazy Wife Swap

OK, these 1970 Topps baseball cards don't look crazy. But the wife swap between these two wacky Yankees lefthanders in 1972 sure was. Peterson made out better in The Trade, because he eventually married Kekich's wife, while Kekich eventually broke up with Peterson's wife. Kekich also suffered worse on the field, too, playing nine years in the Bigs with a 39-51 record, while Peterson notched a 20-win season for the Yanks in 1970 and finished 133-131 over a 11-year career. I understand Red Sox fans Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are planning a movie, "The Trade," based on the Kekich-Peterson wife swap, so I guess the New York-Boston rivalry even extends to the world of cinema.

Rollie Fingers: Pre-'stache

A local free daily paper called the *tbt in the Tampa Bay area had an item on Rollie Fingers in today's sports section and it mentioned that Fingers grew his famous handlebar mustache to start the 1972 Oakland A's season because he was paid $300 by then-A's owner Charlie Finley to grow the upper-lip hair. "That's the only reason I grew it, 300 bucks out of Charlie." With that quote in mind, I just had to post a pre-'stache baseball card of Fingers. Here's Rollie in his Topps 1970 card. Besides sporting a helluva mustache, Fingers was also known as a pretty darn good reliever, earning a Hall of Fame induction in 1992 and piling up 341 saves during a 17-year career that ended after the 1985 season. After his Oakland days, Roland Glen Fingers pitched for the Padres and the Brewers.

Bill Buckner: Even His Baseball Card Gives Him The Business

How cruel can you get? The guys who make baseball cards usually come up with somethng nice to say on the back of cards -- even unearthing some trivial stat from a player's high school days to make the player look good.

But check out the back of this 1988 Score card of Bill Buckner, one helluva player who gets the business from Score on his baseball card.

The dude racked up 2,715 hits, drove in 1,208 runs, belted nearly 500 doubles and scored 1,077 runs during a 22-year career but Score actually referred to the infamous ground ball that went through Bill's legs in the 1986 World Series Game 6.

"Bill, who was haunted in Boston by the grounder that went through his legs to lose Game 6 of the '86 World Series,  . . . "

Score, that's cold. Downright cold.