5 (Blinkety) BLANK Baseball Cards

Cardboard oblivion to warm your winter nights

Winter doesn’t get much more dead than the middle of January for baseball fans.

Here we are, two weeks into the new year, holidays way behind us, and Spring Training still about a month away.

Gag me with a spoon.

And also, show me some cards that celebrate the bleakness of the season. Because, seize the moment. Or something.

I’ll start by leaning into a few cards that are likewise bleak, blank, or blankety-blank balls of barren.

(The following sections contain affiliate links to eBay listings for the cards being discussed.)

1959 Topps George Anderson (#338)

The 1959 Topps design has never been my favorite.

I’m sure it would be a different story if that had been the first set I collected, but it would take me another 24 years or so to get my cardboard game in gear.

So I don’t mind not liking how small the photos are on the ‘59s.

At least some of the cards in the set give us some snazzy colors to liven things up, but not George Anderson.

Nah, black borders give way to a nothing of a background that darn near matches George’s face skin, which also not creased — it’s a nothing of an expression.

Nothing.

And nothing at all “Sparky” about this card.

1971 Topps Waiting for a Mirage (#331)

This card is a classic of course, but it’s also just about the most desloate image you’ll ever find on a hunk of pasteboard, besting even the 1953 Bowman Pee Wee Reese.

If you’ve ever broken down in the middle of a snow storm and had to walk toward the nearest white blob, this one sends shivers down your spine.

And, of course, as a Reds fan, it takes all the willpower I can muster not to flick my BIC on this one.

1982 Donruss Brett Butler (#275)

1982 Donruss Brett Butler knows the pain of isolation.

When you’ve been pulled aside because you’re not like the other cards.

When all you have to do is sit and think about what you’ve done, where you’ve been.

When all your friends are seniors and then they graduate and you’re a senior and have no friends and then it’s Christmas break and you’re home alone in your drab bedroom with nothing but an old Braves cap and the driveway is drifted over so you can’t get your K-Car out on the road, anyway.

But, hey, at least you have your profile picture all ready for Love Connection.

1982 Fleer Jack Morris (#274)

There’s, like, nothing to see on the 1982 Fleer Jack Morris baseball card.

Like … nothing.

This is the Etch-a-Sketch of baseball cards, with Fleer having ever-so-thoughtfully left plenty of room for us to doodle away those dark, cold winter evenings.

1988 Fleer Jesse Orosco (#188)

If there was ever a snowstorm rookie card, this one’s it.

Now, Jesse Orosco looks pretty happy in this shot, but you have to assume that’s because he was a sorta star for some good-to-great Mets teams ‘round about the time this card was issued.

Dude seems oblivious to the mountains of snow piling up behind him and around him, broken up only by those Little Debbie icing stripes that 1988 Fleer unleashed on the hobby.

Brrr.

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What are some of the blankest, dreariest, winterest baseball cards you’ve ever encountered?

I'm interested in your picks, even if I don’t really want to see any more drab cards right now.

So, maybe picks, but not pics. :)

Until next time, think 1983 Topps Reggie Jackson thoughts, and remember that winter only lasts until it’s over.

Thanks for reading.

—Adam