5 Tired Tax(ed) Day Baseball Cards

Read (*yawn*) at your own (consciousness') risk

Tax Day in the United States used to be April 15, come rain, shine, hell, highwater, or excuses.

Then, during the pandemic, things got dicey — Tax Day included.

This year, it’s April 18 (I think).

Whatever the case, this is Tax Week, at least traditionally.

So here are some fun old baseball card showing players who look, well, taxed.

1965 Topps Roger Maris (#155)

Maris aged a couple generations during his historic run on Babe Ruth’s single-season home run record in 1961. And the clock just wouldn’t seem to run backward for The Rajah after that year, either. By the time he appeared on this classic 1965 Topps card, Maris had gone full-gray and looked about as excited as you were when they served spinach for lunch at school.

1981 Topps Cesar Geronimo (#390)

Geronimo played a somewhat understated Gold Glove centerfield for the Big Red Machine and somehow survived the first few years of its dismantling. By 1980, though, when this pic was presumably was snapped, Geronimo was looking a bit puffy-eyed and world-weary. Heck, he even carried that five-o’-clock scruff that afflicts the average tax-paying dude as dinnertime approaches after another long day at the grind.

Or, maybe he was just getting warmed up.

1982 Fleer Woodie Fryman (#189)

Hey, Woodie Fryman was 41 years old during the 1981 season. He had more than 500 big league appearances under his (substantial) belt and had tossed more than 2200 innings. Darn right the dude got winded now and then. If he wants to go criss-cross-applesauce in a baseball dungeon for a few minutes, who are we to deny him?

1984 Topps Superstars Retire (#6)

Yaz looks about as happy and energetic as 1960s Roger Maris in this shot, and on most of his baseball cards, for that matter. But at least the Red Sox star was actually old when he retired, and you gotta figure there could be some clam chowder at play in that queasy expression. Plus, I’m pretty sure Yaz has cameoed in just about every Stephen King movie and miniseries. He was the Maine lighthouse operator, in case you were wondering.

1989 Donruss Ron Washington (#468)

This is a hobby classic, which make it pretty much unique among all 1989 Donruss cards. You can say a lot about this image of Washington — and I’ve said my fair share — but the important thing for us, here, today, is that the future skipper seems plumb tuckered out in this shot. No one did taxed on a baseball card any better than this.

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I’m sure there are plenty of great, exhausting baseball cards showing tired players that I’ve left out here. I’d love to hear and see your picks, though I don’t promise not to fall asleep looking at them.

Thanks for reading and, until next time, Happy Tax Day (hey, at least it will be over soon).

—Adam