(Editor’s Note: Philadelphia-area writer and longtime sports apparel industry researcher and developer Jared Wheeler writes weekly for Authentically Speaking.)
By Jared Wheeler
When you think of baseball cards a handful of companies come to mind. One to note would be Topps, which has connected generations through its evolution of the cardboard backed cards. However, a new revolution in card creation has taken shape in Left Field Cards.
Left Field Cards was established in 2011 by Amelie Mancini, a French born artist who first fell in love with America’s pastime on a summer evening in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. Mancini has put her own twist on the age old hobby of card collecting, making it a strong theme within her art.
The cards are printed off of hand carved linoleum blocks. Each series uniquely ties together 10 players, stretching from the delicious sounding player name to a line-up of bizarre disabled list trips. Mancini captures the love affair of the card collecting hobby through her personalized artistic touch.
Left Field Cards is making its way to Pro League Authentics. Series Three, Marvelous Moustaches, will be available this week at our 13th Street location in Center City Philadelphia. We will also be partnering with Left Field Cards for an in-store event slated for Thursday, October 4. More details will follow on our website, so mark your calendar! Stop on in and start collecting.
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Authentically Speaking Trivia Time: What year did the Flyers place names on their home uniforms? Answer on Wednesday.
Monday’s answer: Besides the 12 National League teams that wore the 1976 centennial patch, the Cubs (team 100th anniversary), the Expos (Montreal Olympic Games), and the Phillies (America’s Bicentennial) wore an additional patch.
In the American League that season, the Indians, Tigers, A’s and Rangers all wore patches that celebrated the nation’s Bicentennial. By-the-way, the Tigers and Rangers each wore their respective ’76 patches when they threw back last Saturday night at Arlington Stadium.
The Rangers wearing road uniforms at home, marked the second straight week a team wore road throwbacks at home (Cardinals on Aug 5).
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