Card of the Week: 1970-71 Topps Bob Baun

But they dealt with it! Management praised his quick, decisive action, and he is confident that the raise they keep dangling at him over the years is in the bag. The secretary comes in with his morning coffee and the AP wire transactions from over the weekend. From the look in her eyes, he senses trouble. He reads the printout and nearly spits out the coffee.

 

Oct. 31 - Detroit C Pete Stemkowski 
traded to New York for D Larry Brown

He grabs the phone and calls the press room. Secretly, he’s always wanted to say this and now is the time: “STOP THE PRESSES!!!”

 

A flurry of activity ensues. Larry Brown, fresh off an unremarkable rookie season, is not in this set so no worries about him. But Pete Stemkowski is, alas, and his photo has him in his Detroit home whites and he’s firmly slated in between fellow Red Wings Bob Baun and Gary Unger.

 

There’s no time to do a proper airbrush job or re-order the set. So, they do the only things they can: grab the White-Out and cover up the Wings logo, paste over the team name across the bottom of the card, change the team name on the back, and add an extra sentence to his mini-bio: “Traded to N.Y. Rangers Oct. 1970.”

 

Tuesday, November 3, 1970

Upper management is not happy about the print delay. After spending the day looking over the set just to make sure everything is perfect, the Topps executive sits back and relaxes. The presses are all set to run at the end of the day. The night crew is prepped and ready.

It’s about 4 pm. The secretary comes in, looking quite flustered. She has another printout from the AP wire in her hand.

Nov 3 - Detroit D Bob Baun acquired on waivers by Buffalo

He grabs the phone again. “STOP THE PRESSES! And, uh, grab the White-Out.”

And then, to his secretary, “Call my wife and let her know I’ll be late.”

After a flurry of activity long into the night, they somehow manage to revise Bob Baun’s hockey card. They cover up the logo as quickly as possible, replace the team names on the front and back, and add the text “Joined the Sabres Nov. ’70.” to Baun’s bio. With barely enough time for the White-Out to dry, the cards go to press.

 

Late in the day, the janitor is cleaning out the trash when the secretary storms in, drops the latest AP wire printout on his desk, and announces she quits.

 

Nov 4 - Buffalo D Bob Baun traded to St Louis 
for LW Larry Keenan and D Jean-Guy Talbot

 The Topps executive sinks into his chair and weeps.

 

“Baun was never gonna work out in Buffalo,” says the janitor. “He said playing for the Seals was the worst year of his life. So, he told his agent ‘Original Six only.’ And guess who’s the GM in Buffalo?”

 

The Topps executive sobs.

 

“Punch Imlach! The guy that ran him outta Toronto and benched him for the ’67 Finals! No way Bobby would ever play for him again.”

 

The Topps executive says nothing.

“Betcha anything he never plays one game for the Blues either. Oh, and by the way, there’s supposed to be two Rs in Garry Unger’s first name. That card was wrong too. I mentioned it to the print guy, but…”

The Topps executive grabs a hockey puck paperweight and hurls it at the janitor, narrowly missing his head. “GET OUT OF MY OFFICE!”

Nov 13 - St Louis D Bob Baun traded to Toronto for LW Brit Selby

Fade to black.

Epilogue. Two Months Later.

North of the border, O-Pee-Chee is printing their expanded version of the Topps set. They use an old photo of Baun from his first stint in Toronto, so he’s correctly identified as a Maple Leaf.