A Great Unknown – Joe Bauman

I busted a box of Tristar Obak once. It was years ago and while I did like a lot of the work Tristar was doing with the TNA wrestling releases at the time, I was not a fan of Obak. To put it mildly, some of the cards, like the one below, looked a lot like what happens when you open a .GIF on Microsoft Paint and then try to save it. The colors bled and just had a cheap look and feel about them. Perhaps they were going after the hardcore Allen & Ginter collectors but much like Upper Deck’s Goodwin Champions, it wasn’t done right.

While scouring eBay this morning I discovered the card below, of Joe Bauman. Many people don’t know Joe because he was a career Minor League player who last played professional baseball half a century ago. Then again, many people do know Joe Bauman for the amazing numbers he put up in the Minors, specifically in 1954 when he hammered a then unheard of 72 home runs. To put into perspective just how great of a power hitter Joe was, look at the seasons of 1952 through 1955 in which he averaged 55 home runs.

Unfortunately, if you want a Joe Bauman baseball card you only have Tristar’s Obak to choose from. If you want, let’s say a Kyle Skipworth card, a player who had a ton of hobby hype but has now played in the Minors 7 seasons, you have over 200 cards to choose from manufacturers like Topps Company, Upper Deck, and yes, even Tristar. As for the card below, you can probably find it in commons boxes at your next show. However, good luck finding a dealer who just happens to carry Obak commons.

You’d have better luck trying to break “Ponderous” Joe Bauman’s Minor League HR record.