Without baseball cards, would baseball fans throughout the States might not know the majesty that was Luis Tiant’s signature Fu Manchu mustache? It’s tough to say.
But, thankfully…the majesty of Tiant’s lip sweater translates wonderfully to cardboard.
Tiant has a nice rookie card, from 1965 Topps, featuring a unique “grip” photo.
In 1967, Topps issued a Venezuelan set, which included Tiant in his Caracas Leones uniform and some cool Venezuelan mountain scenery.
The 1973 and 1974 sets feature two very contrasting Tiants.
Happy-go-lucky clean shaven Tiant in 1973:
Serious, mustachioed Tiant in 1974:
There was no Topps Traded set in 1979, but Tiant managed to get an updated card anyway, thanks to the Burger King Yankees set that year.
Tiant pitched in the Senior League in 1989. He still displayed that famous mustache, now with a touch of gray.
There are still occasionally new cards of Tiant coming out, most recently in 2012 Topps Archives.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bo Rosny is The Hall of Very Good’s resident baseball expert. You can read more from him at his website Baseball Cards Come to Life.
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The Hall of Very Good™ Class of 2014 is presented by Out of the Park Developments, the creators of the wildly popular baseball simulation game Out of the Park Baseball. Out of the Park Developments has made a generous donation to The Hall.
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