CMC Error: Fox for a Diamond

The tipoff was the hat.

The randomizer picked tonight's card as CMC card No. 873, the card of Appleton Fox Kerwin Moore.

When I started my research though, the picture didn't look right. There was a stylized W on his hat. There are no Ws in "Appleton Foxes."

It was the same thing I encountered last year on Scott Shockey's card. In that case, it was a Cedar Rapids Red photo and a Madison Muskie card. After some investigation, the pitcher in that photo turned out to be Mo Sanford, who didn't have a corresponding CMC set card. So I ended up featuring both.

In this instance, it's another Midwest League team, the Appleton Foxes. After a quick check, the team of the person in the photo was the Waterloo Diamonds. I'd just featured Jeff Hart, who was with the Diamonds in the set. A check of his card showed the same hat. Moore, of course, never played for Waterloo.

So that narrowed down the search for the name of the player in the photo. With the team known, then I could just go down Baseball Reference's list of players who played for Waterloo in 1990 and figure out what I needed.

Off the bat, the only other piece of information in the photo was the player was in a batting stance, and batting right handed. While not definitive, the batting stance suggested a position player, one who was right handed.

I went down the list, eliminating players and creating suspects. Then I got down to Steve Martin, the player, not the actor. (I'm sure he gets that all the time.) With such a well-known name, I'd remembered Martin from previously. He had his own card in the set. So I actually almost ruled him out without checking.

When I searched for a Martin baseball photo, I found a 1991 Bowman offering. The photo was Steve Martin, the player.

That led me to dig out the Steve Martin CMC card. And, sure enough, Steve Martin, the Waterloo Diamond, featured an Appleton Fox. A check for another Kerwin Moore card, confirmed that suspicion.

The two cards side-by-side.

The CMC guys mixed up the photos. It's obviously not their first error. But adds to the list. It also doesn't add to the number of players in the set, as each has his own card, just the wrong picture. Other errors have added a total of three players to the CMC set list.

So, tonight, I'll post Kerwin Moore's feature. For tomorrow, I'll bump up Steve Martin, the player, not the actor.