Letter from Cooperstown: PCQ — Posterity and Perspective
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. – It was a longtime feature of the PostCards mailbag that has been neglected since the blog shifted to its own address and became more of a daily fling — the PostCards Question. I wanted it to return with a bang.
So how about a blast?
Had some time to pluck the photos off the camera from this weekend’s trip to Hummel Weekend at the Hall and came upon two that have the makings of an appropriate Back-From-Hiatus PostCards Question.
The first photo, I took for posterity.
We were told at the Hall of Fame that each day the staff there updates the leader boards that are in a third-floor room, not too far away from the 2006 World Series display and World Series championship rings through the years. That means if Mike Stanton makes an appearance, the board showing him as the active leader in games pitched has to be updated. That means Alex Rodriguez’s 500th home run or Tom Glavine’s 300th victory — either of which could happen today — will prompt a new printing of the board.
Keep this picture close. Use it as you will. Here is the Career Home Run leaderboard as it appeared at the Hall of Fame on July 30, 2007:

For the time being the name at the top of the list is how it’s been more for than 30 years, Home Run King Hank Aaron. That got me thinking of another picture that caught me eye at the Hall of Fame. It was in the room of the museum dedicated to the Negro Leagues — go see Cool Papa Bell’s odd shaped hat and famous sunglasses — that something caught my eye. It was just a poster, just a smattering of photos of baseball cards from players who starred in the majors because of contributions from the Negro Leagues. But something was wrong with one of the cards.
Something so obvious.
That’s the PostCards Question for this week. Here is a picture of the card that was featured on the poster. It is of Aaron, of course, but there is one big problem with it and one huge clue as to how it happened. What’s the problem? What’s the clue?

Write postcards@post-dispatch.com with your answers. As … of … right … now! … it’s officially a race between Mizzou ‘97 and Waterloo Dave for the correct answer.
-30-


Derrick Goold said he was going to Mizzou for capital-J journalism, but after growing up in the Time Zone Baseball Forgot he was really drawn to MU sitting between two major-league cities. Goold joined the Post-Dispatch in 2001 after working for The Times-Picayune and Rocky Mountain News, covering sports from LSU to NHL and every level of baseball in between.
The picture is reversed. Hammerin’ Hank batted right handed. The clue is his number. The 4 in 44 on his jersey is backwards.
Hammerin Hank was a righty, not a lefty!!!
Like trying to sneak cheese by a mouse. Well done. Some more detailed answers will be printed in next week’s PCQ. Mizzou ‘97 is on the clock to come up with a tricky trivia question …
dg
-30-