Zero-Year Cards, Part 36

1974 Topps Traded #630T Tommie Agee (Dodgers)

This is the newest addition to my "zero-year" collection, thanks to a recent trade with Jim, better known in the blogosphere as "gcrl".

He was nice enough to add this one into the deal as a freebie.

Other than his pair of famous catches in the 1969 World Series, I don't know a whole lot about Tommie Agee. 

One of the first things that pops into my head is his appearance on one of my favorite TV shows, Everybody Loves Raymond. He appeared with other members of the "Miracle Mets" in an episode where Ray and his brother take a trip down to Cooperstown. (One of my personal favorite episodes in the series.)

The one other tidbit that comes to mind is his part in perhaps the most massive airbrush job in Topps history, thanks to Agee's trade to the Astros in 1973. Topps went the extra mile and airbrushed the Mets jerseys of shortstop Bud Harrelson and outfielder Rusty Staub to make Agee's move to Houston seem more "realistic" in the cardboard world.

With this "zero-year" issue, Agee joins the likes of Mike Scioscia and Jose Canseco, players whose final cards are of the zero-year variety.

Before I received it last week, I had no idea that Agee was ever affiliated with the Dodgers organization. To my knowledge, this is only the second Dodgers "zero-year" card in my collection. While the other is probably one of my favorite cards, the Agee is still an extremely welcome addition to my collection.

After he split his 1973 season between the Astros and Cardinals, Agee was traded to the Dodgers in the offseason. After being released at the end of spring training that year, he'd hang 'em up for good.

It might not be all that flattering, but that's the case with a lot of other "final cards" I've seen. (The rankings for the best "final card" is a post I'll probably do in the near future.)

But any "zero-year" card has a special mystique to it, no matter what the picture on the front might tell you. 

That's how I feel, anyways.