Dodgers Blue Heaven: Foreshadowing: the 1983 Fleer Steve Garvey Card

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Foreshadowing: the 1983 Fleer Steve Garvey Card

I was wasting some time this afternoon during my lunch break when I came across a tweet from noted Baseball card collector Night Owl Cards.

I missed this yesterday, but terrific behind-the-scenes stories about Fleer photography in '80s from Bob Bartosz. http://t.co/dHimRizVNT
— NightOwlCards (@nightowlcards) March 17, 2015

Naturally, I had to click the link, and I was not disappointed.

Bo at Baseball Cards Come to Life sat down with a former Fleer Baseball card photographer during the 80's and shares some of his stories. In fact, the photographer, named Bob Bartosz, was responsible for many of the quirky Fleer cards from the time; including the "Black & Blue" card in 1983 set, "Pete & Re-Pete" card from the 1982 set and the Glenn Hubard with a giant snake card found in the 1984 set. There are a ton of great stories, so you should definitely check it out.

One story in particular is the reason for this post. Bob Bartosz tells us that Steve Garvey knew all along (by the 1982 All-Star break) that he would not be re-signing with the Dodgers after the season. Knowing this, Bob was able to plan for next years card. See it at the very bottom.

Foreshadowing what he had already been told, Bob made sure his 1983 Fleer card included Garvey putting away his Dodger gear at his locker. This card has been around for over 30 years and it never occurred to me that the photo was symbolic of anything - until now.