5 Times Injuries Have Been Captured on Sports Cards (and One That Shows Healing)

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Sports cards are usually a place where either mundane moments or majestic milestones are captured. However, sometimes they go in the opposite direction. Here are five times where injuries or their immediate aftermath have been shown on sports cards.

1987 Classic Update Yellow Andre Dawson #124

Think about all the great action shots you’ve seen on a baseball card. And then there’s the 1987 Classic Update Yellow Andre Dawson that shows him getting smoked in the face by an Eric Show fastball. It’s not a bad shot as far as photography goes but it’s not what you normally see on a card.

The 1987 National League MVP took Show deep earlier in the game. The beanball sparked a bench-clearing exchange between the Cubs and Padres.

As for Dawson, his cheek was bruised and he needed 24 stitches for cuts on both the inside and outside of his mouth.

1991 Pro Set Bo Jackson “NFL Newsreel” #346

Pro Set isn’t even hiding with this one. Not only does it show the moment Bo Jackson’s football career came to an end, it’s the focal point of the card.

It came during a playoff game in January, 1991 when Jackson dislocated his hip after being tackled on a 34-yard run.

While Jackson was able to play baseball for a couple more years, he was never the same. The Royals cut him before the 1991 MLB season got underway. The White Sox signed him and Jackson would play in 23 games that year. However, the effects of the injury lingered and Jackson missed the entire 1992 season. He struggled in 1993 and 1994 with Chicago and California Angels.

There’s no doubt that Bo Jackson is one of the greatest athletes ever. But you can’t help but wonder “What if?” for both sports had it not been for this injury. To that end, this is one of the more depressing sports cards ever produced.

1993 SP Jose Canseco #191
1994 Score Jose Canseco #61
2016 Topps Pressed Into Service Jose Canseco #PIS-3

Jose Canseco had a rough go of it in May, 1993. First, there was the infamous incident of a long fly ball off of Carlos Martinez’s bat that plunked the outfielder in the head and bounced over the fence for a home run. Three days later, the 1988 AL MVP found himself on the mound for the Rangers and injured his arm in the process. Canseco ended up needing Tommy John surgery and missed the second half of the season.

Upper Deck was the first to immortalize the slugger’s trip to the mound in 1993 SP Baseball. The same inning has appeared on multiple cards since.

2013 Topps Heritage Daniel Hudson

Daniel Hudson’s 2013 Topps Heritage Baseball card seems mundane enough. How much can a chest-up photo show? It turns out that Hudson knew the exact moment the picture was taken — immediately after he blew out his arm in 2012, an injury that cost him a big chunk of the season and all of 2013. Hudson’s career wouldn’t get back on track until 2015, but only after a pair of Tommy John surgeries.

Hudson pointed out the unfortunate timing in a very public tweet that became very viral at the time.

“Thank @toppscards for using a close up of me right after my elbow blew out! Card will be around forever as areminder!” he tweeted.

2019 Topps Stadium Club Harmon Killebrew #201

Stadium Club is a place where you’ll find lots of unique photos. The shot used for Harmon Killebrew’s 2019 card certainly qualifies. It shows the Twins legend being carted around behind the scenes. But you have to wonder if the Topps staffer read the Getty caption that went with it.

The reason Killebrew was on the cart? He’d just ruptured his hamstring in the third inning of the 1968 All-Star Game. The Hall of Famer missed several weeks, returning in September in a limited capacity.

Special Mention

2017 Albuquerque Isotopes Choice Glenallen Hill

Here’s a baseball card that doesn’t show an injury but it brings one of the stranger ones the sport has ever seen full circle. In 1990, Toronto’s Glenallen Hill hurt himself after a sleepwalking incident involving a spider-fuelled nightmare and a very real glass coffee table top. Twenty-seven years later, Choice immortalized Hill making nice with his eight-legged enemy. Not only that, but it’s a big, hairy tarantula.

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Ryan Cracknell

A collector for much of his life, Ryan focuses primarily on building sets, Montreal Expos and interesting cards. He's also got one of the most comprehensive collections of John Jaha cards in existence (not that there are a lot of them). Got a question, story idea or want to get in touch? You can reach him by email and through Twitter @tradercracks.

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1 comment

  1. Jon D Lavezza 23 April, 2022 at 09:30

    Really enjoyed reading this and learning some new things as well , keep up the good work Ryan!

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