What’s Wrong With This Card – Sammy Drake

Only twenty-five men could make the ignominious claim that they were members of the original New York Mets, and Sammy Drake was one of them.

Drake was an infielder who started his professional career in the Negro American League with the Kansas City Monarchs in 1953. From there he was signed by the Chicago Cubs and in 1955 started his journey through their minor league system. Our man was given two chances with the big club, playing for them in 1960 (15 games) and 1961 (13 games).

On October 10, 1961, the National League held an expansion draft that supplied the newly formed Mets and Houston Colt 45’s (renamed Astros in 1965) with their initial twenty-five players. Drake was taken by the New York Mets. He appeared in 16 games for the “Metropolitans,” playing second and third base and batting .197, which would appear to make him a natural for the lovable but inept team. Management disagreed, however, and Drake was sent back to the minor leagues. He played two more seasons there and then retired from professional baseball.

In addition to being an original Met, Drake is also recalled because he and his brother Solly were the first African-American brothers to make it to the major leagues.

This is Sammy Drake’s only appearance on a Topps baseball card. What catches your eye when you look at it? Something is clearly not quite right. Now here’s some additional grist for the mill: the back of the card. Are there two items on the card that place it in this category? I look forward to your answers, and appreciate your participation in what has become a well-received, ongoing series here at Grubby Glove.

The first person to identify and submit the correct answer to this challenge will be awarded twenty-five baseball cards from their favorite team. The cards will range from the 1980’s to our present era. 

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In each installment of this ongoing series, I will present a baseball card for your review. If you study the card carefully you will find something about it that is not quite right. Once you’ve determined what it is, please identify it in a comment. I will identify the readers who correctly identified the incorrect aspect of the card in an upcoming post. Thank you, and have fun.