Wow. Mike Devereaux turned in the best baseball season of his life in 1992 with more than 300 total bases and was rewarded with this picture on the front of his 1993 Finest baseball card:
The card would have looked 100x better if the photo had been switched with the one on the back. I mocked up a “what-if” version of the card and am pretty happy with the results.
As the original is printed, the motion blur on his throwing arm does not come across very well when combined with the set’s chromium printing process. An above average defensive player who excelled across four different sports, Devereaux looks uncharacteristically uncertain about where the ball is going.
It’s not like card manufacturers didn’t have some good shots to choose from in 1993. Both his flagship Topps and Upper Deck cards are masterclasses in what can be accomplished within the confines of a baseball card layout.
Devereaux could have put some publicity stills to good use that year, considering he made an appearance on the soap opera The Young and the Restless. Topps extracted further photographic revenge when it chose a picture of an upended Devereaux for the 1995 flagship set.
Totally Useless Information: Devereaux has the second highest career home run total for anyone born in Wyoming. That makes him the Hank Aaron of the state. Home run king Barry Bonds was Devereaux’s outfield teammate when they played together at ASU.
