Horseshoes & Hand Grenades

Looking back, it's been nothing but hockey for a few days running here.  That's not something I intended, it just sort of unfolded that way.  Don't worry though, I still collect baseball cards.  Today I've got a COMC pick-up from last year that was too good to be true...

A real beauty, isn't it?  The early '50s Bowman releases have always been favorites of mine due to the fact that a 1950 Bowman Maurice McDermott was the very first vintage card I ever owned.  This Fermin "Mike" Guerra from the '51 set uses a great pre-game warm-up image.  This is actually the same image used on Guerra's Bowman card the year prior, except that he was with the Philadelphia Athletics then.  For this set the folks at Bowman just re-painted his sleeves and hat to show him with the Red Sox (who purchased him from Philadelphia in the off-season before 1951).

I was feeling pretty good when I nabbed this card with a best offer of just $2 even.  Here's the problem:

Mike lasted only 10 games with Boston before being dealt to the Senators in May of '51.  As you can see at the top there (click for a larger image), he's clearly listed with the Senators here despite being depicted with Boston on the front.

You know what though?  I still count this towards my Red Sox collection.  As far as I know all of Mike's other cards feature him with the Athletics (both front and back).  I don't think collectors are clamoring for Topps to do up a variation featuring the infamous Mike Guerra from his 10-game stint with the Sox in 1951 either, so the reality is this is probably the closest I'll ever get.

So, I guess it's actually horseshoes, hand grenades and team collecting...