The 1943 Phillies Team That Never Was

Cleaning Out the Closet: 

Part 2 - Abandoned Projects

Been a bit busy lately and haven't had the time to post anything new so here are some more cards rescued from the junk files. This is another example of an overly ambitious project.

I got the idea from an article I read about Bill Veeck. He claimed in his autobiography that in 1943 he attempted to buy the Phillies. He planned to make a team using the great Negro League players from the era. This would have predated Jackie Robinson's debut by several years. The league was being drained of its talent due to World War II. Still many talented players were not considered because of their skin color.  Now there is no historical evidence of this alleged plan other than Veeck's word for it many years after the fact. But it makes you think. How would this have changed history. Would a team stacked with Negro League greats dominate in a league with many of its players engaged in the war effort?

This project presented a few problems. Among them, I would have to find pictures of the players. These are fairly few and far between. Next I would have to photoshop them into Phillies uniforms. And the biggest hurdle was that there were no cards issued in that era. I would need to create a card that looked like it came from 1943.

 

Once again, it just proved too much for me. I really liked the idea and I think the cards that I made looked pretty cool. Unfortunately, I just couldn't find enough suitable pictures of relevant players. I've actually held onto this project for quite some time in hopes of reviving it, but I guess it's time to put it to rest.