1992 Class Cedar Rapids Reds #4 Johnny Ray. After joining this site, I was excited to scan and submit all the missing cards from my favorite local team. When I got to the 1992 Classic Cedar Reds set it was a disappointment to discover that a set that has been in my collection for 28 years was missing a card. That card was the fourth card in the set according to the checklist and the players name was Johnny Ray.
After I finished scanning in the rest of the set, I set out to find a card to fill the hole. I came across a seller who had it listed on another site for fifty cents. So to make it worth while, I checked out what else the seller had and ended up purchasing 10 cards.
A couple days later a refund of 50 cents was posted back to my PayPal. Confused what for I went to the site and checked out my order. It was Johnny Ray's card that the refund was for. Then it clicked, after visiting the half dozen sites looking for that card, only one had it listed. And it turned out it was listed by mistake, and the seller didn't have the card. Perhaps the card wasn't issued?
I started doing some research and found that Johnny Ray bounced back and forth between single-a and double-a. In 1992 Johnny only made 11 appearances in Cedar Rapids games and the rest was at Chattanooga. Johnny is listed in 4 total sets for 1992, 3 of those in double-A. It's quite possible the team submitted the team roster to the card company and Johnny Ray had already shipped out to Chattanooga by the day the photographer arrived. This might explain why his name is on the team set checklist card, but no actual card.
Alas, to be sure, I wrote the seller, and a couple other long time Minor League card dealers, and one seller who had the team set on e-bay. So far I have 4 people confirm that the set they have was missing the card, and they all agree with the possibility it wasn't issued.
Before adjustments are made to the checklist, I wanted to share my investigation and see if anyone else had insite, or information on the subject. Thank you for reading.
Minor League Collector, Collecting cards featuring players in Cedar Rapids uniforms or Logos, all sports, from past and present. Researching forgotten set variations.
