harvey you're a star

in my ongoing quest to complete the 1955 bowman set, i purchased a few singles recently, including one of harvey kuenn

unfortunately, i failed to notice that one of the previous owners of the card had given kuenn a gold star, and another owner (or the older version of the same owner) tried to peel it off to no avail. 

i am by no means working to put together a high end set, but i would rather my cards not have things like that on them. i am totally ok with marks on the back, which this one also has

i wonder if it was "j.b." who affixed the gold star to the card? i can't fault whomever it was, as kuenn followed up his 1953 rookie of the year campaign with a very solid 1954 season and continued to perform at a star level for the rest of the 1950's as a tiger.

i wasn't around while kuenn was playing, so to me, he will always be the guy who struck out to end sandy koufax's perfect game in 1965 thanks to the recording of the final inning that i have listened to dozens of times. in fact, i can hear vin scully's call now - "2 and 2 to harvey kuenn. swung on and missed! a perfect game!" of course, kuenn also went on to manage the brewers to their only american league pennant to date, with the help of his "wallbangers".

as for the card, i will probably try the hairdryer to see if i can loosen the star. if not, it's ok, as i need to track down another one of these to really complete the set. this one is the "corrected" version, and there is an error version that has his last name misspelled on the back. hopefully i can find one without any decals!