Spitball Covers - Past Issues

The Complete Run of Spitball, represented by the magazine covers

We have always put a lot of thought into the covers of Spitball, and we have been blessed to have the work of some very talented artists grace our covers. The powerful drawing on the iconic first issue of Spitball was done by Charles Grund, who also designed the original sibilant "Spitball" text logo. The incomparable Blair Gibeau, who created our "Napoleon Lajoie-batting-with-a-quill-pen" logo, made his cover debut on the next issue with a perfectly-rendered drawing of Juan Marichal, and Blair brilliantly illustrated several more Spitball covers over the following years. Darryl Lankford, who succeeded Gibeau as Art Director, made his initial appearance on the cover of issue #15 with a timely portrait of Cincinnati's favorite, Pete Rose, and went on to contribute a number of memorable covers, including his drawings of Shibe Park on issue # 21 and W.P. Kinsella on issue #22. Before he undertook the first total re-design of the magazine in 1993, Donnie Pollard introduced Spitball readers to his immense talent with a pen & water color rendering of San Diego Padre hit-meister Tony Gwynn with issue #34. Pollard's stunning drawing of Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Steve Bedroisan began the longest stint (#43-#65) as Spitball's cover artist, a run of 22 issues, interrupted only by issue #53, which featured a reproduction of Andy Nelson's poster art for Spitball's Centennial celebration of the first publication of "Casey at the Bat." The latest virtuoso to claim the title of Spitball cover artist is Cincinnati native Scott Hannig, who has blessed the magazine with cover drawings of Andre Dawson, Wes Parker, Bert Blyleven, and Ron Santo. Other notable Spitball cover artists: Andy Nelson, Mark Rucker, Bill Forsyth, Dan Gardiner, Susan McCarthy, Darryl Shelton, and Sue Bogyo.