It's
been a long while since I've had a "photo bombing" post, as it's
getting tougher to spot the stars in the background of other cards.
Nevertheless, today we'll take a look at two managerial cards from
the 1970 Topps set: Yankees manager Ralph Houk (#273) and Braves manager
Lum Harris (#86).
First up, I was pleasantly surprised to notice that standing in the
background behind the "Major" was none other than former Yankee star
and coach in 1969, Elston Howard. He's on the right of the photo,
wearing the #32 uniform number.
After a nice 14-year career as a player where he even garnered an
M.V.P. Award in 1963 for the Yanks, he returned to the Bronx as a coach,
a position he would hold for the next ten years until his untimely
death from heart disease in 1980.
Four years later the Yankees would retire Howard's #32 in 1984, and
I was actually at that ceremony as a young teenaged kid of 15.
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| We have the 1963 A.L. M.V.P. on the right in the background here... |
Next up we have the Atlanta Braves manager, Lum Harris, and his card in the 1970 set.
If you look to the right of the card, standing behind Harris at the
batting cages is former M.V.P. And future Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda
during his relatively short tenure in a Braves uniform (he'd only play
for Atlanta between 1969 and 1972 with injuries
claiming a chunk of the last two years).
However his two full seasons for the Braves were very good, averaging 28 homers and just under 100 runs batted in.
A nice little "bump" of Hall of Fame class for those of us who care about these little things…
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| ...and the 1967 N.L. M.V.P. on the right in the background here. |