Considering that the early to mid 1970's weren't exactly the power
years like we've seen in the past 20, it's amazing to remember that the
first team to have three players hit 40 or more homers in the same
season were the 1973 Atlanta Braves.
That year, Hank Aaron, Darrell Evans and Davey Johnson all topped
the mark, and each player had a unique facet to their accomplishment to
go along with the record-breaking feat.
It would have been really cool if Topps celebrated this new record
with a card, especially since Aaron was being celebrated left and right
at the time.
Let's take a look at the card I designed to mark the occasion:
I wish I had a clearer picture for the card, but I still think I got lucky finding this one.
Playing in a home run park that was nick-named "the launching pad",
the Braves launched 206 homers that year, even though it didn't help
them in the standings, as they finished with a 76-85 record, just ahead
of the San Diego Padres out of the cellar.
As I mentioned earlier, each of the three players who slammed 40 or
more homers had some interesting angles to their story. Let's take a
look:
Darrell Evans had his first full season in the big leagues in 1973
and did not disappoint, hitting 41 home runs to go along with 104 runs
batted in, 114 runs, a league-leading 126 base on balls and a .281
average.
He wouldn't know it at the time, but 12 years later in 1985 he
would become the first player in Major League history to hit 40 homers
in both the N.L. and A.L., as he would lead the American League in
homers with 40 that year for the Detroit Tigers.
He'd finish his 21 year career with 404 home runs, topping 30+ four times while playing for the Braves, Tigers and Giants.
For Aaron, 1973 would be the last of a remarkable eight 40+ home
run seasons, and would be the year he finally broke Babe Ruth's career
home run record of 714.
It would also be an amazing home run feat because he hit the 40
home runs in less that 400 official at-bats, stepping up to the plate
392 times.
Not until Mark McGwire & Barry Bonds came along would we see something like that again.
"Hammerin' Hank" would have three more years in the Majors before
retiring, leaving us with a plethora of all-time leading career numbers
to gawk over for years to come.
Now we move on to quite possibly the strangest 40+ homer season in
the history of baseball (sorry Brady Anderson): Davey Johnson and HIS
contribution to the homer-trio.
Take away his 1973 season, and Johnson's top-five homer seasons in his 13 year career look like this: 18, 15, 10, 10 and nine.
Seriously, so where on earth does the 43 come from in 1973?!
With the spectacle of the "steroid era" fresh in all of our minds,
it's easy for us to write off anomalies like this. However this was
1973, and even though steroids and other performance enhancers were
around then (just listen to former pitcher Tom House
talk about it), no one has ever accused Davey Johnson of using stuff
like this.
Johnson's season was incredible when compared to the rest of his
career. While playing second base, he slammed the team-leading 43
homers, drove in 99 runs (the next highest total for his career was 72
in 1971 for the Orioles), scored 84 runs (next highest
was 68 in 1970), and slugged .546 (his next highest slugging average
was .443 in 1971!).
If THIS isn't the strangest case of power surge in a players career, then it's definitely in the top-3!
Some may point to Brady Anderson's 50 homer year in 1996, or even
Wade Boggs' 1987 season, but for me Johnson's 1973 season is the most
shocking.
So there you have it. A highlight from the decade that I felt should have gotten some recognition by Topps in the 1974 set.
If you like this sort of stuff, keep an eye out for more. I've been
going nuts designing numerous "highlight" cards throughout the 1970's,
having a ball doing it too.