Sunday, August 31, 2014

1975 CHRIS SPEIER: A BEAUTY EVEN WITH THE "SMUDGE"

Here's a card I always loved: Topps 1975 Chris Speier:


What a nice card with a great photo!
But there IS something "off" about it, and that's the strange "smudge" or smokey blob immediately in front of his face-shoulder-bat, obscuring a bit of the background.
What exactly is that?
Strange. My first impression was a film smudge, but it almost looks like the "smudging" stops right when it gets to Speier, as if it's behind him in the photo.
But this card represents to me what the 1975 and 1976 sets were all about: actions shots bursting with border colors of the players I first got into as a kid getting infatuated with the sport.
Just love those sets!
As for Speier, he forged a nice 19-year career spanning 1971 to 1989, playing for the Giants, Expos, Cardinals, Twins and Cubs.
His first five years in the Big Leagues were his best, making three All-Star teams and even getting a bit of M.V.P. support in 1972.
Pretty much a baseball lifer, Speier continued with a Major League career after his playing days in various coaching jobs up until 2012 with the Reds.
He even filled in for Dusty Baker as Manager of Cincinnati when baker fell ill for a spell, eventually finding himself as Special Assistant to G.M. Walt Jocketty.

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