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.
