Monday, January 23, 2023

AIRBRUSHING THROUGH THE 1970's: 1976 TRADED RON REED

On the blog today, we take a look at the original film of the 176 Ron Reed traded card Topps had out there, airbrushed to its beautiful 1970's glory:



Reed was in a transition point in what turned out to be a long 19-year Major League career, becoming a reliever after 10 seasons as a starter between 1966 and 1975.
On December 9th of 1975 he was traded by the St. Louis Cardinals to the Philadelphia Phillies for Mike Anderson, with the Phillies definitely getting the steal in this trade.
You can clearly see the St. Louis uni on his chest before the Topps airbrush specialists took charge.
Once in the bullpen, he'd go on to pitch another nine years, all but his last for Philadelphia, for whom he'd perform very well, giving the Phillies a solid one-two punch alongside Tug McGraw.
It would reach its peak in 1980 when the Phillies would march straight to a World Series title over the Kansas City Royals, with Reed going 7-5 that year with nine saves over 55 appearances.
By the time he retired in 1984 after 51 games for the Chicago White Sox at the age of 41, he appeared in 751 games, going 146-140 with a 3.46 ERA over 2477.1 innings, with eight shutouts and 103 saves.
Just prior to his Big League career, Reed played for the Detroit Pistons in the NBA from 1965 through 1967, one of the few two-sport players to come along over the years.