TRADED- 1974 CHRIS CHAMBLISS

Today I post up my 1974 Chris Chambliss “Traded” card, a card that would have signified a very important transaction for the burgeoning “Bronx Zoo” World Championship teams of the late-70’s:

Chambliss came to the New York Yankees on April 26th of 1974 along with Dick Tidrow and Cecil Upshaw for four pitchers: Fred Beene, Tom Buskey, Steve Kline and Fritz Peterson.
From Cleveland’s standpoint it seemed like a solid trade, with four arms coming their way for the former AL Rookie of the Year in Chambliss and a young Tidrow and veteran Upshaw.
But it turned out to be a golden trade for the Yankees, not only getting what turned out to be their first baseman for the rest of the decade in Chambliss, but a rock-solid pitcher in Tidrow who was valuable not only out of the bullpen but also as a spot starter when needed.
Throw in the veteran Upshaw for a brief tenure, and the Yankees really did come out on top with this one, especially with Chambliss who provided the organization with one of the all-time greatest team moments in 1976 with his Pennant clinching home run in Game 5 against the upstart Kansas City Royals.
Chambliss would play with the Yankees through the decade, before moving on to the Atlanta Braves in 1980 where he’d play until 1986 before one last trip back to the Bronx when he appeared in one game with the Yankees before retiring in 1988.
The man put in a solid career, topping 2000 hits while driving in 972 runs while scoring 912 himself, with a nice .279 batting average over 2175 games and 7571 at-bats between 1971 and 1988, with that Rookie of the Year Award in 1971 and a Gold Glove thrown in (1978).
Great memories of him in the Bronx when I was still in grade school!

CARD SPOTLIGHT: 1973 CHRIS CHAMBLISS WITH A JIM KAAT PHOTOBOMB

I’ve always gotten a kick out of the 1973 Chris Chambliss card, not just because of the Jim Kaat photobomb, but the great image used, the horizontal layout and those oh-so-cool Chambliss sideburns:

How classic “1970’s” is this shot!?
Chambliss was just off his Rookie of the Year season of 1971 with the Cleveland Indians, a year before getting traded to the New York Yankees, where he’d find baseball gold with two straight championships and a career-making highlight in the 1976 League Championship Series, hitting the game winning, series winning home run off Kansas City Royals reliever Mark Littell to send the Yanks to their first World Series since 1964.
By the time he was done, Chambliss put in 17 seasons as a Major League player, retiring with over 2000 hits and a nice .279 batting average.
Then you get wind-breaker clad Jim Kaat, who Chambliss is keeping close to first. Kind of funny since Kaat’s regular base card in the 1973 set is him batting! So I wonder if the at-bat was a precursor to him at first base. Love it!
All “Kitty” did in the Majors was put in 25 years, win 283 games, and appear in 898 games between 1959 and 1983, with a World Championship in 1982 while with the St. Louis Cardinals.
We are looking at 42 years of Big League service on this card!
One of my favorites in the 1973 set.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR AWARD- 1972 SUB-SET

Today we celebrate the 1971 Major League Rookies of the Year in my ongoing “Awards” series, with Earl Williams of the Atlanta Braves and Chris Chambliss of the Cleveland Indians sharing the spotlight:

Williams slammed his way to the award in the National League, clubbing 33 home runs while driving in 87 and batting .260 while doing something very uncommon, playing 72 games as catcher along with another 42 at third base and 31 at first base. Something you definitely do not see often!
He would follow that season up with another solid year in 1972 when he added 28 homers while equaling his RBI total of 87 and again playing the same three positions.
He would move on to Baltimore in 1973 before returning to Atlanta in 1975 for a year and a half, splitting time with the Montreal Expos in 1976.
He’d end up playing eight years in the Majors, finishing up with the Oakland A’s in 1977 before moving on to the Mexican League for a couple of years.
I never realized that he lived in the very town I moved to, Somerset, NJ and passed away just a few years ago at the age of 64.
Over in the American League we have the Indians’ Chris Chambliss, who had a very productive freshman season in the Majors when he batted .275 with nine homers and 48 runs batted in in only 111 games and 458 plate appearances.
The career 1st baseman would turn out to have a very nice 17-year career in the Major Leagues, winning two championships with the New York Yankees in 1977 and 1978, of course also having his finest moment in the big leagues when he homered to clinch the American League pennant for the Yankees in the Bronx, culminating in one of the iconic sports moments of the decade as he raced around the bases trying to avoid the rushing fans who poured onto the field in celebration (can you imagine that now!?).
He would finish his career with over 2000 hits, a .279 average and 185 home runs with just under 1000 runs batted in calling it a career after one single at-bat for the Yankees in 1988.

UGH...THOSE 1972 TOPPS "AWARDS" CARDS...(#621 THROUGH #626): TODAY, CARD #625 "ROOKIE OF THE YEAR"

Let's come back to my thread regarding that 1972 awards sub-set, and check in on the "Rookie of the Year" award card (#625), which originally featured an image of the actual award rather than the two winners in 1971: Chris Chambliss in the A.L. and Earl Williams in the N.L.

First off, a look at the original card issued by Topps:

Yeah, you already know how I feel about these cards, so I'll spare the rant. 

But take a look at my redesign, showing what would have been a much nicer card to collect back then:

Among the two winners of the award, Williams had more of an impact during the season, bashing 33 homers and driving in 87 runs for the Atlanta Braves splitting time between catcher, first base and third at the age of 22.

Sadly, 1971 was easily his best year in the Majors, as his numbers rapidly declined over the rest of his eight year career, ending up with Oakland in 1977.

He always kept that powerful "punch" in his swing, totaling 138 lifetime homers in only 3058 at-bats. Not bad especially in the modern "dead ball" era he played in.

But by the time he hung up the cleats at the age of 28, his final numbers were mediocre at best, totaling only 889 games played spread among the Braves, Orioles, Expos and A's.

As for Chambliss, we all know he ended up putting together a very nice 17-year career playing for the Indians, Yankees and Braves from 1971 through 1988.

His 1971 numbers didn't exactly jump off the page, but in a year where there really wasn't much R.O.Y. competition, Chambliss easily won the award over Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Bill Parsons.

Playing strictly first base for Cleveland over 111 games, Chambliss put together solid numbers: a .275 batting average, 20 doubles, four triples and nine homers with 48 ribbies in 415 at-bats.

But it was after he moved on to the New York yankees that he made his mark in baseball, becoming an important cog in the "Bronx Zoo" teams along with Thurman Munson, Reggie Jackson, etc.

Between 1976-1978, Chambliss drove in 90+ runs each year, along with averages between .274-.293 and homers between 12-17.

Lastly, one cannot talk about Chris Chambliss without talking about the single most memorable moment of his career, his pennant winning home run off Kansas City reliever Mark Little in game five of the American League Championship in the Bronx in 1976.

Easily the highlight of a solid career for the veteran first baseman (and one of THE first baseball highlights witnessed first hand by me actually!).

Next up regarding this thread: the last card in the sub-set, and biggest reason why it would have been nicer to have players shown on these cards instead of awards, the "Babe Ruth" award (#626), featuring none other than Pittsburgh Pirate great Roberto Clemente.

Well, it WOULD have featured him if I had something to do with it.

But at least I can present my redesign for the ugly card that actually got issued back in 1972.

Keep an eye out for it….