OPC IMAGE VARIATIONS: 1977 CHUCK HARTENSTEIN

Hello everyone!

On the blog today, we look closely at the image variations between the Topps and OPC 1977 cards for trucker...er, I mean PITCHER Chuck Hartenstein of the Toronto Blue Jays:

OPC Version

Topps Version

Great stuff here!

The OPC version of Chuck in a standing pose as opposed to the airbrushed close-up just a bit better, but BOTH are classic era-perfect shots of one of the "original" Blue Jays.

I've written a few times on the blog about these photos, and Hartenstein himself, who made the long road back to the Majors after a long stay in the Minors.

Hartenstein last appeared in a Major League game in 1970 with the Boston Red Sox, and would get drafted in the expansion draft in 1976 by the Toronto Blue Jays, which would lead to the great cards you see above, airbrushed, and a great job I might add, showing him looking like some trucker ready to throw in a Merle Haggard 8-track while part of some convoy somewhere.
I have always loved this card. The shades, the sideburns, and especially knowing what he looked like years earlier, it’s the perfect card reflecting the era.
His “comeback” would be short however, as he would get hammered over his 13 appearances, going 0-2 with a bloated 6.59 earned run average, giving up 20 earned runs over 27.1 innings.
I was always also into cards of guys that hadn’t appeared in a Topps set for a while. Brock Davis, Danny Murphy, Vincente Romo also come to mind.
Anyway, seems Hartenstein’s pro career was over with the last game he appeared in with the Blue Jays, as it seems he never even pitched in a Minor League game again.
But long live the original Topps card and all it’s 70’s glory!

REVISITING AN OLD BLOG POST- JULY 13TH, 2013

With the passing of former Major League pitcher Chuck Hartenstein this past October 2nd, I thought I'd revisit a really old post from the blog covering his unlikely return to the Big Leagues in 1977 after seven years.

This post first appeared in July of 2013, some two months after I started the blog. Incredible that it's already been over eight years.

Here you go:

 

 

 

"One day while trolling through cards to spark ideas for this blog I came across this seemingly "common" common: Topps 1977 Chuck Hartenstein #416.
Luckily for some reason I flipped the card around and looked at the stats posted, and saw that this guy hadn't appeared in a Major League game since 1970. So of course, I look up when he last appeared on a baseball card and saw that it was also in 1970.
Amazing actually, that a guy has a span of seven years between baseball cards as an active player. The only other time I can recall this happening is with pitcher Vicente Romo, who went between 1975-1983 without a card.
Thanks to baseball's expansion with the Mariners and Blue Jays, there was a sudden need for some "extra" players in 1977, especially some cheap, unprotected veterans and cast-offs who could fill some roles on the bench and in the bullpen.
Apparently the Toronto brass felt Hartenstein was one of these guys, even if his earlier career wasn't necessarily stellar.
Pitching from 1966-1970, Chuck sported an even 17-17 record as an arm out of the pen over 174 games for the Cubs, Cardinals, Pirates and Red Sox with a 4.52 E.R.A.
As for his return to the big leagues, it wasn't much to look at, posting an 0-2 record with a 6.59 E.R.A. in 13 games.
But hey, at least it was good for a nifty, groovy-looking card that only the '70's could offer.
I'm still trying to see if I uncover any other cards of guys who had a long span between issues but can't seem to find any. Anyone know of any others?"

1977 BLUE JAYS REDONE- CHUCK HARTENSTEIN

Today I post up a re-done card that truly, I would never dare replace since the original is one of the greatest cards of the decade, but nevertheless to keep the “Expansion 1977 Do-Overs” going, here it is, Chuck Hartenstein:

Re-done, yet still "trucker-licious"

Original card as released by Topps

Hartenstien, who last appeared in a Major League game in 1970 with the Boston Red Sox, would get drafted in the expansion draft in 1976 by the Toronto Blue Jays, which would lead to the great card you see above, airbrushed, and a great job I might add, showing him looking like some trucker ready to throw in a Merle Haggard 8-track while part of some convoy somewhere.
I have always loved this card. The shades, the sideburns, and especially knowing what he looked like years earlier, it’s the perfect card reflecting the era.
His “comeback” would be short however, as he would get hammered over his 13 appearances, going 0-2 with a bloated 6.59 earned run average, giving up 20 earned runs over 27.1 innings.
I was always also into cards of guys that hadn’t appeared in a Topps set for a while. Brock Davis, Danny Murphy, Vincente Romo also come to mind.
Anyway, seems Hartenstein’s pro career was over with the last game he appeared in with the Blue Jays, as it seems he never even pitched in a Minor League game again.
But long live the original Topps card and all it’s 70’s glory!

WHEN EXPANSION GETS TOPPS SCRAMBLING: 1977 DAVE HILTON

While I do realize that baseball expansion in 1977 must have given Topps fits trying to produce Blue Jay and Mariner cards for the new set, it is entertaining to see what the final result was.
For example, earlier on this blog I profiled the 1977 Chuck Hartensein card (#416), who hadn't been included in a set since 1970, before Topps issued one for him as a Blue Jay seven years later. A case of a Major League cast-off getting second life because of expansion.
There's also that Rick Jones (#118) card as a Mariner, where Topps had to take a black and white image of him and airbrush the ENTIRE photo, giving us one of the stranger looking issues in the set. There just weren't any color photographs available for a player that was getting a job because of a new team roster to fill.
Then there's the case of Dave Hilton, profiled here (card #163).
Hilton was actually a #1 pick by the San Diego Padres in the January 1971 amateur draft after starring at Rice University in Texas.
He made the quick jump up to the big leagues in 1972 at the age of 21, and saw some sporadic playing time over the next couple of years, hitting a robust .214 in a 157 games.
In 1975 he only appeared in four games for the Padres, going 0-8. And that, ladies and gentlemen (I suspect ALL gentlemen here actually), was it for Mr. Hilton, as he never made it up to the big show again.
Of course no one would know it at the time, and the Blue Jays purchased Hilton, along with former #1 pick in the 1972 draft Dave Roberts and John Scott, from San Diego in October of 1976.
In 1977 Hilton would actually suit up for Toledo in Triple-A (Cleveland) before moving on to a few seasons in the Japanese League. He'd return to the States and play some more Minor League ball up until 1982, but never made it back up to the Majors.
So here we are left with a card of a player who hadn't appeared in the Majors for two years, and never would suit up for the team he was depicted on.
The nightmare of expansion rears it's ugly head again in the baseball card world.

"Swing and a miss" for Topps. Hilton never suited up for Toronto.

LONG TIME NO SEE- 1977 TOPPS CHUCK HARTENSTEIN

One day while trolling through cards to spark ideas for this blog I came across this seemingly "common" common: Topps 1977 Chuck Hartenstein #416.
Luckily for some reason I flipped the card around and looked at the stats posted, and saw that this guy hadn't appeared in a Major League game since 1970. So of course, I look up when he last appeared on a baseball card and saw that it was also in 1970.
Amazing actually, that a guy has a span of seven years between baseball cards as an active player. The only other time I can recall this happening is with pitcher Vicente Romo, who went between 1975-1983 without a card.
Thanks to baseball's expansion with the Mariners and Blue Jays, there was a sudden need for some "extra" players in 1977, especially some cheap, unprotected veterans and cast-offs who could fill some roles on the bench and in the bullpen.
Apparently the Toronto brass felt Hartenstein was one of these guys, even if his earlier career wasn't necessarily stellar.
Pitching from 1966-1970, Chuck sported an even 17-17 record as an arm out of the pen over 174 games for the Cubs, Cardinals, Pirates and Red Sox with a 4.52 E.R.A.
As for his return to the big leagues, it wasn't much to look at, posting an 0-2 record with a 6.59 E.R.A. in 13 games.
But hey, at least it was good for a nifty, groovy-looking card that only the '70's could offer.
I'm still trying to see if I uncover any other cards of guys who had a long span between issues but can't seem to find any. Anyone know of any others?

From 1970: clean-cut and unassuming...

To this: dig the shades and sideburns!