1978 SPECIAL SUB-SET- "1977 30 HOME RUN CLUB" DUSTY BAKER

Today's blog post has the newest addition to my on-going 1978 "30 Home Run Club" sub-set, Dusty Baker, whose historic 30th home run clout of 1977 gave the Los Angeles Dodgers four batters reaching the mark that year, the first time ever accomplished by any one team:

Though certainly no slouch at the plate, it would be the only time Baker reached the milestone over his 19-year playing career.

It was a great year for him, as he hit .291 along with his 30 homers, with 86 runs batted in and 86 runs scored for the potent Dodger line-up that would help the team reach the World Series.

He’d go on to have a nice 19-year Major League career, hitting 242 homers with 1981 hits, 1013 RBI’s and a .278 average over 7117 at-bats in 2039 games.
When his playing days were over he coached and eventually became a manager himself in 1993, leading the San Francisco Giants for 10 years, culminating in a National League Championship in 2002 before losing to the Angels in the World Series.
From there he moved on to the Chicago Cubs for four years, then the Cincinnati Reds for another six seasons before taking the helm of the Washington Nationals this season.
Over 21 seasons as a manger he has won over 1700 games and counting, and adding to an already 40-year Major League career!

BY SPECIAL REQUEST- EXPANDED YEARLY LEADER CARDS: 1973 N.L. BATTING LEADERS

A short while ago a few of you asked or requested that I tackle the fact that over some years during the 1970's Topps created a simpler league leader card that featured two players, each leagues leader in a particular hitting or pitching category instead of expanded cards with the top three or so in each league, like the 1976 sub-set or 1972.

Well today we have the beginning of what will be a long thread creating just that, beginning with 1973, the first such year during the decade that went to the two-player format.

We'll start with the National League and it's top-3 hitters of 1972:

 

Betcha didn't have Dusty Baker in third that year huh?

Of course Billy Williams took home the batting crown that year, putting in another amazing year for the Chicago Cubs, yet sadly once again during another even BETTER year from some catcher on the Cincinnati Reds, Johnny Bench.

Ralph Garr, the runner-up in the NL batting race, of course would go on to top the league in 1974, so he'd eventually know the feeling of batting champ soon enough.

For Baker, it turned out it was his career-best with a .321 batting average, though he would hit .320 in 1981.

The 1972 season was actually his first full year as a Major Leaguer, and he did not disappoint!

That is why I do love the expanded league leader cards so much, since there were a great many players who ended up just short of glory that would surprise you.

We'll do this by category so the next card in the thread will be the American League batting leaders, with another player who may surprise some of you.

 

GIMMIE (MY OWN) DO-OVER- 1978 DODGERS 30+ HOMER HIGHLIGHTS CARD

I came across this great image of the 1977 Dodgers 30-home run club and decided it was perfect to re-do one of my own, my 1978 “Highlights of the 1970’s” card that was created for the blog a long time ago:

For those who never saw it, this was the “original” I created some five years ago:

Though the feat has been accomplished since this groundbreaking feat in 1977, it is STILL a rarity.
Here’s my original write-up of it all from that initial entry in 2014:
“Here's a highlight from the 1970's that always wowed me as a kid: the 1977 Dodgers with FOUR players hitting 30 or more home runs in the same season.
Not until these four sluggers achieved this was it ever accomplished in Major League history.
Call me nuts, but this feat deserved a card in the mighty 1978 set in my book.
Think of all the classic slugging teams throughout history up until that point ('27 Yanks, '61 Yanks, '56 Reds, '64 Twins), and this team was the first to do it.
Steve Garvey, Reggie Smith, Dusty Baker and Ron Cey.
Four "thumpers" who powered the Dodgers into the World Series against the Yankees by combining for 125 homers and 398 runs batted in all on their own!
Not until the home run days of the late 1990's/early 00's did another team also match the 1977 Dodgers.
In 1995 the Rockies accomplished this feat in the first of what would be FOUR TIMES in the next five years, with the 1997 Dodgers also having four players attain those lofty numbers.
Since then, a handful of other teams have reached the now watered-down milestone in team-power, but when the 1977 Dodgers did it, it was big stuff.
Big enough for the Los Angeles team to even feature a picture of the four sluggers under the L.A. Scoreboard with "30" emblazoned in lights.
You think Topps could have found a little room to fit a card like this in their set instead of an Oscar Zamora or Dennis Blair! (No offense to those ex-players).

DEDICATED ROOKIE- 1971 DUSTY BAKER

Here’s a “Dedicated Rookie” for a guy who put together a “baseball life” as a player and manager in the big leagues, Dusty Baker:

Baker appeared on a nice multi-player rookie card in the 1971 Topps set alongside two other future long-time Major Leaguers, Tom Paciorek and Don Baylor.
But here he is in all his youthful glory, something easy to forget now that he’s been a long-time Major League manager.
Baker actually had a great rookie year in 1972, hitting .321 with 17 home runs and 76 runs batted in.
He’d go on to have a nice 19-year Major League career, hitting 242 homers with 1981 hits, 1013 RBI’s and a .278 average over 7117 at-bats in 2039 games.
When his playing days were over he coached and eventually became a manager himself in 1993, leading the San Francisco Giants for 10 years, culminating in a National League Championship in 2002 before losing to the Angels in the World Series.
From there he moved on to the Chicago Cubs for four years, then the Cincinnati Reds for another six seasons before taking the helm of the Washington Nationals this season.
Over 21 seasons as a manger he has won over 1700 games and counting, and adding to an already 40-year Major League career!

"HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE 1970'S" #4: 1977 DODGERS 30+ HOME RUN FOURSOME

Here's a highlight from the 1970's that always wowed me as a kid: the 1977 Dodgers with FOUR players hitting 30 or more home runs in the same season.

Not until these four sluggers achieved this was it ever accomplished in Major League history.

Call me nuts, but this feat deserved a card in the mighty 1978 set in my book.

Think of all the classic slugging teams throughout history up until that point ('27 Yanks, '61 Yanks, '56 Reds, '64 Twins), and this team was the first to do it.

So take a look at the card design I came up with:

Steve Garvey, Reggie Smith, Dusty Baker and Ron Cey.

Four "thumpers" who powered the Dodgers into the World Series against the Yankees by combining for 125 homers and 398 runs batted in all on their own!

Not until the home run days of the late 1990's/early 00's did another team also match the 1977 Dodgers.

In 1995 the Rockies accomplished this feat in the first of what would be FOUR TIMES in the next five years, with the 1997 Dodgers also having four players attain those lofty numbers.

Since then, a handful of other teams have reached the now watered-down milestone in team-power, but when the 1977 Dodgers did it, it was big stuff.

Big enough for the Los Angeles team to even feature a picture of the four sluggers under the L.A. Scoreboard with "30" emblazoned in lights. (I couldn't find a decent enough sized file for the cover shot since it was a natural for a card design):

You think Topps could have found a little room to fit a card like this in their set instead of an Oscar Zamora or Dennis Blair! (No offense to those ex-players).

Hope some of you out there are enjoying these "highlight" cards.

I'm having a blast designing them and revisiting these high-points of my baseball youth.

More to come!

So keep an eye out here...