RANDOM QUICKIE: 1978 ROB BELLOIR: WHY NOW?!

Here's a strange one to ponder: in 1978 Topps gave Braves infielder Rob Belloir, he of six games and ONE at-bat the previous year, a card in their set, yet they completely ignored him for their 1976 set after he posted 43 games and 105 at-bats in 1975?!

Take a look at his 1978 card:

Belloir had a short four-year career between 1975 and 1978, appearing in 81 total games with 167 at-bats and 36 hits, good for a .216 average.

As mentioned, even though he had some decent action in '75 he was left out of the (awesome) 1976 set (something my friend Jim and I have remedied in our "1976 Project"-keep an eye out in the near future).

Yet after appearing in a scant six games in 1977, Topps somehow managed to give him a slot in the '78 set.

No offense to Mr. Belloir here, but I sure wish they managed to give Brooks Robinson a "career-capper" card in it's place, or maybe even an Ozzie Smith rookie card.

Oh well, at least it made for an entry on my blog some 36 years later, no?

RANDOM QUICKIE: 1972 LUKE WALKER CARD

Just one of those things I caught as I was going through cards.

Check out the 1972 Topps Luke Walker card:

I noticed the player in the background on the left of the card, number 48, and decided to look him up and see who he was.

Turns out it was Rimp Lanier, a player who had a total Major League career of six games and five plater appearances in September of 1971, never to be seen again.

Kind of cool that he somehow made it onto a card, even IF it was in the background.

He went 0-4 with a strikeout and a hit-by-pitch during his call-up, and pinch ran once, before settling back into the Minor Leagues for the next couple of years.

By the time he was 24 he was out of professional ball for good.

Love spotting stuff like this all these years later!

RANDOM QUICKIE: JIM BUNNING IN THE 1972 TOPP SET

Was looking through team cards of the 1970's and noticed that Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Bunning, a favorite topic of mine on this blog, appears on the 1972 Topps Philadelphia Phillies team card, even though his last player card was in the 1971 set.

Check out the card:

That's him in the back row, fourth player from the right, with the Phillie-red collar showing under his uniform.

I designed a "career-capper" 1972 card for him a while back and never thought to check this card to see if he was in the photo.

Glad I caught it this time around…

RANDOM QUICKIE: THOSE AIRBRUSHED 1975 ST. LOUIS CARDINALS

I know there were a ton of airbrushing jobs on Topps part in the 1970's, and many of them left a lot to be desired as far as "quality" went.

But one little item that always popped out to me were those badly airbrushed St. Louis Cardinals cards from the 1975 set.

It seemed like there were an inordinate amount of bad ones for that team in that year, and they are absolute CLASSICS!

Let's take a look:

Man. Some of those St. Louis logos on the caps are horrendous!

I'll pick the Osteen logo as the worst. However the Sadecki and Rudolph caps sport some terrible messy black stroking around the white lettering on the caps.

What a classic set of cards right here!

I guess looking at it now the Cardinals had the same bad amount of airbrushing as the Yankees or any other team in this set.

But for some reason these Cardinal cards were the ones that always stuck with me through the years.

The Osteen photo also bothers me since he looks so confused, like he's looking at the camera as some magic box and can't figure out what's happening at that moment.

Still, even with all the airbrush "disasters" in the set, the 1975 Topps offering is still one of my all-time favorites! Just can't get enough of all the colors.

RANDOM QUICKIE: 1970 TOPPS BOB CHRISTIAN

Here's a guy I never really knew anything about, but recently came across and wanted to delve into: former Detroit Tiger and Chicago White Sox outfielder Bob Christian.

Take a look at his one dedicated Topps card:

First off, the image is one of him in a Detroit uniform.

Odd since he played for the White Sox in 1969, and appeared in 39 games for them, good for 143 plate appearances.

What's even stranger is that in 1968 he appeared in only three games for the Tigers, the first three games of his career, yet an image of him from that season made it to this card.

He did appear in the 1969 set on a multi-player White Sox rookie card, (along with Gerry Nyman), but was also in a Detroit uniform, his cap being airbrushed "blank".

Those two cards would be the only two he'd appear on.

For his playing career, Christian only got into 54 Major League games in the three years he saw big league action, and was out of the Majors by the age of 24.

One big highlight from his career would be his first big league homer, which was off of future Hall of Famer Jim Palmer on June 14, 1969.

In 1971 and 1972 he went on to play ball in Japan for the Toei Flyers, hitting a combined .263 wth 27 homers and 90 runs batted in.

But sadly, I recently came across a small write up of him because of some tragic circumstances, and learned of why he was out of the game so soon.

Turns out that just four years after his last Major League game, at the very young age of 28, he passed away after being diagnosed with Leukemia.

Yet another tragic ending for a ballplayer from that era, which does seem inordinately "common" compared to other decades.

RANDOM QUICKIE: KEN BERRY AND HIS 1970 CARD (#239)

Ok, so here's a quick post and it deals with card #239 from the 1970 Topps set: Ken Berry.

While I am a HUGE fan of those powder blue Chicago White Sox uniforms, I have to laugh at the photo Topps went with when it came to Berry's card.

Take a look:

First off you have that arm just hogging up the left side of the card, coming out of nowhere. Hilarious!

Then you have the subject himself.

Berry is caught in what seems to be mid-stretch, looking off into the distance (a bird? A plane?), oblivious to the fact that he is being photographed.

I'm sure if he knew this was for his Topps card, a card many would be gawking at, he would have struck a pose, or at the very least looked AT the man with the camera. No?

I DO love his sideburns though. Tame, but still a fashion-forward thing to do for a baseball player in 1969…

A two-time Gold Glove outfielder, (in 1970 while with the Sox and 1972 as an Angel), Berry had a decent 14-year career between 1962 and 1975, playing for the White Sox, Angels, Brewers and Indians

RANDOM QUICKIE: 1970 JACK FISHER #684

Here's a card worth looking into a bit: Topps 1970 Jack Fisher (#684).

Take a look:

Couple of things here.

First off Jack Fisher never ended up playing for the Angels. 

As a matter of fact, Fisher never played in the Majors again after 1969, a year he spent with the Cincinnati Reds, posting a 5-5 record with a 5.50 earned run average over 34 appearances.

After being traded by the Reds to California in January of 1970, he was eventually released by the Angels in April of that year.

And while he managed to pitch in the minors that year for both the Cardinals and the Orioles, he never made it back up to the "big show", leaving the game after the season for good.

Another thing worth mentioning is that Fisher appears to be in a New York Mets uniform that was crudely airbrushed, with no attempt to "draw in" an Angels logo, as Topps was prone to do in the late-60's/early-70's.

If that is the case, then Topps went and used an image at least three years old since Fisher was in Cincinnati in 1969 and in Chicago with the White Sox in 1968.

I guess there's a chance it could be a White Sox uniform, no?

I can't be too sure, but it sure looks like a Mets uni. 

Fisher had some hard luck years with the expansion Mets between 1964 and 1967, leading the league in losses twice, with 24 in 1965 and 18 in 1967.

He had a nice year back in 1960 at the age of 21, going 12-11 with a 3.41 E.R.A., eight complete games and three shutouts for the Baltimore Orioles.

But after four mediocre years there he was sent to San Francisco, where he posted a 6-10 record with the Giants before moving on to Queens, NY.

All told, he'd put in an 86-139 record in the Majors between 1959 and 1969, with a 4.06 E.R.A., 62 complete games and nine shutouts.

RANDOM QUICKIE: 1971 ART SHAMSKY (#445)

I always got a kick out of New York Met Art Shamsky's 1971 Topps card (#445).

Once again you have to wonder why Topps, who presumably had some options when it came to photos for players, decided to use a shot of Shamsky at the plate getting brushed back by a pitch.

Take a look:

Not a bad action shot, but why this particular moment?

I guess it was "different", and that's always a good thing in my book.

But the shot from behind, with Shamsky contorting out of the way of the incoming pitch was a bit odd of a choice.

I cannot for the life of me figure out who the opposing team is from the catcher. Does anyone know? I'm guessing the Astros like a lot of the Mets cards from the set.

As for Shamsky, he had an eight year career that left a couple of lasting marks on the game.

He was a part of the "Miracle Mets" team that won it all in 1969, hitting .300 as a platoon player manning the outfield and first base.

It was a pretty solid year for him, as he also hit 14 homers and drove in 47 runs with only 303 at-bats.

He even led the team in hitting for the NLCS, batting .538 helping the Mets make it to the Fall Classic.

A few years before that, he also had a bat sent to the Hall of Fame for being (to this day) the only player to hit three home runs in a game in which he did not start!

That happened back on August 12th of 1966 when he played with the Cincinnati Reds, the team he came up with.

Inserted as part of a double-switch in the eighth inning, he hit a homer in the bottom of the eighth, bottom of the 10th and bottom of the eleventh.

Each homer extended the game for the Reds, though they ended up losing to the Pirates 14-11 in 13 innings.

However by 1972 he was out of the Majors after 23 games with the Cubs and A's, and he finished his career with a .253 average, 68 homers and 233 runs batted in. 

Later on he became (among other things) a broadcaster with the Mets, and even managed a team in the Israeli Baseball league in 2007.

 

RANDOM QUICKIE: 1970 TOPPS ZOILO VERSALLES

Today I want to focus a little bit on the 1970 Topps Zoilo Versalles card (#365).

Take a look at it here:

Man, first off the man looks pissed. 

What was going on when this picture was snapped? And why on earth was this shot deemed just right for a baseball card?

To make it that much more of an unique situation, this is the very same photo Topps used for Versalles on his 1969 card as well (#38)!

Check it out:

Hilarious!

Perhaps the look on his face just showed his frustration with his career, which was quickly coming to an end after a split season in 1969 with the Cleveland Indians and Washington Senators.

For the year the former Most Valuable Player hit .236 with a homer and 19 runs batted in over 103 games and 292 at-bats.

1970 would not be any better for him, as he didn't even suit up for a Major League game that year, and would play his last Major League games in 1971 as a member of the Atlanta Braves at the ripe old age of 31.

And as a side note: even though his 1969 card has him depicted as a San Diego Padre, he never played for the team, as he was drafted by them in the expansion draft before they then used him in a trade with the Indians a couple of months later.

Yeah, I guess I'd be pissed as well!

RANDOM QUICKIE: "JOLTIN' JOE" APPEARS ON A 1970'S CARD SET?!

I could be wrong here, but I think I'm seeing this correctly:

Check out Topps' 1970 Oakland Athletics team card (#631), and try focusing on the first row, fourth from the left: I swear that's Joe DiMaggio!

 

Is that "Joltin' Joe" in the front row, fourth from left?

 

He did coach for the Athletics in 1969 so it would make sense if he was indeed caught in a team photo used for the 1970 set.

But I've never heard anyone mention a DiMaggio "appearance" on that team card.

Anyone know for sure if that's him on a knee?

I've tried downloading about ten images of this card, and it seems the original card had a bad quality image, so this is about as clear as it gets.

If it is DiMaggio, that is pretty cool.

The "Yankee Clipper" actually on a Topps card from the 1970's.

I checked the 1971 Athletics team card, which has a nicer/clearer image, and he's not in that photo (even though he coached the A's in 1970 as well).

That does look like him on the 1970 card though.

If anyone knows for sure please let me in on it!

RANDOM QUICKIE: AL KALINE AND THE TIGERS TEAM CARD OF 1975

Here's another team card with the unexpected surprise of having a Hall of Famer seated with the rest of the team post-retirement: the 1975 Detroit Tigers team card (#18) and Al Kaline.

Kaline is seated first row, third from left, obviously in a photo from 1974 used for the following season. Take a look:

Kaline already hung them up by the time this card came out, reaching 3000 hits for his career in '74, and fashioning a Major League resume that eventually would get him elected to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown in 1980.

In addition to being a member of the 3000 hit club, he also slammed 399 home runs, scored 1622 runs and drove in 1583 himself.

I remember years later Kaline stating that he got so caught up in the 3000-hit hunt that he eventually sacrificed a career .300 average because of it, and it bothered him to that day.

Nevertheless, Kaline completed a career that saw him on 15 all-star teams, garner 10 Gold Gloves, and eight top-10 finished in M.V.P. Voting.

He even managed to have a battery named after him! Alkaline…(just kidding! But it IS funny).

One last thing regarding the card: I love the two teammates in the second row, second and third from left, who seem to be deep in conversation, failing to look at the cameraman when the shot was taken! Too funny.

I can't make out who the players are though. Any guesses?

I DO know that's BIG Willie Horton in the front row, all the way on the right! No mistaking him!

Love the 1975 set for the burst of colors, just like the 1972 and 1976 sets as well...

RANDOM QUICKIE: "THE SAY HEY KID" WILLIE MAYS ON THE 1974 METS TEAM CARD

I'm loving going over team cards of the 1970's to find superstars that never made it with a "regular" card that year because of retirement or whatever else.

Today we look at the 1974 New York Mets team card (#56) and a nice little appearance of none other than all-time great, Willie Mays, the "Say Hey Kid"!

 

One more card appearance for Willie Mays.

 

There he is, seated in the second row, second from left.

Nice little "extra" to have on a card wouldn't you say?

I know he also appeared on a "World Series" card (#473), so this would be just a little icing on the cake in a sense.

Again, I never realized these retired superstars (Aaron, Drysdale, Mays, etc) appeared on these team cards the following year. 

I'm still going through them all to see who happens to pop up in them.

I'm almost positive Bob Gibson is on the 1976 Cardinals team card, but I'm not 100% sure. I'll have to take a closer look or two before I post that one up!

RANDOM QUICKIE: KENT TEKULVE AND THE MOVIE "BURNT OFFERINGS"...

Anyone else out there ever think Kent Tekulve was scary when they were a kid in the late-70's?

You see, I loved horror-films, always have, always will. And the late-70's/early-80's were a "golden age" of sorts for the genre.

And one of my favorite horror films when I was really young was "Burnt Offerings" from 1976. It actually still hold's up after all these years, but no need to really get into the film's story (Google it!).

Anyone remember that movie?

But there was one character in the film that absolutely scared the sh*t out of me more than anyone else, and that was the chauffeur, played by actor Anthony James.

Take a look:

Now look at Kent Tekulve's 1978 Topps card (#84):

You can see where a nine-year-old kid would see a resemblance, right?!

Man, Tekulve freaked me out to no end because of that film. Then when I saw how he pitched, all arms and legs, whipping the ball side-armed and looking like death on the mound…ugh! FREAKY!

In 1979 when Tekulve had a lot of television air-time here in NYC because of the Pirates being in the World Series, I was both terrified, yet MESMERIZED!

And I would be lying if I said that Tekulve DIDN'T instantly become one of my favorite Major Leaguers after that! (Hey, like I said, I LOVED horror-films. It was a love-hate thing…).

On a bit of a side-note, it is amazing to remember that at the age of 40, Tekulve appeared in 90- games for the Phillies in 1987!

As a matter of fact that would be the third time Tekulve topped 90+ appearances for a season in his career.

In both 1978 and 1979 he lead the National league with 91 and 94 appearances, and in 1982 he appeared in 85 games to lead the league.

He and Mike Marshall are still the only pitchers to appear in over 90-games in a season more than one, each doing it three times.

He really put together an excellent career coming out of the 'pen, ending with a 94-90 record with 184 saves in 1050 games over 16-years with the Pirates, Phillies and Reds, all in relief (which is still a Major League record for games without a single start in a career).

A GREAT 1973 CARD: #460 BILL FREEHAN

Here's another one of my favorite cards growing up, the 1973 Bill Freehan card (#460) with a fantastic action shot.

Just take a look at the crowd in the background, anticipating the call at the plate. Awesome! Notice the police officer with the kid in his grips, watching the play. Hilarious!

That's Yankee Celerino Sanchez sliding into the plate at Yankee Stadium in 1972.

As for Freehan, he was arguably the American League's best catcher between Yogi Berra and Carlton Fisk, coming up with the Tigers for good in 1963 after a brief cup of coffee as a 19-year-old in 1961.

For the rest of the decade and beyond he would do nothing but produce, garnering five gold-gloves, three top-ten M.V.P. finishes, and eleven all-star nods, while handling star pitchers such as Mickey Lolich, Earl Wilson and Denny McLain.

All told, he stuck around for 15 years, hanging them up after the 1976 season.

RANDOM QUICKIE: "MR. CUB" ERNIE BANKS IN THE 1972 SET

I was never the biggest fan of the "severed head" Chicago Cubs team cards throughout the 1970's.

I could never get why they had their unique photo year after year when it came to their team cards, while every other team had those full-squad posed shots we were so used to.

Nevertheless, the Cubs' 1972 team card is a bit more attractive than other years, mainly due to the actual card design rather than "official" team photo.

But with the facsimile autographs under each "head", it reminds me of those awesome 1890's team cabinet cards that were popular back then, and believe me, I am a BIG fan of those!

Anyway, one other little treat regarding this card is the fact that Ernie Banks, "Mr. Cub", is prominently shown just under the Cubs logo, giving him his only appearance in the 1972 set after he retired in 1971.

 

 

A while ago I designed a 1972 "career capper" for Banks, wishing Topps would have issued a card for him after retirement, but at least we have him on this card.

Along with Banks, we also have three other future Hall of Famers, Billy Williams, Fergie Jenkins and Ron Santo. But except for Williams, the other three Hall members have "small heads", while run-of-the-mill players like Burt Hooten, Hector Torres and Joe Pepitone have huge noggins.

Oh well…

RANDOM QUICKIE: HAMMERIN' HANK'S APPEARANCE IN THE 1977 TOPPS SET

Just as I profiled the Dodgers 1970 Topps' team card earlier on this blog, showing a surprise appearance of Don Drysdale in a set that didn't have a dedicated card for him, we now take a closer look at Topps' 1977 Milwaukee Brewers team card (#51), which also has a nice little "surprise", Hank Aaron standing tall in the back row, fifth from the left side.

 

Hank Aaron and company in the 1977 set.

 

We also have future Hall of Famer Robin Yount, standing in the middle row, sixth from the right, as well as big time "thumpers" George Scott, standing just three to the right of Aaron, (bone-necklace visible even here), and Gorman Thomas, standing second from left in the same row (pre-mustache). 

I've mentioned it earlier but it's worth repeating here: I never realized so many of these all-time greats were on these team cards after they retired.

Rediscovering these cards, and seeing these Hall of Famers in them for the first time is really a treat after all these years.

I'll be profiling more of these in the next few months, so if you're into this type of stuff, stay tuned.

RANDOM QUICKIE: 1973 TONY TAYLOR (#29)

Here's a question I have for anyone that can answer: why does Tony Taylor's 1973 (#29) Topps card have his cap airbrushed?

By the time this card came out he was a member of the Tigers for over a year and a half at that point.

What makes it even more strange is that I'd swear his uniform is NOT airbrushed in any way, and it is indeed a Detroit uni.

Anyone out there know what is up with this card?

Kind of like the 1976 Fritz Peterson card I profiled a little while ago, where the image was airbrushed to death, even though it wasn't about changing his uniform or cap.

Getting back to Taylor, he was a pretty good player during his 19-year career mainly as a second baseman.

Here's a guy who very quietly accumulated over 2000+ career hits playing for the Cubs, Phillies and Tigers from 1958 to 1976.

I'd say 1963 was his finest year, as he hit .281 with 102 runs scored and 180 hits for the Phillies, the latter two stats being career highs.

Definitely one of the more unknown 2000 hit players in the history of the game…

RANDOM QUICKIE: ANOTHER CLASSIC FROM 1975: CARD #460 N.L. CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

Here's another one that stuck in my mind after all these years, the National League Championship Series card from the 1975 set, #460.

 

What a great shot!

 

I just love the shot of Steve Garvey and Frank Taveras at second base, dust floating up after what seems to be a stolen base or close play (?) from the N.L. Playoffs.

I also think the card border colors play well with the photo colors as well, and I've stated many times before how I am a sucker for an overall cohesive design between card and image.

Just a great in-game photo caught at the right moment.

And it doesn't hurt having an "extra" card of newly-annointed (at the time) National League Most Valuable Player Garvey, correct?

RANDOM QUICKIE: DON DRYSDALE'S APPEARANCE IN THE 1970'S

A while back I created a "Career Capper" 1970-style card for the late Dodger pitching great Don Drysdale, wishing Topps would have had a card for him post-retirement in that year's set.

Well it turns out Drysdale did indeed make an appearance in the 1970's,  on the Dodgers team card from 1970, #411.

The "Big D" on the right, #53.

 

That's the "Big D" on the extreme right side, middle row glaring at the photographer.

A nice little surprise I never knew about, and has me now scanning team cards from the decade looking for players I never realized were included in team shots, whether they be already-retired players or guys that switched teams over the off-season (like the Reggie Jackson appearance on the 1977 Orioles team card I profiled earlier on this blog).

I'll be posting more of these little gems in the future, so if you're into this type of stuff keep an eye out for them.

RANDOM QUICKIE-1973 TOPPS JIM KAAT #530

OK.

You're a 14 year veteran pitcher in the Major Leagues.

You've won 11 Gold Gloves, won 25 games one year, and in 1972, the year before today's profiled card came out, you went 10-2 with a sparkling 2.06 E.R.A. In 15 starts.

So what does your 1973 card show you doing? BATTING!

 

"Kitty" trading in his glove for a bat.

 

You just have to love the fact that Jim Kaat's 1973 (#530) card has him swinging away at the plate!

I was actually tempted to make this one of my future "Gimmie a do-over" redesigned cards. But then the more I looked at it, the more I really liked it!

Great, quirky card of one of the better pitchers NOT in the Hall of Fame. 

I'm not saying he "deserves" to be in. But if it were up to ME, he would have been in years ago.

You just cannot ignore a 25 year career with 283 wins, 16 Gold Gloves, three 20-win seasons, 2461 strike outs, and 898 appearances. 

But for now, let's just enjoy this oddity and shake our head one more time over that 1973 set, which seems to get stranger and stranger with every look!