GIMMIE A DO-OVER: 1973 WAYNE GRANGER

Any of you who have been following me for a while know that although I do love those classic 1970’s airbrushing jobs Topps created, and I even profile them here from time to time.
However when I do come across a solid image of a player in correct uniform, I’ll go and create a re-done card for that particular year, such as today’s example, the 1973 Wayne Granger card:

Now here’s the original as issued by Topps:

Granger found himself in St. Louis after a year pitching for the Minnesota Twins, and Topps jumped right in and airbrushed (or should I say colored in with a crayon) the correct, up-to-date cap with a BOLD Cardinal “St. L.” logo.
It seems the original photo was of him with the Cincinnati Reds for whom he pitched between 1969 and 1971, coming into his own out of the ‘pen, leading the National League in game appearances twice and saves with 35 in 1970.
After a solid season for the Twins in 1972 he never attained that level of play the remaining four years of his nine-year career, pitching for the Cardinals, Yankees, White Sox, Astros and finally the Expos.
In those nine-seasons Granger totaled 451 appearances with a 35-35 record and 108 saves in 638.2 inning pitched, and his 35 saves were a record until Clay Carroll came along with the very same Reds in 1972 with 37.
Not a long career by any means, but a solid one nonetheless.

 

 

A 1977 CAREER-CAPPER FOR LONG-TIME RELIEF PITCHER WAYNE GRANGER

Time to give long-time reliever Wayne Granger a career-capping 1977 card as he closed out a nice nine-year career in 1976 with the Montreal Expos:

Granger appeared in 27 games for Montreal, going 1-0 with two saves over 32 innings of work along with a 3.66 earned run average.
Of course, his MLB heyday were the early-1970’s with the Cincinnati Reds when he posted 27 and 35 saves respectively in 1969 and 1970, appearing in as many as 90 games during that ‘69 campaign.
After the 1971 season he moved around a lot, playing for the Twins, Cardinals, Yankees, White Sox, Astros and Expos over what would be the last five years of his career.
He finished up with an even 35-35 record, along with 108 saves and a 3.14 E.R.A., with 303 strikeouts over 451 appearances and 638.2 innings of work.

A 1973 AIRBRUSHING GEM: WAYNE GRANGER

Time to look at another airbrushing gem from the 1970’s, the 1973 edition featuring former relief pitching wiz Wayne Granger:

Granger found himself in St. Louis after a year pitching for the Minnesota Twins, and Topps jumped right in and airbrushed (or should I say colored in with a crayon) the correct, up-to-date cap with a BOLD Cardinal “St. L.” logo.
It seems the original photo was of him with the Cincinnati Reds for whom he pitched between 1969 and 1971, coming into his own out of the ‘pen, leading the National League in game appearances twice and saves with 35 in 1970.
After a solid season for the Twins in 1971 he never attained that level of play the remaining five years of his nine-year career, pitching for the Yankees, White Sox, Astros and finally the Expos.
In those nine-seasons Granger totaled 451 appearances with a 35-35 record and 108 saves in 638.2 inning pitched, and his 35 saves were a record until Clay Carroll came along with the very same Reds in 1972 with 37.
Not a long career by any means, but a solid one nonetheless.