REVISITING AN OLD BLOG POST FROM JULY, 2014: NATE COLBERT

Thought it'd be fun today to revisit an old post from July 18th of 2014, one of my favorite "Highlights of the 1970's" cards I created, that of Nate Colbert and his phenomenal day in 1972 when he clubbed five homers and drove in 13 runs in a doubleheader:

Here's the original write-up from way back when:

"What a full day San Diego Padre Nate Colbert had back in 1972 huh!?

Two games, five home runs, 22 total bases and 13 runs batted in!

Yeah his feat that day get's talked about often enough, and Topps did in fact commemorate the accomplishment five years later in their 1977 sub-set, but let's take a look at my design for a 1973 card celebrating Colbert's career highlight.

The man was flat-out incredible that day, August 1st, as he helped the Padres sweep the double-header from the Atlanta Braves.

In the first game, Colbert went 4 for 5 with two homers and five R.B.I.'s, as well as three runs scored, leading his team to a 9-0 wind.

If that wasn't enough, all he did for an encore was go 3 for 4 in the second game, with three homers, EIGHT R.B.I.'s, as well as four runs scored, helping San Diego win 11-7.

That's a monster week, let alone a monster DAY!

That August afternoon explosion helped Colbert put up some really nice numbers by season's end: 87 runs scored, 38 homers and 111 runs batted in.

What is really incredible is that Colbert's five homers in a double-header tied the record set by Stan Musial on May 2nd, 1954, and one of the fans in attendance that day was none other than Nate Colbert, who was there with his father.

Isn't it something that eighteen years later that kid would tie that record he witnessed.

Baseball is always filled with awesome stories like this, connecting one generation to another like no other sport.

You just have to love it…

OPC VARIATIONS- 1977 GARY CARTER

The next OPC image variation we spotlight here on the blog is that of Hall of Fame catcher Gary Carter, who was just beginning his fabulous career that would eventually land him in Cooperstown:

OPC version

Topps version

One of the rare instances where I prefer the Topps version rather than the OPC, given the catching pose from the OPC batting pose.

Nevertheless, both are nice clear images of the young catching stud, on his way to becoming the top catcher of the 1980's.

Actually I remember when Gary Carter really took over the "best catcher" regardless of league from Johnny Bench around 1981. It was like he was suddenly everywhere with that smile of his!
Sure you still had Carlton Fisk producing in the American League, but Carter really took over as the top backstop and held onto that title for pretty much the rest of the decade.
This was a guy who had nine seasons of 20+ homers and four 100+ R.B.I. seasons as a catcher. Not too shabby!
After finishing second in Rookie of the Year voting in 1975, Carter also went on to have 11 All-Star game nods, five Silver Slugger awards, three Gold Gloves and seven seasons where he garnered M.V.P. votes, finishing in the Top-10 four times.
By the time he retired after the 1992 season, he finished with 2092 hits, 324 home runs and 1225 runs batted in.
Needless to say Cooperstown came calling, and in 2003 he easily got voted in after being selected on 387 of 496 ballots, securing his place in baseball history forever.
However, sadly years later Carter was diagnosed with brain cancer, and despite undergoing aggressive treatment he succumbed to the disease about nine months later in February of 2012.

EXPANDED LEAGUE-LEADERS: 1978 N.L. BATTING

Today on the blog we move on to 1978 League Leader cards, "expanding" them to show the top three finishers in each statistic for each league, as opposed to the top leader from both the N.L. and A.L. on one card, beginning with the top three batters in the N.L.:

 

We begin with Pittsburgh Pirate slugger Dave Parker, who won the first of his two straight batting titles in 1977, hitting .338 with a league-leading 215 hits and 44 doubles.

Along with his 21 homers, 88 RBIs and .531 slugging percentage, those numbers got him a third-place finish in the MVP race by season's end, while also hauling in the first of his three Gold Gloves.

Right behind Parker, with a ,336 batting average, teammate Rennie Stennett, who had himself a fine season, stealing a career-best 28 bases while scoring 53 runs in only 116 games.

It was one of those unusual seasons that a player did not "technically" qualify for the batting title, with Stennett's 490 plate appearances.

However, because of his big lead on the third place finisher, once added the necessary plate appearances as hitless at-bats to reach 501, he was still the second best hitter.

In third place with a .322 average, St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Garry Templeton, who broke out as a 21-year-old and collected 200 hits, scored 94 runs and led the league with his 18 triples, earning him his first All-Star nod and some MVP attention as well.

Two seasons later he'd lead the league with 211 hits, collecting at least 100 hits from both sides of the plate as a switch-hitter, while once again leading the league in triples, this time with 19.

Of course, as we all know, he'd eventually wear out his welcome in St. Louis and would be traded to the San Diego Padres for Ozzie Smith, certainly affecting the outcome of both franchises for the 1980's.

 

1970 "IN-GAME ACTION": BOBBY BONDS

The next player from my recently released two-series 1970 "In-Game Action" set to get the spotlight here on the blog is the great Bobby Bonds, who was just coming into his own when this card would have seen the light of day:

 

What an awesome combination of power and speed.

Five times he attained a 30/30 season, just missing out on becoming the first player in history to hit 40/40 in 1973 when he clubbed 39 homers with 43 swipes.

As it was, he finished with 332 homers, 1024 runs batted in, 1258 runs scored and 461 stolen bases and even took home three Gold Gloves.

I remember him stating years later that if he knew it was going to be such a big deal he'd have done it multiple times. And I'm sure he could have too.

Even though he did put in a solid career, you have to wonder "what could have been" if he found a real home and was able to put in a career that was a bit longer.

An incredible talent, it just seems that after his first seven seasons with the San Francisco Giants, no one really wanted to keep him around, playing for seven teams in seven years between 1975 and 1981.

DEDICATED MANAGER CARD: 1975 CHUCK TANNER

On the blog today, we go and give long-time Major League manager Chuck Tanner a "dedicated manager card", in those sweet Chicago White Sox uniforms of the mid-1970s:

 

Tanner put in six seasons as the White Sox manager, from 1970 through 1975, having his best year in 1972 when the team was led by MVP Dick Allen and workhorse pitcher Wilbur Wood, with the team finishing 87-67, good for a second-place finish.

1976 would see him at the helm of the Oakland A's, not quite the dynasty team of the mid-decade when they won three straight World Series, nevertheless finishing 87-74 before the rest of their stars left via Free Agency.

1977 would see him change gigs again, now at the helm of the Pittsburgh Pirates, for whom he would lead for nine seasons and bring him his greatest reward, a World Series win in 1979 with the "We Are Family" team led by Hall of Famer Willie Stargell.

After the 1985 season he'd move on to the Atlanta Braves, managing the team for the next three years before a guy named Bobby Cox took over.

For Tanner, it wasn't as successful as the team would be in the 1990's, as Tanner's teams would go a combined 153-208 over that time with two last-place finishes.

All told, he would finish his managerial career with a record of 1352-1381, with one Championship and five second-place finishes.

SPECIAL REQUEST: 1972 VIDA BLUE HIGHLIGHT CARD

By special request, today the blog offers up a 1972 "Highlight" card celebrating the enormous season young Oakland A's starter Vida Blue had, eventually taking home the Cy Young and A.L. MVP Award:

 

Of course, we all know that Vida Blue absolutely exploded onto the Major League scene in 1971, on his way to capturing both awards by season's end.

All he did in this epic season was post a record of 24-8, with a league-leading 1.82 earned run average, striking out 301 batters and tossing eight shutouts.

Oh yeah, he was only 21 years of age!

His WHIP of 0.952 and strikeouts-per-nine-innings of 8.7 also led the league, and he completed 24 of his 39 starts, putting in 312 innings of work for the upstart Oakland A's, who were about to go on the three-peat championship run between 1972 and 1974.

Blue would go on to post 209 career victories in the Majors, having some successful seasons with the San Francisco Giants, even starting the 1978 All-Star game for the National League, while finishing up his 17-year career in 1986.
It’s amazing for me to remember that when Blue started that NL All-Star game in 1978, he wasn’t even 30 years old, yet to me he already seemed to be an aging veteran by then.

1971 "BASEBALL'S GREATEST MOMENTS" EXTENSION SET: HANK AARON

The next 1971 "Baseball's Greatest Moments" custom created for my new thread celebrating my favorite Topps odd-ball set in one celebrating the great Hank Aaron and his 500th home run, hit in 1968:

On July 14th of ‘68, Aaron came into the game against the San Francisco Giants with 499, until he connected off of reigning National League Cy Young winner Mike McCormick in the third-inning for a three-run shot.
Of course, playing for the other team was Willie Mays, who was (at the time) one of only six players with 500+ homers in MLB history, along with Aaron’s former teammate Eddie Mathews, who reached the milestone the previous season while with the Houston Astros.
Of course, even though Aaron was already 34 years old, he wasn’t nearly done, as he’d go one to post five consecutive 30+ homer seasons, with three of them more than 40, including what would end up being a career-high 47 in 1971 at the age of 37!
The man was not just about homers however, as evidenced by his 3771 hits, 2174 runs scored, 624 doubles and 2297 runs batted in along with a .305 career average.
All...Time...Great!