1976 COACH CARD- JOHNNY PESKY

Time to give a Major League icon, Boston Red Sox long-time player and coach (and even manager) a 1976 coach card:

This was a man who put in about 73 years in the Major Leagues in one position or another: player, coach, manager, instructor. You name it, the man did it.
Incredible baseball life that started with him as a teammate of Jimmie Foxx, all the way through the Red Sox two World Series wins of 2004 and 2007.
As a kid I was always amazed by his 200+ seasons to start his career, with THREE years in between lost to the war!
He also scored 100+ runs each of the first six seasons of his career!
A career .307 hitter, he retired as a player after the 1954 season before moving on to coaching, and sticking around until his death in 2012.
Just amazing.

1977 MARINERS REDONE- RICK JONES

Here’s a card from the 1977 set that BEGS for a “re-do”, the oddly painted up Rick Jones card, which was originally a black and white image it seems.
Take a look at the Topps original out that Spring:

Now here's the re-done version I created for the blog:

Along with the 1978 Greg Minton and Mike Paxton cards, it’s a rarely seen tactic Topps used in the decade when it appears a color image wasn’t available (how, I will never know).
Jones appeared in 24 games for the Red Sox in 1976, putting in a nice performance as he posted a 5-3 record along with a 3.36 earned run average, starting 14 of those appearances.
Once onto Seattle however, he didn’t fair so well, going 1-4 with a 5.10 ERA over ten appearances, all starts and 42,1 innings of work.
The following year he’d make only three appearances for Seattle, starting two games and going 0-2 before spending 1979 and 1980 in the Pittsburgh Pirates minor league system, posting double-digit wins each year, yet leaving the game for good at the age of 25.
Interesting to see his 1975 minor league season, as he posted a record of 20-7 with a 2.67 ERA and 177 strikeouts over 29 starts and 226 innings at the age of only 20.

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER- 1976 SUB-SET

Today we celebrate the 1975 Most Valuable Players, Joe Morgan and Fred Lynn, in my ongoing “Awards Sub-Set” through the 1970s:

In the National league, Morgan brought the MVP back to Cincinnati, following in the footsteps of teammates Pete Rose and Johnny Bench.
Morgan had a killer season for the “Big Red Machine”, as they were on their way to the first of two straight championships.
Really putting it all together that season after a great career already that had him get ripped off a Rookie of the Year in 1965, and getting named to five all-star teams, Morgan went on to bat a career high .327 with 107 runs scored, 17 homers, 94 runs batted in and a Major League leading 132 walks.
Oh yeah, he also “chipped in” 52 steals as well!
In the American League, it was something never seen before in the Majors, as the Boston Red Sox Fred Lynn BURST onto the big league stage in the biggest way possible, taking home both the Rookie of the Year Award as well as the MVP award, becoming the first player ever to do so.
That performance helped the Red Sox get to the World Series for the first time since 1967, facing off against the Joe Morgan led Reds.
Lynn’s season was awesome, as he batted .331 with a league-leading 103 runs scored and 47 doubles, along with 105 runs batted in and 21 homers.
Paired up with another rookie that season, Jim Rice, and it was easy to see why the Red Sox were such a powerhouse that season.
Two great players of the era taking home the hardware.

NOT SO MISSING IN ACTION- 1978 ANGEL TORRES

Today we have a “not so missing” 1978 card for Angel Torres, Cincinnati Reds pitcher who appeared in the only five games of his brief career during the last few weeks of the 1977 season:

Torres made his first appearance in a Major League mound on September 12th, 1977, and his last on October 2nd, pitching to a nifty E.R.A. of 2.16 without a record over 8.1 innings of work.
In that time he also issued eight walks while also whiffing eight, allowing only two earned runs all out of the bullpen.
With that decent initial showing you’d think he’d have another shot at a job the following year, but he would end up pitching the next three years in the Minors, never making it back to the Majors before calling it a career after a 2-7 record with a bloated 6.00 E.R.A. in 1980 with Indianapolis of the American Association.

NICKNAMES OF THE 1970'S: "MR. TIGER" AL KALINE

The latest creation for my long time “Nicknames” thread is “Mr. Tiger” Al Kaline, Detroit legend and Hall of Famer:

Kaline was an institution in the Motor City, coming up at the age of 18, winning a batting title at the age of 20, retiring after the 1974 season, all 22 years of his career with the same team.
The 15-time all-star topped 3000 hits, 1600 runs, 1500 runs batted in and came one home run short of 400 over his stellar career, which also included 10 Gold Gloves for his defensive prowess.
An easy Hall of Fame pick, he was inducted in his first year of eligibility in 1980 with 88.3% of the ballots cast.
“Mr. Tiger” indeed!

A LOOK AT DARCY FAST ON THE 1972 SET

Came across the original airbrushed image of Darcy Fast that appeared in the 1972 set, and wanted to delve a little deeper into it.
First off, here’s the 1972 Padres rookie-card that showed up in packs in 1972:

Now, here’s the original negative that the people at Topps touched up to show Fast with his new team, though you can clearly see the Chicago Cubs uni on him:

Funny thing is, at that time Fast appeared in his ONLY Major League games back in 1968, with the Cubs as a 21-year old, and never made it back to a Big League mound.
In eight appearances during the 1968 season he posted a record of 0-1 with a bloated 5.40 earned run average in 10 innings of work, with a very nice 10 strikeouts but a not-so nice eight walks.
As a matter of fact, Darcy Fast didn’t even suit up with ANY organization in 1971, last pitching for the Padres minor league Salt Lake City Bees in 1970 after starting out the year with the Tacoma Cubs.
Strange that Topps didn’t have any other players to include in the set that year but a guy who not only didn’t play in the Majors the previous season, but the Minors as well!
Turns out Darcy would never see another pro game regardless of level again, making for an odd inclusion in the set, with a classic Topps paint-job to boot!

NOT SO MISSING IN ACTION- 1976 CHARLIE HUDSON

Here’s a “not so missing” 1976 card for a guy I already created a 1974 version of, former pitcher Charlie Hudson, who appeared in the last three games of his brief three-year career with the California Angels:

After spending the 1974 season in the Minors, Hudson made it back to a Big League mound in 1975, now as a member of the Angels after coming up with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1972 and suiting up for the Texas Rangers in 1973.
In those three appearances, one of them a start, Hudson was hit hard, giving up seven hits and six earned runs over 5.2 innings, getting tagged for a loss without a win.
That would be it for the 25-year-old lefty, as he would spend 1976 in the Minors before leaving the game for good as a player.
He finished his career with a record of 5-3 with a 5.04 earned run average over 40 appearances and 80.1 innings pitched, with 38 strikeouts, a shutout and a save thrown in.