On the blog today, we take a look at the original film of the 176 Ron Reed traded card Topps had out there, airbrushed to its beautiful 1970's glory:
Reed was in a transition point in
what turned out to be a long 19-year Major League career, becoming a
reliever after 10 seasons as a starter between 1966 and 1975.
On
December 9th of 1975 he was traded by the St. Louis Cardinals to the
Philadelphia Phillies for Mike Anderson, with the Phillies definitely
getting the steal in this trade.
You can clearly see the St. Louis uni on his chest before the Topps airbrush specialists took charge.
Once
in the bullpen, he'd go on to pitch another nine years, all but his
last for Philadelphia, for whom he'd perform very well, giving the
Phillies a solid one-two punch alongside Tug McGraw.
It would
reach its peak in 1980 when the Phillies would march straight to a World
Series title over the Kansas City Royals, with Reed going 7-5 that year
with nine saves over 55 appearances.
By the time he retired
in 1984 after 51 games for the Chicago White Sox at the age of 41, he
appeared in 751 games, going 146-140 with a 3.46 ERA over 2477.1
innings, with eight shutouts and 103 saves.
Just prior to his
Big League career, Reed played for the Detroit Pistons in the NBA from
1965 through 1967, one of the few two-sport players to come along over
the years.
