TRADED- 1976 WILLIE CRAWFORD

On the blog to start off a new week, we have a "missing" 1976 traded card for former outfielder Willie Crawford, who found himself heading East from Los Angeles to the St. Louis Cardinals:

 

Crawford spent the first 12 years of his Big League career with the Dodgers before heading to the Cardinals in a deal for Ted Sizemore on March 2nd, 1976.

He would play well in what turned out to be his only year there, hitting .304 over 120 games and 392 at-bats, driving in 50 runs while scoring 49.

But his time there was brief, for on October 20th of 1976 he was traded to the Giants as part of a six-player trade that included John Curtis and Vic Harris going to San Fran, while Mike Caldwell, John D’Acquisto and Dave Rader came to St. Louis.
 As if that wasn't enough change of scenery, on March 26th of 1977, just before the season started, Crawford was on the move again, getting traded to the Houston Astros.
But it didn't end there! After just 42 games with Houston, Crawford found himself playing for the Oakland A’s after getting traded for Denny Walling and cash.
Turns out that time with Oakland playing out the 1977 season would be the last of his Big League career, as he would go on to play in the Mexican league over the next two years before retiring for good as an active player.
Over 14 MLB seasons, Crawford hit .268 with 921 hits over 3435 at-bats, playing in 1210 games between 1964 and 1977.

GIMME A DO-OVER- 1977 WILLIE CRAWFORD

Time to go and “fix” a card that has bugged me literally for decades, the 1977 Willie Crawford, which Topps had airbrushed to show him on the San Francisco Giants, a team he never actually even played for:

And for those not familiar or do not remember, here’s the original as issued by Topps 42 years ago:

Crawford spent the 1976 season with the St. Louis Cardinals, his first season NOT playing as a Los Angeles Dodger since he came up to the Big Leagues in 1964 as a 17-year old “local kid”.
He had a nice season for the Cardinals, hitting .304 over 120 games, with 50 runs batted in and 49 runs scored with 31 extra-base-hits.
On October 20th of 1976 he was traded to the Giants as part of a six-player trade that included John Curtis and Vic Harris going to San Fran, while Mike Caldwell, John D’Acquisto and Dave Rader came to St. Louis.
Understandably, Topps went to work to airbrush Crawford into a Giants uniform in anticipation of his playing there during the 1977 season.
Well on March 26th of 1977, just before the season started, Crawford was on the move again, getting traded to the Houston Astros, thus negating the work Topps did for their 1977 card.
On top of that, after just 42 games with Houston, Crawford found himself playing for the Oakland A’s after getting traded for Denny Walling and cash.
Turns out that time with Oakland playing out the 1977 season would be the last of his Big League career, as he would go on to play in the Mexican league over the next two years before retiring for good as an active player.
Over 14 MLB seasons, Crawford hit .268 with 921 hits over 3435 at-bats, playing in 1210 games between 1964 and 1977.

THE TEAM THAT NEVER WAS: 1977 WILLIE CRAWFORD AND THE SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS

I still get a kick out of snafu’s when it came to Topps trying to keep up to date with a player’s new team.
And sometimes, it bit them in the ass because of last-minute transactions, like the 1977 Willie Crawford card that has him on the Giants:

Turns out that while he was indeed sent to the Giants after the 1976 season was over, he was then sent to the Houston Astros right before the 1977 season started, leaving us with a “phantom” team that he actually never played for.
This is some of the stuff that actually had me think about doing a blog of 1970’s baseball cards, because it really shows what Topps was up against in that day and age.
Today with all the up-to-date split-second technology we have, it’s cool to be reminded of what it was like not too long ago when (some of us) were kids.
Crawford put together a nice 14-year career in the Majors, mainly with the Los Angeles Dodgers, for whom he played 12 of those seasons for.
Between 1964 and 1977 he’d hit .268 as a pro, collecting 921 hits over 3435 at-bats in 1210 games.