1975 IN-ACTION: SAL BANDO

Time to go and give former all-star third baseman Sal Bando an In-Action card in my running 1975 sub-set, celebrating his excellent run as one of the leaders of the Oakland A’s dynasty that saw them win three straight World Series between 1972-1974:

Bando was a consistent RBI-man during this period, giving the A’s some pop at the plate while manning third base on a team that also had all-stars Joe Rudi, Reggie Jackson and Gene Tenace.
Three times he would finish in the top-5 for American League MVP voting, with a high of second place in 1971 behind teammate Vida Blue.
Of course, like many of his teammates in 1976, he would leave the A’s via Free Agency and sign with the Milwaukee Brewers, playing out the final five years of his very nice 16-year career before retiring in 1981 with 242 homers, 1039 runs batted in and a .254 batting average over 2019 games and 7060 at-bats, with four all-star nods.

MISSING IN ACTION- 1975 DICK SELMA

Here’s a “Missing” 1975 card, and career-capper, for former pitcher Dick Selma, who finished up a decent 10-year career with two appearances with the Milwaukee Brewers in 1974 after starting the season as a California Angel:

Selma originally came up with the New York Mets in 1965, and even put in a nice year for them in 1968 when he started 23 games, tossing three shutouts and posting a very nice 2.75 earned run average over 170.1 innings during the “year of the pitcher” at the age of 24.
But as bum-luck would have it, he was left available for the expansion draft, and the San Diego Padres selected him as the 5th pick.
He pitched well in their inaugural season of 1969, but the Padres turned around and traded him to the Chicago Cubs, where he would end up in an historic pennant race against his former club, pitching well for Chicago, going 10-8 with two shutouts and a 3.63 ERA over 25 starts and 36 appearances.
By the time 1974 rolled around, he just came off four seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies, appearing mainly out of the ‘pen with occasional starts, before starting the season in California, where he went 2-2 in a relief roll before making his way to Milwaukee, where he got hit hard in two appearances, giving up five earned runs over just 2.1 innings pitched.
He’d finish his career with a record 42-54, with a 3.62 earned run average and 681 strikeouts over 307 appearances and 840.2 innings pitched, with six shutouts and 31 saves.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1974 PEPE MANGUAL

Here’s a “not so missing” 1974 card for former Montreal Expos outfielder Pepe Mangual, who you may remember as one of the “other” players on the 1975 Jim Rice rookie card:

Mangual played in 33 games for Montreal in 1973, his second year in the Big Leagues, batting .177 with 11 hits over 62 at-bats.
He’d play in only 23 games during the 1974 season before having the only full season of his brief 6-year career in 1975, appearing in 140 games and batting .245 with 126 hits in 514 at-bats, scoring 84 runs and stealing 33 bases for the Expos.
But in 1976 he’d be back to a part-timer, splitting the season between the Expos and New York Mets, appearing in 107 games and batting .237 over 385 plate appearances, before getting into only seven games in 1977, the final games of his career.
He’d finish with a career .242 average, with 235 hits and 155 runs scored in 319 games, with 64 stolen bases, yet would continue to play in the Minor Leagues through the 1984 season, the final six years in the California Angels system before retiring for good at the age of only 32.

CY YOUNG AWARD- 1976 SUB-SET

Today we move on to the 1976 with my “Awards” sub-set, starting off with the 1975 Cy Young winners, two stalwarts of the era, Tom Seaver and Jim Palmer:

In the National league, Seaver took home what would be his third and final Cy, though he got ripped off in 1971 in my eyes, as well as in 1981 while with the Cincinnati Reds.
Anyway, Seaver put in what was a typical Seaver season in 1975, posting a record of 22-9 with a 2.38 earned run average and 243 strikeouts along with five shutouts.
The man was a pitching machine! It was the eight of nine straight 200+ strikeouts campaigns for “Tom Terrific”, on his way to a career 3640 K’s for the future Hall of Famer.
Over in the American League, Palmer had arguably the best season of HIS Hall of Fame career when he posted a record of 23-11, a career high in wins, while also posting an earned run average of 2.09 with 10 shutouts, the only pitcher to post double-digit shutouts in the decade.
He also chipped in 193 strikeouts while completing 25 of 38 starts for the Orioles, even picking up one of his career four saves as well.
Two Hall of Fame legends in the prime of their career. What luck I got to see them, as well as guys like Nolan Ryan, Fergie jenkins, Steve Carlton and Phil Niekro take a Major League mound.
What an era.

1977 MARINERS REDONE- DAVE COLLINS

Back on July 9th of 2016  I posted about the strange case of the 1977 Topps Dave Collins card and how it took me decades to prove to my friends that I was correct in my guess that it surely wasn’t the former speedster. Take a look at the original:

Well, turns out it was former pitcher Bobby Jones, as I’m sure many of you are now aware all these years later, so it was time to go ahead a re-do the card with the proper image, take a look:

Collins played his first two seasons of Big League ball with the California Angels, stealing 52 bases combined in a part-time roll, giving us a preview of what was to lie ahead.
He would go on to play 16 years in the Major Leagues, stealing as many as 79 bases in 1980 while with the Cincinnati Reds, while also stealing 60 in 1984 when he was playing for the Toronto Blue Jays, a season where he also led the league in triples with 15.
I’ll always remember him for his disappointing year with the New York Yankees in 1982, a year that was a failure for the organization in so many way actually.
Nevertheless, Collins would finish his career with 395 steals, while also batting a very nice .272 with 1335 hits over 4907 at-bats in 1701 games, finishing up with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1990.
I never even realized he made it that far to be honest!

NOT SO MISSING IN ACTION- 1971 JOE SPARMA

Here’s a career-capping 1971 card for Joe Sparma, who finished a nice seven-year Major League tenure with his only season outside of Detroit, a nine-game stint with the Montreal Expos:

Sparma appeared in nine games with the Expos during the 1970 season, posting a record of 0-4 with a bloated 7.04 earned run average in 29.1 innings of work.
In the six seasons prior to that, he was a solid arm both out of the ‘pen and as a starter for the Detroit Tigers, the team he came up with in 1964.
His finest season in the big leagues is easily 1967 when he posted a record of 16-9 with a 3.76 earned run average over 37 starts and 217.2 innings pitched along with five shutouts.
The following season he was a full-time starter on the eventual World Champs, appearing in one game during the World Series in relief.

A CAREER-CAPPING 1975 CARD FOR BASEBALL LIFER FELIPE ALOU

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Be safe, eat, drink, watch some football and nap (always works for me!).
Let’s cap-off the brilliant Major League playing career of Felipe Alou, who would go on to also have a brilliant managerial MLB career later on, giving us a true baseball “lifer”:

Alou would only appear in three games with the Milwaukee Brewers in 1974, playing one game at right field while pinch-hitting as well.
It would be the finale of an excellent career that saw him bat .286 over 17-seasons, leading the National League in hits twice while collecting over 2000 hits and 200 home runs in 2082 games.
He would also get to play MLB ball alongside his two brothers, Matty and Jesus, while also seeing his cousins Jose Sosa pitch, and eventually seeing his son Moises become an all-star player himself, while having his nephew Mel Rojas pitch in relief! Incredible baseball family tree hardly seen before or since!
During the height of his playing career, with the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves in the 1960’s, Alou topped 20 homers four times, topping .300 three times, and also led the league in total bases in 1966 with 355 when he topped 30 homers for the only time in his career.
As stated earlier, he would eventually move on to an excellent managerial career in 1992, managing the Montreal Expos for ten seasons through 2001, including the heart-breaking 1994 season when the team was steam-rolling through the Summer before the baseball strike killed the organization.
He would move on to the San Francisco Giants in 2003, leading them to a 100-win season and first place finish in the National League West, and guide them through the next three seasons before leaving the managing life after 2006.
A great baseball figure from an incredible baseball family!