MISSING IN ACTION- 1979 DICK POLE

Here’s a “missing” 1979 card for former pitcher Dick Pole, who pitched his final games during the 1978 season as a member of the Seattle Mariners:

Pole came up in 1973 as a member of the Boston Red Sox, for whom he’d pitch the first four seasons of his career.
He was then drafted in the expansion draft of 1976 for the new Seattle Mariner organization, where he’d play the next two years.
During the 1978 season he appeared in 21 games, posting a 4-11 record with a 6.48 earned run average in 98.2 innings of work.
That would be it for his playing career, but he would go on to be a pitching coach in the Majors for many years, putting together one of those “baseball lives” player-turned-coaches have.
Of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that many of use who were kids collecting back in the 1970’s will always remember his name, which always brought a chuckle to my friends and I...

ANOTHER AIRBRUSHING SPOTLIGHT- 1975 JIM PERRY

Here’s an airbrushed card that isn’t so terrible, but has me mystified as to why Topps needed one in the first place: the 1975 Jim Perry card:

You can see the Detroit Tigers uniform he had on in the photo, and the clever “spot-airbrush” on the cap by covering the Tigers’ logo with the Cleveland “C”.
What puzzles me is that Perry pitched the entire year with Cleveland, appearing in 36 games (all starts), with a whopping 252 innings pitched.
So why no photo of him as an Indian for the card?
Very strange don’t you think?
He also did very well for the Indians that season, posting a 17-12 record with a 2.96 earned run average and three shutouts.
It would be the last solid year of his excellent 17-year career before he retired after the 1975 season.
I wonder why there was no photo available for him in the 1975 set as an Indian.

THEN AND NOW- FRANK HOWARD 1960-1973

Let’s go and give “Hondo”, Frank Howard a “Then and Now” card in the 1973 set to celebrate his awesome slugging career:

Howard was wrapping up a very nice 16-year career in 1973 as a member of the Detroit Tigers, slamming the final 12 homers of the 382 he’d hit since 1960.
He’d lead the league in homers twice, while also becoming one of the first players to hit 30 homers in a season in each league (he hit 31 as a member of the Dodgers in 1962).
A four-time all-star, he also won Rookie of the Year in the National League in 1960 when he hit 23 homers with 77 runs batted in, and also finished in the top-10 for MVP four times, once in the N.L., and three times as a Senator in the American League.
By the time he retired he hit those 382 homers along with 864 runs scored and 1119 RBI’s with a very respectable .274 average over 1895 games and 6488 at-bats.

MISSING IN ACTION- 1972 BOBBY MITCHELL

I came across this photo of former Milwaukee Brewer Bobby Mitchell and decided to create a “missing” 1972 Topps card, though I know I’m pushing it a bit:

Mitchell appeared in 35 games for the Brewers during the 1971 season, hitting .182 with 10 hits in 55 at-bats.
After toiling in the Minors the entire 1972 season he’d come back to the Major League level in 1973 where he’d stay through the 1975 season, all in Milwaukee, hitting a combined .235 with 143 hits in 609 at-bats.
That would be the sum total of his short five-year career before going to Japan and playing on the Nippon Ham team from 1976 through 1979.

TURN BACK THE CLOCK 1955: AL KALINE YOUNGEST BATTING CHAMP

Next up in my “Turn Back the Clock” thread is a 1975 20th anniversary card celebrating Detroit Tigers great Al Kaline and his magnificent 1955 season that saw him become the youngest batting champ in baseball history:

In only his second full season as a Major League player, the 20-year old hit a league-leading .340 based on his 200 hits in 588 at-bats, barely edging out the previous record holder Ty Cobb by mere days as the youngest champ.
As we all know it was just a glimpse into what would become a Hall of Fame career in Detroit for Kaline, as he’d go on to top 3000 hits while scoring over 1600 runs, hitting 399 homers and driving in over 1500 while being named to 15 all-star teams before he retired after the 1974 season.

MISSING IN ACTION- 1973 MIKE McQUEEN

Here’s a “missing” 1973 card for former Atlanta Braves pitcher Mike McQueen.
Take a look:

McQueen appeared in 23 games for the Braves, posting a 0-5 record with a 4.60 earned run average and 40 strikeouts over 78.1 innings pitched.
He would spend the 1973 season in the Minors before making his return to a Major League mound in 1974 with the Cincinnati Reds, appearing in 10 games, which would be the final big league games of his five-year career.
By the time he was done he would post a 5-11 career record with a 4.66 ERA and 140 K’s over 73 games and 218.1 innings pitched, all but his final season spent in Atlanta.

A 1977 FANTASY CARD: THE COGS OF THE "BIG RED MACHINE"

Allow me to indulge in a fantasy card for the 1977 Topps set: a card commemorating the Cincinnati Reds’ MVP dominance during the 1970’s:

I came across this nice photo of Joe Morgan, Johnny Bench and Pete Rose and immediately thought of creating the card above.
I wish George Foster was also in the shot considering he’d also win an MVP that very season, giving the Reds SIX MVP’s in eight seasons, but this will do for now.
The trio shown on the card here would take home five of those awards, with Bench winning in 1970 and 1972, Rose in 1973 and Morgan in 1975 and 1976.
What an incredible run they had, helping them to four World Series appearances and two championships in 1975 and 1976.