This is the first Red Sox card in the set, and only the Dodgers are without a card yet. I certainly know Newhauser more from my ballcard collection than I do from watching baseball. But isn't that what ballcards are for? Didn't we as kids learn a lot about baseball from looking at these things thousands of times? The top star tells us Don was a "short reliever." This, I think, is 70'sspeak for something akin to a closer. Or maybe a setup man? His 1.84 ERA is impressive, but the 38 walks (more than strikeouts!) makes him a suspect as opposed to a prospect, I'm sure.
I haven't checked the '72 or '73 checklists yet, so with Don starting each year in the minors, and never playing in the Bigs after 1974, I'm inclined to believe that this was his only card. I always like this pitching pose, one of looking in after the follow through. Beaucoup bodacious sideburns, Don!
Cartoon: Uhm, yeah. Anybody who has ever watched David Letterman's "Will It Float?" episode with a baseball, or has watched a ball land in McCovey Cove in San Francisco knows that a baseball doesn't sink in water. It floats. It is obvious that the Topps cartoonist came before either was known. Or, wait...maybe Don's sinker is soooo good that it really does sink in water! Now that is a good sinker!
Ballpark background: The blueish green fence and the Orioles logo on the scoreboard just behind Don's glove give this away as Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.
According to a Ron Erbe book I have that features a checklist of players through 1981, this is indeed Newhauser's only card.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Chris!
ReplyDeleteSteve,
ReplyDeleteThis is a great book about Topps baseball cards. I picked up an earlier version at a used book store for about $15 a few years ago. It has pictures of every regular-series baseball card Topps made from 1951 to press time. In the back are 2 indexes (pitchers, batters) for all players with cards, listing which years they had cards, and the card numbers.