#58 - Charlie Spikes (CLE)

You hit 23 homers for the Indians in the 70's and you look good.  You have a ballcard.  I think those sideburns are far out.  If Charlie's hobby had been acting, his sideburns should have made an appearance on Streets of San Francisco.  "Check out those chops, buddy-boy."  I could just hear Carl Malden.

Charlie only had two seasons as a really regular player, and 1974 was definitely his best.  His .271/22/80 would be respectable, like I said above regarding an Indians player.  Charlie broke in with the Yanks in '72, playing 14 games, and wearing uniform #42, Mariano Rivera's future number.  Not to mention, Jackie Robinson's future retired number.  I'm sure Rivera will have his retired.  Although I don't really remember Spikes as a player, I sure remember this card as a kid.  He deserves to be in the sideburns Hall of Fame.

Cartoon: Well, it's obvious that Charlie isn't making a living at his hobby.  Or is he?  The baseball card world may never know...

Ballpark background: Yankee Stadium, no doubt.

#49 - Steve Renko (MON)

A veteran with numerous ball clubs (Expos, Cubs, White Sox, A's, Red Sox, Angels, Royals), Steve wore many different uniforms.  He finished his career 12 games under .500 with an ERA of about 4.00.  He's also the first above 200 pounds card seen in a while.  I always loved these cards with the player wearing the wind breaker under his uni.  Was it a fad back then?  I see this all the time in the 70's cards.  Steve was traded in the middle of a year to an expansion team in its first year - for Donn Clendenon.  This would figure in Steve's ring total - Zero!  What a bummer, to be traded away from a team just before they win a Wolrld Series, and to never win one yourself.

Cartoon:  I wonder if Steve also enjoys horseback riding.  Are they the same, riding horses and horseback riding?  The only thing missing is a polo mallet.

Ballpark background:  This is a recurring theme in Expos ball cards, it seems.  The spring training site.  You can see the palm trees over Steve's right shoulder.  What I like, though, is the transformer on the telephone pole.  Didn't Candlestick have one of those?  I forget. 

#35 - Gaylord Perry (CLE)

Gaylord Perry is a Hall of Famer with a 22 year career, his longest stint being the first 10 years of his career with the Giants.  He played for seven more teams in the remaining 12 years of his career.  I once saw him in an old-timer's game with all 8 teams across his jersey front.  He played with a great Giants team over his 10 years, with fellow Hall of Famers Juan Marichal, Willie Mays, Orlando Cepeda and Willie McCovey all on the same team.  Of course, the year he was traded to the Indians, he had his career best in wins, ERA, strikeouts and won the AL Cy Young award.  Typical of Giants in those days.  The year after Cepeda was traded, he won the MVP and a World Series with the Cards.  Mays won a pennant with the Mets after he was traded.

In a strange set of events, Gaylord pitched a no-hitter against the St. Louis Cardinals and Bob Gibson on September 17, 1968, winning 1-0.  The very next day, the Cards returned the favor as Ray Washburn no-hit the Giants in a 2-0 victory.  Back to back no-no's at the 'Stick.  What a series to have tickets for.  Only 14,000 fans saw either game, and I can only wonder how few saw both.  Only 4700 saw that second game.  In a legendary story, a previous manager of Perry's allegedly said that because of his weak hitting he thought a man would be put on the moon before Perry hit a major league home run.  One hour after Apollo 11 landed, Perry hit his first home run.  But, according to snopes.com, this story could very well be an urban legend made up only after Perry hit the round tripper.  Either way, it's a good story, and either way, the Indians had dumb looking hats.
Cartoon:  If Gaylord heads an insurance company, how come he's doing door-to-door selling?  "Hi, I'm a future hall of famer.  You might die at any moment, are you covered?  Also, somebody might get electrocuted by your doorbell button."  I know that line anywhere.  I must admit, I've never sold insurance door-to-door in a baseball hat.  Raffle tickets for Little League, maybe, but never insurance.

Ballpark background:  This is unmistakably the Oakland Coliseum.  Behind Perry is the third base dugout.  Or is it the first base dugout?  You know, I'm thinking the tarps were on the outfield sides of the dugouts, so this is probably the first base dugout.  That would make sense because the first base dugout at the Coliseum has always been the visitor's dugout.

#34 - Andy Kosco (CIN)

Andy Kosco.  Member of the Big Red Machine.  Really?  I simply don't remember him when I was a kid.  I glanced at the 1974 Reds roster - 35 players are listed for the entire season - and Andy is one of only four players I don't readily recognize.  Man, with a 25 man roster, I easily recognize 31?  It's amazing what baseball cards, radio and TV can do to a kid's mind.  That stuff in ingrained in the brain.

Here, Kosco looks like a daunting figure, maybe a Ted Kluszewski Lite.  He just looks like a big man.  As I'm keeping track of in the labels, not many ballplayers in '74 were over 200 lbs.  Andy played 10 seasons in the majors, for 7 teams and had 8 uniform numbers.  As it turns out, 1974 was his last year.  And since he batted only .189 in 37 at bats, I'm sure this was his last card, too.  His last game was on July 30, even though he wasn't released by the Reds until October 25.  His card says he was an outfielder, yet he played third base in '74 more than twice as often as the outfield.

Cartoon:  A home run into the bleachers?  Big deal.  The ball has shoe polish and a bandaid on it, no doubt pitched by Mike Scott.  So how did Big Andy hit it so far?  Well, even thought the fence was 461 feet to left center at Yankee Stadium, this card came out when the Big Ballpark in the Bronx was being remodeled.  The fence was considerably shortened to, like, 399 feet in left center.

Ballpark background:  Okay, this is Shea Stadium again.  Same light tower, same flag.  Same yawn.

#27 - George Scott (MIL)

I always like seeing players with the same last name as me.  Knowing my family tree extensively, I am sure there is no relation.  Other notables are Jake Scott, the Miami Dolphin safety from the undefeated team, Fast Freddie Scott from the Detroit Lions past, Luke Scott who played for the Astros a few years ago, and a few assorted NFL linemen.  There's also that Astros dude that used sandpaper on the ball, Mike.  Byron?  A few namesakes include a professional mile runner, professional golfer and a Chicago news anchorman.  George Scott had a decent career of 14 years, was a slugger for a good part of it, and was coming off one of his two best years when this card was released.


Cartoon: Note, George is only ONE of the flashiest fielding first sackers in the bigs.  We all know the cartoonist knows Willie Montanez is simply THE flashiest, he just can't say it.  Not PC, even in 1974 terms.  And George's cartoon is backhanding a ball from behind.  His next move is to cross dribble between his legs twice, then an alley-oop to Michael Jordan at the hoop.  Oh, wait.  Maybe it will be to Wilt the Stilt at the top of the key for a sky hook.  Okay, wrong sport.  After I post this, I'll go onto YouTube to try to find some George Scott flashy action.  I know he was flashy, because his last year he played part of a year with the Royals and his uniform number was 0.  Having a number of 0 in the 70's was flashy, almost by definition.

Ballpark background:  Add one part Brewers road uniforms, one part yellow shirt behind George's right thigh, one part yellow sock just below George's right knee, then we sprinkle a bunch of yellow in the crowd beyond him, top with a sloping dugout roof toward the field, mix well, bake at 475 for 15 minutes, and out pops the Oakland Coliseum.

Situation ID: [Updated 03-20-11]  This action shot of Scott was at the Oakland Coliseum.  It looks as if he is watching a popup.  If this photo was taken in 1973, then it was likely on Saturday, August 18, a day game, when cleanup hitter Scott fouled out to first baseman Deron Johnson leading off the second inning off of pitcher John "Blue Moon" Odom.  The A's took the game 6-3, on their way to their second of three consecutive WS victories.  Here, George has no middle name shown on this card, while his BR page lists Charles as his mid-moniker.

#25 - Ken Singleton (MON)

Ken Singleton had a pretty good career spanning 15 seasons.  He played in two World Series with the Orioles, winning the second in 1983.  Here, he just got through his best season in Montreal, at .302/23/103.  He looks really young and really good.  One batting glove.  Cool old Expos hat.  Ken's ready to play, and he could be on my team. 

Cartoon:  Ken throws either righthanded or lefthanded?  Huh?  In baseball?  His card says he throws right, and so does Baseball Reference.  He was a switch hitter.  Did the cartoonist mess up?  Or does he really throw with both hands, but only with right in a real game?  I like how he makes downward arm motions and the balls come out perpendicular to his motion.  Singleton has some guns, I guess.  Mechanical help.

Ballpark background:  It looks like Ken was posing behind the Little League snack shack.  You know, the one where I bought much of my 1974 set.  Singleton's got on a home uni, and after looking at some Google images of Parc Jarry, I'm sure this pic was snapped during spring training.  There appears to be a foul line crashing into a chain link fence with no foul pole.  Maybe this was on a practice field.  [Update: 1975 Topps has a card of Expos' Bob Bailey showing the same building.  The palm trees in that card give it away that this is indeed spring training.]  [Update: Notice the wax stain down the middle of the back of the card.  I think the wax from the packs picked up some dirt from grubby little kid hands like mine.]

#19 - Gerry Moses (NYY)

Gerry Moses' stint with the New York Yankees was very short, and already over by the time this card was released.  Moses didn't play for the Yankees in 1974.  He was traded during spring training to the Tigers, yet didn't have a card in the Traded set.  So, along with Paul Popovich, (card #14), I'm adding a new "Traded with no Traded Card" label.  I'm wondering if the Traded set had its own deadline for making the set.  Moses played all of 18 games in 1973 for the Pinstripes, 17 at catcher, and one at DH.  The following year, 1975, was his last in the bigs, and played a mere 7 games split between the Padres and White Sox.

I remember this card from when I was a kid, but nothing stood out about it other than it was a baseball card in my set.  Of course, when you play behind Thurman Munson, you might not get much playing time at all.  And just how his Moses' first name spelled anyway?  This card says "Gerry," but the Baseball Reference [dot] com website spells it "Jerry."  I typed in "Gerry" and it came up anyway.  Maybe the web designers at BR had the same question and decided to allow both spellings get to his stats.

Cartoon:  Wow, small world, to play sandlot ball with Archie Manning.  What I wonder about Manning is why he would wear a football uniform playing sandlot ball.  Maybe Moses is the one who convinced him that he had a brighter future on the gridiron.  Don't look now, but I think Pig Pen grew up in their neighborhood, too.

Ballpark background:  I really can't figure out where this photo was taken.  It's likely that it was at a Spring Training facility of another Grapefruit League team, given the Yanks' road threads.  There's a chain link fence at the stands, and there's no warning track before the fence.  I've never seen a big league park like this, so I'm giving this card the spring training location label.

#15 - Joe Torre (STL)

Joe Torre held a rather dubious (or should I say sad?) major league record.  As player and manager, Joe participated in more games than anybody else in history without ever being in a World Series.  Until the Yankees beat the O's in the 1996 ALCS.  As manager, Joe cried.  Literally.  He then won four of the next five World Series.  It's actually a bit of a touching story.  As much as I hate things Yankees, Joe Torre is maybe the least offensive thing to ever live in the Bronx Zoo.  I actually developed respect for him over the years.

Joe's picture here looks like he's just accidentally downloaded some chin music to his iPod.  He's bending backward, having just avoided a stint on the DL, and his bat shows no signs of going around to get a strike call from the ump.  A few things to notice here.  Joe has 2000 career hits at the printing of this card.  Joe was a multiple position player for nearly his entire career.  Starting out as a catcher, he later took up first base, being C-1B for years.  Then he switched from 1st to 3rd to be a C-3B, then later to 1B-3B, with most of his games at third.  In '73, Joe flipped to mostly first base for the remainder of his career.

Cartoon:  Joe certainly has MVP numbers in '71.  Like batting .363.  But, his trophy looks more like an urn.  There's a lid with a handle on top.  Wonder what goes inside?  Whatever the design, Joe really loves it, as we can tell by the cartoon.  I wonder if he takes it to bed at night.  I never saw one like it in Little League.

Ballpark background:  Joe is wearing a gray uni, so the Cards are on the road.  I'm not familiar enough with Shea Stadium's dugouts, but this is a dugout, and I can see box seat bars on each side of Joe's waistline.  This gives me inclination to guess Shea Stadium, but I'm not totally sure.  So, I'll label this as "undetermined" and maybe come back to it later in the set in case I find other cards similar enough to convince me one way or another.

#11 - Jim Bibby (TEX)

   

Okay, card lovers.  I admit I don't like early era Ranger uniforms.  I know the font selected is trying to give a pioneer days, Texas ranch feel.  Not great on baseball threads.  Either way, Bibby looks like business.  This is a good pose and he looks like a really solid athlete.

Jim's glove is a bit worn, and he's got the old fashioned open wrist strap type.  No designed hole to stick your finger through.  The grass behind him is a bit shoddy for today's standards.  Groundskeeping has come a long way in the last two decades.  Being traded from the NL to the AL during the '73 season, Bibby is one of the first players to lose his batting privileges due to the DH.  He pitched a no-hitter against the A's in '73 and became a member of the We Are Family, Buccos championship team of 1979.

The '74 season was Jim's workhorse year, starting 41 games and going 19-19.  That's 38 decisions, folks.  He was just one win and loss away from being both a 20 game winner and a 20 game loser.  Imagine a 20-game winner with a record under .500.  Man, baseball has changed.

A personal note on card graphics here.  I had a 20 year career in architecture, so I know a bit about hand drafting.  This original card border was drafted by hand, most likely with a pencil, and reproduced a bit on the primitive side.  If you look at the upper right curved piping, you can notice that the drafter didn't put the circle template down correctly, as the arcs fall just short of the straight lines.  In the lower left, the opposite occurs.  The arcs overshoot their tangent.  The line value also changes around the card, especially where lines meet arcs.  Today's computer software designs just don't have that.  If I were a high school drafting teacher, the Topps graphic artist would get a B-.  Okay, enough of my geekiness.

Cartoon:  Jim's brother played with the NY Knicks?  Wow.  It's one thing for family members to play baseball, it's another to split sports.  Notice that each cartoon character is left handed.  Conspiracy?

Ballpark background: Here, Jim is having his picture taken at Yankee Stadium during the 1973 season, likely August 7th (a twi-night double header) or 8th (day game).  He was traded from St. Louis to Texas after the Rangers' first visit to the Bronx Zoo, so this pic was likely taken on their last visit.  It's an overcast day, so time of day is hard to pin down.  The tiny crowd in the bleachers may indicate either Yankee futility or early afternoon warm-up photos.

#9 - Mickey Lolich (DET)

Uhm, what can I say?  This is Mickey Lolich.  I always liked Mickey.  I always associated him with the '68 Tigers championship team, where he won three of their four WS games.  I had his '71 Topps card in my shoebox, and for some reason I just loved it.  He has a very similar pose on the two cards: the my-followthrough-just-stopped-and-I'm-waiting-to-see-if-the-batter-hits-a-line-drive-at-my-head pose.

Here, Mickey is donning the Tigers' new road uniforms, with the orange "D" on the cap, and the added piping and blue and orange striping.  In my opinion, this is a major downgrade from their classic road uni's.  The Tigers also adopted the double knit polyester pullover pajama uniforms, with the elastic waistband and no belt.  Mickey was a switch-hitting pitcher, a very rare breed indeed.  I also notice a drastic increase in sloppy penmanship from his '71 autograph to the one here.  Mickey is also the first player in this card set to weigh 200 lbs or more.

Cartoon: Mickey relaxes by riding a motorcycle?  So does Jeff Kent.  Times have changed in just a few decades with guaranteed contracts - and their severe off-the-field activity clauses.  These days, a player riding a motorcycle is grounds for contract termination and Tweet humor.

Background ballpark: This picture was taken at Comiskey Park.  Notice the break in the double decks in center field, and the scoreboard.  I also love the arched openings that so define Old Comiskey.  Also notice what appears to be two-tone grass just behind his back, and a sliver just off his right shoulder.  In the early 70's, Comiskey Park had a bizarre playing surface configuration.  Astro-turf in the infield, and real grass in the outfield.  Foul territory had a seam between grass and artificial turf stretching from first and third bases to the stands.