#55 - Frank Robinson (CAL)

Uh, what do I say?  Well, let's start out with a total bummer.  Frank's first ten years in the major leagues was as a Hall-of-Fame outfielder in the National League, but with the complete misfortune of having three other outfielders named Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Roberto Clemente in their glory years outshadow him at nearly every turn.  I mean, what more can you do than start out with the all-time rookie HR record and never look back?  Short of being Babe Ruth, not much.  And if his NL days weren't enough, his first year in the AL with the Orioles, he won the bleeping triple crown.  I'm not talking about just any triple crown, I'm talking about .316/49/122 in the pitching dominated late 60's.

But to give Frank the credit he deserves, one could talk for years.  I don't have time to do that here.  But I will say I enjoyed seeing him up close as skipper of my Giants in the early 80's.  Frank gave the umps quite a bit of his mind, and other things, when necessary.  Frank didn't have the best managing career, but he had some bad teams.  But 16 years of that after a HOF career as a player is really quite a combination and fairly unheard of.  Frank was hired as the first black manager in baseball back in the mid-70's with Cleveland.  That it took nearly 30 years from Jackie Robinson to Frank Robinson is still a head-scratcher.  Frank was traded in Sept of the 1974 season, and although late, I'm still including Frank's card in the "Traded with no Traded Card" category.

One of the things I really like about cards like this is all the small print on the back.  It means "full major league career."  Frank certainly had that.

Cartoon:  Well, nobody else does, because Frank watches movies standing up.  He is blocking everybody else's view.  You can tell by the look on his shadow's face that he's enjoying this Western.  Of course if Frank played today, he'd have an in-home theater room where he could watch without bothering anybody else.

Ballpark background:  Not a clue.  It appears as if Frank is wearing a home uni, but the Angels had a very light colored gray road uni that might look white in the sun.

#50 - Rod Carew (MIN)

Rod was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1991 for his great career with the Twinks and Halos.  He had some huge glasses on at his induction.  You know, those 80's deals that were way too big?  Those made him look mighty preppy.  Carew played 2nd base for the first half of his career, and 1st base generally the rest.  This '74 season would be his last as a full-time second bagger.  In '75, he played mostly 2nd base, but had about 15 games at first.  In '76 he was a full-time first baseman.

I remember the image of Carew most in a Twins uniform, but saw him play mostly as an Angel.  As I recall, he had a sweet swing.  Either case, this guy could hit.  He collected his 3000th hit in his last year with the Angels.  His '73 season was his first of four 200 hit seasons.  I wonder if anybody back then in '74 had somebody like Carew pegged as a future 3000 hit Hall of Famer?  I probably didn't.  But heck, I was ten. 

Cartoon: If Rod were truly one of baseball's finest bunters, then he would be holding the bat without his fingers wrapped around the bat exposing them to the 98 mph heater coming at him.  Additionally, Rod bats left, but bunts right?  The player in the cartoon also seems to be a white guy.  I think I recalled that the cartoonist must have been left handed.  I just reviewed the cartoon on Manny Sanguillen's card, and danged if he ain't a left handed catcher.  Even though, this cartoon shows a good bunt laid down.


Ballpark background: The small stands behind the plate indicate that this photo was from spring training. 

#40 - Jim Palmer (BAL)

Nineteen seasons in the big leagues, six World Series appearances, three rings.  I'd say Palmer belongs in the Hall of Fame, for sure.  He was the center of a great Baltimore pitching staff of the late 60's and 70's.  He also did underwear commercials, and the chicks dug him.  Or is that digged him?  My spell checker is placing a squiggly red line under the word digged, so maybe the chicks dug him.  I remember great matchups between the A's and O's in my childhood: Blue, Odom, Hunter and Palmer, Dobson, McNally, Cuellar.  Never were it an easy task to beat the Orioles.  The A's took them down twice in the '73 and '74 ALCS, and the O's won in '71.  I remember this card when I was a kid, but somehow the image isn't what I remember about Jim Palmer.  Maybe it's the shadow from his hat that crosses his eyes.  I don't know.  Either way, it wouldn't have been easy to get a hit off him.

Cartoon: What happened in game 11?  How lucky were his socks then?  Did this have anything to do with underwear?  Socks are classified as underwear, right?

Ballpark background: Palmer is wearing home whites, and the batter's rump is in road gray.  The blueish fence in the background is consistent with other Oriole players in this set whose card photos were obviously taken at Memorial Stadium.  So, that's what I'm guessing.

#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.

#29 - Phil Niekro (ATL)

What can I say about a Hall of Famer with a 24 year career?  He started out in Milwaukee two years before they moved to Atlanta.  Phil's knuckle ball was the thing that made him famous, and his knickname was "Knucksie."  He is brother to Joe Niekro, and uncle to short lived Giants first sacker Lance Niekro, who isn't known for throwing knuckle balls while having it around the infield.  Phil never made it to a World Series, and only played in two NLCS, losing both of them with the Braves.

His uni is a bit odd, I think, as he's wearing a pullover top with a belted pant.  I've never liked these Braves threads in my life, not even in 1974.  Phil tossed a no-hitter in 1973, the year this photo was taken, and probably after the photo was taken, as he threw it in August.  Phil had one of those classic multiple team careers where he finished with the team he played for the longest or first.  Although he only pitched three innings for the Bravos at the end of his career.
Cartoon:  I think it probably turned out for the best that neither played football.  I guess one could infer that they didn't play either baseball or basketball with each other.  Havlicek's got a nice haircut.

Ballpark background: This was taken at Shea Stadium.  That light tower just keeps appearing in all kinds of cards.  And that flag is a bit of a fixture, too.  Notice the Mets player in the background.  This position on the field must have been the photographer's favorite of all time.  So many players regardless of team have appeared here and from this angle.  Or so it seems.

#20 - Nolan Ryan (CAL)

Uhhhhhhm, now how cool is this.  My next card in the set is Nolan Ryan, just a couple of hours at most after the Texas Rangers win the AL pennant.  I didn't plan this either.  I was sitting here uploading the scans and the highlights were on the TV.

Okay, what can I say about Nolan Ryan?  All time strikeout leader with 5714.  Twenty-seven big league seasons, 324 career wins, all time walks leader with 2795, all time record seven no-hitters.  member Baseball Hall of Fame.  Only one World Series appearance, with the 1969 Mets, where he got a ring.  He finished out game 3 with 2.1 innings pitched in a 5-0 Mets win over the Orioles.  This 1974 card came just after his record setting single season record of 383 strikeouts.  As a batter, he had a lifetime .110 average, and hit twice as many career home runs as Duane Kuiper, with two.

Ryan pitched in the radar era, where the speed of his pitches could be measured, even if not on every pitch.  He was the fastest pitcher of my childhood for sure, and I'm certain he would be amongst the top today.  Maybe still the fastest.  I certainly wouldn't want to face him.  Everybody knew he was the fastest pitcher and struck out the most batters.  There were always arguments against him, even for the Hall of Fame because of his W/L record, and how he never played for many great teams.  His long stints with the Angels, Astros and Rangers were with some sub-par teams.  My biggest mistake of his career was staying home from his sixth no-hitter in Oakland because I was sick that night.  I was planning to go sit in the bleachers, like I normally did.

Cartoon:  Nolan sells footballs.  Now nice.  And pricey ones, judging by the tag.  I'm not sure he operates a sporting goods store anymore.  He's going to the World Series and runs a team.  Probably doesn't have the time.  "Hi, I'd like to purchase some Nolan Ryan commons.  Got any?"  "Not in my store, son.  They're all star cards here."

Ballpark background:  I simply can't make out what is behind Ryan.  The blue fence looks like it could be Dodger Stadium, but all the stuff behind it kind of eliminates that.  The background is too blurry.  Are there trees?  People?  I think the Angels played spring training in Palm Springs in the 70's.  Could this be another Cactus League park?  Ryan has an Angels road uniform on.  There seems to be a tunnel over the fence, but what is all the yellow stuff?  Mystery to me for sure.  Any input? [Update: Fleerfan - see comments below - has identified the ballpark in the background as Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.  I'm not very familiar with that old ballpark, especially with all the blurry background in the photo.  But after looking at Fleerfan's link, calling that one out must have been a slam dunk.  So, I'll update my labels for this post.  Thanks, Fleerfan!]

#10 - Johnny Bench (CIN)

One of the greatest catchers to ever play baseball.  Today, Johnny and Yogi Berra are viewed just about as the two greatest ever.  Johnny revolutionized catching with his patented one hand behind the back style.  Not many injuries from foul tips or wild swingers.  And this is the guy flat in the middle of that monster Big Red Machine lineup.  It's enough to be a power hitting catcher, but that fact is overwhelming in knowing just how good a hitter he was.  I hated the Big Red Machine back in the 70's, being a Giants fan myself, but just to be honest, it was a very respectful hatred.  Except for Pete Rose.

Do you get the idea that the Topps editors wanted its collectors to know about Johnny's 1970 and '72 seasons?  I wonder why.  But I'd like to call attention to the double-knit polyester pullover pajama uniform Bench is wearing.  And the half-calf stirrups.  You won't find that in today's game, although it's nice that he didn't pull them up high enough to just see the stripes up the sides of the legs.  Solid leggings look a bit better.  Especially on a player like Bench.  If Johnny ever had an air-brushed card photo, would the artist use Krylon paint?

Cartoon: I didn't know that Johnny sang country music.  He's from Oklahoma, so I could guess that he listened to it.  I wonder if his singing ever started any bar fights.  Say, it looks like the Topps cartoonist had a good job for a while.  Must have been seasonal work.  Did this guy file for unemployment once the season started?

Ballpark background: Johnny is sporting the Reds road uniforms, and the players in the dugout in the background are displaying New York Mets home threads.  My eddicated guess is that this ballpark background is Shea Stadium.

#7 - Jim Hunter (OAK)

Jim "Catfish" Hunter.  Or, simply Catfish Hunter, as I knew him as a kid.  I grew up 20 miles east of Oakland and the A's won their first of three consecutive World Series in 1972 when I was eight.  These came in the middle of five consecutive division titles.  It was a great time to be a kid.  I wasn't old enough to know that the Charlie Finley A's were a tiny blip invaders in a market that had been dominated by the Giants and Mays, McCovey, Marichal, Cepeda, Perry and Bonds.  Their three trophy seasons only produced one season with a million in attendance.  When you're a kid, things like that don't matter.

Catfish would end up in the Hall of Fame, and looking at his numbers from '71-'73 here, it's no wonder.  All the A's players were intimate household names.  Here, he's seen with a mustache, another crazy scheme of eccentric owner Finley.  Finley paid any of his players 50 bucks to grow a 'stache.  In those days, fifty bucks was a lot of cash, so most players joined in.  Finley also relaxed facial hair and hair policies from the rest of baseball.  The A's were also known as "The Mustacheo A's" in the early 70's.  Rollie Fingers grew a handlebar mustache during that time and it became his career trademark.

Finley also started a uniform revolution.  The A's started wearing white shoes in the 60's, along with a bit of color with their yellow vest uni's and green undersleeves.  In 1972, the A's changed their look radically, with the donning of double-knit polyester pullover jerseys and pants without a belt, favoring an elastic waistband instead.  Their hats took the traditional Gothic "A" and added an apostrophe and an "s."  Their official colors were Kelly Green, California Gold and Wedding Gown White.  Announcer Monte Moore always talked about the colors.

This picture of Catfish was taken on a Sunday, as the A's wore white on Sundays and either green or gold the rest of the week.  This 1974 year would be his last with the green and gold, as he had a dispute with Finley and ended up with the Yankees the next year.  Catfish Hunter will always hold a special place in my heart, as such things stick in the mind of a kid the rest of his life.

#1 - Hank Aaron

Henry Louis Aaron. What can you say? This card shows a 20 year career that is just one home run short of the all time record. 713. It must have been a terrible off-season, waiting all that time to get a shot in April. Hate mail by the truck load, much of it racist, with death threats and all. Move over Babe, here comes Henry.

Topps must have been in a slightly awkward position having to plan and announce their new home run king months in advance. Of course, it happened without too much consternation. They couldn't say what date, though, but did it matter to all the kids out there? I remember watching 714 and 715 on TV and getting caught up in the historical occasion. This card in my collection is a constant reminder.

The photograph of Hank leaves a lot to be desired. His smile is a bit too big, and his hat and uniform logos aren't visible. Maybe they wanted a big smile to go along with the occasion. Five other cards show the entire collection of Topps cards in his career to that date (see upcoming posts). The 1974 is by far the worst. It's been great to see Hank turn out to be such a spokesman - statesman, even - for baseball.

Ballpark background: [Update 09-05-10: I always enjoy trying to figure out the ballpark in the background on a ballcard.  This shot appears to have been taken at the 1973 All-Star game in Kansas City.  Notice the scoreboard just behind Hank's head.]