#56 - New York Mets (NYM)

These guys are the 1973 pennant winning Mets.  The ones that played the A's in the World Series and almost won.  They had the worst record of any team to finish in first place in a long time.  I think the Padres matched their 82 wins here a few years back.  I think.  The East was bad in '73, but maybe it's because of the rise of the Dodgers and Big Red Machine, clobbering the Eastern teams.

Looking at the records on the back of the card is a bit funny, too, because the Mets are a fairly new team even in this year.  They had a lousy first seven years, so not many good records came from that period.  If your all time homer record is 34, then it shows that you're an expansion team.  No player had ever knocked in a hundred runs, either.

One big note for me here is that Willie Mays appears in this photo.  He's located the second from the left in the second row, just 45 degrees up and left from the trainer who is wearing white.  Willie retired after the 1973 World Series, and completed a great career.  The Giants trading him back to New York where he started his great career is not uncommon with the all-time greats.  Babe Ruth returned to Boston, and Hank Aaron returned to Milwaukee.

Cartoon:  None

Ballpark background:  I am unable to determine right now where this photo was taken.  There looks like some object between the shoulders of the fourth and fifth player from the left in the back row.  Maybe it's some kind of light or other pole type thing that existed at Shea Stadium, but I don't have the energy to start looking right now.  If one of my readers can identify this object (even if it's flying) then great.  Otherwise, the ballpark is undetermined.

#36 - St Louis Cardinals (STL)

One of the things that immediately stood out to me as I read the back of this card was that the great, all-time Hall of Fame name of not only one of the Cardinal greats of all-time, but one of the all-time greats, Stan Musial, is completely missing.  Huh?  What!!!???  Yeah.  There's Hornsby, Brock, Medwick, and Mize on the offensive side, and Dizzy Dean and Bob Gibson on the pitching side.  Stan the Man?  Yoohoo, where are you?  Wow.  Have all of his great feats been surpassed by one player or another over the years?  This is hard to believe.

For some reason, the Cardinals of the 70's don't register too well with me.  I looked at and played with those cards just as much as I did the other teams, but those teams just didn't click with my inner kid.  I recognize all the players just like any other team, but the teams didn't make as much of an impression.

Cartoon:  None.

Ballpark background:  This photo looks like spring training with the big palm tree in the background.  There are scores of onlookers behind the team, and it wouldn't surprise me at a Grapefruit League event.  Team photos taken during the season in a team's home park usually occur with empty stands in the background.

#16 - Baltimore Orioles (BAL)

This is the Oriole team (mostly) of lore during my youth.  The pitching staff was simply amazing year to year.  Jim Palmer, Mike Cuellar, Dave McNally.  I'm sure that during my youth, baseball cards had a greater influence on forming an image of players as to their greatness than great players had in forming an image of their baseball card.  I played with, shuffled, organized, re-organized and everything else with my cards so often that they became part of me.  Kids are so impressionable.  Hey, Boog Powell, Bobby Grich, Mark Belanger, Brooks Robinson, Andy Etchebarren.  All those outfielders couldn't have shared three spots, could they?  These names are etched in my memory forever.  My eyes immediately run to Mark Belanger and Paul Blair at the end positions of the back row.  Simply glancing at their form gives me a glimpse of great baseball from the 70's.  This particular team won the AL East in 1974, as they did in '73, with losses to the A's in the ALCS.  No doubt revenge for 1971.

Yes, the O's used to be the St. Louis Browns before they moved to Baltimore in 1954.  And they originally started out as the Milwaukee Brewers at the formation of the American League in 1901 before moving to St. Louis in 1902.  And the Baltimore Orioles team that was part of that original league moved to New York in 1903 and became the NY Highlanders before changing their name to the Yankees in the teens.  It's odd to see the Brownies' names on the back holding all-time team records.  Some of the all time greats. 

Cartoon:  Team photo's don't have cartoons on the reverse in this set.  But if they did, I'm sure they could come up with some odd piece of trivia or ten on Earl Weaver.

Ballpark background:  With their home uniforms on and everybody assembled in one place, I'd guess that this was taken at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. The shape and deck layout, along with the pronounced upper deck tunnels all look like Memorial Stadium.  A lot of great Oriole baseball was played there from 1954 to 1991.  The team won the four pennants shown on the back of the card, plus 1979 and 1983 in their old yard.  If you look closely at this picture, you can see Stabler to Casper in double overtime for a touchdown in another great Raiders playoff victory.  This is the first Oriole card in the set, and I'm guessing that there aren't too many photos taken at this venue.  I never got to see Memorial Stadium, and I regret it.