#43 - Jim Wynn (HOU)

Jim Wynn was also known as the Toy Cannon.  This was a rather colorful nickname, and I never knew if he received this because he had a great arm or not.  Maybe he had a bad temper, but his nickname might have more appropriately been the Loose Cannon.  I wonder who gave him that nickname.  Wynn played most of his career with the Astros including his first few when they were known as the Colt .45's.  Jim was traded during the off season to the Dodgers and appeared in their '74 World Series loss to the A's.  This was as close as he would ever come to a ring.  He played for the '77 Yankees, but was realeased during the season.  He was traded for the card previous in this set, #42 Claude Osteen.  Wynn's Trades card will appear next in this blog.

Wynn had some pop in his bat, hitting 291 homers in his career, but batted for a fairly poor average, only a .250 clip.  Each game I did research for to try to pin this photo down had Jim as the 'Stros leadoff hitter.  He hit only .220 in 1973.
Cartoon:  Look at those musical notes just floating by.  That's a sure indication of jazz.  Snapping one's fingers is Jazz, too.  Hey, this guy's also wearing a long sleeve undershirt, just like Wynn in the photo.  Typical Candlestick day game in June or July.  Frigid winds and players wearing sleeves.

Ballpark background:  Here, Jim hits the ball up in the air at Candlestick Park.  I did some research on the '73 game logs between the Astros and Giants to see if I could place this photo to a specific plate appearance, and I couldn't pin anything down on Wynn.  He popped up a couple of times, and flied out to left, and flied out to center a number of times.  There were also some nondescript accounts such as "Wynn made an out to second" where it doesn't say if he lined out, popped out or grounded out.  For all I know, this shot could have been taken on a foul pop that made the stands during an at bat that had a completely different outcome than a pop up.  Judging by the angle of the sun, it's a day game rather than a night game that starts in the summer still in daylight.  There's a Giants player in the background, and by the look of the angle it's probably the first baseman.  Willie McCovey spent some time on the bench against the Astros in '73, and from the logs it looks like this player might be Dave Kingman, as this player is right handed.

#42T - Claude Osteen "Traded" (HOU)

As airbrush jobs go, this isn't one of the bad ones.  This trade has an interesting twist in the 1974 set.  Osteen was traded for the very next card in the set, #43 Jim Wynn.  How often does that happen?  Something that sticks out is that Claude's nickname, "Gomer," which was shown in the #42 card's cartoon, is in the headline here. 


Ballpark background: This photo may have been taken somewhere other than a ballpark.  Osteen's uniform really doesn't look like a uniform.  I'm guessing that his hat that was airbrushed was NOT a Dodger hat, but rather a golf hat, and those trees in the background are on a fairway somewhere.  Just over his right shoulder next to that tree looks like a sand trap.

#31 - Mgr/Coaches Preston Gomez (HOU)

This is the first manager/coach card in this set.  The manager's photo is smaller due to the cut and paste heads of the coaches.  This is just classic ballcard type of stuff.  Off the top of my head, I don't know if the '74 Cubs team card is this way, but I've seen at least one Cubs team card that was made up of all cut and paste heads.  There really aren't stats on the back, but there is a handy little summary of each one's playing experience.  I like seeing the coaching staff, because it places them in time with a team, and there's little to no other stats for coaches.  Managers have their own pages on stat websites, but where would one go for coaches or even bullpen catchers? 

Anyway, I remember little about Preston Gomez, but I do remember hearing his name all the time.  This card probably helped that greatly.  Roger Craig and Bob Lillis have certainly made the rounds in ML history.  I couldn't have possibly known this from this card, but a bit over a decade later, Craig would become one of the most popular skippers for the Giants.  The world of baseball, with it's inside, good ol' boys network is an interesting study in itself.  I wonder if anybody's written a book about it.  Gomez was born in Cuba.  I'm wondering when he came here to the States.  Surely before Castro took power.

Okay, here's the first airbrush job on a non-Trades card.  It's only a small head shot, but notice that Roger Craig's hat has been airbrushed.  He wasn't a coach for the 'Stros in 1973, so Topps took the liberty to paint him up like one.  I 'spect Hub Kittle's probably fairly old by now, being born back in nineteen and seventeen.

Cartoon:  None

Ballpark background:  This looks like a dugout to his right, and the fence has non-major league advertising.  I'm guessing this is spring training.

#21 - Bob Gallagher (HOU)

Bob had a short stint in the majors spanning four slightly active years between the Red Sox (1972), Astros (1973-74) and Mets (1975).  It looks like 1974 was his most active year, with 102 games played.  Most of those games were as late inning defensive replacements.  Bob only had 87 at bats in those 102 games.  Bob was traded to the Giants in March of 1976, but by the looks of it, he never set foot on the field with the Giants.

Cartoon:  Bob's grandfather was active in the majors?  He had a 16 year career between the White Sox and Red Sox.  Pretty dang active if you ask me.  And he got a ring with the 1917 Pale Hose.  Although he had a long career, he wasn't a superstar.  In 16 seasons he hit .264 with only 22 homers.  See Shano Collins' career stats here.  He was a 1B-OF, just like his grandson.


Ballpark background:  Bob was definitely hitting rocks against the backside of a stable in Boone Co., Arkansas.  Arkansas isn't far from Houston, if you take the train.  Looks like he had a real bat.  Carved from some ol' hickory tree, no doubt.  I'm going to give this shot of downtown Manhattan the "spring training" label, despite not knowing if this was from spring training.