#41 - Bobby Floyd (KC)

Who?  I remember this card from my youth, but never really thought much of it.  I simply don't have a place in my memory for Floyd. Bobby finished his career just one homer shy of Duane Kuiper.  This was his last card, as he played his last game in June of '74.  Notice his three different names.  His full name is Robert, his card goes by Bobby, but he signs Bob.  There is a discrepancy between the stats on this card and Baseball Reference.  His '73 season shows him going 25 for 78 with a .321 average.  BR gives him an additional hit, 26, for a .333 clip.  Who has the typo?  Was there even a typo?  Could a scoring decision have been reversed after his career was over, giving him an additional hit?  Bobby was traded from the Orioles in mid-June in the 1970 campaign, depriving him of a World Series ring.  He didn't play much at all for the O's that year, having only 2 at bats.  He picked it up in KC at the old Municipal Stadium, hitting .326 in a limited role the rest of the way.

This is the first card in this set of a second baseman.  Forty-one cards in.  And it's not a full 2B card, as Bobby is a utility player who splits time at another IF position.  I have a dummy post that I placed earlier in the set to act as a temporary place holder for labels that haven't been used yet.  So right after I post this, I need to go in and wipe it out from that dummy post.  If you click on the Dodgers team label or the DH position label in the lower right margin, this dummy post will show up.  I think I'm correct that there is still one team yet to appear, the Dodgers.  I know there hasn't been a DH position yet in this set, so after those are done, my dummy post will have served its usefulness.

Cartoon:  Evidently, Bobby never used his hobby against opposing pitchers.  Otherwise he might have broken Hank Aaron's record.

Ballpark background:  Oakland Coliseum.  Where else?  It leads the ballpark backgrounds so far in this set, according to my label list that is keeping count.  Which park will win it all in '74?

#17 - Doug Bird (KC)

Doug played the first half of his career with the Royals.  He later played for the Phils, Yanks, Cubbies and BoSox.  Doug had the misfortune of playing for pennant or Workd Series winners just a year or two shy of that team actually winning.  Doug played against the Yanks in the three ALCS between 1976-78.  He beat NY in one '76 playoff series, and lost one to the Yanks in the '78 ALCS.  The Royals won the pennant in 1980.  He played for the Phils in '79 (1980 WS champs) and the Yankees in 1980 (1981 AL champs).

At 6'-3", Doug is tall, but at only 175 lbs., he is skinny.  Bean pole.  You don't see players like this anymore.  Tim Lincecum may come the closest to what used to be much more common.  Doug's sideburns look good enough to toss on the barbecue.  I think I saw him walking down the street in an episode of Streets of San Francisco when I was a kid.

Cartoon: Again, this cartoon wouldn't happen today with the restrictions in the contracts.  I've never seen somebody ski in a baseball uniform, and have certainly never seen such short poles.  Maybe his legs acted as poles.


Ballpark background:  Here, Doug is posing for a shot at the Oakland Coliseum.  The grass looks a bit dry in the area where his teammates are playing.  I fully remember those huge scoreboards attached to the light towers behind the bleachers from my youth.  I may even be able to figure out what the advertising is if I give it enough thought.