#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. 

#26 - Bill Campbell (MIN)

Bill Campbell played for seven teams over 15 years.  This card appears just after his rookie year.  This photo was taken while Bill was a rookie.  Looking at his career, Bill got screwed out of possible World Series rings by both Bucky Dent and Don Denkinger.  Did you know that Denkinger was the home plate ump for the Bucky Dent game?  I'm not sure that's even a coincidence, but it struck me as interesting just long enough to type it.  Bill pitched in one World Series, in 1985 with the Cards, and appeared in three games.  He relieved John Tudor after Tudor got rocked for 5 runs in 2.1 innings in game 7, a day after Denkinger's botched call.  What a relief appearance.  Hey, Bill, you're down by five runs in the World Series after the ump tossed it for us.  C'mon in and hold'em while we rally to win.  Of course, that's no big deal.  The Angels came back and won under similar circumstances.  Oops, sarcastic jab from a recently less disgrutled Giants fan.

Notice Campbell's vitals.  He's 6'-3 1/2".  I've never noticed a 1/2" mark on anybody's height before on a card.  Heck, I'm 5'-10 1/2" and I always round down to 5'-10".  Like on my driver's license.  His BR page says 6'-3", so I'm going with that.  Maybe Topps was bored the day they did Bill's card.  Maybe Topps was experimenting with a new card design software package and was fiddling with the stacked fractions feature.  No?  How would you know?

Cartoon:  Bill operated a radio in 'Nam.  So did Robin Williams.  Robin Williams is a Giants fan, so I doubt he likes Bill.  But one never knows.  Plus, Williams is more funny by default.  I'm sure when Robin Williams and Billy Crystal go to a game together, they talk about Bill in 'Nam.  Old school mic.  Say, didn't Radar carry a radio on his back in M*A*S*H*?

Ballpark background:  Oakland Coliseum, no doubt about it.  I like Bill's Twins uni, too, set against the green seats of the Coliseum.  I think it would be funny if the artist airbrushed "Twinks" on his threads to see if anybody would notice.