132 -- Joe Morgan

Joe Morgan





When I was a kid, there was always a vacant lot next door. In fact, I had a vacant lot next door to me until I was 27 and bought a house. That meant that a little boy that liked baseball spent a lot of time mowing those vacant lots so he'd have a place to play baseball. I usually didn't have neighbors that played baseball, so I spent a lot of time by myself. I'd throw up the ball, hit it and then use my imagination to fill in the gaps on what happened based on where the ball went. Of course, I'd run through actual lineups, meaning I had to learn to bat left-handed. It also meant that I had to learn batting stances.

Bobby Tolan and Carl Yastrzemski held the bat very high. Roy White started his hands down below his waist when batting left-handed. Willie Stargell whipped his bat around several times.

But there was no more distinctive batting stance than Joe Morgan's chicken wing. I suppose it must have been a timing trigger. But to see a guy standing there pulling his elbow up to his body....I don't know. I know as a 9 year old I thought I'd broken a rib once when I pulled it too far and too quickly.

Morgan gets card number 132. How's that for respect for a future Hall of Famer? And it's not like this is an early card. He was going into his 10th season in the big leagues. But he was a lifetime .263 hitter and his 162 game average was a thoroughly unimpressive 12 HR, 51 RBI with 36 SB and OPS+ of 121. The Cincinnati years (1972-1979) were much better: 162 game average of 22 HR, 86 RBI, 57 SB, .287 average, OPS+ of 147 and 2 MVP awards.

Needless to say, in the 60's, he was seen as just another really good second baseman, but in the 70's, he got better (power increased and strikeout rate decreased) and he was seen as the best second baseman of the decade. What happened? My best supposition could be that he got different coaching when he got to the Reds, but how many 10 year veterans really change much based on what coaching they get? More likely he's hitting 3rd, behind Rose and Griffey and ahead of Bench, Perez and Foster, both of which meant he was going to see more fastballs.

I think Morgan gets a bad rap now. His playing career is largely overlooked and he's just seen as some arrogant broadcaster. He's got reason to be arrogant, but the only complaint I have is that he seems to have developed a Tony Gwynn-like addiction to doughnuts. It's hard to look at either Gwynn or Morgan and believe they stole 50 bases.

There's a bonus player standing in the distance behind Morgan. This is a 1971 regular season shot, rather than a spring training photo. That's Astro catcher Johnny Edwards. The only other possibility is that this is in Cincinnati and that's Red backup catcher Pat Corrales, because the Astro and Red uniforms from a distance were similar. Still, I'm going with Edwards.

#130 -- Bob Gibson

Bob Gibson

Bob Gibson and Lou Brock were my first favorite players. As such I still have a soft spot in my heart for Gibby. In fact, I'm currently passing time on my treadmill (no, not as I write this, but during this time period) watching Game 1 of the 1968 World Series. Gibby doesn't really look as intimidating as I remember, but I don't see a lot of Tigers getting good swings, either.

Gibson went to college at Creighton in his native Omaha, playing basketball and baseball. I have no doubt that he would have been top of the line in football, volleyball, lacrosse or any other sport he chose to master. When he was a kid, no one would have imagined a career as an intimidating Hall of Fame pitcher, college basketball player and Harlem Globetrotter. Gibson was sickly. He had ricketts, asthma, pneumonia and a heart murmur. Still, he was as dominating in high school and college as he would be in the National League.

His Wikipedia page said he was one of the stars of the late 50's Globetrotters. I don't know how correct that is, but it says he could hammer down backhanded dunks. I do believe the line that says he left the Globies because he got tired of the clowning. Gibby is a competitor and there's no competition in beating the Washington Generals night after night while running tricks.

When initially called up, he butted heads with Cardinal manager Solly Hemus, but Gibson made the starting rotation and stayed there for the duration of his career. I was surprised to see that he only has 251 career victories. He had several years where he just didn't get the wins commensurate with his level of pitching. For example, he was having a good 1967 going into July 15 game against the Pirates. He was 10-6, 3.52 with 119 strikeouts in 138 innings. Roberto Clemente led off the 4th inning with a smash back to the box. It hit Gibson in the lower leg and Clemente got a single out of it. He then walked Willie Stargell, got Bill Mazeroski on a fly ball and walked Donn Clendenon before they figured out Clemente's liner had broken his freaking leg! I guess Gibby was human with a broken tibia. He came back in early September and went 3-1, 0.96 in 5 starts where he allowed 2 runs once. He then went 3-0 with a 1.00 ERA and a home run against the Red Sox in the Series. Wow.

However, his stretch from 1968 (actually you could have begun it after the July 15, 1967 game against the Pirates....he was 6-1, and an ERA under 1 in 8 starts) through 1970 is similar to what Sandy Koufax had done a few years earlier and what Greg Maddux did in the mid-90's. He was 65-29, 2.13 ERA and 811 strikeouts in 913 innings in 103 starts those 9 years. That means he averaged 8.86 innings per start in a 3 year period. He had 20 shutouts in those 103 starts and 79 complete games.

In 1968 he had a stretch where he completed 19 out of 20 games. The game he didn't complete, he was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the 11th inning of a 13 inning loss. I know. You've got to be thinking, "What a wuss. Suck it up and give a little of yourself." I'd say Red Schoendienst had a lot of guts to pull him. In that stretch of 20 starts, he had 12 shutouts (5 in a row) and gave up 17 earned runs in 182 innings. His 1968 season was absolutely stupid and part of the reason now we have lowered mounds, juiced ballparks, juiced balls and juiced bats.

I'll put my respect and admiration for Gibson this way: The first National League game I ever got to see was Sunday, September 26 against the Expos. A fellow in my small town would take charter buses to St. Louis or Kansas City for a baseball game for about $15/head. My dad took me on a lot of those. This one was a big deal because it was my first Cardinal game and Bob Gibson was going to pitch. I was really hyped up. When we got to the Stadium, they announced the starting pitcher would be Darryl Patterson. Who? Dad, why isn't Bob Gibson pitching? Something about the Cardinals being out of the race. I was so PO'd about not getting to see Bob Gibson pitch that when I got home I found Darryl Patterson's 1971 card and promptly wadded it up. I'll have to look to see if I still have it and post a scan. I guess I had a little bit of Gibby's temperment as a 7 year old.

1972 Feature

July 13, 1972 was a Thursday and a light night on the schedule. In 6 games there were 4 shutouts. Gibson didn't pitch for the Cardinals, but Reggie Cleveland threw a 2-hitter at the Braves and won 2-0.

The Game of the Day was division leaders Pittsburgh (with Steve Blass coming in at 10-2) going against 12-2 Gary Nolan and the West division leading Reds. Cesar Geronimo got the Reds' first run with a 5th inning homer. Pittsburgh hadn't done much to that point, but they started getting with it. They loaded the bases, but Nolan struck out Richie Hebner to strand 3 in the 6th. Nolan then struck out Stargell and Hebner in the 8th to leave a couple on base. Bobby Tolan got a sacrifice fly in the 8th to give Nolan a little bit of breathing room. Clay Carroll pitched around a 9th inning single to close it out.

#100 -- Frank Robinson

Frank Robinson

When we get to the World Series subset (sometime in 2014 at the pace I'm going), I'll be able to share how Frank Robinson fits into my oldest baseball memory. As it is, he's one of the most underrated players in baseball history. When his name is mentioned now, it's more going to be associated with being the first black manager, taking over as manager of the 1988 Orioles and leading them to losses 9-20 to begin the season or doing a surprisingly good job with the Expos/Nationals.

Frank is the most underrated player of the last 50 years. He's a biscuit short of 3000 hits, has 586 lifetime homers (retired #4 on the all-time list), won a Rookie of the Year, 2 MVPs and a Triple Crown. Yet in a discussion of the greatest players, greatest right fielders, or even greatest Orioles, he seems to be forgotten.

Frank was a fierce competitor, whether as a player or a manager. I don't think you really wanted to get in his way. I heard stories about his time as a manager when he'd catch somebody jaking it. His intensity as a player was so fierce that Gene Mauch supposedly started fining any Phillie pitchers that brushed him back because his response would be to pound the ball mercilessly.

We all know the Reds traded him to the Orioles after the 1965 season. Red Owner/GM Bill DeWitt (father of Cardinal owner Bill DeWitt, Jr.) defended the trade because Robinson was an "old 30." Robinson had the greatest season of his career in 1966 winning the Triple Crown, his 2nd MVP and a World Series ring for the Orioles. Although DeWitt was gone from Cincinnati, I'm sure Frank got some satisfaction from helping the Orioles to a sweep in the 1970 World Series.

Frank had quite a career. He started as a high school teammate of Bill Russell (the Celtic, not the Dodger) and is still involved in the Commissioner's office. The Reds honored him as the Grand Marshall of their Opening Day parade in 2009 and he's still revered in both Cincinnati and Baltimore. However, no matter what he ever does, he's always going to be known for being baseball's first black manager. How did he do with that? He led the Indians to a winning record in his 2nd year (one of only 2 winning records in non-strike years between 1969 and 1985). He eased himself out of the lineup in 1975 in favor of Rico Carty at DH, but his first at-bat for Manager Robinson allowed Frank to lead by example. He homered off Doc Medich.

Frank Robinson deserves to be remembered not only as a black manager, but simply as a great baseball player.

#80 -- Tony Perez

Tony Perez

There are many of the Topps sets where the player's position is noted on the front. Off the top of my head, it's hard to think of one where it isn't mentioned. The 1972 set doesn't have the player's position on the front, but they do have it on the back. I say that because when I mention "Tony Perez" the position most usually associated with him is first base. At this point, he'd been a regular with the Reds for 7 years, so he was fairly well established.

From 1967-1971, Tony played third base for the Reds. Looking at the stats, he was roughly league average, which surprises me some. I don't remember him being a great fielder, but I suppose this goes to show he was a good athlete. The Reds were playing Lee May at first, and there sure wasn't anywhere else he was going to play. When the Reds made the blockbuster deal with the Astros (May, Tommy Helms and Jimmy Stewart for Joe Morgan, Cesar Geronimo, Denis Menke and Jack Billingham -- who got the best of that?) in addition to picking up a lot of talent, the Reds cleared a spot to move Perez to first.

Tony had great RBI numbers. Of course, he had Pete Rose, Joe Morgan and either Bobby Tolan or Ken Griffey hitting in front of him. I'm convinced Enzo Hernandez could have hit 4th or 5th for the Reds and driven in 80 runs. Tony wasn't a loud guy who called attention to himself. He just went along and did his thing without a lot of fanfare.

The Big Red Machine suffered a blow when the Reds traded Perez to the Expos to open up playing time for Dan Driessen. That was in 1977. The next time the Reds went to the World Series was 1990. Driessen was good, but he wasn't Tony Perez good. It's true that Perez was a 10 year vet at the time and he was going to start winding down, but for the next couple of years his numbers were still better. Woodie Fryman and Dale Murray didn't really do a whole lot for the Reds, either.

I always liked Perez as a player, but I don't think he'd make my Hall of Fame. He had good lifetime numbers, especially RBI, but he just doesn't hit me in the guy as being a Hall of Famer. He was one of those guys, like Ron Santo, Dave Parker and Andre Dawson who was consistently far above average, but not dominating. Oops. I mentioned that I don't think Ron Santo should be in the Hall. I should know better than that with all the Chicago readers I have. Please forgive me guys!

Oh, and Mario had a bad encounter with Tony.

#79 -- Red Sox Rookies (Garman, Cooper, Fisk)

Mike Garman

Cecil Cooper

Carlton Fisk

Here's one of the best multi-player rookie cards you'll find. All 3 had good major league careers, 2 were All-Stars and 1 is in the Hall of Fame.

Mike Garman didn't have a long Red Sox career. The Sox kept bringing him up but not for long, even in years like 1972 when they didn't have much in the bullpen. However he wasn't really putting it together. The minor league numbers on the back were also kind of unspectacular. However, when he was traded to the Cardinals, he put up a couple of good seasons and was the right-handed complement to Al Hrabosky. Then the Cardinals traded him for Don Kessinger. Whoops. However, Garman went downhill, too. He had another good year in 1977 and threw a scoreless 5 innings in the playoffs that year.

Cecil Cooper. What I remember most about him is a unique batting stance. It took him a while to establish himself as a semi-regular in Boston. Originally he would get platooned and not play against lefties. He was a great hitter. It didn't matter what anybody threw at him, he hit it. He got traded to the Brewers because there just wasn't any room for him, Jim Rice and Yaz in Boston. It opened up playing time for him and he finally got to play full time. He's 2nd or 3rd in most Brewers lifetime hitting categories. Of course, he's now the Astro manager.

Carlton Fisk. Everyone knows him for the big homer in the 1975 Series. He was a lot more than that. He was somewhat of a surprise as the Red Sox catcher in 1972. He hit 7th or 8th most of the year, despite winning the Rookie of the Year and finishing 4th in the MVP voting. He had early injury problems, but overcame that to be extremely durable. If it weren't for Yaz, he'd have been the face of the Red Sox franchise during the 70's. I have to say, I also remember him for the commercial where he was splitting wood in his flannel shirt hawking Skoal. I guess it was better than cigarettes, but looking back it's probably not the best product to endorse.

I have to show it:

#51 & 52 -- Harmon Killebrew & "In Action"

Harmon Killebrew





Harmon Killebrew was one of the gentlest big men to play in the big leagues. He's 2nd all time for most AL homers. Anytime Babe Ruth is the only person ahead of you on the leaderboard, you're a stud . By this time in his career, Harmon was declining. But I'd have to say that he's still the best Minnesota Twin in their history, with only Rod Carew close by.


This makes back to back Hall of Famers. If you want to count Harmon's appearance on John Ellis' "action" card, this is 5 cards in a row with Hall of Famers. Pretty good run.

Harmon wasn't big, only 5'11". But he hit some of the farthest homers around. Legend has it that an Idaho senator tipped off Clark Griffith about this guy who was hitting .847 for a semi-pro team. That's pretty good. That's even better than I hit in my heyday of playing co-ed softball and refining my stroke to hit it to the girl in right field that didn't want to be there. Harmon signed and, under baseball's Bonus Baby rule, had to spend 2 years on the big league roster. He made his debut 6 days short of his 18th birthday. He wasn't ready. It wasn't until 1958 that he was ready to play.

OK, it's Hall of Fame time. You've got a guy with 573 lifetime homers, at the time #5 all-time (Aaron, Ruth, Mays, F. Robinson), 1 MVP award and 5 other Top 5 finishes, 11 time All-Star, lifetime OPS+ of 143 and 8 40-homer seasons. In or out? In Harmon's first trip on the ballot, he was named on only 59% of the ballots. Bob Gibson was the only inductee and future HOFers that didn't make it that year included Don Drysdale, Hoyt Wilhelm, Juan Marichal, Red Schoendienst, Jim Bunning, Nellie Fox, Richie Ashburn, Orlando Cepeda, Luis Aparicio and Bill Mazeroski. Harmon, with his credentials, didn't make it until the 4th ballot. There's no doubt that "The Killer" was a shoo-in Hall of Famer, but you can see that the voters at that time were very protective of who got enshrined in Cooperstown. I fall into that same crowd and think the HOF is for the very absolute best of the best.

The "action" card could be one of two things. Either Harmon has just nailed one that's headed for parking lot or he's popped up to the catcher. Either way, even though he wasn't a tall guy, he looks like a giant the way Topps framed this card. I think it's great. Harmon lives in the Scottsdale area now and does a lot of charity work, including a golf tournament every year in the name of his former Twin teammate Danny Thompson, who died of leukemia.

Harmon's one of those guys who isn't just a Hall of Famer ballplayer, he's a Hall of Fame person.

#49 & 50 -- Willie Mays & "In Action"

Willie Mays







There is not enough that I could say about Willie Howard Mays. Even though we spell our last names different, I was disappointed as a kid to be told that we weren't related. If you ever saw me play baseball, there would be no question.

It's hard to name one person as the Greatest Player of All Time. This debate came up when Bonds was putting up great numbers in the early part of the decade, but the consensus was still that until some great hitter could get on the mound and win 100 games, the nod has to go to Babe Ruth. After Babe Ruth, there's quite a debate. This guy is one that figures prominently.

Talk about 5 tools. Could he hit for average? Lifetime .302 average brought down considerably by his last few years, but he was a good .320 hitter for the bulk of his career in a tough hitters park. Could he hit for power? 660 home runs with a year of his prime spent serving his country. That number places 3rd on the legitimate home run list (with Griffey at 611 and Thome at 541 unlikely to catch him). Could he run? Stolen bases are not the only criteria, but 338 career stolen bases are good. He went 30-30 twice when that stat meant something, missing by 4 homers of being the first 40-40 man in 1956, 8 years before Canseco was born. Could he field? His range factor was consistently above the league average for center fielders. He could get a jump on a ball. Please remember his catch in the 1954 Series rather than the misjudged fly ball on the track in the 1973 Series. Could he throw? In 1955 he had 23 assists and by 1959 guys stopped running on Willie. The only thing said to be better than his catch in the 1954 Series was his throw into second that kept Larry Doby at third.




He had some pretty impressive minor league numbers, as you can see on the back of his card. He only hit .393 in 455 at bats overall. But look at his numbers in 1951 in St. Paul. You might have a guy hitting .477 after 4 or 5 games on a very occasional basis, but that was Willie's batting average after 35 games. Of course, he'd already been playing in the Negro Leagues, so going to the minors was probably a step down for him. If he hadn't essentially missed all of 1952 and 1953, I think there would be no question but that he would have had 700 lifetime homers. If that were true, Hank Aaron wouldn't have passed him until sometime in 1973. Would Willie have tried to play in 1974 at that point? Who knows? Probably a good thing because he didn't have much left. In 1973 he hit .211 with 6 homers. He had an OPS+ of 81, the only time since his rookie year it dipped below 120 for a full season. Sadly, it was time to go.


I only got to see Willie play once. It was in the 1973 All-Star Game in K.C. I'll never get tired of thanking my dad for taking me on a bus trip to see that game. Sparky Lyle struck him out as a pinch-hitter in the top of the 8th. He was in a Met uniform. Didn't matter, because I'd gotten to see Willie Mays play. I took my son to our local minor league park when it opened to a capacity crowd in 2005 and made sure he was sitting on my shoulders (as a 10 year old....) on the outfield berm so he could see Stan Musial throw out the first pitch. I hope my son looks back on that moment someday the way I look back on having had a chance to see Willie Mays play in person.


I'm glad they gave Willie a good "action" card. One of the things he was known for was hustling and I love the shot. It looks like he's gone from first to third on a single and is sliding just because he wants to. Even at this age, I'm sure Willie could outrun any throw from the outfield not made by Roberto Clemente. If you can't tell, I idolized Willie Mays. It's been a little more difficult as he's gotten older, had the Bally's "scandal" in the 80's and been in a position of having to defend Barry Bonds lately. If you look at this entire set, you're going to find my favorite ballplayers are going to be Willie, Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente, Lou Brock and Bob Gibson. Here's to you, Willie!

#37 & 38 -- Carl Yastrzemski

Carl Yastrzemski

If Rico Petrocelli is a Red Sox hero, here's a guy who's in the Red Sox Pantheon of Gods. He’s a Hall of Famer, but on a back field in Spring Training in the main card. I think at this time the Red Sox were in Winter Haven, FL. (They shouldn’t complain….when Babe Ruth played for them, Spring Training was in Hot Springs, AR. Of course, that may have been so Mr. Ruth could play the horses.) Looks like the same dumpy place Rico Petrocelli was, without the other player in the background.

Yaz looks young on the main card. I remember him more from the mid-70's when he'd gotten the older and harder look to him. The card pose is the classic batting stance, which I like. The only complaint about the card is the cartoon on the back. If it's talking about him leading the league in assists, why does it show him making a catch? Would it have been too difficult to draw an infielder tagging a guy with the ump in the background making an out sign with the infielder having a word balloon saying something like, "Thanks, Carl!!"?

During a stretch in the late 60’s, Yaz was as good as anyone in the League. He was hitting .300 in 1968 when no one else in the AL could. He was hitting 40 homers when the mound was high and pitchers ruled. He was also the best defensive left fielder of his day and was remarkably consistent at the plate.

OK, the photo on the action card isn’t horrible. Looks like Yaz has smoked one on a hit and run. Is that Munson behind the plate? It looks like he's got dark Yankee colors, but that could also be Billy Freehan of the Tigers or Ray Fosse of the Indians.

Think about Yaz’ career. He replaced Ted Williams in left field for the Red Sox. How does it go replacing a legend? Ask Gene Bartow when he was at UCLA or Bobby Murcer following Mickey Mantle into centerfield. Sometimes no matter how great you are in your own right, it'll never be good enough.

Yaz was one of the few that could follow a legend. Then, Jim Rice replaced him in 1975, as Yaz moved to DH and play 1B until 1983. Just think, from about 1939 until 1986 the Sox had 3 regular left fielders and all of them were dominant MVPs during their career (Mike Greenwell was looking good to extend this. For a while). And now, they’re all in the Hall of Fame.