#135 -- Vada Pinson

Vada Pinson







About 25 years ago there was an older fellow that had a ball card shop in Springfield, Missouri (near where I live) had a piece in the paper about something he'd done in his store called the Call of Fame. He's taken a wall in his store and put up something like plaques for ballplayers who were really good, but not quite Hall of Fame worthy. I remember Ron Santo being there as well as this guy. When the best players of the 60s are rattled off, there were so many great outfielders (Aaron, Mays, Clemente, Frank Robinson, Rose, Clemente...and that's just the National League) that Vada Pinson gets lost.

On Baseball-Reference's Hall of Fame indicators list, he falls just short. When you look at the career comparable players, you see a lot of other guys who would make what I call the Hall of the Pretty Dang Good, guys like Dave Parker, Steve Garvey, Al Oliver, Johnny Damon, Bill Buckner, Willie Davis, along with a couple of Hall of Famers (Roberto Clemente, Zach Wheat) a borderline Hall of Famer (Bernie Williams) and Steve Finley. The comparables by age are Al Kaline, Roberto Clemente and Cesar Cedeno. So Vada's in pretty good company.

Vada ranks 47th all time in hits with 2757 and had a career OPS+ of 110 (he didn't walk a lot). He was an All-Star only twice and once was 3rd in MVP voting. Vada was a great complimentary player. He was the centerfielder for the Reds through the 60s with league average range. He had double digits in assists most seasons, which meant he had a good enough arm to throw guys out, but not such a good arm as to keep guys from trying to take an extra base.

The Reds traded Vada in 1968 and he then bounced around from the Cardinals to the Indians, the Angels and finally the Royals, where he ended his major league career in 1976. He had a long coaching career afterwards, finishing up with the Marlins in 1995. He passed away in 1995 at the age of 57 following a stroke.

This card is obviously an airbrushed Indians photo into an Angel uniform after the trade to the Angels. It's another in a long series at that time taken in Yankee Stadium.

I wish that older fellow still had his card shop. It wasn't one with a bunch of display cases full of jersey cards, etc. He just had boxes of older cards from the 50s, 60s and 70s all over the place. That would be a great place to spend a week now.......

#133 -- Joe Keough

Joe Keough



I'm blessed with a last name that's easy enough to pronounce. I can't take any credit for that. We don't get to pick our last names, at least until we get old enough to go down to the courthouse and file for a legal name change or, if you're a woman, old enough to get married. Even then, I think most women pick a husband and get stuck with a name, rather than go out and marry someone to get his last name (except for the gold-diggers who like the last name "Trump", et. al.)

Joe Keough didn't get blessed with a name easy to pronounce. I remember when I was a kid being stumped on this one. KE-og didn't sound quite right. If I looked at it today, it might be pronounced the same as "cough." But, for those of you that don't know, it's pronounced KEY-oh.

Joe was a really talented guy who was drafted in the 2nd round (21st overall selection) out of high school by the old Kansas City A's in 1965. That was the year the draft was begun, so Rick Monday was the A's first draft choice. In the same round, 15 picks later, Johnny Bench went to the Reds.

Joe rose through the A's system fairly quickly. It wasn't difficult then because, although there were guys like Campaneris, Bando, Jackson, Hunter and Fingers coming along, there wasn't much at the major league level blocking him. It wasn't like he was a first baseman in the Cardinal organization. Joe made it up in 1968 after Charlie Finley moved the team to Oakland. He gets to debut as a pinch-hitter in the 2nd game of a double-header in Yankee Stadium leading off the bottom of the 8th with the A's trailing 3-2. This is a pivotal early August game, with the A's holding a 2 1/2 game lead over the Yankees for 5th place. Lindy McDaniel, a pretty good reliever is pitching, but Joe takes him deep to tie the game. At this point, Joe is on pace to break all records with a career OPS of 5.000. (For those that care, the A's went on to win the game on a 10th inning RBI single by Reginald Martinez Jackson.)

Joe only hit .214 that year, but I suppose it was impressive enough to be the #4 selection by the Royals in the expansion draft. Joe spent most of his time with the Royals as a 4th outfielder/pinch-hitter. He hit .322 in 183 at bats in 1970, but quickly tailed off in 1971 and 1972. His playing time tailed off as well. He was traded to the White Sox for Jim Lytle. He played in 5 games, batting once, grounding into a double play.

Joe is probably more famous now for being the brother of Marty Keough and uncle of Matt Keough. Matt followed Uncle Joe into the A's organization and had a few good years as a starting pitcher whose arm Billy Martin could blow out. He then married a 1980 centerfold model (no, it's not a centerfold picture...it's safe to click the link) and moved to a ritzy neighborhood near Irvine and had a short and unceremonious tenure on the Real Housewives of Orange County.

Looking in the background behind Joe and over his left shoulder is a guy wearing what looks like an Oriole hat. Is Dave McNally spying on the Royals?

#124 -- Yankee Rookies (Closter, Torres, Hambright)

Alan Closter

Rusty Torres

Roger Hambright

The Yankee farm system of the 1990's was what got them their late-90's success by developing guys like Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte. That same farm system helped continue the playoff success through the early part of the 2000's by causing other teams to overvalue Yankee prospects because they were Yankees. The Yankee farm system of the 40's and 50's (including the Kansas City A's) was responsible for the success in the 50's and early 60's, largely because there was no draft and the Yankees could send out superscouts like Tom Greenwade out with suitcases full of money to sign guys like Mickey Mantle, Elston Howard and Bobby Murcer.

That led to the institution of the Amateur Player Draft. The Yankees didn't adjust well for a long time. As a result, their farm system really sucked in the late 60's and 70's. This card is an example. None of these three guys were major contributors, but they were Yankees....

Al Closter was signed in 1965, but drafted and sold before he made his big league debut with the Senators in 1966. He wasn't ready, as he came late into the O's blowing out the Senators. He gave up a double, walked 2 (including pitcher Moe Drabowsky) and got light-hitting Luis Aparicio on a fly to deep center. The Senators let him go back to the Yankees rather than keep him on the roster. He came back in 1971 and had his most time, going 2-2, 5.08 in 1 start and 13 relief appearances. He gave 5 runs on 5 hits (including homers to Mickey Stanley and Norm Cash) in his only start. In 1972, he only got into 2 games and didn't come up to the Yankees in 1973. Late in the season, he was the Player to be Named Later in the deal that brought Pat Dobson to the Yankees from Atlanta. The Braves decided to put him on the expanded roster to see what they got. After 4 games, 4 1/3 innings and 7 earned runs, they decided they'd seen enough. Al pitched at AAA in 1974 and 1975 before giving it up. But, Al's in the Syracuse Baseball Wall of Fame and I'm not.

Rusty Torres had the best career of these 3. He was signed at age 18 and slowly worked his way along until things clicked for him in the minors when he turned 20. He had a cup of coffee in 1971 that led to all kinds of great predictions because he hit .385 in 26 at bats over 9 games. He struck out looking in his first game against Pat Dobson (1 of 3 strikeouts that day). Rusty never fulfilled that promise. He was a journeyman that hit .212 in parts of 9 seasons in the bigs.

Rusty, however, appeared in three of the oddest and most infamous American League games of the 1970's. On September 30, 1971, he was the Yankee right fielder in the last Washington Senator game before they moved to Texas. Rusty was 1/4 in the game. He was also walking to the on-deck circle when the fans rushed the field with 2 outs in the 9th causing a forfeit.

Fast forward to June 4, 1974. Rusty is a bench player for the Indians and comes to pinch-hit in the 9th. The Indians are at home and trailing the Rangers 5-4 when Rusty is summoned to bat. He singles and moves Ed Crosby to 2nd with 1 out. Alan Ashby follows with a single to load the bases. Crosby then scored on Johnny Lowenstein's sac fly and Rusty was the winning run on 2nd with 2 out and Jack Brohamer coming up to face Steve Foucault. He never got to bat. Fans, likely affected by Cleveland's Ten Cent Beer Night promotion, stormed the field, stole MVP Jeff Burroughs' glove and the game was forfeited to the Rangers. This link has a great description of the night, complete with Ranger manager Billy Martin ordering the team to arm themselves with bats to storm centerfield to save their comrades. Think I'm kidding? Check out the picture showing some of Billy's Batwielders escorting Burroughs to safety. (That's Jim Spencer on the left and I don't know who's on the right.)

Guess what happened July 12, 1979? Rusty is now with the White Sox who are hosting a doubleheader against the Tigers. Rusty goes 1-3 and scores the lone run as the Sox lose to Pat Underwood. Here's the link to Game 2. Rusty didn't play. Nobody played. Comiskey became unplayable between games because it was Disco Demolition Night. The Wikipedia account is kind of funny, especially noting that Sox broadcasters Harry Caray and Jimmy Piersall were commenting in Game 1 about strange people roaming the stands. Stranger than the ones in the press box?

I wouldn't be surprised if Rusty hadn't been in Comiskey a few years ago when that redneck and his son jumped Royal coach Tom Gamboa.

Roger Hambright had a much more sedate career than Torres, but had more substance than Closter. Hambright was up most of the second half of 1971 pitching out of the bullpen. He went 3-1 with 2 saves and a 4.39 ERA that wasn't very good back then. He got off to a good start, with 3 scoreless innings and a win in his first 2 appearances. In his 3rd, the Yanks took a 1 run lead in the top of the 12th, so he was positioned to get another win. The White Sox tied the score and had a runner on 2nd with 2 out and Carlos May coming up. Ralph Houk decided to walk May to get to Bill Melton. Anybody remember Bill Melton on a card so far in this set? A three-run homer later and Hambright has his first big league loss. Roger had a couple of more good years in the bullpen in the minors before not doing well in 1974 (arm trouble, perhaps?) and ending his career at the ripe old age of 25.

No 1972 feature here. I think I've brought up enough 1970's culture here!

#122 -- Larry Biittner

Larry Biittner







For a long time in the 70's I misspelled Larry's last name. I'm sure I wasn't the only person that didn't put in the second "i". On Google, there are about 5,640 results for "Larry Biittner" and about 1,100 results for "Larry Bittner". I don't know if there are very many other ballplayers with such a large percentage of hits for the wrong spelling.


Larry, or "Butch" as he's supposedly known (story to follow), was a solid contact and average hitter that didn't have a lot of pop. He had 2-3 years when he played full time, but was usually a part-time player and pinch-hitter. Believe it or not, but at 3, 31 .259, he was one of the Rangers' best hitters in 1972. He hit .315 in 1975 for the Expos and .298 for the Cubs in 1977, but never hit more than 12 homers and never had an OPS+ over 117.


Biittner had his only 2-homer game in a Cubs 23-6 win over the Padres in May 1977. On July 4 of 1977, in the 1st game of a doubleheader in Chicago against his former teammates, the Expos, he took to the mound in a game the Cubs were trailing 11-2. He promptly gave up a 3-run homer to Larry Parrish. He also got taken deep by Ellis Valentine and Andre Dawson, none of which would be an embarrassment. I don't know what he was throwing, but of the 4 outs he got, 3 of them were strikeouts. He struck out pitcher Jackie Brown after Parrish homered. OK, he's a pitcher, big deal. Well, he also struck out Del Unser and Larry Parrish to end the game.


I don't know how to run the report (Andy.....), but I can't believe there are very many non-pitchers who have struck out more than 3 in a game in the last 40 years. For all Biittner did with the Cubs and Reds, this has to be one of his most unusual accomplishments. However, this is a guy that really loved playing ball. In doing my Google search, I found this article about a softball player that marvelled at the "old" guy playing 3rd base next to him and homering often...finding out it was Larry "Butch" Biittner.


1972 Feature
Friday, June 23, 1972 was a big day on the schedule. Steve Arlin followed up his June 18 2-hitter by throwing a 1-hitter at the Giants, beating them 4-1. The only hit came on Garry Maddox' 1-out triple in the 2nd and he scored on a sacrifice fly.


Nolan Ryan threw a 2-hitter at the A's, beating them 2-1. The A's only hits were a 1st inning solo homer by Reggie Jackson and Dave Duncan's 7th inning single. However it took an 8th inning Bob Oliver homer to win the game for the Angels. This win set Ryan on a 5 game winning streak where he didn't allow more than 3 runs or 6 hits in any of those games. None of those were the no-hitters, but I have a feeling we may see him again in this section.....


This date also became a big day in the Watergate saga. It was on June 23, 1972 when President Nixon and H.R. Haldeman were taped formulating a plan to cover up the break-in. The tape didn't come out until August 1974, but it was enough to put the final shovel of dirt on the Nixon Administration. I'm sure they didn't know it at the time, but it's a good lesson. If there's something going on bad, you might as well fess up, because someone will find you out.

#117 -- Cleo James

Cleo James

Sometimes there's a card comes up where the player or the subject (like the Billy Cowan "halo" card or the Billy Martin "finger" card) has been written about enough that there's just nothing fresh to write. Sometimes there's a card comes up of someone I could write for hours on end how great they are, like Willie Mays. Sometimes I'll research a lesser known player and find a lot of stuff that's interesting for me.

Then sometimes there's a guy comes up like Cleo James where it's hard to find anything. Cleo didn't have a long or distinguished career, but he was obviously talented and kept at it. I couldn't find anything on what Cleo did after baseball (which I usually find interesting). But for every All-Star like Jim Fregosi or Hall of Famer like Harmon Killebrew, there are dozens of guys like Cleo James that get more than just a taste of the big leagues, but don't do enough to really leave memories. Here goes...

Cleo made the Dodgers' Opening Day roster in 1968 as a 27 year old rookie. He'd had 2 years at A, AA and one year at the AAA affiliate in Spokane for seasoning. His debut was to pinch-hit for Tom Haller against Bob Veale of the Pirates, who was a tough lefthander. Cleo struck out. His first hit came in his next at bat, almost a week later, against Al Jackson of the Mets. He only got one start that year, striking out in 3 at bats against the Reds. He was back in the minors by May 10 and was later dealt to the Cubs.

He came back to the big leagues with the Cubs in 1970, playing some centerfield and pinch-hitting. He hit his first homer off Bruce Dal Canton of the Pirates, and ended up with 5 for his career (all-time leader for big leaguers named "Cleo.") Oh, and like the cartoon on the back shows, he liked to play ping pong.

1972 Feature

June 15, 1972 had a light schedule, with only 6 games on the schedule, including the Pirates sweeping a doubleheader from the Giants in Pittsburgh. The Giants won the West last year and with this doubleheader loss they have the worst record in baseball. Things don't get better for them

The Game of the Day is in Anaheim. Vince Colbert threw a gem. He was matched up against Clyde Wright of the Angels. Colbert came in 0-4 and Wright was 5-3. However, Colbert shut the Angels down on 5 hits and 3 walks. Graig Nettles knocked in Ray Fosse with a 4th inning double and that was the only scoring through the 9th. The Angels threatened in the bottom of the 9th. With 1 out they've got Ken Berry on 1st and Vada Pinson on 3rd. Rookie Leroy Stanton, acquired in the Jim Fregosi trade, came up.

Colbert, however, met his best friend once again that day. Stanton grounded into a 6-4-3 double play, one of 3 the Indians turned that day which allowed Colbert to finish off the shutout. Today, he'd never have been allowed to make it that far, but here he was allowed to pitch through the jams.

Born on June 15, 1972 were 3 big leaguers: Ramiro Mendoza (who had a good couple of years and then flamed out), Tony Clark (who seems to have had a better career as a part-timer than a starter) and Andy Pettitte (still a big-time contributor with the Yankees).

# 112 -- Greg Luzinski

Greg Luzinski









At 6'1", 215 pounds, Greg Luzinski was a big, burly slugger who didn't move around all that great in the field in the early 1970's. For comparison, Rick Ankiel is listed at 6'1", 210; Hideki Matsui is 6'2", 210; and Vernon Wells is 6'1", 230. I don't think any of those guys would be nicknamed "Bull" but Luzinski was thought of as a mountain of a man back then.


As you can see on his card, he had an outstanding minor league career. He destroyed the PCL in 1971 at Eugene after wreaking the same havoc in Reading the year before and with the beloved Durham Bulls before that. From what I remember of the old park in Durham in law school, it wasn't an easy place to hit 31 homers.


Some guys really hit a wall when they go from the thin air of the PCL to the big leagues. Luzinski adapted very well, hitting 18, 68, .281 in his first full season with the woeful Phillies. By the time the Phillies started winning in 1975, he established himself as a 30 homer, 100 RBI and .300 hitter at a time when that was the elite of the league. I'd honestly forgotten how good his numbers were then. He started tailing off in 1977 and never regained that form. He became a White Sox DH in the 80's. I remember when they won the AL West in 1983 there was a lot of discussion about whether Ron Kittle or Luzinski would have to play the field if the Sox made it to the Series.





Now, he runs a stand at the ballpark in Philadelphia called Bull's Barbecue. I guess now that I've plugged him and Manny Sanguillen, I'll have to find a photo when Boog Powell's card comes up.


In the comments, the Dean Family (of the 1980 Topps blog) reminds of the Bull's Miller Lite commercial from 1988 where he imitates John Daly (before Daly hit the limelight). I had to go back and put this in.




1972 Feature
On June 10, 1972 the A's beat the Tigers 5-2 in a preview of the ALCS. The A's improved their record to a league best 33-13 and opened up a 5 game lead in the West. The Twins had been close, but were fading fast. Today's Game of the Day shows this continuing to happen.


The Twins came into this game in Cleveland having lost 6 of their last 8 since June 1, when they were only 1.5 games behind the A's. Dick Woodson is cruising and has the Indians shut out on 3 hits through the first 7 innings. The Twins innocently pushed 1 across in the 4th when Rod Carew scored on a double play grounder after tripling. That was the only run through 7. In the bottom of the 8th, Del Unser gets it started by dropping down a bunt. An RBI double by Jack Brohamer tied it and, after an intentional walk to Alex Johnson, singles by Chris Chambliss and Buddy Bell make it 4-1. Steve Mingori comes in and goes through Cesar Tovar, Carew and Harmon Killebrew to close it out. The Indians aren't going anywhere, but the Twins pretty well insure they aren't either by dropping their 7th out of 9.

#107 -- Jose Cruz

Jose Cruz








Guys don't put tape on tehir bats much anymore. However, in the days before everyone used 2 batting gloves, that was the way to keep your hands on the bat. I remember doing this some as a kid. I also remember callouses from swinging a bat a lot in the vacant lot next door. Jose looks like he's not needing the batting gloves here.


A lot of people forget that Jose came up with the Cardinals and that he finished with the Yankees. After the 1974 season he was sold to the Astros. The Cardinals were so-so at the time, but with an outfield of Lou Brock, Reggie Smith and Bake McBride there wasn't any room for Jose. That deal sure didn't work out for the Cardinals, because he went on to have 14 good years with the Astros.


In 1972, Jose was platooning with Luis Melendez in the outfield. The Cards were trying to find playing time in center and right for Jose, Melendez, Bernie Carbo and Matty Alou. Jose still got to play about half the time. But with the emergence of Bake McBride, he was out.


What I remember most about Jose was the Cardinal organization was ga-ga about the prospect of 3 Cruz brothers in the majors, kind of like the Alous. However, his brothers -- Tommy and Hector -- never really made it big. Hector lasted a few years (after failing miserably to replace Ken Reitz at 3rd) and Tommy bounced around.


Jose is still coaching with the Astros. He'll never make the Hall of Fame, but he was a solid player for a very long time.


1972 Feature
There were only 2 games on June 5, 1972. Both ended with 3-2 scores. My Game of the Day will be the A's over the Indians in 10 innings. They scored 2 early runs on Gaylor Perry, who then shut the A's down until the Indians scored in the 7th and 8th to send it to extra innings. Bert Campaneris hit a 2 out homer in the top of the 10th. Blue Moon Odom and Darold Knowles put down the Indians in the 10th to close out the win.


June 5, 1972 was also the day Mike Coolbaugh was born. He died on the field in Little Rock almost 2 years ago after being hit by a batted ball. Now, all field coaches wear batting helmets. It was a horrible loss of what everyone has said is a great guy.

#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.

#82 -- Ron Woods

Ron Woods

I don't know much about Ron except that I seemed to get a lot of his cards and I was glad he didn't play for my team. I don't know what I had against Ron, but I think he just didn't look like he was confident and in control. While it's almost a "night card" it also looks like he's gazing longingly at Gene Mauch, "Put me in, skip. I'll hit it."

When I did research about Ron, I didn't find much. Many of the "hits" had to do with him being traded from the Yankees for Ron Swoboda. OK. Swoboda was at the end of his career. Many of the rest of the items I found were Yankee fans bemoaning the bad teams of the late 60's and early 70's and Ron playing centerfield was one of their arguments. He played center about half-time for a year and a half and hit .205. I feel your pain.

Playing in Montreal from 1971-1974 was the best time of Ron's career. He wasn't bad in 1971-72 and his OPS+ was actually above 100. He had his most at bats against Steve Carlton and even hit .302 against him.

There's not much else that really stands out about Ron, so he can now fade back into obscurity.....

Speaking of sinking into obscurity..... RIP 2009 Duke Blue Devils. Better luck next year.

#69 -- Roger Freed

Roger Freed

Roger had a monsterous minor league career. Check out those numbers as he came up the ranks in 1968 (31, 103 .289), 1969 (22, 90 .298 in the Texas League, which has always been a pitcher's league) and 1970 as the International League MVP (24, 130 .334). Nobody likes to do this, but he came back to AAA ball with the 1976 Denver Bears, hitting 42 homers and winning the league MVP. It's a good sign for a major leaguer to be the MVP 6 years apart, but nobody wants to win a second MVP at a minor league level.

I think Baltimore must have recognized Roger's talent being a little one-dimensional as he was coming up. They didn't have room in the outfield for him and sent him to the Phillies for Grant Jackson. Jackson had a good career with the O's, but Roger couldn't get established for the Phils.

The Phils gave him a shot in 1971 with a lot of playing time in right field, but he didn't hit like they'd wanted. I don't think the Phillies would have been disappointed with him finishing 4th on the team in homers as a rookie, but for that number to be only 6 homers (tied with Oscar Gamble, Joe Lis and Rick Wise) was a disappointment. He also didn't hit for average and struck out a lot. His playing time reduced in 1972, sharing time with Tommy Hutton, Mike Anderson and Gamble. He still didn't hit for average, had disappointing power and struck out too much.

He wandered around after that, through the minors with the Indians, Reds and Expos. He even had a year in the Mexican League. After his monster year with Denver in 1976, the woeful Cardinals took a flyer on him in the Rule 5 draft (largely because Vern Rapp had managed him in the minors) and he had a great year as a pinch-hitter (5 homers, 11 walks and only 9 strikeouts in 83 at bats). Did I mention he also hit .398! His production as a pinch-hitter declined and after a couple of more years the Cards released him.

Before being released, he had one of those magic moments. Bottom of the 11th, bases loaded, 2 out. Astros scored three in the top of the 11th, so this is it. Astros have Joe Sambito on the hill, and he's one of the top relievers in the league. The air in the stadium was deflated because Garry Templeton had just struck out for the 2nd out. Freed pinch hits for Jerry Mumphrey as the last chance. Bang! Game-winning grand slam! A loser becomes a winner. Way to go, Roger!

Roger had heart trouble and died at age 49 in 1996. When googling him, I found a link to help find his gravesite, for anyone who's into that.

#62 -- Angel Mangual

Angel Mangual








Angel has the big Topps Rookie Cup on his card. He also finished 3rd in the 1971 AL Rookie of the Year balloting behind Chris Chambliss and Bill Parsons. He played part time in center field for the A's that year and moved over to right and Reggie Jackson played center. He still played part time, but his production fell off.


In the 1972 World Series, the A's were behind the 8-ball a little bit because Reggie Jackson was out. They went into Game 4 up 2 games to 1, but they go into the bottom of the 9th trailing 2-1. Angel got the game-winning pinch-hit off Reds' supercloser Clay Carroll and the A's went up 3 games to 1. Good thing because the Reds won the next 2 games to force Game 7.


That was the highlight of his career. He won 3 World Series rings, but the A's released him in 1976 and that was the end of his big league career. His brother Pepe Mangual played with the Mets and Expos in the 70's.

Looks like his card is taken before a game at Oakland. It looks like the lefthander on the mound is wearing jeans or some kind of dark sweats. I see someone over at third base, so it looks like he might be one of the coaches throwing batting practice. The other thing I notice is that even though the A's didn't draw well despite winning 3 World Series, there's a good number of fans in the lower bowl for the pre-game. The upper deck is empty.


I didn't find much about Angel after his career, except for a mention that he was arrested in Puerto Rico on drug charges in 1997. Hate to see that happen, especially when he was so popular with the A's through the 70's.

#61 -- Cubs Rookies (Burt Hooton, Gene Hiser, Earl Stephenson)

Burt Hooton
Gene Hiser
Earl Stephenson

The Cubbies in this set were in the beginning stages of going through a change. Ernie Banks had retired and had no card in this set. Ron Santo, Fergie Jenkins, Glenn Beckert and Don Kessinger would largely be gone by 1975. We've already seen Bill Bonham's rookie card and he would be in the rotation through the mid-70's. Rick Reuschel would make his debut in 1972. Jose Cardenal came to the Cubbies for the 1972 season.


Burt Hooton is another one of those changes. He was an accomplished college pitcher at Texas and was the Cubs #1 draft choice in 1971. They threw him right in with a start against the Cardinals, but he only lasted 3 1/3 innings and gave up 3 runs, including a solo homer to Joe Torre. He got a couple of more September starts and shined, striking out 15 Mets in a 3-2 complete game win and shutting out the Mets a week later on 2 hits in Wrigley. His next start was on April 16, 1972 when he no-hit the Phillies. Pretty darn good stretch. He ended up 11-14, 2.80 in 1972 and was a big part of the rotation.


Hooton had good stuff, including the "knuckle-curve," but couldn't get over the hump in Chicago. His record and ERA did not improve and he was traded to the Dodgers in 1975 for Geoff Zahn and Eddie (also known as "Buddy" in the 1978 set) Solomon. That didn't work out for the Cubs. "Happy" Hooton went on be a regular part of the rotation for the Dodgers through 1981. He finished 2nd in the Cy Young in 1978, was an All-Star in 1981 and won World Series games in 1977, 1978 and 1981.


Burt is now the pitching coach for the Round Rock Express, the Astros' AAA affiliate. Unfortunately, he hasn't had much to work with lately. On a sad note, his cousin used steroids to try to get an edge in high school and committed suicide because of depression after he went off steroids. The Hooton family now runs the Taylor Hooton Foundation to raise awareness of the dangers of steroids and focused on keeping kids away from drugs.



Gene Hiser was the Cubs' #1 draft choice in 1970 and made a quick jump to the big leagues. Gene was an outfielder from the University of Maryland, but didn't have the success Hooton did. He was a pinch-hitter/defensive replacement in the outfield and never got to play much. In 1973 he appeared in 100 games, but only got 109 at bats. He hit his only homer that year, off Buzz Capra, tying a game in the 9th that the Cubs went on to win.



After his career, he founded the investment firm of Barrett & Hiser, which has now become GCG Financial. So, if anyone's interested in some investments, here's his business bio.



Earl Stephenson played his college baseball for the mighty Campbell Camels of Buies Creek, North Carolina. When I was in law school in the late 80's, Campbell was just going Division I in basketball, so we'd hear about them. I decided one day to drive by their campus. Let me just say that in the late 80's that if you got a haircut in Buies Creek, it might have been from a guy named Floyd, and you'd better watch your step or a deputy named Barney might get in your business. The best former Camel ever in the big leagues? Jim Perry.

Earl was not with the Cubs in 1972. He was part of the Jose Cardenal trade. He got his most career action for the Brewers in 1972, doing reasonably well as a spot-starter/middle reliever, going 3-5, 3.25 (league ERA was 3.01). After the season, he was sent to Philadelphia with Ken Brett and Jim Lonborg for Don Money and a couple of others. It's not Earl's fault, but he was a throw-in on a couple of trades that didn't work out for the team acquiring him......

He gave up 7 homers in his career and not a one was to a slap hitter: Dick Allen (351 homers), Lance Parrish (324 homers), Bobby Murcer (252 homers), Bobby Darwin (83 homers, but seasons of 22, 18, 25 & 13 from 1972-1975), Reggie Smith (314 homers), Willie McCovey (521 homers) & Reggie Jackson (563 homers).

Earl then bounced around the minors and got into 3 games for the Orioles in 1977 and 1978.

#56 -- Rich Chiles

Rich Chiles

There isn't much to write about Rich's career. This is his rookie card. He got some time with the Astros in 1971 and was their top pinch hitter, although he only hit .227. In his rookie year he set the team record for pinch hits (since broken) with 11. He didn't really get any other playing time to speak of until he joined the Twins in 1977. He hit in the .260s with the Twins in 1977-78 before being released at the beginning of Spring Training 1979.

Hard to tell much about where this picture is. About the only place Topps was taking NL pictures with turf was Candlestick, but this doesn't have a Candlestick feel to me. The guys in the background are wearing Houston road uniforms (these were the boring uniforms before the great stripes that started around 1975). Also, I don't know why, but when I saw his photo it just screamed, "I didn't know John Schneider hit left-handed." (Disclaimer: You can now see why I'm a lawyer and not in graphic arts. I verily stinketh at photoshop/paint. That's supposed to be an Astro hat I drew on John Schneider/Rich Chiles.)

There are two other things I've found about Rich that are more interesting than his playing career. His cousin was Hall of Famer George Kelly, a first baseman with the New York Baseball Giants. I'd have to admit that would have been cool growing up to know you were going to have Christmas and Thanksgiving with a former big league ballplayer (Kelly didn't make the HOF until 1973). It also would have made a cool cartoon on the back of his card, with Rich looking at Kelly (with a pillbox style hat) and having a word balloon saying, "Hi, Cuz!" (I'll not try to draw the cartoon in Paint.)

I'd read in a geneology article (ain't Google great!) that Rich was managing the family farm after his baseball career. Then a September 2008 Boston Globe article credited Rich with being one of Dustin Pedroia's first hitting coaches, when Pedroia was about 7. Again, wouldn't it be kind of cool that an MVP's family would remember you as the child's instructor.

#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.

#31 & 32 Cleon Jones w/ In Action

Cleon Jones










Cleon Jones is a big guy in Mets’ lore. In 1969, he hit .340 to lead the team to an improbable Series and used the Nippy Jones trick to show shoe polish on the ball to convince the umpire to let him take first base as a hit batsman in Game 5 of the Series.

Cleon was one of the best all-around outfielders the Mets would have until Darryl Strawberry. He drew some complaints from the front office for supposedly having a cavalier attitude and being lazy (he was once pulled off the field like Jimmy Rollins), but when you're a star, you can get away with it. However, in 1975 some of his attitude met up with owner Donald Grant’s, uh, disappointment at being caught with drugs and a white woman to whom he wasn’t married. I only add the part about the woman being white because that was important in Grant’s furor. The only baseball Cleon played after that was a month with the White Sox. Still, I think Cleon is beloved to

This is the first in the "In Action" subsets. When you look through this set, almost everything is posed. In the 1971 set, there were several action shots. They went back to action shots in the 1973 set, but the photography on them looks like a 6 year old did it with one of those old Brownie cameras that you look down into the top. The 1973's are often grainy and at a distance. This was the only year that Topps used the "In Action" subset, possibly to emphasize "This is an action shot!" While it was a way for them to get additional cards of popular players in the set (they don't still do that, do they?), as you'll see, it also led to some questionable selections getting additional cards. As a whole, I think the "In Action" subset was a failure, but these cards are contained in all 6 series.

The First Series In Action cardback reminds me of when Little Ralphie Parker got his Little Orphan Annie decoder ring in "A Christmas Story" and the message turned out to be "Drink more Ovaltine." His response: "A stinking commercial" That's how I feel about these cardbacks. There's nothing there but a stinking commercial for the 3rd through 6th series.

Let’s take a look at the “action” going on. If that’s the pitchers mound in the background, then is he going to tag up at second on a fly ball? I guess he could be running from first to second and that’s the right field bullpen mound. Not a lot of action there.