Reliving the 1970's with Topps

Tim Cullen  At the time, it was no big deal to get a Senators card in a pack.  They were just another AL also-ran.  But Senators cards are now a relic one step more "relic-y" than the other 1970 cards.  Even if the player is a relative unknown, that Senators label makes the card a little bit special.  There must be more to the story with those deals referenced on the back of the card.   Cullen and Ron Hansen were traded for each other twice in the same year by the same teams.  Cullen was another alumnus of the Seattle and Hawaii PCL teams.  Cullen was the second person on the Joe Coleman rookie card in 1967.   Cullen performed well defensively. He appeared to be mostly a late-inning defensive replacement in 1970.  He played in 123 games, but had only 262 at bats that year.   Previous Post                                     ...

Gil Garrido  Topps spelled his first name with two L's on the front of the card, but with one L on the back.  Garrido's 1971 and 1972 cards are spelled with only one L.   In 1970, Garrido played more games (101) than in any other year, reached his second highest career average (265) and hit his only home run.   Garrido's PCL teams were the Tacoma Giants and the Phoenix Giants. It was the same team.  They just moved from Tacoma to Phoenix in 1966.   Previous Post                                                           Next Post First Post

Bob Miller   Bob Miller defined the term "journeyman" during his career. The back of this card lists 4 major league teams.  There would be six more. As this card appeared in packs, Miller was long gone from the Twins, having been traded in December to Cleveland in the deal that brought Graig Nettles, Dean Chance and Ted Uhlaender  to the Indians in exchange  for Luis Tiant and Stan Williams.  Miller also played for the White Sox and Cubs in 1970.  He missed the chance to return to the playoffs with Minnesota in 1970, but the endless series of transactions would allow him to play in the 1971 World Series with the Pirates (he had previously played in the World Series in 1965 and 1966). Miller had a good year for the Twins in 1969, as they won the division under manager Billy Martin. But Miller was not mentioned in the Pennington biography of Martin. CORRECTION - Miller was discussed on page 174 regarding a controversial Billy Martin pitching decision in the 1...

  Ken Rudolph      This is the first Cub card in the 1970 set, even though all other teams had 1 or 2 (or even 3) by this point.  Rudolph's Tacoma team had been the Salt Lake City Bees until after the 1965 season, when they moved to Tacoma to become the Cubs - replacing the Giants' farm team that left town simultaneously. The Cubs remained in Tacoma as a Cub affiliate through the 1971 season. They won the 1969 PCL championship just after Rudolph's year with them in 1968. Rudolph played in 20 games for the Cubs in 1970 and batted exactly 100. He rejoined Tacoma for part of 1971.  He was part of a committee of catchers that partially replaced Randy Hundley as the 1970s began.  Previous Post                                                                   Next Post First Post  

Dave Johnson Johnson's fame has taken a back seat to the better known teammates of his era, such as the 20 game winning pitchers, the Robinsons, Boog Powell and Earl Weaver.  I am sure that he does not mind.  In 1970, Johnson achieved a then career high batting average of 281. He played all five games of the World Series, batting 313 and walking 5 times.  Previous Post                                                 Next Post First Post  

Roberto Pena By the time this card appeared in packs, Pena had been traded to Oakland.  Oakland traded him in May 1970 to Milwaukee, where he played the majority of the season. He never appeared on a card as an A.  Even though he played on the San Diego Padres of the PCL, that team did not become the Padres of the National League.  The PCL Padres moved to Oregon where they retained their affiliation with the Phillies. In October 1968, the new National League Padres drafted him away from the Phillies/PCL Padres through the expansion draft.  Previous Post                                                                 Next Post First Post  

  Jack Aker I am not sure what uniform he is wearing here, but it is not a Yankees uniform. I think that the airbrushing conceals an A's uniform and cap. Three different PCL teams. All of them apparently affiliated with the Kansas City A's.  The Portland Beavers were a charter member of the PCL in 1903.  Aker missed being a teammate of Satchel Page in Portland by two years. But Aker and Page may have been teammates with the A's in 1965 for one game. In 1969, the Pilots traded him to the Yankees in mid-season for Fred Talbot.  This trade received a fair amount of ink in Bouton's book.  Aker was AL Fireman of the Year in 1966.  In 1970, he achieved an ERA of 2.06 in 70 innings. Previous Post                                                                              ...

Tito Fuentes     Fuentes was noted for his defense and his speed.  His 1970 season was good, as he exceeded his lifetime batting average. He played for the Phoenix Giants in 1968 and 1969. Phoenix hosted the team until until after the 1997 season, when they were replaced by the major league Diamondbacks. Prior to 1966, the Tacoma Giants were the Giants' triple A team, where Fuentes played in 1964 and part of 1965. The Tacoma Giants moved back to Phoenix in 1966, where they had played before 1960.  They eventually changed their name to the Phoenix Firebirds.  Previous Post                                                                               Next Post First Post 

George Lauzerique   This card would be Lauzerique's last.  1970 would be Lauzerique's last major league season.  He was traded to the Pilots on December 7, 1969.  The same deal brought Diego Segui to the A's. Lauzerique pitched in 1970 for the Brewers (and endured a 6.94 ERA).  He was traded to the Cardinals at the end of the 1970 season.  He never appeared on a card for the Pilots, Brewers or Cardinals. December 7 was apparently too late for Topps to put Lauzerique on a Pilot or Brewer card. The Pilots moved to Milwaukee after that date.  A baseball team had time to move to a different city, even though Topps would not have time to change the label on 30 cards .  Lauzerique's PCL team was the Vancouver Mounties in the next-to-last year of their time in Vancouver. They would move to Salt Lake City in 1970 and leave Vancouver without professional baseball until 1978.   Previous Post               ...

  Dick Allen Allen played for the 1964 Phillies that barely missed the World Series.  That alone would be a claim to fame, but Allen would have many others in his career.  Allen played for the Cardinals in 1970, but they used an old photo (probably air-brushed) from his time with the Phillies.  The trade happened in October 1969.   The trade is now famous because it included Curt Flood who refused to report to the Phillies and challenged the reserve system with failed litigation.  Free agency was about six years away at this point. Tim McCarver and Cookie Rojas (and others) were also part of this trade.  The Cardinals later sent Willie Montanez (and another player) as compensation for the loss of Flood. Allen would be traded or released many times in his career due to problems that are now glossed over by those with an agenda to get him into the HOF.  A brief look at Allen's stats makes one wonder why so many teams would release him or trade ...

Mike Nagy         Mike Nagy received rookie honors from Topps, had a very good winning percentage and a low ERA, but there were warning signs even on the back of this his first card. His so/bb ratio was below 1. His IP/bb ratio was below 2.  His numbers got worse in 1970, as his ERA went above 4 and his so/bb ratio continued to be below 1.  He suffered through injuries and inconsistency for the rest of his relatively short career.  Previous Post                                                                          Next Post First Post  

  Mack Jones The comment on the back is correct in referring to Jones as a "slugger."  His production declined in 1970.  He would be released in mid-1971.   Previous Post                                                                    Next Post First Post

Dick Drago This card is Drago's first stand-alone base card.  He was featured on a three-person rookie card the year before. There would be many more over the rest of the decade and beyond.  Drago had a losing record in 1970, with a respectable ERA and a very good IP/BB ratio. His 1971 card would be the final card in the Topps set.  It was relatively common for a player to alternate between low numbered cards and high numbered cards from year to year. Drago would eventually receive at least one multiple-of-five number in his career.  Previous Post                                                             Next Post First Post

  Danny Breeden  Bernie Carbo This card was Danny Breeden's last card, but not his last season.  He played 25 games in 1971.  Breeden also was featured on the Padres rookies card in 1969 (card # 536). Bernie Carbo would have many cards, but no more famous incident than the controversial play at the plate in the 1970 World Series. He batted 310 with 21 HR in 365 at bats in 1970.   Previous Post                                                                                Next Post First Card

Joe Horlen I guess his no-hitter, his 19 win season, his low career ERA and his career IP/BB ratio (almost 3.5/1) earned Joe Horlen a multiple-of-5 card.  Horlen played on the PCL San Diego Padres in 1961 - their final year of affiliation with the White Sox. Those Padres did not simply become the major league Padres in 1969.  They moved to Eugene, Oregon and continued their then affiliation with the Phillies. Only the name remained in San Diego for the expansion major league team.  Horlen's W/L record and his ERA got much worse in 1970 - although his IP/BB ratio got better.  This card would not be his last multiple-of-5 card.    Previous Post                                                                         Next Post First Post  

Willie Crawford While Crawford was with the PCL Spokane Indians in 1968, they were the runners up for the league title. The Indians were league Champions in 1970 - one of the most noted teams in minor league history.  When this card was new, Crawford was playing in his second season with more than 100 games. The 1970 season was typical of Crawford's career.  He would reach a 300 + batting average 6 years later for the only time in his career. Previous Post                                                                                 Next Post First Post  

Don Wert    1970 was Don Wert's final year with the Tigers and the final year in which he saw substantial action. In early October 1970, he was traded to the Senators.  When you read about a player going from the Tigers to the Senators (or the reverse), one big event should come to mind.  Wert was part of the multi-player trade that brought Denny McClain to the Senators and Joe Coleman to the Tigers. In addition to getting two hits in the 1968 World Series, Wert's involvement in that trade gives him another historical footnote.  The "Iron Man" reference in the cartoon seems like kind of a stretch for those of us that followed baseball in 1995.   Previous Post                                                                 Next Post First Post

Harry Walker   As this card was being pulled from packs, the Astros were headed to a record of 79-83 and a fourth place finish. In 1969, they had achieved a .500 record and a fifth place finish. Walker and the 1969 Astros were discussed at some length in Bouton's book. At the time the Astros traded to get Bouton, they remained in serious contention as the season was nearing its end.  Only a string of losses at that point knocked them out of contention. Bouton had good things to say about Walker and his managerial ability.  I remember Walker from 1979 when he did some freelance coaching with some of the Pirate hitters - helping to raise the batting average of Omar Moreno and others in the early part of the season.  I also remember him sitting in the booth with the Pirate broadcasters as they visited Houston in midsummer. I did not really know who he was at that point. The Pirate announcers (Milo Hamilton and Lanny Fratare) did not explain his history. He just appeared...

  Marty Pattin An original Pilot, Pattin was the actual pitcher on opening day in 1969 - not Diego Segui. At least I remember reading that somewhere (but I am not going to look it up now).   Pattin nearly made a career in Seattle with the PCL before the Pilots came along.  The Seattle PCL team did not become the Pilots.  The Pilots were created from scratch.  I do not know what happened to the PCL team. (The team Pattin played for was then named the Angels (formerly the Rainiers) and was a farm team of the AL's California Angels.) The creation of the Pilots was another (temporary) milestone in the major leagues' advance throughout the west coast and the PCL's loss of that coast.  Pattin was discussed relatively often in Bouton's book.  Pattin played for the Brewers in 1970, where he would set a record for Brewers/Pilots victories with 14. He would later be a mainstay on the pitching staff of the Royals that dominated the AL West through most of th...

  Matty Alou     After 4 years with outstanding numbers, Alou's average would dip just below 300 (297) in 1970 - his last year with the Pirates. On January 29, 1971, the Pirates traded him and George Brunet to the Cardinals for Nelson Briles and Vic Davalillo. He would return to 300 + territory in St. Louis, but not quite so high as in his time with the Pirates. Alou missed the 1971 World Series, but got to play in the NLCS in 1970.  With so many young outfielders in the Pirates' system (Al Oliver, Gene Clines, Johnny Jeter), plus established stars like Stargell and Clemente, the 32 year old Alou appeared to be expendable. (Dave Parker was signed in 1970, but he would not appear in major league play for several years.)  In his time with the Pirates, he frequently was a league leader in categories such as BA (1966), AB, PA, hits and doubles. Alou's 1970 season featured outstanding numbers in AB, hits (201), triples and runs. I have always viewed Matty as the best...

Sandy Alomar The Denver PCL team was affiliated with the Twins in the late 1960's. (They were managed by Billy Martin one year).  From looking at the lines on the back, that appears not to have been the case when Sandy Alomar played there. [Update, the Denver Bears were in their second and final year of affiliation with the Milwaukee Braves in 1964.] Alomar was in the middle of a long career.  1970 was the second of his four most productive years at the plate.  He stole 35 bases in 1970 - the second most of his career. It is unfortunate that Topps generally did not include stolen bases on the back of the cards until a number of years later.  Previous Post                                                                                  Next Post First Post  ...

Billy Wilson   In 1970, the Phillies were exactly half way between their near miss in 1964 and their 1976 first playoff appearance in many years.  This era was definitely a trough for the Phillies. There were four contenders for the NL East title in 1970, and Philly was not one of them.  Philly kept company with the expansion Expos in the basement. Billy Wilson was one of many players on the team that would languish in futility during this time.  Wilson spent two years in the PCL in San Diego.  Wilson's (and his teammates') careers marked the end of PCL baseball in San Diego in 1968 before the city went major the following year. The PCL team went to Oregon in 1969 and remained affiliated with the Phillies, while an entire new team was created for the majors in San Diego.  Previous Post                                                  ...

Chuck Hinton     Chuck Hinton was also the name of a Pittsburgh Steeler - a defensive lineman in the years immediately before the Steel Curtain - and even as the Curtain players transitioned into starting roles. But it is not the same guy.   The baseball Chuck Hinton played for the Vancouver Mounties of the PCL nine years before Vancouver became a farm team of the Seattle Pilots and received a mention in Jim Bouton's book. In 1960, the Mounties were affiliated with the Baltimore Orioles.  He missed out on the Orioles' multiple pennants, but at least he did not end up as a Pilot.  The text on the back is as good a sample of spin and euphemisms - "veteran" and "fine" - as Topps would use on their cards around that time.  Hinton is a good example of an above average player that was more than just cannon fodder in the Topps packs.  Not good enough for superstar status, but better than the cards I used to skip over when I opened the old packs. One 300 ...

Tug McGraw   A genuine future star - although not quite yet.  McGraw still did not merit a multiple of 5 or 10 card. The text and stats on the back are interesting.  We can guess that he kept getting sent back to the minors because his ERA kept climbing.  He seemed to have that situation under control by 1969.  His ratios of IP and SO to BB were acceptable by then also.  He still had not moved from "long man" to closer yet.  This is the second Mets card of the 1970 set and the first player base card from the 1969 world champions. Previous Post                                                       Next Post First Post