Reliving the 1970's with Topps

  Joe Lahoud Joe Lahoud would have fewer AB in 1970 than ever before, but his BA increased to 245.  He would never play a full season in the majors.  His career would last through the middle of 1978 with several teams.   In 1970, there were a few big trades in Lahoud's future.  Previous Post                                                                                  Next Post First Post  

Frank Linzy The absence of save information on the back made it difficult to judge Linzy's value as a reliever - even with the total save number appearing in the text. One must rely, instead, on the IP/BB ratio of  > 3/1. Linzy's ERA rose above 4 in 1970.    His ERA was above 7 in May when the Giants traded him to the Cardinals for Jerry Johnson. He would stay below 4 for the rest of his career. In 1964, the Tacoma Giants suffered through their only losing season during their time using that name (1960-1965).  Linzy and his teammates played in the early years of Cheney Stadium, which was constructed in 1960 and is still in use today. The Tacoma Giants relocated from Phoenix in 1960 in reliance on construction of that stadium.  Any of the above information would have been better to include on the back than that stupid cartoon.  Previous Post                                 ...

Carl Taylor Despite his 1969 BA, Carl Taylor was traded by the Pirates to the Cardinals on October 21, 1969 in the deal that sent Dave Giusti and Dave Rickets to the Pirates. The Pirates were already loaded with outfielders.  Manny Sanguillen was just getting started at catcher. The Pirates needed a good reliever at that time.  This deal might be what put the Pirates over the top.   The Cardinals traded Taylor to the Brewers almost exactly one year later. He never appeared on a Topps card actually wearing a Cardinal uniform.  He ended up back with the Pirates for a brief time in 1971.  1970 would be Taylor's last year with substantial playing time. If you extrapolate his 1970 stats  to a whole season, his numbers would be more than adequate.     Previous Post                                                    ...

Jim Kaat Probably one of the last remaining players from the old Senators team that was still with the Twins in 1970.   Probably the ONLY member of the old (pre-Twins) Senators that made it to a Donruss set (1981 # 536 and maybe others).  He pitched until 1983.   He was demoted from appearing on a century card (#300) in 1967 to a multiple-of-five card in 1970 for reasons that should be obvious from looking on the back. In 1970, Kaat repeated his win total of 14 from the previous two years.  He pitched unsuccessfully in the playoffs against the Orioles in 1970.  No one from the Twins was successful against the Orioles that year or the previous year.  Billy Martin was Kaat's manager in 1969 (and a Twins coach in prior years).   Kaat received a fair amount of discussion in Bill Pennington's book, including a controversial Martin pitching decision in the 1969 playoffs. 

 Greg Washburn Wally Wolf This card was the only one for either of these two players.  Greg Washburn played only in 1969.  Wally Wolf played in 1969 and 1970.  Neither of them played in the majors after 1970.  

Wayne Granger Granger would eventually earn a multiple-of-5 card in 1972 (#545), the back of which tells an interesting story about Granger playing outfield against one batter on May 1st, 1970. Granger's 1971 card (#379) describes him as the "NL's top Fireman of 1970." Because the cards of the era did not list saves, one had to do some research to figure out that he was a top reliever. After the 1968 season, Granger and Bob Tolan were traded by the Cardinals to the Reds for Vada Pinson.  Granger played for the Tulsa Oilers of the PCL - along with some famous teammates. He was managed by Warren Spahn. The Oilers were the PCL champions in 1968.  The Oilers were affiliated with the St. Louis Cardinals from 1959 through 1976.  They were with the PCL only from 1966 through 1968.  Granger pitched in Games 3 and 5 of the 1970 World Series, pitched 1.3 innings and gave up 5 runs.  Wayne Granger was one of several Reds pitchers that began the decade with the Big Red Mach...

1969 AL Strikeout Leaders Sam McDowell Mickey Lolich Andy Messersmith Not nearly as many guys above 200 as in the NL that year ( card #71 ).  This list also falls a little short of the AL in recent years (2017-2019). The three pictured guys are remembered, respectively, for (1) damaging the end of a career with drinking, (2) a tremendous world series and (3) free agency.  There was much more to their careers than any of those individual things.  Previous Post                                                                   Next Post First Post                      

1969 NL Strikeout Leaders Fergie Jenkins Bob Gibson Bill Singer This list matches up well with the NL league leaders for SO in 2019 (and 'sort of' for 2018 and 2017).  Would I be going out on a limb if I said that all of the changes in baseball have not really affected SO totals for individual pitchers?    Previous Post                                                                     Next Post First Post 

1969 AL Pitching Leaders Dennis McLain Mike Cuellar Dave Boswell Dave McNally Jim Perry Mel Stottlemyre In the 1980's, Topps and other manufacturers began issuing multiple sets each year. It is now difficult not only to acquire each card, but even to figure out how many sets each manufacturer issues on a yearly basis.  The smaller sets focus on long retired players, players traded during the season and upgraded (gold, chrome, etc.) cards featuring contemporary players. One needs baseballcardpedia just to get an idea of the various sets.  Mint Condition can help explain the economics of the situation.   In the early 1970's, there were very few alternatives to the basic Topps sets. The most that Topps could offer to supplement the base cards were these League Leader sets. Even though these cards were part of the base set, I believe that these League Leader cards helped give rise to the alternative sets that now dominate the market.  The seed of those sets can be ...

1969 Pitching Leaders Tom Seaver Phil Niekro Fergie Jenkins Juan Marichal In addition to the 4 pitchers on the front, there were 5 more 20 game winners in the NL in 1969.  Nine 20 game winners.  I would like to think that it could happen again.  No one else does. Including Topps.  That is why they keep printing "Heritage" and other sets now with these guys on them instead of focusing only on the stars of the 21st Century.   "Pitching" meant "victory" to Topps around that time (and later). It is nice to see 6 Pirates on the back (including Bruce Dal Canton near the end).  Topps was very thorough in its lists. The next 5 or more pitchers (after the 20 game winners) achieved lasting fame of their own.  There is greatness (and great stories) sprinkled throughout the back of this card.  Previous Post                                           ...

1969 AL ERA Leaders Dick Bosman Jim Palmer Mike Cuellar I do not remember Dick Bosman.  Perhaps it was because he played for the Washington Senators instead of the Orioles.  Or perhaps he just did not have that many great seasons or great stats in other categories.  This card also highlights the injustice of leaving "saves" out of the league leader cards and not having a category specifically for relievers.  Sparky Lyle, Ron Perranoski, Darrold Knowles (and others) all were relievers with good ERA's (and probably good numbers in other categories) that were relegated to the bottom right of the back of this card and anonymity as far as Topps collectors were concerned in 1970.  Previous Post                                                                       Next Post First Post

1969 NL ERA Leaders Juan Marichal Steve Carlton Bob Gibson This is the seventh of the League Leader cards for 1970 and the first in a pitching category. With both Gibson and Carlton pictured on the front, one can look at this card as a passing-of-the-torch moment.  Carlton would spend the 1970's overpowering batters - much as Gibson had done in the 1960's. This card provides one more reason to favor Topps' League Leader style of @1970 instead of the style from later in the 1970's and into the 1980's.  This card is much more interesting with both Carlton and Gibson pictured on the front instead of just Marichal with whoever did the best in the AL. Tug McGraw appears at the top of the 75-161 inning category.  That does not really make up for Topps failing to print a separate leader card for "saves" and failing to include saves on the back of the base cards for much of McGraw's career.  With "1969" emblazoned on the front of these League Leader ...

1969 AL Home Run Leaders Harmon Killebrew Frank Howard Reggie Jackson  These numbers were very impressive for a lot of players.  Most of the top dozen had similar HR totals in other years. They were either putting the finishing touches on or starting great careers.   For the fans, it was much harder to keep track of the career and year-by-year totals of the players that long ago. ESPN was nearly a decade away. The internet and its varied resources even longer.   The daily newspapers printed only running totals for the current season. There was no instant access to the historical information at one's fingertips. There was no way to remember the exact numbers from the year before unless one saved newspapers and magazines or kept one's own records.   The cards, especially the league leader cards, provided the exception.  The league leader cards were the 1970s version of baseballreference.com, mlb.com, cable tv sports and other instant sources. I...

1969 NL Home Run Leaders Willie McCovey Hank Aaron Lee May Home Runs are probably the easiest baseball statistic to follow and remember. Everyone knows the record numbers - lifetime and season. Anyone can glance at the back of this card and see where each player fits in the grand home run totem pole.  After the 50 players from this list, no one can claim to be a power hitter.    We see in the list the intersection of rising and falling stars - as Mays, Banks, Clemente, etc. have few big home run years left while Perez, Bench, Oliver and others are just getting started.  Pete Rose would never again hit so many home runs despite his accumulation of so many hitting milestones over the next decade and a half (and more).  The Pirates and Reds had not won a pennant between them in almost a decade.  But on the back of this card, we see next to "Cin" and "Pitt" the reasons for six of the next 10 NL Pennants.  Previous Post           ...

1969 AL RBI Leaders Harmon Killebrew Boog Powell Reggie Jackson  I do not know why the National League card appeared before the American League card in each category.  Perhaps it was because the National League won the world series the year before. I will have to pay attention to league leader cards in other sets to see if this theory pans out.  This card and this list featured big stars both near the end and near the beginning of their productive years. Killebrew, Howard, Frank Robinson, Petrocelli, Harrelson, etc.  fall into the first category.  Jackson, Bando, Reggie Smith, etc. fall into the second category.   Previous Post                                                                           Next Post First Post

1969 NL RBI Leaders Willie McCovey Ron Santo Tony Perez Topps used to include 12 League Leader cards with every set.  This was true from at least 1967 (maybe earlier) through 1972.  In every set, there were three hitting categories and three pitching categories. There were separate cards for each league.  This practice stopped in 1973 when Topps began including only one card for each category and displayed (usually) only one player per category per league (except in case of a tie).  I preferred the method used in the late 1960's - early 1970's.  I like seeing two or three players from each league in each category.  This is especially true where there are numerous players whose numbers might have been good enough to be number 1 in some other year.  Previous Post                                                      ...

1969 AL Batting Leaders Rod Carew Reggie Smith Tony Oliva  The back of this card is a little more consistent with the 1969 playoffs than the NL Batting Leader card ( #61 ).  The top three batters are Twins (although somehow a Reese photo was not included on the front). There are five Twins in the left column and seven Twins above 270.  After seeing these numbers, it is understandable that the Twins made the playoffs in 1969.  Card # 404 says that Rich Reese did not qualify despite his average. That would explain Reese' absence from the front. If that is true, then why is he on the back of card # 62 ahead of so many other players?  And how did Reggie Smith jump ahead of Tony Oliva on the front if he is behind him on the back? Chapters 19 and 20 of Bill Pennington's book ("Billy Martin: Baseball's Flawed Genius") discusses the 1969 Twins and 1969 AL playoffs in some depth.  Previous Post                    ...

1969 NL Batting Leaders Pete Rose Bob Clemente Cleon Jones The back of this card raises questions.  The Pirates had 5 players with averages above 300 and six players in the first column (all of whom finished better than Willie Mays and other greats). How did the Pirates not make the playoffs in 1969?  I guess there is a good explanation or else they would have actually made the playoffs. Modern documentaries falsely label Pittsburgh residents as racist and resentful of Clemente's success. Ken Burns' baseball documentary is guilty of this smear, even though this was completely at odds with the experience and memory of every Pirate fan.  The documentaries display the Topps' cards with the first name "Bob" as proof that Pittsburgh fans did not respect Clemente or call him by his preferred name. I have seen PBS films parade card after card on the screen with the word "Bob" as an indictment of the steelworkers, their families and neighbors. The documentaries ...

  Jim Wynn The statement on the back that Wynn holds "virtually all the Astros' club records" is not exactly true and is kind of a slight to Joe Morgan, Rusty Staub and Sonny Jackson (as the back of 1970 card # 448 will show). But Wynn's numbers were certainly impressive.  Wynn played on the Oklahoma City 89ers for part of 1964. The 89ers won the PCL championship the year before and the year after Wynn played for them. They were affiliated with the Houston Colt 45's starting in 1962. In 1970, Wynn achieved his highest career batting average and the most doubles of his career.  His home run total (27) was not quite as good as some earlier years, but it would be his best total until he reached the Dodgers in 1974.   Previous Post                                                                     ...

Dick Ellsworth The photo is an example of bad airbrushing. The dark spot on the front of the cap is not a shadow. The bill is well-lit.  The Topps art department colored over the Boston logo on the front of the cap. The deception was for nothing, as Ellsworth played only a part of the 1970 season in Cleveland.  He finished 1970 in Milwaukee.  Of course, none of his Brewer teammates were pictured as Brewers that year  either.   Ellsworth had been with Boston until April 1969, when he was traded to Cleveland with Ken Harrelson and Juan Pizarro for Sonny Siebert, Vicente Romo and Joe Azcue. His departure for Milwaukee in August 1970 was a simple cash deal.  The Jim Maloney mentioned in the cartoon had won his last game by the time this card was in packs. Ellsworth never won another game after going to Milwaukee.  Previous Post                                    ...

Dave Marshall Dave Marshall played for the Mets in 1970. In December 1969 the Giants traded him as part of the deal that brought Ray Sadecki to the Mets. Marshall was mostly a pinch hitter.  His 1970 stats - if you extrapolate them out to a whole year - were not bad.   Marshall played for the Hawaii Islanders in their last year of affiliation with the Angels in 1964. The Phoenix Giants had a long affiliation with the San Francisco Giants.  They eventually changed their name to the Firebirds in 1986. Previous Post                                                                Next Post First Post    

Pat Kelly 1970 would be Pat Kelly's final season with the Royals.  He was traded to the White Sox almost immediately after the season ended. The air-brush job on the hat is not as bad as many others from Topps in the early 1970's.  Kelly played with the Denver Bears in their final two years in the PCL before they moved to the American Association for the 1969 season.  During Kelly's time in Denver, the Bears were affiliated with the Twins. In 1968, Kelly and the Bears were managed by Billy Martin.  (Kelly received no mention in Pennington's biography of Billy Martin.)     Kelly was a born again Christian who became a minister after he retired from baseball.   Previous Post                                                                     Next Post First Post

Joe Lis      Scott Reid  I do not know exactly why the caps were air-brushed.  I have to assume that the Phillies' minor league teams did not wear red caps.   This would not be Joe Lis' or Scott Reid's last rookie card. But it would be their last rookie card together.  1970 was Scott Reid's last year in the majors. Joe Lis would see better baseball days - but not that much better.  Previous Post                                                                               Next Post First Post  

John Odom He pitched 40 innings for the Vancouver Mounties in 1967 - three years before the Mounties left town and moved to Salt Lake City.   Odom's numbers got worse in 1970 - he barely achieved a winning record (9-8) and saw his ERA rise and his IP/BB ratio drop. He would have only one more winning season in his career.  But he was an important part of the A's world series dynasty.   Previous Post                                                               Next Post First Post  

  Jeff Torborg Torborg continued to get little playing time in 1970.  But he did catch another no-hitter - this one from Bill Singer against the Phillies on July 20.   He played in the most games of his career in 1970 (64) to that point, but he did not have his most at-bats that year.  1970 would be Torborg's last season with the Dodgers, as he was sold to the Angels in March, 1971.  Previous Post               Next Post First Post