1981 Topps Ron Reed

 

The front: Nice shot of Reed at Shea Stadium. This is probably him warming up before the inning, as none of the fans are looking at the field. This must be Saturday, August 17, when Reed saved the Phillies' 4-1 victory, with 2.1 scoreless innings in relief of starter Randy Lerch.

The back: A long career with no room for a blurb.

The player: Ron Reed was a two-sport athlete, playing for the Atlanta Braves and Detroit Pistons in 1966 and 1967. He then quit basketball to focus on baseball, and immediately became a solid pitcher, winning 18 games for the NL West champion Braves in 1969. Throughout the early- and mid-1970s he was a solid middle-of-the-rotation starter for the Braves and Cardinals. The Phillies traded for him after the 1975 season and turned him into a reliever, and he had three straight excellent seasons for them as they won three straight NL East titles. No longer the closer by 1980, he still was an important part of the Phillies' bullpen, and he earned a save in Game 2 of the World Series. He hung on until age 41, with the White Sox in 1984. Overall in 751 games (236 starts), Reed was 146-140 with 103 saves and a 3.46 ERA. 

The man: After his career Reed has worked for a company called Marketing Event Partners, organizing charitable events. 

My collection: I have 38 of his cards, from 1968 to 1985. I would be interested in trading for 1984 Topps Traded #98.

Vintage cards and a Conlon pack

Got a nice envelope from OBCer Dan Williams. I was able to finish his '65 Topps Embossed set with one of the extras from the lot I recently bought. He sent me back two very nice vintage cards and something I'd never seen before - an unopened pack of 1991 Conlon.

I have a few Conlon cards I've picked up over the years but I'd never seen an unopened pack. I'm guessing these were sold in baseball cards shops. In 1991 I was still just buying cards at drug stores and stationery stores.

Let's see what's inside!

These cards all have photographs from the famous Charles Conlon. Most are portraits which are fine, but I prefer the more action-oriented shots as you see less of them from this era. I also think it's funny that Homer Summa's position is "batter". That's because it's part of a subset about an unassisted triple play - one that he hit into!

The back of the pack was Hall-of-Famer heavy. I really like the Burleigh Grimes photo. Bill Dietrich is also cool as a glasses card, pretty unusual for the era.

 

1976 SSPC Cliff Johnson

 First, RIP Lenny Randle. He shared his thoughts on baseball cards with this blog in 2010.

The card, in brief: It's always surprising to see Johnson without the mustache he had most of his career.

Playing career, in brief: Cliff Johnson was a backup catcher and pinch hitter extraordinaire who played for six teams in a fifteen year career. His 196 pinch hit home runs stood as a record until 2010. He is probably best known for his time with the Yankees, where he backed up Thurman Munson on the 1977 and 1978 World Series champs, then was traded to Cleveland the next season after injuring Goose Gossage in a brawl in the clubhouse bathroom.

Post-playing career, in brief:  In his retirement, he has gone back to his native Texas to raise horses and cattle. 

My collection: I have 42 of his cards, from 1975 to 1987. I would be interested in trading for 1985 Performance Printing Texas Rangers SGA #44.

1970 Topps Booklets: The Tommy Harper Story

 A Seattle Pilots card!

Looks like Harper wore regular football gear to play football, but played basketball in his baseball uniform.

He ran track in his baseball uniform, too.

The song is from the 1968-70 TV show Here Come the Brides, based in Seattle. In 1969 Perry Como's version of the song hit #2 on the Easy Listening chart. Also, who is the other person in the last panel? No other Pilot stole more than 19 bases. Perhaps it's #2 in the AL Bert Campaneris? It does appear to be an instance of the caption differing from what the artwork was originally intended for.

 

Scott Grove on baseball cards

Scott Grove pitched in the Braves, Brewers and Blue Jays organizations from 1988 to 1993. His best season was 1992, when he went 10-6 with 6 saves and a 3.23 ERA for the Dunedin Blue Jays. Overall in 169 games he went 33-34 with 12 saves and a 3.84 ERA. Now a physical education teacher, director of baseball operations and head baseball coach at Coffee High School in Douglas, GA, he kindly answered my questions about baseball cards.

Do you have any stories about cards of yourself or of other players? My favorite card was of Turk Wendell brushing his teeth in between innings when he pitched. Turk and I have been friends for over 30 years. 

Do you have a favorite card of yourself or of another player? I have attached my favorite card of myself.

Do you collect baseball cards? I did when I was younger. The only cards I have now are team sets of the teams I played on from 1988-1994.

Thanks!

 

Cake or gum? 1976 Bucky Dent

Last time gum won a close one, 6-4. Who will win here?

Once again the Hostess photo is much bluer than the Topps photo. Other than that, the photos are nearly identical. (Not actually the same photo though - you can see a gap between the bat and trees in the Hostess photo but not the Topps.) 

Bucky Dent was an excellent fielding shortstop with a decent, though not overpowering bat. At the time of this card he was coming off an All-Star season in 1975 after winning Rookie of the Year in 1974. After a down year in 1976 the White Sox traded him to the Yankees for Oscar Gamble, in what turned out to be a great trade for the Yankees. Dent provided good defense, and famously had one of the all-time great Octobers in 1978, hitting the go-ahead 3-run home run in the one-game playoff against the Red Sox, then winning World Series MVP honors for hitting .417 with 7 RBI against the Dodgers. In 1982 the Yankees traded him to the Rangers for Lee Mazzilli. He ended his career with the Royals in 1984. Overall in 1,392 games he hit .247 with 40 HR and 423 RBI. After his career he was a coach for several teams and had a brief stint managing the Yankees.

Wood vs. Wood #247

Last time it was a big 7-1 win for 1962. Who will win here?

Joe Pignatano is in his KC A's uniform, but is listed as an SF Giant. The back of the card said he was expected to see a lot of time for the Giants, but after just seven games he was sold to the expansion Mets, ending his career by hitting into a triple play on September 30. Previously he had spent four years as a backup catcher for the Dodgers, winning a World Series ring in 1959. Pignatano had a big hit in the playoff against the Braves in 1959, but mostly struggled as a hitter. In 307 games he hit .234 with 16 HR and 62 RBI. He had a long career as a Mets coach, winning another ring in 1969. He died in 2022.

Jeff Reed hangs out in the Twins dugout. His career was much like Pignatano's, only it was three times longer, as his bat was a little stronger than Pignatano's. In 17 games for six teams, as a backup and occasionally platoon catcher, Reed hit .250 with 61 HR and 323 RBI. His biggest highlights were with the Reds, catching Tom Browning's perfect game in 1988, and winning a World Series ring in 1990. After his playing career he was a long-time minor league coach for the Twins. He is now the head baseball coach at Providence Academy in Johnson City, TN.

Vintage star cards roundup

Almost a month since I did one of these. 

I'd been settling into a decent pattern with the Friday Greg Morris auctions. A few oddballs and a star or two. The second year Billy Williams is the highlight here.

Sparky Anderson rookie, an early Early Wynn, and the surprisingly tough '68 Joe Sparma.

This one was really fun - a '52 Bomwan Bob Feller, and two '49 Bowmans!

The one from last Friday hasn't arrived, but it was quite good. Then last week was possibly my weakest Morris winnings. It really is unpredictable.

Not much otherwise this month. I did pick up a 6-stamp 1962 lot with Banks and Hodges.

1957 Billy Martin!

I still pick up an occasional dime oddball off of eBay, though I don't usually put them on the blog. I did want to show this unusual fun aRod mini-poster from the 1997 Sports Illustrated card set.

 

Blogger/TCDB/OBC roundup

Lots of fun cards that came in the last few weeks.

It was a big month in the Diamond Jesters Time Travel Trades. Some real vintage with a 1960 high-number and a 1972 TCMA Gas House Gang card. Some fun modern ones too.

 

Some more free cards from View from the Third Floor. Needed all the cards on the bottom, including both Gary Sanchez parallels.

Another generous blogger giving away cards was Crocodile. I picked up one of my favorite players, Alfonso Soriano, as well as a nice-looking Stadium Club card.

Lots of activity on TCDB lately. Starting off with this oddball quartet of Blue Jays playing cards from Jeff9679.

A nice vintage hit - a 1961 Al Dark card from ILLRIMESAYA.

Eight hits to my 1982 Fleer Stamps set from bhk5150. I love the off-center action photos.

A really nice trade with Chickengood. A 1964 Mickey Lolich rookie, two vintage George Brett oddballs, a big star for my 1998 Metal set, and a lot of fun Heritage Flashback inserts.

 

Finally, a couple of OBC envelopes. These came from Joe Stout. With this and the Too Many Verlanders package I actually got two '65 Johnny Klippsteins on the same day.

Closing out with two 1950s Sox from Mark Talbot.

 

1974 Topps Deckle Dating: Willie Stargell

Stargell appears to be crouching, and the photo was cropped in a way to make him appear to be standing upright. That is why the ground is at an angle.

March 19, 1973. Same date as teammate Manny Sanguillen.

The same image can be seen in color on Stargell's 1974 Topps Jigsaw Puzzle.

The photo for his 1974 Home Run Leaders card was probably taken at the same time. His cap is at the same jaunty angle.