1981 Topps Mark Littell

The front: The Cardinals always seemed to have the most interesting spring training photos. Lots of different odd buildings in the background.

The back: Eric Littell was drafted by the Royals but did not play professionally.

The player: Mark Littell pitched nine seasons in the major leagues for the Royals and Cardinals. In 316 games he went 32-31 with 56 saves and a 3.32 ERA. Despite this successful career, he is forever remembered as the man who allowed Chris Chambliss's home run to win the 1976 ALCS.

The man: He recently wrote the book On The Eighth Day God Made Baseball, is the inventor of the protective cup called the Nutty Buddy, and does youth baseball coaching. In 2017 he shared with this blog an error on one of his cards.

My collection: I have thirteen of his cards, from 1974 to 1982. I would be interested in trading for 1976 O-Pee-Chee #593.