1976 SSPC Buzz Capra

As promised, I'm starting a new set series, for the 1976 SSPC set. (Not 1975 as it is sometimes called. We always call sets by the year after the season they chronicle. Just because there is a 1975 copyright doesn't change that. It doesn't affect 1980s Donruss and Sportflics sets, for example, so I don't know why people sometimes do it for this one.)

The fronts of the cards have posed shots of each player, taken at Shea Stadium, which in 1975 was home to both the Mets and the Yankees (and the Jets and Giants, for that matter). There is a lot of personality to these photos, more than most Topps cards of the era, so it is a fun look at the state of mid-1970s baseball. The backs, as is now well known, were written by a then-unknown young fan named Keith Olbermann, but you would never know it as they are a very dry rundown of statistics and transactions, so I'll just focus on the card fronts in this set.

The sets are organized by team and division, so the first 21 cards will players with Atlanta, followed by NL West teams Cincinnati, Houston, LA, etc.

As many of these players are also in my 1981 Topps series, I'm not going to do long bio write-ups, just a few quick sentences about the card, the player, and my cards of that player.

On to card #1:

The card, in brief: Starting off with a bang with a pitcher in a batting helmet! Lots of collectors have this as a mini-collection.

The playing career, in brief: Mets sold him to the Braves in 1974 and he had an out-of-nowhere fantastic season, going 16-8 with an NL-best 2.28 ERA. Got hurt in 1975 and was never the same.

Post career, in brief: He spent 20 years as a minor league pitching coach, and at the age of 75 still gives youth baseball lessons in the Chicago area.

My collection: I have six of his cards, from 1972 to 1978. I would be interested in trading for 1975 Hostess #85.