1974 Topps Deckle Dating - John Hiller

TCDB didn't have a back scan on this one, fortunately I found one on eBay. This one sold for $99!

Lakeland, FL, March 28, 1973.

There was a lot more going on at Tigers camp on March 28, 1973, besides picture day, or even losing an exhibition game to Houston, 4-2. The Tigers acquired veteran pitcher Jim Perry in a trade with the Twins. A few hours earlier, manager Billy Martin and minor leaguer Ike Blessitt were arrested in the parking lot of a bar, for loudly using profanity. Both were fined $32 for the transgression.

Later that week Martin would quit after an argument with management over a fine for star outfielder Willie Horton, though Martin returned the next day. 

It was Martin who insisted that the Tigers take a chance on Hiller, who had been a reliable reliever for the Tigers for several seasons, including for the 1968 world champs. Hiller suffered a heart attack and missed all of 1971. Martin gave Hiller a chance to come back, and he became the first major league baseball player to return to play after a heart attack. In 1973 he had one of the great all-time seasons by a reliever, appearing in a league-leading 65 games and going 10-5 with a 1.44 ERA, leading the league with 38 saves. He stayed with the Tigers through the 1980 season. In 545 games, all with Detroit, he went 87-76 with 125 saves and a 2.83 ERA. 

It seems likely this was also the day that the photo for Hiller's 1974 Topps Stamp was taken.

Perhaps his 1975 Topps photo too, considering that he had a big mustache in 1974.

Elsewhere on this day, 81 American POWs departed Hanoi for the Philippines, the prime minister of France and the President of Turkey resigned, and President Nixon's security coordinator told a closed Senate hearing that former Attorney General John Mitchell had prior knowledge of the Watergate plot.