1970 Topps Booklets: The Wally Bunker story

It's the ultra-rare stapled parallel!

The staples did make it harder to prop the booklet open to take photos.

Looks like the "homer" just barely missed Bunker's shoulder.

I like the KC logo the cartoonist made up here.

 

Cake or gum? 1976 Jimmy Wynn

Last time it was an easy win for gum, 7-3. Will it triumph again here?

This is a fascinating one. It looks like both companies used photos from the same spring training photo session with Wynn as a Dodger. It looks like they both airbrushed a Braves hat over his Dodgers cap. It then looks like Hostess also painted his white jersey blue.

Wynn was known as the "Toy Cannon" because he was a smaller guy with a lot of power. His stats look like a 2020's player: low batting average but high HR, BB and K totals. He did have surprising speed for a guy known as a slugger. Overall in 15 years for the Astros, Dodgers, Braves, Yankees and Brewers, Wynn hit .250 with 291 HR, 964 RBI and 225 SB. He walked 1,224 times (leading the NL twice) and struck out 1,427 times (leading the NL once). After his career he was an Astros announcer. He died in 2020.

Wood vs. Wood #257

Last time it was 1987 with a 9-2 victory. Who will win here?

Jack Spring's photo is from his 1958 stint as a Washington Senator. Spring appeared in six games between 1955 and 1958 for the Philles, Red Sox and Senators. Spring returned to the major leagues in 1961 with the expansion Angels, and was a useful reliever for them in their first three seasons. His best year was 1963, when he went 3-0 with 2 saves and a 3.05 ERA. He had a rough 1964, pitching in 15 games for three teams (Angels, Cubs, Cardinals). He ended his major league career with 14 games for Cleveland in 1965, though he hung around in the minors until 1969. Overall, over eight years with seven major league teams, Spring went 12-5 with 8 saves and a 4.26 ERA. He went on to a long career as a teacher, baseball coach and athletic director at West Valley High School in Spokane, WA. He died of Parkinson's disease in 2015.

Bob Forsch delivers a pitch at spring training. Bob Forsch pitched sixteen years in the major leagues, fifteen of them with the Cardinals. In an organization with a history of legendary pitchers, only Forsch threw multiple no-hitters for the team. A 20-game winner in 1977, Forsch went 168-136 with a 3.76 ERA in his career. A long-time minor league coach, Forsch died of cancer in 2011.

1974 Topps Deckle Dating: Richie Hebner

Baseball's most famous grave digger. He's Richie on the front, Rich on the back.

May 19, 1973.

Hebner went 1-for-5, in a game won by the Pirates 4-1, thanks to a 10th-inning 3-run HR by Willie Stargell off of Tug McGraw.

In other news, the Soviet and West Germany signed a 10-year economic development agreement, 12 people died when a charter boat capsized in Rhode Island, and Secretariat won the Preakness, the second of the three Triple Crown races.

It looks like Hebner's 1974 Topps Stamp comes from the same photo session. I think I see a Shea Stadium parking lot lamppost past the outfield fence on the left side of the stamp.

1981 Topps Lary Sorensen

 

The front: One of the better action shots in the set.

The back: Sorensen retired nine straight batters in that All-Star Game: Reggie Smith, Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, George Foster, Greg Luzinski, Steve Garvey, Ted Simmons, Dave Winfield, and Larry Bowa. Three Hall-of-Famers and at least three more (Rose, Foster, Garvey) playing at an HOF-caliber.

The player: Sorensen never again pitched at the level he did in 1978. After the 1980 season he was traded to the Cardinals, and also had stints with the Indians, A's, Cubs, Expos and Giants. Overall in 346 games he went 93-103 with a 4.15 ERA.

The man: Sorensen's alcoholism led to a suspension late in his baseball career and six drunk-driving arrests in the years after, resulting in two jail sentences. He has been sober since 2014, and is currently an announcer for Wake Forest and Chief Baseball Officer for F5 Sports, creater of the PitchLogic baseball app.

My collection: I have 29 of his cards, from 1978 to 1988. I would be interested in trading for 1982 Topps Traded #111.

1976 SSPC Rob Andrews

The card, in brief: Andrews looks every bit the fresh-faced rookie here. Nice cameo by the Shea Stadium usher in the background.

The player, in brief: Rob Andrews was a second baseman for the Astros and Giants from 1975 to 1979. In 493 games he hit .251 with 3 HR, 91 RBI and 33 SB.

Post playing career, in brief: Andrews ran a baseball camp for many years but is now retired.

My collection: I have six of his cards, from 1976 to 1980. I would be interested in trading for 1975 TCMA International League All-Stars #10.

Jonny Gomes on baseball cards

Outfielder Jonny Gomes played thirteen seasons in the majors for seven teams, mostly the Rays, Reds, and Red Sox. He was a part of two World Series winning teams, most notably hitting the winning home run in Game 4 of the 2013 World Series for Boston. Overall in 1,203 games, he hit .242 with 162 HR and 526 RBI. He recently joined the Indie Pro Agency as a player agent, and kindly answered my questions about baseball cards.

"When I was in A Ball in 2002, I traded stuff to get my own baseball cards then sold them on eBay as my offseason job so I didn’t have to get a real job so I could spend more time training.

I have some really cool Pat Tillman cards. I collect a lot of his stuff.

I collect a lot of stuff, not just cards."

Thanks!

1970 Topps Booklets: The Tony Oliva Story

Researcher Roy Carlson identified this picture as the same on the back of his '71 Topps card, and on his '71 Topps Tattoo.

The passport story is an interesting one, and clearly already well-known at this point. The Twins signed the Cuban youngster in 1959, as diplomatic relations between the US and Cuba were deteriorating. Had he waited to have his own passport created, he probably would have been too late to leave Cuba.

Back when the called-up player took a train, not a plane, to get to the big club.

Oliva put up some amazing numbers in his career, at least when he was healthy enough to avoid trips to that doctor.

 

Cake or gum? 1976 Greg Luzinski

Last time it was gum squeaking by with a 6-4 win. Who will triumph here?

Hostess has Luzinski in his maroon warmup jacket. He's in front of the dugout, I think at Candlestick Park. Someone hung up all the towels very neatly. Topps meanwhile has Luzinski in his powder blue away uniform, waiting his turn at the batting cage, with the shadow of the net on his jersey.

"The Bull" was one of the big stars of the great Phillies teams of the late 1970s and early 1980s. He was twice a runner-up for NL MVP and led the NL in RBI in 1975. Though 1980 was a down year for him, he had some big hits in the NLCS to help propel the Phillies to their first-ever World Championship. After that season the Phillies sent him to the White Sox where he played for four more seasons, helping them win an AL West title in 1983. Overall in 1,821 games he hit .276 with 307 HR and 1,128 RBI. After retiring he spent several years as a high school baseball and football coach. the fan favorite returned to Philadelphia with a barbecue stand inside Citizens Bank Park when that stadium opened in 2004.

Wood vs. Wood #254

 Last time it was an 11-0 shutout for 1987. Will 1962 fare better here?

Usually known as Gordie, Gordon Windhorn came up with the Yankees for 7 games in 1959. The Yankees then traded the outfielder to the Dodgers, for whom he played in 34 games in 1961. In the offseason the Dodgers traded Windhorn to the K.C. A's. Looks like Topps's motto was "any blue will do" when airbrushing out the Dodgers logo on his cap. Windhorn played in just 14 games for the A's before being traded to the Angels in May. He played in 40 more games for the Angels, his last major league games in the US, ending his career with a .176 average, 2 HR and 8 RBI in 95 games. He then went on to play six years for the Hankyu Braves of the NPB. His best season in Japan was 1967, when he hit .285 with 25 HR and 60 RBI. After his playing career he was a scout for the Angels. He died at the age of 88 in 2022.

Bob Tewskbury delivers a pitch on what looks like a cold day at Yankee Stadium. He had an excellent rookie season for the Yankees in 1986, going 9-5 with a 3.31 ERA. In 1987 he was plagued by injuries, and the Yankees traded him to the Cubs for Steve Trout, in one of the worst trades of the Steinbrenner era. The Cubs released Tewksbury after the 1988 season, and he was signed by the Cardinals where he became one of the best pitchers in the NL between 1990 and 1993. His best season was 1992, when he went 16-5 with a 2.16 ERA, leading the NL in winning percentage and posting the best ratio of walks (20) to innings (233) in over 50 years. He continued to pitch for the Rangers, Padres and Twins through the 1998 season but was unable to replicate his success in St. Louis. Overall in 302 games over 13 seasons he went 110-102 with a 3.92 ERA, walking just 292 batters in 1,807 innings. After his playing career he became a sports psychologist, and is currently the Mental Skills Coordinator for the Cubs.

Wallet Card at South Shore Pools

I noticed this sign under the awning of a nail salon in Woodmere, NY.

Not the oldest sign, but I think it's 40-50 years old. The nail salon has been there since at least 2007, probably a lot longer. I can't find online any mention of a South Shore Pools in Hewlett. There is no area code in the phone number, which likely dates it to at least the 1980s. Putting the word "phone" next to the phone number is also an older style, so I would not be surprised if it dates to the 1970s.

1974 Topps Deckle Dating: Nate Colbert

 Not much of a background here.

According to Topps, this was Shea Stadium, on June 17, 1973. Colbert didn't have the Fu Manchu mustache in previous years so I am thinking this might be accurate.

Colbert was 1-for-4, scoring the Padres' only run in a 3-1 loss to the Mets. Ron Hodges hit a tie-breaking home run in the eighth inning, the only one of the Mets' thirteen hits that went for extra bases.

In other news, two men died in a submarine accident in Florida, the Skylab crew set a record with their 24th day in orbit, and Johnny Miller won golf's U.S. Open.

1981 Topps Dave Rader

  

The front: That's some premature gray hair for a guy who was only 31 years old. The green outfield wall makes me think this is Baltimore.

The back: This is an error card - Rader hit an RBI double, not a home run, in a 4-run Phillies rally off of Atlanta's Gene Garber in the bottom of the ninth, tying the game at 5. Unfortunately for Rader and the Phillies, Ron Reed got torched for six runs in the top of the tenth, led by a big 2-run double by Biff Pocoroba, and the Braves won 11-5.

The player: Rader had a fine rookie season with the Giants in 1972, hitting .259 with 6 HR and 41 RBI. The next season his averaged dipped to .229, and from then on was primarily a backup catcher. The Giants traded him to the Cardinals after the 1976 season, starting a string of four teams in four years, ending his career with Boston in 1980. Rader, who caught Ed Halicki's no-hitter in 1975, played in 846 games, hitting .257 with 30 HR and 235 RBI.

The man: After his playing career, Rader became a plumber, like his father and grandfather before him. He also worked in real estate, and appears to now be retired.

My collection: I have 12 of his cards, from 1972 to 1981. I would be interested in trading for 1976 Hostess #21.
 

1976 SSPC Milt May

  

The card, in brief: May had six stints for five teams in fifteen years, with seven different uniform numbers. He wore #8 only with the Astros.

Playing career, in brief: May was a solid catcher with a decent bat and excellent fielding numbers. He was usually a platoon or backup catcher. He led the league in various defensive categories in several seasons, and overall hit .263 with 77 HR and 443 RBI in 1,192 games.

Post playing career, in brief: May was a major- and minor-league coach for several organizations for over 30 years, most recently in the Orioles organization until 2019.

My collection: I have 31 of his cards, from 1971 to 1985. I would be interested in trading for 1978 Hostess #115.

1970 Topps Booklets: The Bobby Murcer Story

This image comes from the photo that would be used for Murcer's 1971 Bazooka card, per Roy Carlson's research.

Murcer's wife, the former Diana Kay Rhodes, goes by Kay. She is one of many Yankee widows who participate in Old Timers Day and other Yankees events.

This is one of the more dramatic stories in these comics. Murcer lost two entire seasons to the army - if he had played in '67 and '68, he may well have hit 300+ home runs. (And with Roger Maris off to St. Louis, #9 in 1968 was Steve Whitaker.)

I'm guessing the clubhouse attendant is supposed to be the legendary Pete Sheehy, who held the job from 1927 to 1985. He wasn't bald, though. GEM Razor did have an ad on the right field wall in Yankee Stadium in '69. The pointy building behind it did not exist in real life, however.

 

Vintage roundup

My recent trades and purchases over the past month. Things have been slower lately, maybe because of the holidays. This year I am going to try to be more active on TCDB.

I've gotten a couple of envelopes from OBCers recently. These three '62s came from Neal Thomas. Two of these players (Lee Thomas and Bob Cerv) had just been traded for each other!

Steve Sankner sent two great 1953 Topps cards.

One TCDB trade lately, with DSPokecards. Two 1968 high numbers for three modern cards! '68s aren't as rare as some other years but I still need plenty of them.

eBay has been pretty quiet for me lately though I still enjoy the weekly Greg Morris auctions. The more '50s and '60s stars I get, however, means there's fewer deals to be had. I'll probably have to stop at some point but I'm still having fun, even as I shift from Topps set needs to oddballs. At least I'm spending less than I had been.

This was a very good week with a ton of variety including a couple of Bell Brand Dodgers, a set I've really grown to like.

The following week was a little disappointing. I raised my bids on some '65 embossed and the high-number Santo, just to make sure I'd have enough cards to make the $5 flat rate shipping worth it, which if it had just been the three commons it wouldn't have been.

Last week was an improvement though, with a 1939 Play Ball of George Selkirk. So cool to have a contemporary card of a player where the back notes he replaced Babe Ruth. Selkirk was no Babe Ruth but had several very good seasons for the Yankees. I also really like the 1960 blue-border parallel of Frank Robinson. I think the colored border works really well there.

I only picked up one other vintage single recently. Since my Topps embossed set has been growing I decided to knock out one of the remaining ones I needed when I saw it for a couple of bucks.

 

Misheard lyrics

Just a dumb idea I had. The first example is something that actually popped into my mind when I heard the song, so I started thinking about others, and before long I had made this. Just being silly with the songs. If you know the song it probably makes more sense. If I did this well enough maybe you'll think of my version next time you hear the song.

"Don Money's not looking for the cure. Don Money's not concerned about the sick among the pure . . ." (Nine Inch Nails) 

"Then I saw her face, and she looked like Tom Seaver. Not a trace of doubt in my mind. I'm in love, I'm a believer . . ." (Monkees)

I actually thought of this one from an Ozzy song called "Believer" which also has the line "I'm a believer" but I went with the song that is much more well known.

"Last dance with Johnny Sain, one more time to kill the pain . . ." (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) 

"Showin' how funky and strong is your fight, it doesn't matter to Adam Wainwright." (Michael Jackson)

"Have some more chicken, have some more pie, it doesn't matter, they're Baked like McBride." (Weird Al Yankovic)

"New York on Sunday, big city taking a nap. Slow down, it's Sunday, life's a ball, give the ball, to JA Happ . . ." (Bobby Darin)

A Yankee Stadium staple on Sunday afternoon games.

 

"Ground Control to Jake DeGrom, commencing countdown, engines on . . . " (David Bowie) 

"Yeek yeek woop woop! Why you all in my ear? Talking a whole bunch of sh* about the Brewers' Rob Deer?" (Ludacris)

"They'll tell you black is really white, the moon is just the sun at night. And then you walk in golden halls with former Dodger Roy Lee Walls . . . " (Black Sabbath)

Ronnie James Dio is my all-time favorite singer.

 

"It'll feel like the whole wide world is raining down on you, brought to you courtesy of the red Vida Blue." (Toby Keith)

"No more Mr. Nice Guy, no more Mr. Clean. No more Mr. Nice Guy, he's sick like Shawn Green." (Alice Cooper)

"Despite all my rage, I still have this card of Wayne Cage." (Smashing Pumpkins) 

"I heard them tell me that this land of dreams was now. I told them I had ridden shooting stars and said I'd show Steve Howe." (Ozzy Osbourne)

"You got hit, and you should've known better. Faster we run, pitch like Cy Young . . " (Alice in Chains)

I was trying to do the great old Black Sabbath song "Die Young", but it wasn't really working. "Die Young" and "Cy Young" worked too well not to include somehow. Cy Young lived to be 88.

"Hear the rime of the Ancient Mariner, see the eyes of Diego Segui. Mesmerizes one of the wedding guests, stay here and listen to the nightmares of the sea . . ." (Iron Maiden)

One of my favorite songs from one of my favorite bands. Diego Segui was the only man to play for both Seattle teams, and was known as "The Ancient Mariner" when he returned to Seattle in 1977.