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.