Cake or gum: 1977 Greg Luzinski

Hostess's 1977 struggles continued last time, with an 11-0 loss to Topps. Will gum continue it's roll here?

Hostess has a nice spring training shot of Luzinski looking up to the sky, which looks like a painting with perfect puffy clouds. Meanwhile a Phillies teammate can be seen on the diamond in front of the trees. Topps meanwhile, has The Bull taking a mighty hack at Shea Stadium. Given the lack of reaction from the fans and the Mets in the dugout, this was a swing-and-a-miss or maybe a foul ball. I wonder if this is one of the earliest cards with a Gatorade cooler in the dugout. In six day games at Shea in '76, Luzinski went 5-for-21 with two doubles and a home run.

"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.