Cake or gum? 1976 Carl Yastrzemski

Last time was a 5-4 squeaker for gum. Who will triumph here?

Hostess gives us a bit of a dark photo at Cleveland Stadium. It's hard to read on the card but the ad on the scoreboard tells us to "Come to Marlboro Country". Meanwhile, Topps gives us an action shot of Yastrzemski following through on what appears to be a long fly ball at Comiskey Park. Yaz played in three day games at White Sox Park in '75, with three hits, including a double, in 14 at bats. Assuming the photo is indeed from '75, then the catcher in the background is Brian Downing, who caught all three of those games.

Carl Yastrzemski grew up on a potato farm in Bridgehampton, Long Island, and after briefly attending Notre Dame on a basketball scholarship, signed with the Red Sox organization in 1959. Two years later he was in the major leagues, and immediately became a force in the Red Sox lineup. Yaz was one of the best hitters in the major leagues in the 1960s, with three batting titles between 1963 and 1968. Despite never reaching 200 hits in a season, he twice led the AL in hits during this offensively-challenged era. By far his best season was 1967, when he won the Triple Crown and MVP with a .326 batting average, 44 HR and 121 RBI, as the Red Sox, perennial bottom-dwellers in the American League, won a surprising pennant. Injuries in the early 1970s robbed him of his previous effectiveness, and though he hung on until 1983, he was not really an elite player after 1970. For a big star in a big baseball town, Yastrzemski has lived a pretty low-profile life since retirement. He was not close to his Red Sox teammates, and other than regular appearances at Fenway Park he has mostly stayed out of the spotlight. His grandson Mike Yastrzemski has been the Giants' regular right fielder since 2019.
 

Wood vs. Wood #266

Last time it was 6-2 for '62. Who will win here?

John Anderson's stray lock of hair has made this card into something of a cult classic. A sidearm knuckleballer, Anderson had brief stints with the Phillies in '58, the Orioles in '60, and the Cardinals and Astros in '62. Overall in 24 games he went 0-0 with a 6.45 ERA. He stayed in the minors until 1967. He died in 1998. (One of his teammates in Houston was Jim Golden, who was traded after the season to the White Sox for Nellie Fox.)

Jeff Hamilton plays catch before a game, as a fan leans over the railing behind him. The third baseman played six seasons in the major leagues, all with the Dodgers. He was a regular in 1988 and 1989. In 1989 he led the NL with 139 putouts, and had a fluky year at the bat, hitting .245 with 12 HR and 56 RBI, but managing to rank sixth in the league with 35 doubles, over half his career total. He got hurt in April of 1990, basically ending his career. Overall in 416 games he hit .234 with 62 doubles, 24 HR and 124 RBI. He is now an instructor at Foutch's Strike Zone in Flint, MI. He is also a mortgage banker.
 

1974 Topps Deckle Dating: Willie Davis

 After 14 years with the Dodgers, Davis was traded to the Expos in December of 1973.

This back comes from an eBay auction; the card sold for $120. Topps is not even trying here; Davis was still a Dodger on March 16, 1973. (52 years ago today! I didn't plan that, total coincidence.) The hat certainly looks airbrushed.

In world news on March 16, 1973, the new London Bridge opened; a new record was set for the heaviest weight ever lifted, as part of the construction of the Fremont Bridge in Portland, OR; and the US Department of the Interior blocked a plan to construct a bridge connecting Oyster Bay and Rye, NY. To this day there is still not a way to drive off of Long Island without going through New York City. Big bridge news day!

 

1981 Topps Dave Edwards

The front: It's a rainy day at Yankee Stadium, the umbrellas are out: it's another card from May 11, 1980, like those of John Castino and Geoff Zahn. Edwards went 1-for-4 in the 5-0 loss to the Yankees.

The back: Edwards's many stops in the minor leagues began with four different Florida cities.

The player: Edwards played three seasons for the Twins, and was then traded to the Padres for whom he played in '81 and '82. Overall in 321 major league games he hit .238 with 14 HR and 73 RBI.

The man: Edwards seems to have kept a low profile since his playing career. His facebook profile indicates that he is self-employed and lives in Houston.

My collection: I have 10 of his cards, from 1980 to 1983. I would be interested in trading for 1980 Minnesota Twins Postcards #NNO.
 

1976 SSPC Enos Cabell

 

The card, in brief: I like how the bat is on the left edge of the card, gives this design-less card the hint of a design.

Playing career, in brief:  Cabell was one of the first players whose value was shown by advanced analytics to be less than what was perceived by the general baseball community. Cabell was known as a nice guy with a winning attitude. In the 1983 Baseball Abstract, Bill James wrote “Sparky [Tigers manager Sparky Anderson] is so focused on all that attitude stuff that he looks at an Enos Cabell and he doesn’t even see that the man can’t play baseball. This we ballplayer, Sparky, can’t play first, can’t play third, can’t hit, can’t run and can’t throw. So who cares what his attitude is?” To Cabell’s credit, he handled the rip in a good-natured way. Overall, Cabell hit .277 with 60 HR and 596 RBI in 1,688 major league games.

Post-playing career, in brief:  A cousin of former major leaguers Dick Davis and Ken Landreaux, Cabell is Special Assistant to the GM for the Houston Astros. Cabell encountered legal trouble during his career (suspended after admitting cocaine use in the Pittsburgh drug trials) and after his career (sued by Titans quarterback Vince Young for using Young’s nickname to sell products without his permission).

My collection: I have 38 of his cards, from 1973 to 1987. I would be interested in trading for 1978 Hostess #9.

1970 Topps Booklets: The Mike Cuellar Story

According to Roy Carlson, this drawing is based on the photo used for Cuellar's 1971 Topps Coin.

Most of Cuellar's journey was the journey of the Reds' AAA team, originally in Havana, then after Castro moving to Jersey City and then Indianapolis.

The addition of the screwball really did change Cuellar's effectiveness completely. In 1963 he was 7-8 with a 3.49 ERA; in 1964 he was 6-1 with a 2.01 ERA before being called up.

This is booklet #1 and so the last in the series as I started backwards. I want to think of a new series to replace it as I don't have many cards coming in and I like to post daily. Any suggestions?

 

Cake or gum? 1976 Dave May

Last time we had a 5-5 tie. Will we get a winner this time?

The pose is the same, but the park is not. Hostess has May at Candlestick Park, while Topps's card appears to be a spring training shot.

 Dave May came up with the Orioles in 1967, and was traded to the Brewers in 1970. He was a regular for Milwaukee and had his best seasons there, making the All-Star team in 1973. After a down year in 1974 the Brewers traded him to Atlanta for Hank Aaron. He was used primarily as a pinch-hitter for the Braves. He also had brief stints with Texas and Pittsburgh. Overall in 1,252 games he hit .251 with 96 HR and 422 RBI. After his career he coached for a short time in the Braves organization, and worked in a variety of sales jobs. He died from complications of diabetes in 2012.

Wood vs. Wood #265

Last time it was an 8-0 win for 1987. Will this be closer?

Time for a staring contest between two guys who combined for 750 HR, 350 of them with the Braves. (Exact numbers, not rounding. Cool coincidence!)

Joe Adcock played 17 years in the major leagues, 10 of them with the Milwaukee Braves. He is best known for a four-HR game in 1954. He also drove in the only run of Game 5 of the 1957 World Series, won by the Braves in seven games; and hitting the home run to end Harvey Haddix's perfect game attempt. Overall in 1,959 games he hit .277 with 336 HR and 1,122 RBI. After his playing career he returned to his native Louisiana where he owned a farm and bred horses. He died of Alzheimer's disease in 1999.

Darrell Evans played 21 years in the major leagues, 10 of them with the Atlanta Braves. The other 11 were split between San Francisco and Detroit. He was the AL home run king in 1985 with 40 HR. Overall in 2,687 games he hit .248 with 414 HR and 1,354 RBI. Unlike many other sluggers from his era, Evans had an excellent strikeout-to-walk ratio (1,605-1,410). Since retiring as a player, Evans has coached professional baseball in the US, Canada and New Zealand. He also gives private instruction.
 

1974 Topps Deckle Dating: Nolan Ryan

 Nice job getting the whole player into the skinny design.

Comiskey Park, May 24th, 1973.

Ryan pitched that day, and struck out 13 batters while walking just one. He was undone by one bad inning, a 3-run third with a sac fly by Dick Allen and RBI hits by Melton and Reichardt. The inept Angels offense was baffled by Wilbur Wood's knuckleball and the White Sox one, 4-1.

In other news, multiple prostitution scandals in England forced the resignation of the Leader of the House of Lords; the devaluation of the dollar led to the first trade surplus for the US in two years, mostly due to a decline in the deficit with Canada; and the Mets and Dodgers started a game in Los Angeles at 11pm EST; the game went on for 19 innings, with early-rising New Yorkers tuning in shortly before 5am to hear the Mets win with a 4-run nineteenth inning.

But wait . . . 

It appears that the photo for the '74 Deckle and this '74 puzzle . . .

. . . originate from the same photo session as Ryan's '73 Topps card, which was already out by May. 

Not 1973 then, and I don't think it's even Comiskey Park. The railings between rows were pretty distinctive and I don't see them here. I think this might be Oakland?

 

1981 Topps Joe Sambito

 

The front: Sambito delivers a pitch at Shea Stadium. This must be August 3, when Sambito entered the game in the eighth inning, with Joaquin Andujar having just allowed the Mets to tie the game 2-2. Sambito got out of the jam, and got the win when Cesar Cedeno homered in the tenth. I thought this game sounded familiar, and sure enough I've written about it twice before, for the cards of Andujar and Luis Pujols.

The back: Nice to see a Long Island reference. Adelphi is a small university in Nassau County. Sambito, who is from Bethpage, is the only Adelphi player to make the major leagues.

The player: Sambito was one of the best relievers in the National League from 1976 to 1982. In 321 games over that span he went 33-32 with 72 saves and a 2.36 ERA. In 1982 he hurt his elbow, and was one of the earliest Tommy John surgery patients. He returned with a few more decent seasons for the Astros, Mets and Red Sox but was not the same pitcher as he was before the surgery. Overall in 461 games he went 37-38 with 84 saves and a 3.03 ERA.

The man: After his playing career he had a long career as an agent. His clients included stars like Andy Pettitte and Ryan Klesko. He is now retired and living in California.

My collection: I have 31 of his cards, from 1974 to 1988. I would be interested in trading for 1986 Boston Red Sox Photo Cards (unlicensed) #25.