1974 Topps Deckle Dating: Carl Yastrzemski

Some fluffy sideburns here.

March 4, 1973.

Topps is consistent, here, as Luis Tiant's card was dated then as well. As noted on that post, on that day the Red Sox suffered an injury blow, as catcher Vic Correll broke his leg in a sliding drill. In other news, 34 American POWs were released in Vietnam, elections were held in Chile and France, and Yankees pitchers Fritz Peterson and Mike Kekich held press conferences to announce that they were swapping wives.

As is the case for several other players, the color version of this photo can be seen on Yaz's '74 Topps Jigsaw Puzzle.

The photo from his '74 Topps Stamp appears to have been taken in the same sitting.

1981 Topps Phil Niekro

 

The front: Niekro delivers a pitch at Shea Stadium. The background seems a little skewed. I think this may be one of those cases where the player was at an angle, but Topps oriented the photo so they are straight up-and-down, causing the background to be tilted. This game must have been May 25, 1980. Niekro pitched a complete game but lost 3-0, when the Mets broke a scoreless tie in the eighth with and RBI double by John Stearns, followed by a 2-run HR by Mike Jorgensen.

The back: 17 seasons in the major leagues, and still 7 more to go.

The player: Hall-of-Famer Phil Niekro was arguably the best knuckleball pitcher of all time. He won 318 games in his 24-year career. The ace of the Braves' staff from the late 1960s to the early 1980s, he won the 1967 NL ERA title and had three 20-win seasons, leading the league in wins twice. He stuck out 3,342 batters, including an NL-high 262 in 1967.

The man: After his career he famously managed the all-female Colorado Silver Bullets. He also occasionally advised young knuckleball pitchers, and worked for a sporting goods company. He died of cancer in 2020.

My collection: I have 66 of his cards, from 1966 to 1988. I would be interested in trading for 1964 Topps #541 and 1965 Topps #461.
 

Roundup

Since I am not buying baseball cards until I get a new job, I didn't buy the 2025 set but put it on my TCDB wantlist. I got a whole bunch of offers, mostly from the beginning of the set because people just click the first few cards, I guess. Then I got an offer for almost all of the set from friend-of-the-blogs Mihome316. Should have thought of him first because I've done this kind of deal with him in the past. Got most of Series I 2025 here:

I've got all but two of the other cards I needed from other trades, or they are on route but the post office may be swallowing them. Most of the other offers I countered and turned into trades for random other fun cards.

These came from Guardians fan jamestagli, with lots of great cards from Cleveland and other teams, everything from '89 Donruss Baseball's Best to '25 Topps Stars of MLB.

GalapagosPhanatic sent eight of the biggest names in baseball today. Always a good feeling to remove stars from your wantlist.

Solid additions to the set from bbcards56.

In addition to some more '25s, my first 1980 Burger King Phillies card, from andrewervin.

howe9909 sent lots of cards from early in the '25 set, some Bowmans, and some very colorful Topps Gold Labels.

Some great cards of Yankees from my youth, and some Canseco's, plus a single '25 Yankee need, all from Canseco supercollector Dports1.

robglessner sent two PWEs. Got one a week ago; still waiting for the other. The other one has some vintage so I hope it finds its way here. Still, lots of fun cards here, including my first Paul Skenes card. He's gotten so much attention that he seems overrated, but looking at his first year numbers, they're pretty amazing.

Tiger-heavy group from Tigers fan Aaron-miller. Everything from junk wax needs to shiny 90s stuff.

nozzlemaster sent a fun junkwax-era oddball mix, including a Burger King oddball with the coupon.

From twinswin, some Twins from '24 Update, a Stadium Club card, and a Topps football need.

This was a really fun one, from fowler279. Highlights include a '91 Ballstreet Frank Thomas - these were the best unlicensed magazine cards of the early 90s. Lots of Yankees from the last championship team 16 years ago, and an A&G card of a New York landmark.

Another fun mix, from mnorton082. Some vintage, including the fabulous 1961 Golden Press Bill Dickey. Some really fun 80's and 90's cards too.

Also one RAOK from OBC this month, from Steve Archibald. These arrived in a USPS "We Care" package, inside 3/4 of a holiday card and a mangled toploader. These cards only had a couple of matching creases from the ordeal, which in my book just gives them more character.

1976 SSPC Jose Cruz

 

The card, in brief: Not a whole lot to say abut this photo, but it's cool how his helmet is so shiny that the H on the logo is reflected onto the bill.

Playing career, in brief:  Cruz played in nineteen seasons for the Cardinals, Astros and Yankees. A two-time All-Star, he had his best seasons in Houston, including leading the NL in hits in 1983. Overall in 2,353 games he hit .284 with 165 HR, 1,077 RBI and 317 SB.

Post playing career, in brief: 

Topps Big Cartoon Deep Dive: Bryn Smith

I'll take Gregory's suggestion and try a series based on Topps Big comics. I tried that many years ago and didn't stick with it for very long, but I'll give it a try here. I do have all three sets so it's easy enough to flip through them.

 These cartoons have a deservedly bad rap for whitewashing the nonwhite players but I'll look beyond that to find interesting tidbits in the cartoons. The cartoons themselves are OK, typical Topps stuff. But I like some of the personal factoids about the players. 

Today's selection is Bryn Smith, who on the front is delivering a pitch at Jack Murphy Stadium.

Most of the time there will be one or two interesting cartoons, but all three of Smith's are notable.

Smith was an excellent golfer in high school. The Olympic Stadium drive was done to win a pregame bet with announcers Joe Garagiola and Tony Kubek before a nationally televised game..

Smith is no ordinary Rush fan. After the 1984 season he joined the group on tour for several days and worked as a roadie. He is good friends with singer Geddy Lee, and wore a Rush T-shirt under his baseball uniform for many years. Smith is one of several baseball and hockey players to be thanked in Rush album liner notes. 

Smith is hardly the most interesting person in his own family. His father, Tom P. Smith, was a photographer for Lockheed Martin, photographing key classified material during World War II, and filming some of their first rocket launches. His stepbrother, Tom O. Smith, served two terms in the Vermont House of Representatives in the early 1990s. And then there was his mother, Meg. Not short for Margaret or Meghan, but Omega. Meg worked in publicity at RKO Studios, where she became good friends with actor Cary Grant (dated, according to a 1980s SI article that may be exaggerating). It was through her friendship with Grant that she got a role as Ingrid Bergman's body double when the actress wasn't available to film some additional scenes for the movie Notorious. At RKO she met Tom Smith through their mutual friends, Rams QB Bob Waterfield and actress Jane Russell. The two married on a TV program called Wedding Bells in 1950, and moved to Marietta, GA in 1954 so Tom could start Lockheed Martin's film division. 

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.