The front: Close up pose of Roberts. Difficult to tell but I
think it is Tiger Stadium.
The back: Looks like Roberts’s transition from starter to
reliever coincided with him bouncing around from team-to-team in midseason
transactions, making his stat lines long and top-heavy.
The player: Roberts was a good pitcher with flashes of
greatness who was often derailed by injuries. He gained prominence in 1971 for
outdueling Tom Seaver with a 12-inning complete game shutout. Today a pitcher
with a history of arm trouble would not be called on to pitch a 12-inning game.
The man: Roberts worked at the Allegany County Detention
Center in Maryland after his playing career, and was also a college pitching
coach. He grew up in Ohio and worked as a boilermaker as a young man, which
exposed him to asbestos. He died of lung cancer related to the asbestos in
2009.
My collection: I have 12 of his cards, from 1970 to 1981. I
would be interested in trading for 1969 Topps #536, 1971 Topps #448 and 1972
Topps #360.
No comments:
Post a Comment