Monday, May 13, 2019

1981 Topps Roy Smalley

The front: Another great action shot in front of a packed house at Yankee Stadium. Smalley played in only one day game at Yankee Stadium in 1980, a 5-0 loss. Smalley was 0-3 with a walk.

The back: The double plays record is a bit of an odd choice, since it was actually broken in 1980 by Rick Burleson with 147, a record that still stands. Kirby Puckett broke Smalley’s doubles record with 4 in a game in 1989.
The player: Shortstop Roy Smalley played sixteen seasons in the major leagues, mostly for the Twins and Yankees. He was an All-Star in 1979, hitting .271 with 24 HR and 95 RBI. Overall in 1,653 games he hit .257 with 163 HR and 694 RBI, good power numbers for a shortstop.

The man: Smalley’s father, also named Roy Smalley, played eleven seasons in the major leagues. His uncle was long-time manager Gene Mauch. While playing for the Yankees Smalley’s neighbor was a banking executive (later the CEO of EF Hutton) who convinced Smalley to go into banking after his career. He is currently a financial advisor at Morgan Stanley in Minneapolis.

My collection: I have 38 of his cards, from 1976 to 1988. I would be interested in trading for 1983 Fleer Star Stickers #37.

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