Tuesday, July 19, 2022

Art on the back: 1977

I generally prefer the sets where the cartoons are about the player on the card, rather than a random baseball fact. 1977 Topps has the latter, but these are actually well done. Instead of dry stats like the Giants' all time walks leader, there was a lot of interesting trivia and genuinely fun facts in here. The pictures are well done too.

Here's Sparky Lyle's card as an example. Time's running out on the big Sparky-themed contest at It's Like Having My Own Card Shop! The prize pool keeps growing.

I found lots of fun cartoons to show from this set.


Eisenhower supposedly played semi-pro ball in 1910 under an assumed name, but this story has never been confirmed.
Odd to have Jim Bouton referred to as a television personality who used to play baseball. He never came close to having a career separate from baseball/sports.
I am guessing that the 1977 Topps Bill Russell card is the only baseball card from a major manufacturer to mention Playboy magazine.


Joe Garagiola and Gerald Ford were good friends; Garagiola was part of the small circle of individuals who watched the election returns with Ford at the White House.
Finally, ending with the cartoon about Marty Pattin impersonating cartoon characters. Kind of like the Sparky Lyle cartoons that referenced birthday cakes without telling the whole story. If you've read Ball Four, you might remember the depiction of Pattin's X-rated Donald Duck impression.


3 comments:

  1. Bummer the green background makes them kinda hard to read, otherwise the '77 cartoons would likely be more appreciated today.

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  2. Yup, the '77 cartoons are among the best. I'd rank them only behind '56 and '73.

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    Replies
    1. Forgot about '74, would put those third, followed by '77.

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