Vintage equipment: SSPC/TCMA

I only found a couple more for this series from the 1976 SSPC set, both Pittsburgh Pirates.

Rookie pitcher John Candelaria was #45 for the Pirates. I guess he wanted to goof around and strike a batting pose, but didn't have equipment of his own handy. The bat belongs to #22 Richie Zisk, while the helmet appears to have #24 on it. #24 Paul Popovich was released in July, and when Omar Moreno was called up in September he took that number. It may well be that Candelaria took Moreno's hat which used to belong to Popovich.

Here's a simpler one. Duffy Dyer wore #5, but his holding bat #28, which belonged to teammate Bill Robinson.

Marked-up equipment is mostly non-existent on 1970s minor league cards. I did find one instance, on the 1975 Dubuque Packers card of future major leaguer Terry Puhl, who wrote his name on his batting glove.

Next it will be on to my vintage Topps cards!