Wood vs. Wood #262

Last time it was a 7-4 winn for 1987. Who will winn here?

Bob Schmidt is listed as a Senator, his team for 1962. He spent most of 1961 with the Reds, and I can just see the edge of the shortened jersey sleeves the Reds wore on the left side of the photo. Schmidt had come over in a late-April trade with the Giants, for whom he had played the last three seasons. The backup catcher didn't see much playing time with Washington, spending most of '63 and all of '64 in the minors. His last major league stint consisted of 20 games with the Yankees in 1965. Schmidt's rookie season of 1958 was by far his best, hitting .244 with 14 HR and 54 RBIs, earning an All Star Game appearance. He also set a major league record with 22 putouts in an extra inning game. Overall in 454 games he hit .243 with 39 HR and 150 RBI. Schmidt died in 2015.

Jim Winn follows through (warm-up pitch?) at Shea Stadium. Winn appeared in three day games at Shea in 1986. He allowed two earned runs in 5.2 innings, walking six and only striking out one. The Pirates lost the games by scores of 4-1, 5-1 and 6-1 (though not in that order). Winn was a middle reliever for the Pirates from 1983 to 1986, the White Sox in 1987 and the Twins in 1988. In 161 games he went 12-17 with 10 saves and a 4.67 ERA. Control was an issue, for his career he struck out 159 and walked 156. For over 30 years Winn has been a salesmen for Conco Quarries in Springfield, MO.
 

1974 Topps Deckle Dating: Bill Russell

Something weird going on with Russell's eyebrow.

June 9, 1973.

Russell went 1-for-4 in the Dodgers' 4-2loss to the Mets. Their old nemesis Willie Mays was still a thorn in their side at the age of 42; walking and scoring the Mets' first run in the first, then breaking a 2-2 tie with a home run in the third inning.

In other news, less than 20 miles from Shea Stadium, Secretariat won the Belmont Stakes to become the first triple crown winner since 1948. In Spain, General Francisco Franco relinquished control of the cabinet and named Admiral Luis Carrero as Prime Minister. It would be a short run for Carrero, who would be assassinated in December.

His 1974 Topps Stamp photo appears to have been taken at the same time. He's got the same thing on his eyebrow here. Maybe stitches? I can't find it in any other photos of Russell from this time.

 

1981 Topps Mike Sadek

 

The front: Something weird is going on with Sadek's arm. Is it resting in something soft, like a towel, with his arm at just the right angle to be cut off? Or, knowing that he had a reputation as a prankster, is that even his arm at all in that sleeve?

The back: The pinch-hitting experiment lasted four games, with Sadek going 1-for-6 as a lefty.

The player: Mike Sadek was a part-time catcher for the Giants from 1973 to 1981. His games played varied from 19 to 64 during that time. In 383 total games, he hit .226 with 5 HR and 74 RBI.

The man: Sadek, who died in 2021, stayed active in the Giants public relations department after his playing career ended, until retiring in 1999. He was known for being somewhat unusual. One quirk was taping a baseball card to his locker of each pitcher he hit a home run off of. (He only hit five in his career, off of Grant Jackson, Jamie Easterly, Dave Robert, Phil Niekro and Larry McWilliams.) On the topic of cards, his son recently posted his extensive collection of graded cards of his dad on Reddit.

My collection: I have nine of his cards, from 1974 to 1981. I would be interested in trading for 1979 San Francisco Giants Police SGA #NNO.
 

1976 SSPC Doug Rader

 

The card, in brief: An all-time great card photo. Nice of SSPC to switch to horizontal to fully capture the shot. Known as "The Red Rooster", Rader was known for his flaky, goofy antics on and off the field.

Playing career, in brief: Doug Rader played for the Astros from 1967 to 1975, and had brief stints with the Padres and Blue Jays. He was a great defensive third baseman, winning five straight Gold Gloves. At the plate he had the profile of a modern player - low average, good power, high strikeout totals, decent walk totals. Overall in 1,465 games he hit .251 with 155 HR and 722 RBI.

Post-playing career, in brief: Rader was a long time coach, who had unsuccessful managerial stints with the Rangers and Angels. He is now retired an living in Florida.

My collection: I have 20 of his cards, from 1967 to 1978. I would be interested in trading for 1975 Astros Photocards #NNO, another crazy photo of his.

 

Roundup

I may not be buying cards for now, but still have regular cards in the mail, not only from bloggers but from the trading groups TCDB (Trading Card Data Base) and OBC (Old Baseball Cards). Trading is still cheap enough!

Got a single card in a TCDB trade with dmarek. It's an interesting vintage miscut. I assume the red and yellow lines indicate the end of a sheet.

These six game from Greg Henthorn of OBC. These might not be big names but almost all are the tougher semi-high or high-numbers.

Canadian OBCer Andrew Goguen sent these Canadian OPCs. The most interesting is the Bob Watson, "Announced his retirement".

From TCDB, I finished lildog7's E.T. set, and he finished my 1993 Hostess set, along with a few Bowmans.

These Baltimore Orioles came from TCDB's BOCards. Also a Topps flashback. I guess Topps wasn't comfortable with using the full Jaws poster.

Some oddballs from Jeff9679. I am always up for some unlicensed cards.

Some more semi-highs from OBC's Casey Branton.

Finally, this was my last eBay purchase (hopefully not forever!). $20 is a great deal for this card, even in this condition. He's just a Red Sock anyway. Still, can't be spending $20 on a card these days.

 

 

Time Travel Trade!

Here's this month's Time Travel Trade with Diamond Jesters.

Usually my first cards of the new year come from these, though this year Kerry beat Matt by a day with his pack. I'm still liking the shiny best of all. Maybe it doesn't come out in a photograph but they look pretty good in hand.

 I should also correct Night Owl - I didn't actually grow up with foil cards. I grew up buying cards in packs from stationery stores and drug stores from 1986-1993. I only knew the major brands - Topps, Donruss, Fleer, Score, UD, Sportflics. I wasn't aware of the high end cards like Stadium Club and Elite until later on. So I actually got out right before foil started hitting the major brands. By '93 Score was fading out and there weren't too many packs around, so that set still has lots of holes for me. It's UV coated but otherwise no more shiny than a 1970s card. Some old-time HOFers in there too, though Slingin' Sammy was a football HOFer, not baseball.

He's a good segue to the football cards that came from this trade. The only vintage this time around came from football. I was collecting football cards in '88 (again, nothing shiny other than the coating) but I still only have about half the set. I didn't have any Pro Set as a kid (I had shifted to only baseball by '90) so still lots of needs there too.

 

Cards on Cards contest winnings: my first 2025 Topps pack

I was an award winner in the Cards on Cards college football contest, and my prize was a 36-count pack of 2025 Topps. These are my first 2025 cards!

Here's my first card in the pack. Topps says the design is supposed to look like a subway map. Lots of bloggers think it looks like the '82 design. Personally I'm reminded more of 1992 with the rounded border on top and bar on the bottom.

My favorite part of the set is the colored foil border. It brightens up the otherwise-bland design. I thought it looked especially nice with a bunch of cards in hand, seeing the different-colored foil bars shining in the light. I couldn't get a good picture of that effect, though. It's weird to me how much hate the foil is getting on other blogs. (Especially the two big Dodger blogs - did Ron Cey once get attached by a foil monster or something?) Foil is also supposed to be very "90's" which is also supposedly terrible - again, i don't get it. One funny thing is that a very "90's foil" thing happened with this Kershaw card, as part of his name that was printed on the foil didn't print right.

Overall I think these cards look better in hand when you have a few of them at once. They don't look great in a photo but in person the colors pop more. It's not as good a design as last year, but it's OK. The player photos are still "pitcher pitching", "batter batting", etc. Even the fielding and celebration photos look pretty similar to each other. You'd think you'd at least get a "batter batting" where the ball is meeting the bat, or a double play turn, or even a different angle once in a while.

I got two Yankee cards in the pack - ironically the first was of a Met. I wish the Yankees got blue foil instead of the gray foil, which doesn't shine as well as the other colors.

Some "hits". Two Stars of MLB inserts. Unfortunately one is a Met but the other is one of the game's biggest stars. This set was looking very similar year to year and got freshened up nicely this year. I think the gold looks good, though again other bloggers seem to hate it. The 1990 Topps card is pretty good, it's a design from my youth that hasn't been overdone yet, so it was a bit nostalgic. Elly de la Cruz is another big star which is nice. It's funny that the 2025's don't have batter strikeouts but they do show up on the 1990 design, so you see he had a whopping 218 strikeouts! Finally, just a base card, but to get the base card of the best player in the game is pretty awesome. I don't usually read the stats on the back but I did in Ohtani's case, and they're mind-boggling.

 

1970 Topps Booklets: The Jay Johnstone Story

Looks like they forgot to color in the logo on Johnstone's cap.

Down in the Valley is a folk song that dates back to the 1920s. It's been heard everywhere from a Burl Ives record to the opening scene of the original Friday the 13th movie.

Do You Know the Way to San Jose was a 1968 hit for Dionne Warwick, for which she earned her first Grammy.

Finally, no more singing, but an actual MLB highlight! Like the Walt Williams booklet, Topps chose a promising young hitter for a bad team. Andy Messersmith was the same age as Johnstone and also had a breakout season, and was arguably as good a choice. Other than that is pretty slim pickings: Jim Fregosi, Ken Tatum, maybe Rick Reichardt.

 

Cake or gum? 1976 Randy Jones

Last time gum trounced cake, 10-2. Will this be closer?

Two very different photos this time. The hostess card has Randy in front of the visitors dugout at Shea Stadium, the site of so many Topps photos over the years. There are so many visible details, from the view of the stadium and the sky beyond in the background, players on the field, fans in the stands, and in the foreground some Padres in the dugout and a ball bag on the steps. Topps's photo, meanwhile, has a close-up of Jones at home at Jack Murphy Stadium, with some pretty good stadium detail on this one too.

Randy Jones won 100 games in his ten-year major league career. A two-time All-Star and twenty-game winner, he was the NL Cy Young Award Winner in 1976, going 22-14 with a 2.74 ERA and 25 complete games for the Padres. After his career he owned a restaurant and had a barbecue sauce business. He is now the chairman of the Randy Jones Foundation, which provides opportunities and resources for military families. He shared his thoughts on baseball cards with this blog in 2014.

Wood vs Wood #261

Last time it was another big victory for 1987, 8-0. Who will win here?

George Alusik looks away from the photographer at Yankee Stadium. You get a nice, if blurry, look at the centerfield bleachers and flagpole. Alusik was a big power hitter who never really got a full chance at the big league level. He was signed by the Tigers at the age of 18, but his development was delayed due to serving in the Korean War. After the war he won two AAA batting titles but never got much of a look by the Tigers, who sold him to the KC A's two games into the '62 season. There Alusik put up good power numbers in limited playing time. He had a five-game HR streak in 1962, one short of the record at the time. He played his last big league game in 1964 at the age of 29. In 1965 at the age of 30 he hit .207 in AAA, ending his career. In 298 major league games he hit .256 with 23 HR and 93 RBI. After his playing career he returned home to New Jersey. When he died in 2018, his obituary said he was "a practical joker always making people laugh, avid golfer, hunting/fishing, playing the slot machines in AC Casinos".

Ruben Sierra takes a big cut at Yankee Stadium. Sierra was an exciting slugger who put up some big numbers early in his career, most notably 1989 when he led the AL in triples, RBI and slugging. The Yankees traded Danny Tartabull for him in 1995 and he was a key figure in returning the team to the postseason after a 14-year absence. His at-bats were always exciting, must-watch moments, including two home runs against the Mariners in the ALDS, and he is still one of my favorite Yankees. He struggled to start the '96 season, and the Yankees traded him to Detroit for Cecil Fielder. This was a wise move by the Yankees, as Fielder contributed a lot of big hits to the world championship team, while Sierra's production fell of a cliff upon turning 30. Sierra eventually reinvented himself as an excellent pinch hitter and bench player, and he returned to the Yankees from 2003-2005, getting a lot of big hits, including two more postseason home runs. Overall in 2,186 games for nine teams, Sierra hit .268 with 306 HR and 1,322 RBI. During his time with the Yankees, Sierra's walk-up music was his own salsa music, and he has recorded several successful albums since the end of his baseball career.
 

1974 Topps Deckle Dating: Dick Allen

Nice to see Allen finally get into the Hall of Fame. He gets a good photo here, too.

April 24, 1973. 

Allen was 1-for-4 with a single and a walk. Meanwhile Eddie Leon, Bill Melton and Carlos May all hit home runs as the White Sox crushed the Yankees, 8-4. It was Stan Bahnsen's first win against the Yankees, for whom he had pitched for five years before being traded to the Pale Hose.

In other news, the USS Force caught fire and sank off of Guam, thankfully with no casualties; the President of Cambodia agreed to US pressure to share power with the leaders of three other anti-communist groups; and the Saturday Review went bankrupt.

It looks like this photo and similar ones got a lot of use. Here it is in color on his 1974 Topps Puzzle.

The same photo was also used on the 1975 home run leaders card. The Yankees played at Shea Stadium in '74 so the photo had to be from '72 or '73.

His 1974 Topps stamp appears to have been taken at the same time.

His Kelloggs cards are worth mentioning here. Check out his 1973 Kelloggs card. Also Yankee Stadium. Also a turtleneck, with the zipper down to the team name. He would have had to change out from a bat to a fielding glove, but that's hardly a big change. But wouldn't these cards have been out by April of 1973? I would assume that the baseball card tie in would have been out in boxes around opening day?

Then you have 1974 and 1975. Kelloggs used fake backgrounds on their lenticular cards, but once again his uniform matches up with the Yankee Stadium photos.

 

 

1981 Topps Eric Soderholm

  

The front: Looks like someone in the stands has an umbrella open. Maybe a bit of a rainy day at Yankee Stadium?

The back: April 20th was a big day for Soderholm, who was a triple short of a cycle. His second-inning solo homer gave the Yankees a 2-0 lead in a game they would go on to win, 9-5.

The player: This was a final tribute card for Soderholm. The third baseman played for the Twins, White Sox, Rangers and Yankees from 1971 to 1980. His best season was 1977, when he bounced back from missing the entire '76 season due to injury, hitting .380 with 25 HR and 67 RBI, earning AL Comeback Player of the Year honors. Overall, n 894 games he hit .264 with 102 HR and 383 RBI. 

The man: After his career he was a Cubs scout and a youth baseball coach. He is now the owner of Soderworld Wellness Center & Academy, a body, mind and spirit sanctuary in Willowbrook, IL. He kindly answered my questions about baseball cards in 2018.

My collection: I have 14 of his cards, from 1973 to 1981. I would be interested in trading for 1978 Hostess #20.
 

1976 SSPC Larry Milbourne

 

The card, in brief: Between the chaw and the sideburn, there's a whole lot going on with Milbourne's cheek.

Playing career, in brief: Utility infielder Larry Milbourne played for six teams over 11 seasons. In 989 games he hit .254 with 11 HR and 184 RBI. He hit very well in his one post-season, filling in for an injured Bucky Dent with the 1981 Yankees, hitting .327 in 14 games.

Post-playing career, in brief: For someone who played over a decade in the major leagues, Milbourne has kept a very low profile. Anyone know what he is doing now?

My collection: I have 20 of his cards, from 1975 to 1985. I would be interested in trading for  1984 Topps Traded #79T.

1970 Topps Booklets: The Walt Williams Story

 No neck in this portrait. But, nobody else had a neck in their portraits either.

Another Bay Area baseball star. I like the hat.

Bateman was not one of baseball's nice guys, and the nickname was not necessarily meant to be friendly. Williams didn't like the nickname at first but eventually warmed up to it.

It's not until the last panel of the comic that we get a major league accomplishment for Williams. The '69 White Sox didn't have much star power to choose from. Luis Aparicio was certainly more accomplished, and they had a strong starting staff, but at age 25 Williams was maybe the most exciting player at the time. He never hit .300 again and only had one more good season, though.

 

Cake or gum? 1976 Mike Torrez

Last time it was a close one, with cake victorious by a score of 6-4. Who will win here?

Once again we have two photos from the same session, this time at the Oakland Coliseum. In a bit of a departure from usual patterns, it's Hostess with the closeup, Topps with the farther-away shot. You can even see Torrez's #24 written on his glove.

Mike Torrez pitched for seven teams in his 18-year-career. 1975 was his one year with the Orioles, and his one year winning 20 games. Torrez had been traded along with Ken Singleton from the Expos for Rich Coggins and Dave McNally, a great trade for Baltimore. However after the season the Orioles traded Torrez and Don Baylor to Oakland for Reggie Jackson, a trade that did not work out as well for them. In early 1977, the Yankees, with several injuries in their starting rotation, traded Dock Ellis to Oakland for Torrez, and he had a great regular season and an even better postseason, dominating the Dodgers with two complete game victories, including the clinching Game 6. A free agent after the season, Torrez signed a big contract with Boston and ended up facing the Yankees in the one-game playoff at the end of the regular season, where Torrez famously gave up Bucky Dent's big 3-run home run. Torrez struggled to live up to his big contract in Boston. He has said that he preferred pitching to Thurman Munson than Carlton Fisk, and he did improve when Fisk left, going 10-3 in 1981. Overall in 494 games Torrez went 185-160 with a 3.96 ERA. After his career he has done some coaching, and for many years has owned MAT Premiums, a promotional-items distributor.

Wood vs. Wood #260

Last time it was an 8-2 win for 1987. Who will win this battle of great AL pitchers coming to the Giants at the end of their careers?

Usually known as Billy, Bill Pierce is in his White Sox uniform at Yankee Stadium, but listed as a Giant. Pierce originally came up with the Tigers at the age of 18 in 1945, and after the 1948 season was traded to the White Sox. In his 13 seasons with the White Sox, Pierce and Whitey Ford were generally considered the best left-handed pitchers in the American League, with the two often matching up against each other directly. He led the AL in strikeouts in '53, wins in '55 and ERA in '57. He had a down year in 1959, the White Sox' pennant year, and was only used in the bullpen during the World Series, a controversial decision by manager Al Lopez. Seemingly on the decline, Pierce was traded to the Giants in '62 and had a marvelous comeback season, going 16-6 and going 1-1 against his old rivals, the Yankees, in the World Series. However he flamed out quickly after that. Overall in 585 games he went 211-169 with 1,999 strikeouts and a 3.27 ERA. These numbers seem more "very good" than "all time great", but given the watering down of the Hall of Fame in recent years, he would not be a terrible Hall selection. After his career he spent some time as a White Sox announcer and scout (signing Ron Kittle), and was a sales and PR representative for Continental Envelope for over 20 years. He died of cancer in 2015.

Vida Blue's sunset card has a simple shot of him with arms crossed, looking up into the stands. Blue burst onto the national scene as a 21-year old rookie in 1971, going 24-8 with 301 strikeouts and a 1.82 ERA. He held out for much of 1972 and slipped considerably, going 6-10 and being demoted to the bullpen. However, his strikeout and ERA numbers, though not as good as '71, were still better than most pitchers in the league. He rebounded to win 20 games in '73. Blue was never again as dominant as he was in '71 (he never struck out 200 batters again, let alone 300), but he still put up excellent numbers for Oakland and San Francisco though the 1981 season. Blue was traded to the Royals before the 1982 season, and quickly became embroiled in the cocaine scandals that engulfed that team. He was suspended for the 1984 season, though he returned in 1985 and 1986 as a solid starter for the Giants. He signed with the A's in 1987 but abruptly retired in spring training, presumably due to more drug problems. His career 209-161 record and 3.27 ERA compare well to other pitchers of his era who get Hall of Fame consideration. He is hurt by not living up to his rookie-year hype, his history of drug abuse, and a poor postseason record (1-5, 4.31 ERA in 17 games). Blue was one of the players most directly involved in the cocaine scandals of the 1980s, eventually serving 81 days in jail. Substance abuse continued to haunt him after his career, with at least three DUI arrests in the 2000s and 2010s. Blue was an announcer for the Giantswas involved in various charitable endeavors. He died of cancer in 2023.
 

1974 Topps Deckle Dating: Claude Osteen

Airbrush alert. 

Not only is it a Dodger uniform, but it's a Dodger uniform from 1971, the only year the team had that stripe on their road uniforms. (Though they appear to have worn them in spring training of 1972.) Definitely not February 26, 1974. Most likely '72 if uniform changes went into effect after spring training was over.

Looks like Osteen's '74 Topps Traded card looks similarly airbrushed from the same shoot. At least here they did the uniform too.