Thursday, May 8, 2025

Cake or gum? 1977 Rod Carew

 Last time it was a 10-0 drubbing by Topps. Will this be closer?

Hostess has a headshot of Rod Carew at spring training, with partly cloudy skies and lots of trees. Topps has an action shot of Carew holding a runner on. It's an away game, but I can't tell where. Maybe Oakland? 

One of the greatest hitters of his generation, Carew won six AL batting titles. An 18-time All Star, he was the AL Rookie of the year in 1967. His best season was 1977, winning the AL MVP that year hitting a league-leading .388 with 14 HR and 100 RBI, also leading the league with 128 runs, 239 hits, 16 triples and a .449 on-base percentage. For his career he hit .328 with 445 doubles, 112 triples, 92 HR, 1,015 RBI and 353 stolen bases while walking almost as much as he struck out (1,018 walks to 1,028 strikeouts). Carew spent more than a decade in the front offices of each of the teams he played for (Twins and Angels) and has been involved in numerous charitable endeavors, mostly cancer-related (he lost a daughter to cancer, and had chewing-tobacco-related cancer himself). After a 2016 heart attack he received a heart and kidney transplant. The donor was former NFL player Konrad Reuland.

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