Burgers or gum? Darrell Evans

Last time was an easy win for Topps, 6-1. Will this one be as easy?

Wendy's has Evans in spring training, with a nice view of the stands. It is clear that the Tigers logo on his helmet is a decal. Topps has him leaning on the Tiger Stadium dugout roof, signing autographs pregame.

The Tigers were slow to enter the world of free agency, and after the 1983 season finally made their first big-time free agent signing, bringing veteran NL slugger Darrell Evans to the Junior Circuit. Evans hit just .232 but walked more than he struck out, and hit 16 HR with 63 RBI. He hit .300 in the ALCS but was one-for-fifteen in the World Series.

Evans played 21 years in the major leagues, 10 of them with the Atlanta Braves. The other 11 were split between San Francisco and Detroit. He was the AL home run king in 1985 with 40 HR. Overall in 2,687 games he hit .248 with 414 HR and 1,354 RBI. Unlike many other sluggers from his era, Evans had an excellent strikeout-to-walk ratio (1,605-1,410). Since retiring as a player, Evans has coached professional baseball in the US, Canada and New Zealand. He also gives private instruction.
 

'52 Pick Up

I was able to snag a small 1952 Topps lot from eBay at less than $1 a card. Not the best shape but still good enough for me. I needed six of the eight cards. Seeing them all together makes me notice how colorful they are.

 Two of the cards I have already. Low grade '52 trade bait! Actually the Frank House card is in quite nice shape other than some staple holes.

 

Wood vs. Wood #321

Last time 1987 won big, 7-2. Who will win here?

Don Landrum strikes a contemplative pose pregame. Landrum was what would today be called a AAAA player. He played 13 years of pro baseball, with stints for the Phillies, Cardinals, Cubs and Giants between 1957 and 1966. In 456 games over 8 seasons, mostly for the Cubs in '62, '63 and '65, he hit .234 with 12 HR and 75 RBI. After his baseball career he worked in a variety of businesses. He died in 2003.

Al Newman hits one high in the air; judging by how high he's looking up, that might be a popup. This is in West Palm Beach, dual home to the Expos and Braves, so this must have been a Braves home game with Newman in the road powder blues. Newman was a utility player who started his career with the Expos and ended it with the Rangers but is best known for his time with the Twins, where he was a member of the '87 and '91 World Champs. In 854 games over 8 seasons, he hit .226 with 1 HR, 156 RBI and 91 SB. After his playing career he was a Twins coach for a while, and now does some occasional youth coaching. 

Cake or gum? 1977 Jerry Morales

Last time there wasn't much action, but Topps got the votes, 3-1. Will we see more interest here?

Two photos probably taken at the same time, at Shea Stadium. Hostess has Jerry smiling for the camera, his beaded necklace prominent in the photo. Topps goes for a more traditional look, with him all business in his batting stance, the Shea scoreboard in the background.

Jerry Morales was a solid-hitting outfielder for five teams over a fifteen-year career. His best years were with some bad Cubs teams in the late '70s, including an All-Star appearance in 1977. Overall in 1,441 games he hit .259 with 95 HR and 570 RBI. Morales was a minor league coach and scout for many years, and has been heavily involved in youth baseball in his home of Puerto Rico.
 

1981 Topps Bobby Brown

 

The front: Lots of people on the field before the game. Some big early 80s hair there.

The back: Brown had a long road to the majors and was released by the Orioles in 1976. However he impressively stuck with the game and would end up playing more than 500 games in the major leagues.

The player: Outfielder Bobby Brown played for the Blue Jays, Yankees, Mariners and Padres from 1979 to 1985. His best season was 1980 when he hit .260 with 14 HR and 47 RBI.  Overall, in 502 games he hit .245 with 26 HR and 130 RBI.

The man: After his playing career he owned a company with former Yankee teammate Jerry Mumphrey called "Major League Dairies", which distributed food to various outlets including ballparks and casinos. The company was based in Atlantic City and was eventually barred by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission for it's poor business record. The most recent mention of Brown that I saw was a 2016 post on Night Owl's 1985 Topps blog saying that Brown was working in "food consulting" in 2008.

My collection: I have 16 of his cards, from 1980 to 1986. I would be interested in trading for 1984 Smokey Bear San Diego Padres SGA #NNO.
 

1976 SSPC Mike Caldwell

 

The card, in brief: I would assume the sky is dark enough to count this as a night card?

Playing career, in brief:  Caldwell pitched fourteen years in the major leagues, winning 137 major league games. His best seasons were with the Brewers in 1978, when he won 22 games and finished second to Ron Guidry in the AL Cy Young voting, and 1982, when he won 17 games in the regular season and two more in the World Series.

Post-playing career, in brief:   Caldwell was a minor league coach for many years but is now retired. He shared his thoughts on baseball cards with this blog in 2010. 

My collection: I have 30 of his cards, from 1973 to 1985. I would be interested in trading for 1983 Gardner's Brewers #4. 

Wallet Card at the Turkish & Arabian Coffee Company

Some surviving 1930s signage from the Turkish & Arabian Coffee Company. Insert T&A joke here.

The coffee company left this site some time in the 1950s or possibly 1960s. In more recent years the building was converted into a single-family townhouse, owned until recently by former Gap CEO Mickey Drexler. Drexler sold it to an unnamed company in 2023 for $24 million, well below the initial asking price of $30 million. Here are some photos of the inside if you don't live in a $24 million townhouse and are curious about what they look like.
 

1974 Topps Stamps

Got a nice lot of '74 Topps stamps, 40 stamps for under $7 shipped. I still need half the set and needed about half the stamps. Some big names in that third row. I still need most of the Yankees so I was glad Blomberg was in there.

Plenty to trade. Some big names up top.

Cards and a little mystery from Mark Z.

Mark Zentkovich is one of those guys that spans the blogs, OBC and TCDB. He sent a nice little RAOK PWE my way recently.

My 1970s and 1980s Topps football wantlists are low enough priority that I don't post them directly here or on TCDB. However, they are high enough priority that I do keep wantlists and am glad to send them on request. Mark did and sent me some '82s and '89s. That Joe Fields card is by far the best of the bunch. Rarely does a card capture the essence of a franchise's past, present and future the way that card does.

He also sent this intriguing Yogi Berra photo, which he said came out of a scrapbook. First Elston Howard from Bob, then Yogi Berra from Mark. Can a Bill Dickey scrapbook page be far behind?

The page is newsprint, so I assumed it came out of a newspaper. The back didn't provide a whole lot of clues for what it was, but eventually I figured it out. 

Maybe others are smarter than me, but it took me a realize that these stories were being told by Mickey Mantle. I just had to look up Mickey Mantle talking about Yogi Berra. I also remembered that magazines of that time were often basically newsprint on the inside.

It is from the May 1963 issue of Sport Magazine. Thanks to an eBay listing, here is the cover (in this case autographed) . . . 

. . . and the full first two pages of the article.

 

1986 Renata Galasso Mattingly #6

15-year-old Mattingly at the height of 1977 fashion with his brown shirt and white tie.

I'm guessing that a year before this photo, teenage Mattingly was very happy the Yankees lost the World Series. Maybe that's why he was cursed to never win one.

1988 Domino's Ernie Harwell

 

Ernie Harwell is an announcing legend, though he only did Tigers games so I didn't heard him announce all that much.

Most of the cards in the set had identical backs, but Domino's baked up a special back for this card.

The last line caught my eye. Apparently Harwell was a collector himself and had an amazing collection. It was donated to the Detroit Public Library after his death, and is available for viewing by appointment.
 

Burgers or gum? Marty Castillo

Last time was a 6-3 win for burgers. What will happen here?

Wendy's has another standard spring training shot, while Topps has Castillo in the dugout, with lots of fans lining up behind the dugout to watch the players. Castillo was a seldom-used catcher-3rd baseman for the Tigers between 1981 and 1985. 1984 was the year he played the most, 70 games where he hit .234 with 4 HR and 17 RBI, his only season above the Mendoza line.

Overall in 201 major league games he hit .190 with 8 HR and 32 RBI. Castillo has stayed away from baseball since his retirement, with the Tigers and Detroit newspapers unable to secure him for team reunions. In 1995 Castillo and his wife opened a sports bar called Marty Castillo's Upper Deck in Cape Coral, FL. In 1999 Castillo, whom Sports Illustrated called one of the nicest and most popular Tigers in 1984, was convicted of assault and battery against his wife. The two divorced and his wife traded his share of the bar for child support; now called BackStreets Sports Bar, it recently celebrated it's 30th anniversary. The most recent mention of Castillo is another domestic violence arrest in 2011. 

Wood vs. Wood #321

Last time Aaron beat Bonds in the big heavyweight matchup, 7-3. Who will win here?

Lee Stange gets a very simple card. Stange was employed by several teams in a long career as a player and coach but is most closely associated with the Red Sox. Stange pitched for four teams over a ten-year career, making his only World Series appearance with the Red Sox in 1967. In 359 games (125 starts) he went 62-61 with 21 saves and a 3.56 ERA. He was a major league pitching coach for three teams, including two stints with the Red Sox. He then worked as a minor league roving instructor for Boston for many years. At one Red Sox function rookie shortstop Jody Reed introduced Stange to his mother; the two later married, making Stange Reed's stepfather. Stange died in 2018.

Mike Laga's card is one of the most famous in the set, and he mentioned the pink uniform when I had the chance to interview him recently. Laga played nine years in the major leagues for the Tigers, Cardinals and Giants. In 188 major league games he hit .199 with 16 HR and 55 RBI. He is now a mortgage loan originator with Freedom Credit Union in Enfield, MA

Cake or gum? 1977 Dave Goltz

Hostess continues to struggle in '77 after being so strong the prior years, last time losing 7-0. Can it pick up a win here?

Two photos that line up rather well. I think this might be Anaheim Stadium?

Dave Goltz quietly put up several excellent season pitching for some bad Twins teams, with mediocre W-L totals despite low ERAs. In 1977 he had by far his best season, leading the AL with 20 wins. The next season he burnt his pitching hand grilling in his backyard, and he wasn't the same pitcher after, pitching poorly for the Dodgers after signing a big free agent contract with them. Overall in 353 games over 12 seasons, he went 113-109 with a 3.69 ERA.
 

1981 Topps Dan Schatzeder

 

The front: Schatzeder shows a quirky delivery at Yankee Stadium. Schatzeder pitched in two day games at Yankee Stadium in 1980. Most likely this is May 26, the same day as Lance Parrish's card. Schatzeder game up 5 runs in 4 innings, and the bullpen was no relief for the Tigers, who got mauled 13-5. The third baseman examining the dirt in detail is Richie Hebner, probably figuring out how deep a grave he could dig there. The other game is less likely - the last day of the season, not usually a time Topps sent out photographers. Schatzeder pitched a complete game, allowing just a 2-run HR to Eric Soderholm, but it was enough for another loss, 2-1.

The back: Schatzeder's ERA was 0.12 higher than league leader JR Richard.

The player: 1981 was the last year Schatzeder was primarily a starter. He spent another 10 years as a journeyman middle reliever for several teams, most notably the Twins with whom he won a World Series in 1987. Overall in 504 games (121 starts) over 15 seasons for nine teams, he went 69-68 with 10 saves and a 3.74 ERA.

The man: After his playing career he was a gym teacher and coach at Waubonsie High School in Illinois. He is now retired. 

My collection: I have 33 of his cards, from 1978 to 1991. I would be interested in trading for 1982 Topps Traded #104.
 

Wallet Card at the 9 train

The 9 train hasn't run since 2005. It covered most of the same territory as the 1 and there wasn't enough ridership to sustain it. Yet Penn Station still has a sign for the 9 train on the 8th Avenue side. Most likely the sticker that was covering the sign came off. Ironically enough it is brighter than the lines that are still active.

 

1976 SSPC Jim Barr

 

The card, in brief: I don't know if it's intentional but it looks like Barr is making a funny face here.

Playing career, in brief:  Jim Barr had several good seasons as a starting pitcher for the Giants in the mid-1970’s. winning 80 games from 1972 to 1978. In 1972 he set a major league record by retiring 41 straight batters, a mark that held for 25 years. He was a “pitch-to-contact” guy with few strikeouts or walks. A free-agent signing for the Angels in 1979, he was one of many to disappoint the club in that era, going 11-16 over two seasons. He reemerged with the Giants as a solid middle reliever in 1982 and 1983.

Post-playing career, in brief: Barr had a long career as a college and high school pitching coach, but appears to now be retired. Both of his daughters, Betsy Barr and Emmy Barr, played professionally in the Women’s United Soccer Association. They faced each other in a San Jose-Washington game in 2003.

My collection: I have 22 of his cards, from 1972 to 1984. I would be interested in trading for 1975 Hostess #13. 

1986 Renata Galasso Mattingly #5

Another little league shot of Mattingly. Looks like something happened to the film when it was developed to mess up the color.

Rod Carew is a good role model for a young hitter.

1988 Domino's Bill Freehan

 

Looks like Freehan's watching a popup go out of play.

 Bill Freehan's offensive numbers were not overwhelming, but he was an excellent defensive catcher and had a career year for the 1968 World Champion Tigers. That year he finished second in the MVP voting, hitting .263 with 25 HR and 84 RBI. He spent his whole career in Detroit, hitting .262 with 200 HR and 758 RBI over 15 seasons. After his career he was a coach and an announcer. He died in 2021.

I have 22 of his cards, from 1965 to 1977. I would be interested in trading for 1963 Topps #466 and 1964 Topps #407. 

Burgers or gum? Tom Brookens

Last time it was 6-1, gum. Will this be closer?

Wendy's has Brookens in his jacket in spring training, while Topps has him sprinting out of the batters box, eying a fly ball. Brookens was primarily used as a defensive replacement late in games for the Tigers in '84. In 113 games he had only 224 at-bats, and hit .246 with 5 HR and 26 RBI. He went 0-for-5 in the postseason (0-for-18 lifetime).

Tom Brookens was a utility infielder for the Tigers from 1979 to 1988, and ended his career with a year each for the Yankees and Indians. In 1,336 major league games he hit .246 with 71 HR and 431 RBI. Brookens was a longtime minor league manager and major league coach in the Tigers organization. He is now retired.

New year's roundup

It's been almost a month since my last roundup post. Some good stuff that's come in since then .  .  .

Two 1971 semi-high-numbers and three high numbers! Casey Branton, OBC. 

njavgjoe from TCDB, a mix of a little bit of everything. Back to the Future is one of my favorite movies, so I like having a card from an insert set with that name.

Three 1957s, all pitchers. Mark Talbot, OBC.

JJDaddio, TCDB - very nice little vintage trade. '71 Bazooka is certainly not a set you see every day.

Some more '71s, as well as some '75s. Jimmy East, OBC.

A very nice and surprisingly cheap 1936 Frankie Crosetti! $6 on eBay.

brando7288 on TCDB with a fun little mix. Baseball cards with everything from a 1964 Ford Mustang ad to the moon!

Fuji very generously sent out a nice little holiday PWE. Lots of Yankees including a few that I needed, including my first '25 Topps Holiday, appropriately enough.

Steve Sankner, OBC, with a menacing Boston pitcher.

Finally, Night Owl never disappoints. Part of his latest package to me were these vintage oddballs, including two cards of Dodgers WS losses I'm sure he's glad to get rid of. I really like the '66 with the all white background.

He also sent three Dodgers postcards! One is a Dodgertown postcard with a great photo of Steve Garvey (and possibly Carlton Fisk?). The other two are team-issued player postcards which count as baseball cards for my collection. The Duke Sims is a 1971. The Ron Cey I had a very hard time identifying. The only clue I could find online came from an old post from the Owl himself, noting that Cey's lack of facial hair made this pre-1974, so I'm comfortable calling it a '73.

 

Kellen Raab on baseball cards

Kellen Raab pitched in the Diamondbacks' organization from 2004-2006. In 76 games he went 19-17 with a 5.31 ERA. Recently, he joined TCDB and posted about his new project to collect cards of his teammates and blog or do videos about them. I reached out to him with some more questions about his baseball card experiences and he kindly replied.

 "My favorite card story of mine is the 2005 South Bend card.  The photographer was only taking pictures for the first homestand and I wasn't pitching until game 5 on the road.  So he said that if I wanted an "action" shot I had to come to the stadium on my own to get it.  So my pitching shot was really just an empty stadium other than me and a photographer at like 10 AM.
 

I would say all of my cards are my favorite.  I think the biggest regret was never getting a major produced card like a Bowman, Topps, Upper Deck etc.  I didn't have an agent until after I started to pitch well and didn't make it known it was a priority.  I always assumed it would happen eventually and then I got hurt and things didn't happen.  I am also sad the team I played for last didn't produce any baseball card sets as it would have been nice to have more of them.

Growing up I collected cards with my mom and dad.  We pretty much collected anything and everything in the 90's.  Living in Omaha with the Royals I collected autographs.  So I was always trying to get cards of guys I could get signed. We also collected high level players and tried to collect all of their different cards.  My favorite players were Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden.  As life went on and moving into my own life I had to downsize the collection considerably due to space in my home.  My collection now consists mostly of my favorite players and the guys I played with and against."

Thanks!

 

Lots of delicious cake

I did a big vintage trade with brcdad of TCDB. On my end I got mostly Hostess cards. Yum!

So many '75s I couldn't fit them all in one photo. Here's the first half, pretty standard. 

It gets more wild in the second half. Oscar Gamble has the famous Afro he also has on his famous Topps card. Decent airbrush attempts were made to cover up Bobby Murcer's Yankee hat, and to give a Yankee hat to Catfish Hunter. But the star of the lot by far is that fantastic Rusty Staub card. The artist gave Staub a Mets hat, started putting Mets pinstripes on his Expos jersey, but gave up before getting to his sleeve. Left the Expos jersey too!

Some bicentennial beauties.

A few from '77, the set I'm currently working on for the blog series. This set has not fared nearly as well as the first two in the head-to-head's with Topps.

A nice trio of '78s.

Finishing strong with '79s, including a fantastic Yankee Stadium card with Ron Guidry.

Finally, finishing off with some gum - two 1972 Topps high numbers!