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.