The Pale Hose

This team was in the middle of a an 88-season championship drought as this card was issued:

(No Number) -- Chicago White Sox Checklist

It was slightly longer than the celebrated "Curse of the Bambino" that was lifted the year before, but shorter that the one that the other baseball team in Chicago is still enduring. And for all of the celebrated "Crosstown Series" that have been held between the Yankees and their N.L. counterparts over the years, it was old hat to Chicagoans, who hosted the first cross-town Series in 1906, 15 years before the Yanks ever got into the Fall Classic.

And...sorry, Cub fans, the White Sox won that series in 6 games. They were one of the powerhouse teams of the American League's early years, but an association with gamblers in 1919 earned the team a black eye that lasted for years. It would take 40 years before the team was once again competitive, but the Yankees were the powerhouse then and perennially kept them in second. The one year they did beat the Yankees (1959), the Dodgers were ready to deliver a smackdown of their own. By the time the 1970s rolled around, the team was back in their regular doldrums.

The names on the front of this card have a full outfield (Kelly, Jeter, May), Ed Herrmann at catcher, Dick Allen at first, Mike Edwards Andrews at second and Bill Melton at third...but no one at shortstop. So, this card won't show a full "game-ready" lineup. The pitchers are Wood, Bahnsen, Acosta, Forster and Gossage.

Setting Off the Fireworks

Seeing as how today is the Fourth of July, here's a team that provided plenty of fireworks -- both on the field and off -- in 1973:

(No Number) -- Oakland A's Team Checklist

The Oakland A's were right in the middle of their three-year run as the best team in baseball. 1973 would see the team win its second of three straight titles, so this checklist is as close as you'll get to a great team at the time.

But is it complete? The infield is solid, with Tenace at first, Green at second, Campaneris at short and Bando at third. A reserve first baseman (Mike Hegan) is present as well. Dave Duncan takes his place behind the plate, but there are only two outfielders here (Reggie and Rudi). Two starters -- Hunter and Blue -- take the mound, with Fingers and Knowles in the bullpen.

They come very close to fielding a "complete" team...but, like the players that made up the roster, they're just a little bit off.

Night Owl Will Hate This Post

Greg the "Night Owl" is a fellow Blogger and his post are enlightening, but I don't imagine he'll like this checklist card very much:

(No Number) San Francisco Giants Team Checklist

But I have to feature each card on my way through the set, so let me get this one out of the way. Hopefully, he'll see it as akin to ripping off a Band-Aid quickly in order to get it off. That said, there are some Giant fans out there who likely would mind if I neglected to talk about their team...so let's see if the names on the card present a full "field-ready" team...

Actually, I know it won't, because there was no listed Giants third baseman anywhere in the 1973 Topps set. But let's play anyhow.

Two first basemen are featured in Dave Kingman and Willie McCovey. Funny enough, Kingman played more at third base in 1972 (and '73). Fuentes and Speier take the keystone positions, while third and catcher are vacant. There are also only two outfielders listed here, Bobby Bonds and Garry Maddox. So, even if you moved one of the first basemen around to play other positions like they did in "real life," you'd still be short somewhere.

However, this team is heavy on pitching. Juan Marichal was a hard thrower, while Jerry Johnson and Ron Bryant were at their peak right about that time. Jim Barr, Tom Bradley and "Sudden Sam" are also ready to take the ball. And Dave Kingman gets a another mention here, as he spent four innings on the mound in 1973.

Relocated "Bums" -- Blue-Bordered Edition

The blue border around this card matches the team pretty nicely:

(No Number) -- Los Angeles Dodgers Team Checklist Card

The Dodgers were building a team that would go to the World Series three times before the decade was over, but still needed a couple of key players in place.

This is the eighth team whose unnumbered checklist card has been featured on this blog, and so far, only two teams have presented a full team among the signatures. This one has three outfielders: Mota, Davis and Crawford. However, the rest of the players are short. There is no catcher, no second baseman and two third basemen (Garvey and McMullen). Buckner is taking first while Russell mans the shortstop position. Finally, there are five pitchers, including Andy Messersmith, whose signature almost looks like John Hancock's in the way it takes up so much space.

The count remains at two "complete" teams in the set so far.

Cubbie "Blue"

Here's another one of the unnumbered blue-bordered checklists that were included in the wax packs with the high-numbered cards in 1973:

(No Number) Chicago Cubs Team Checklist Card

The border color is actually suitable for the team that's featured. Here's something worth sharing here, since I missed mentioning it in my post that featured the team photo card: 1973 was the only year between 1945 and 1984 where the Cubs were in contention going into the final day of the season. Due to rainouts, they still had four games to play against the Mets (the same team that denied of the division in 1969). They just needed to win all four games, but weren't able to.

This is the sixth team checklist card featured on this blog. So far, the only team that's "fielded" an entire team from the signatures was the same team that beat them to win the 1945 World Series...the Detroit Tigers. So let's see. Randy Hundley is behind the plate. Hickman at first, Beckert at second, Kessinger at short and Santo on third. We have Williams, Cardenal and Monday in the outfield. There are even three starters (Jenkins, Pappas and Hooton) and LaRoche in relief. For only the second time, we have a balanced team among the signatures.

Les Expos

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving in the United States and today is one of the busier travel days of the year. As a result, I'll make this a short entry:

(No Number) -- Montreal Expos Checklist

At the time this card was printed, the Expos were still a relatively new expansion team, and 1973 was its fifth season in existence. The team name was chosen both as a nod to the 1967 Expo held in the city and the fact that it was the same in both French and English.

Once again, the twelve names on the front of the card do not give a complete lineup. Fairly is at first, Hunt at second and Foli lines up at short, but a third baseman is missing. The outfield consists of Day, Singleton and Woods. The pitching staff consists of Renko, Moore, Marshall, Morton, Torrez and Stoneman. No catcher is listed.

So far, this blog has featured six of the unnumbered blue-bordered checklist cards. Only one team has had a full lineup presented in its signatures.

Blue-Bordered Redbirds

Most people who follow baseball -- even casually -- know that the New York Yankees have won more World Series than any other team. But, how many know the team in second place?

(No Number) St. Louis Cardinals Checklist Card

The St. Louis Cardinals have won ten World Series Titles, several of which came at the expense of the Bronx Bombers. Tonight, they begin taking another shot at adding to that total when they face off against the Texas Rangers.

Let's take a look at the twelve players picked to appear on this checklist card. Six of the signatures belong to pitchers -- Gibson, Cleveland, Santorini, Granger, Wise and Spinks -- and two are catchers (Simmons and McCarver). That leaves just four more players: two infielders (Torre at third and Sizemore at second) and two outfielders (Brock and Melendez). This may be the most lopsided lineup yet featured on this blog.

This is the fifth blue-bordered checklist card featured here, and the fourth that didn't show a full field-ready team on the front.

The Final Nail...

A few weeks ago, I opened an email from Tony Gillen, who runs another blog on the 1973 Topps set, 1973 Topps Baseball Set Builder. His blog is a little different than mine; while I like to focus on the sometimes goofy stuff that happens on the fronts of these cards, he shows the backs as well. Shortly after I began this blog, I discovered Tony's and hoped I wouldn't step on his toes or somehow overshadow what he does. Anyway, his blog is listed as part of my Blogroll and since there's a pretty good chance you're here because you enjoy the '73 Topps set, I say you need to check his out as well. Really. Check it out, I'll still be here when you're done.

Tony read something I posted a little while back saying I only needed one last checklist card to fill in the final slot in my binder.

Last week, this card arrived in a puffy envelope:

(No Number) Milwaukee Brewers Team Checklist

That said, Tony is awarded "Hero" status as the collector who sent along the last card I needed to finish off the set. Since only one person can ever give a final card, it's only appropriate I let my readers know about it.

The blue-bordered Brewers checklist is another one that fails to present a full lineup among the signatures on the front. George Scott is at first, Rick Auerbach is at short and Don Money takes third. Dave May, Joe Lahoud and Johnny Briggs take the outfield. Ellie Rodriguez takes his position at catcher and the rotation consists of Lockwood, Bell, Colborn,Slaton and Parsons. However, nobody seems to be covering second.

I guess Pedro Garcia had an appointment that day.

Blue-Bordered Bengals

When I decided to start writing this blog three times a week, I made an executive decision that may have been a little gutsy: I decided to go through with it despite missing some cards. That's not exactly true; I completed the base 1973 Topps set at the Chicago National in 2005 (Johnny Callison was the final card), but there were a handful of team checklist cards I still needed. I assumed I had time on my side, since three cards a week meant the blog would run for more than four years before I'd be finished.

A couple of weeks ago, this card arrived in the mail:

(No Number) -- Detroit Tigers Checklist Card

The fact that this card was still needed for my collection shouldn't surprise anybody. I find that when it comes to 1970s cards, the last several cards on my wantlist are invariably of players from the Tigers and Reds. And Dwight Evans. 

This card doesn't yet finish the set for me...I still need one more (the Milwaukee Brewers checklist card). Again, I have time on my side.

So far, none of the blue-bordered checklist cards featured in this blog have included a complete team lineup, so lets see what the Tigers have among their dozen players:

Norm Cash at first, Dick McAuliffe at second, Ed Brinkman at short and Aurelio Rodriguez at third. Bill Freehan is catching...and Al Kaline, Willie Horton and Ike Brown are in the outfield. After them, there's a rotation of Lolich, Fryman and Coleman, with John Hiller in a relief role.

That's about the most balance you can get out of a dozen players. And I'm still impressed how much better the penmanship generally was among the players then. Every name on the card is legible.

Chief Noc-a-Homa's Posse

Many collectors know that the 1973 Topps baseball set was the company's last set issued in several series throughout the year. Along with the wax packs of cards from the final series that year, team checklists appeared, including this one:

(no number) -- Atlanta Braves Checklist

I'm struck by how neat and clear the penmanship is on the card. The two biggest names are the team's two Hall of Fame players: Henry Aaron and Philip Niekro. Also shown are Dave Johnson, Mike Lum, Dan Frisella, Ron Reed, Cecil Upshaw, Ralph Garr, Dusty Baker, Marty Perez, Darrell Evans and Gary Gentry. The starting lineup is short a catcher, though.

Seeing "Red"

Since 1956, Topps had been printing checklists. For their first two years, checklists were additional cards included as "extra" material in its wax packs. In 1958, they found their way onto the backs of team cards and became numbered cards inside the set by 1961. However, up to that point they had always been numerical lists of players, except for a short-lived alphabetical checklist during one series in 1958.

While the checklist cards were helpul for set collectors, what did you do if you happened to be a team collector? In 1973, Topps had a solution:

(No Number) - Cincinnati Reds Checklist

In its final series wax packs for 1973, these blue-bordered cards were inserted along with the other 660 cards of the set. While it is a reminder of the last year Topps released its sets in series (well, the last year they released series the way they did beginning in the 1950s), the checklist cards are a lot harder to find than the red-bordered checklists of 1974. Those were inserted into wax packs throughout the year.

Of the twelve player autographs shown on the front, it gets most of the Reds' 1973 starters (although Dave Concepcion is conspicuously missing). The reason I chose the Reds card to show here today has nothing to do with the star power. It's actually one of the few that I own without marks on the back:

The back shows a list of every player from the team who appeared in the '73 Topps set. From the list of players on the back, it shows not only the regular players but any players appearing on multiplayer rookie cards and the team manager as well. By 1975, Topps combined the team checklists and manager cards with team cards, placing a team checklist on the backs of team cards and mentioning the skipper.

One last thing you may not have even realized...see the asterisk at the bottom of the card? When printing pages were set up, Topps used asterisks to denote where on the sheet that particular card resided. Every 1973 (and 1974) team checklist is found with either one or two asterisks. Some collectors try to get each variation, but I'm happy with one.