The Card That Finished it Up...

Today is the one-year anniversary of this blog. At the rate I feature cards here, I should be able to keep this going for about four more years.

Marking the milestone, here's the final card I picked up (at the Chicago National in 2005) to complete the base set:

Card #590 -- Deron Johnson, Philadelphia Phillies

Johnson moved around often during his playing days, and 1973 was no exception. He was traded to Oakland a month into the season, which meant he immediatey went from a developing team to a contender. He managed to win a World Series title with the A's, something he didn't get do enjoy as a Yankee early in his career. As his career wound down, Johnson would be picked up by the Red Sox to help them in their '75 pennant drive after Jim Rice was injured, but it was too late to qualify for the postseason roster. As a result, that '73 Series ring would be the only one Johnson managed to earn.

When the A's picked up Johnson in 1973, it was one of the first times a team specifically looked for a player who could be a full-time designated hitter. Since it was the first year of the DH rule in theAmerican League, few had considered the value of going after a player whose field time was limited due to injuries and age. While it's a common thing today, Johnson was one of the first to fill that role.

After retiring in 1976, Johnson would go on to become a minor league manager and coach a number of major league teams through 1991. Sadly, he was diagnosed with lung cancer that year and died in '92.

Nice Shirt...

This is a really obvious case of a Topps artist painting a new uniform. The cap is actually pretty good, but the shirt gives it away:

Card #321 -- Rich Hinton, Texas Rangers

His Texas uniform is airbrushed because he was traded away from the Yankees really late in the 1972 season, but he never appeared with the Rangers in 1973. He was traded before the season to Cleveland and sent to the minors. He wouldn't return to the majors again until 1975, as a member of the Chicago White Sox. It would be the second of three stints for the Southside nine.

Hinton played parts of six seasons between 1971 and '79, and never really managed to fit in as a regular. He was normally a relief specialist -- or a set-up man as they're called today -- and managed to toss two complete games in 1978.

The Defending Senior Circuit Champs

No, this post has nothing to do with an over-50 league, even if a few of the players featured stuck around in the majors until they were over 40. For those who don't keep up with old newspaper sports jargon, the Senior Circuit is the National League.

While some collectors might consider this to be a worthless card, I say it's a one-of-a-kind item that belongs in my collection:

Card #641 -- Cincinnati Reds Team Card

Really, who else has an eight-cornered Reds team card? It's unique.

Taken at Riverfront Stadium, the team photo is loaded with stars. Not only are Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan and Tony Perez in the Hall of Fame, so is manager Sparky Anderson. Pete Rose is pictured as well, as is another man who was incredibly popular when he was a Reds player: Ted Kluzsewski. Davey Concepcion, George Foster and Ken Griffey are also part of what was a solid team.

Although the Reds lost the '72 World Series to the Oakland A's, they didn't let it bother them. Instead, they won back-to-back titles in '75 and '76, beating two teams that have perhaps the most vocal fans in the game.

But check out the guys on the left. I'm assuming those are the clubhouse manager and traveling secretary (please add to the comments if you know), but they remind me of Mr. Carlson and Les Nessman from WKRP in Cincinnati. Yes, that show may have come out five years after this card, but the fact that both are set in the same city doesn't escape me.

My "Heavens," That's a Good One!

This is actually a fairly decent airbrush job that looks almost like he's wearing a brand-new cap:

Card #402 -- Jack Hiatt, California Angels

Jack Hiatt split the 1972 season between Houston and California, the franchise he debuted with in 1964. Over the course of nine seasons and five teams, he wasn't able to get regular time behind the plate unless somebody got injured. However, those last several games he played with the Angels were exactly that: his last. The bottom stat line on the back of this card end up showing his final career numbers.

He had one brief chance to rise above the obscurity, though. In 1969, starting catcher Dick Dietz hurt his hand early in the season and Hiatt took his place. Taking advantage of the change in fortune, he got off to a hot start and even clubbed a game-ending (nobody called them "walk-off" back then) grand slam. However, his streak cooled considerably and he was soon below a .200 batting average. When Dietz came off the DL, he resumed his place in the lineup.

After Hiatt walked off the field...or out of the dugout, in his case, he became a minor league manager for several years and then served as the Giants' director of player development for 16 years through 2007.

The Back of the Binder...

Today is April 15, a day that is normally synonymous with the IRS in the United States. This year, the filing deadline has been extended to Monday, but in commemoration of the day, here's a picture of somebody saying "Give me what you've got."

Card #648 -- Tom Egan, Chicago White Sox

Card number 648 is twelve cards away from the end of the set.

When I was a kid and only had a handful of '73 cards in my collection, Tom Egan was the last card in my binder. At the time, my means were limited and I had to use the few pages I owned to fit my growing collection. That meant the vintage cads were placed back-to-back -- 18 per sheet -- and in number order. When I picked up a new stack of cards, I had to do the labor-intensive work of reordering every card in the binder, which really wasn't a lot of fun if I picked up cards that had low numbers. However, in my '73 Topps set, Tom Egan was the first one I had to move to fit a new card.

As the years have gone on, I've slowly gotten my collection so my cards can be placed in their own spot when I get them and the backs can be read without having to take them out. While it's a lot quicker to put away my cards, it probably isn't a coincidence that my math skills improved considerably around the same time I was having to constantly rearrange those cards. But enough about me...

Despite appearing in the final series of Topps cards that year, Tom Egan didn't play a single major league game in 1973. Instead, he was sent down to the White Sox's AAA affiliate in Iowa and never made it back to the parent club. After the season, he was left unprotected and drafted by the Angels, the same team he played with until 1970. In his second stint with the Angels, he managed to catch Nolan Ryan's no-hitter on September 28, 1974. His career ended when the Angels released him halfway through the '75 season.

A Man of Many Positions

The cap is obviously airbrushed, as he had played his entire career in Minnesota through 1972:

Card #405 -- Cesar Tovar, Philadelphia Phillies

On September 22, 1968, Cesar Tovar became the second person in major league history to play all nine defensive positions in a single game. Interestingly, when he took the mound to pitch, the first batter he faced was Bert Campaneris, the only other player who had achieved the distinction. He was a better hitter than most people remember; though he normally hit in the .280 range, he managed to get 195 hits in '70 and 204 in '71. He also broke up five no-hit bids between 1967 and '75.

1973 was the only year Tovar played in Philadelphia, since his regular centerfield slot was being shared with both Del Unser and Mike Anderson. Between 1974-'76 he played with Texas, Oakland and the Yankees. While in the American League, he sometimes hit at DH, which made him the second person (again, after Campaneris) to play at all 10 positions on the field.

Cesar Tovar returned to his native Venezuela after retiring, and died there of pancreatic cancer in 1994.

Intensity

This guy looks like he's warning the photographer about what will happen if takes one more step.

Card #422, Bob Robertson, Pittsburgh Pirates

According to the statistics on the back of the card, Bob Robertson only hit .193 in '72, so the cameraman may not have felt any pressure, despite the piercing eyes and flared nostrils. Not only that, but with fans coming in to take their seats, there would be plenty of witnesses in case of an assault.

That said, Robertson was known for crushing the ball. He led three minor leagues in home runs on his way up to the Pirates, was the first player to put a ball into the upper deck at Three Rivers Stadium and hit three home runs in a single playoff game in 1971. In fact, Pirate announcer Bob Prince famously said of him, "He could hit a ball out of any park...including Yellowstone."

Unfortunately, Robertson had some health issues that complicated things for him. A kidney obstruction took him out for the entire 1968 season. Surgery on both knees limited him to part-time status after '74. When the Pirates released him in March '77, he sat out the entire season before coming back to play with both expansion franchises. He played for the Mariners in 1978 and the Blue Jays in '79.