Here's the "Scoop"

Here's a member of what was then called the Pittsburgh Lumber Company:

Card #225 -- Al Oliver, Pittsburgh Pirates

Though Oliver spent ten seasons with the Pirates, I remember him from watching Expos games on CKWS-TV out of Canada in 1983. He and Andre Dawson formed quite a potent team in the lineup. As a Pirate, he hit the final home run at Forbes Field and then scored the first run at Three Rivers Stadium. He was also a member of the 1971 World Series champs.

Al Oliver was a solid player, which has largely been forgotten by many. Over an 18-year career, he hit at a .303 clip and picked up 2,743 hits. He was also a seven-time All-Star selection and won three straight Silver Slugger awards. After ten years with the Pirates and four in Texas, he spent the last few years bumping around the majors: he was in Montreal from 1982-'83 and spent the next two seasons with four different teams. With the last team (Toronto in '85), he would get two game-winning hits during the playoffs but the Blue Jays lost the series.

As it turned out, that A.L. Championship series would be the final games of his career. Al Oliver didn't return in 1986, and he claimed it was because he was one of the players targeted by the owners in a collusion, although it's been disputed. However, he ended his career short of the 3,000 hit mark and may have missed out for consideration to Cooperstown. He'll still have a chance to get in through the Veteran's Committee at some point, because his numbers are strong. It remains to be seen if they're still seen that way in the future.

Hail To "The Chief"

This player hold the distinction of being the 3,000th strikeout victim of both Bob Gibson and Nolan Ryan:

Card #156 -- Cesar Geronimo, Cincinnati Reds

Here he is standing in front of a batting net. I'm guessing it's a spring training shot...and I'm also guessing he just posed quickly for the camera since and pitch tossed toward him would end up going past the net.
Cesar Geronimo played from 1969 through 1983, with the best of those seasons as a member of the Big Red Machine. He was signed by the Yankees, who tried to turn him into a pitcher. After being drafted by the Astros after the 1968, he went to the majors and never went back down. He spent three years in Houston and came to the Reds in the same trade that also added Joe Morgan to the club.

Geronimo was a regular player in the Cincinnati outfield through 1979. He won two World Series and four Gold Glove awards during that time. After his playing time diminished in 1980, he was traded to Kansas City, where he spent the final three years of his career.

I had very little immersion in Spanish language before attending high school, so I pronounced his last name the same way I would the famed Apache (or the way paratroopers did in war movies as they jumped out of planes). Looks like others did as well; one of his nicknames was "Chief."

Just a Couple of Pitches

What was working out to be a solid career was changed by a couple of badly-placed pitches:

Card #77 -- Mike Torrez, Montreal Expos

In 1973, Mike Torrez was beginning his third season with the Expos after four and a half years in St. Louis. He would go on to the Orioles  in 1975 and notch a 20-win season. He then went to the A's in a trade just before the '76 season began. he notched another 16 wins there.
 
He was a member of the New York Yankees in 1977, winning two games of in the World Series against the Dodgers. He inadvertently helped the Bronx Bombers repeat as the American League champs, but not as a member of the team. He went to the Red Sox as a free agent before the '78 season. When they tied with the Yankees, a one-game playoff determined who would go on to the playoffs, and Torrez was named as the pitcher. In the top of the 7th inning, Torrez tossed a pitch that Bucky Dent took over the Green Monster for a three-run blast.

In one shining moment, Bucky Dent had a new middle name among the Fenway Faithful, and another 16-win season by Torrez was immediately nullified.

Torrez would stay on the Boston staff through 1982 and return to New York in '83. this time, he went to Queens and played for the Mets. In 1984, he threw a fastball that accidentally hit Astros shortstop Dickie Thon in the face. Although Thon ended up playing through 1993, his career was permanently altered as a result of the beaning. He had been a highly touted rising star, but the injury cooled any talk of his going to Cooperstown.

Torrez, meanwhile, was released by the Mets after a poor start that season, and finished his own career with a short stint in Oakland.

Having an otherwise decent career defined by two pitches seems unfair. I'm sure Torrez would love to have those two pitches back if he could. But fate is a very fickle thing.

A Little "Pep"

This is an awesome example of 1970s style, even if the picture looks a little strange:

Card #580 -- Joe Pepitone, Chicago Cubs

Even though he spent three and a half seaons with the Cubs, Joe Pepitone looks strange to Yankee fans in a different set of pinstripes.


Pepitone was a member of the Yankees from 1962 through 1969. He was one of the last new members of the famed Dynasty years, and caused Moose Skowron to be traded to the Dodgers so he could take the first base job. However, Skowron won a Series ring in '63 against his old team, and Pepitone was the guy who made an error that let the winning run of the final game score. Jim Bouton mentioned him in Ball Four in a few funny stpries, saying he was vain and carried toupees to cover his balding head. The Yanks finally had enough of his antics and traded him to Houston after the 1969 season.

By the midway point of the 1973 season, Pepitone was no longer with the Cubs. Traded to Atlanta that May, he only played three games with the Braves before being released a month later. He then went over to Japan, where his name became slang. He would claim he was injured, but be found partying in nightclubs on days where he didn't have to bother going to work. Thus, his last name was slang for "goofing off."

Pepitone has had some very public problems in the years since he retired. He retuned to the Yankees as a hitting coach in 1982, only to be replaced by (then active player) Lou Piniella later that year. There were also some arrests for drunken driving and prison time for drug possession. He was given another chance by the Yankees after that, and still works for the team in a public relations capacity.

Give That Man a Helmet

A series of unfortunate baseball-related injuries shortened the career of this player:

Card #96 -- Doug Griffin, Boston Red Sox

Standing among several pieces of equipment including an unfortunately placed glove, Doug Griffin should have been extra careful to watch his step. As a "good field, no hit" second baseman, Griffin sure knew how to take his share of hits.

A couple of beanballs -- including one from fireballer Nolan Ryan in 1974 -- caused Griffin to have concussions and temporary hearing loss. Though he quickly recovered from both, his playing time diminshed along with his abilities afterward. He had been the regular second baseman for the Sox since 1971 and won a Gold Glove in '72, but the team acquired Denny Doyle before the '75 season to replace him as an everyday player. That season saw the BoSox get into the World Series, and Griffin contributed as a part-time player. He didn't get into the A.L. Championship series but made one appearance against Cincinnati in the Big Dance.

The Red Sox finally let him go early in the 1977 season, and Griffin left baseball altogether. He went into construction, a job that may not seem so tough to somebody who took one in the ear from Nolan Ryan and walked away.

A Man Called Hondo

The back of this card states this was the biggest man in baseball. He certainly looks the part in this photo:

Card #560 -- Frank Howard, Detroit Tigers

Frank Howard was sold to the Tigers in August '72, so Topps obviously managed to get a late-season photo of him in his new uniform. Here he is in Milwaukee, waiting for his turn to crush the ball like it was a little bug.

He was almost the only player who ever hit a fair ball completely out of the old Yankee Stadium...but an umpire ruled the ball foul. Even Bobby Murcer -- the outfielder who chased that ball -- claimed it should have been ruled fair.

A two-sport star in college, Howard would be drafted by the NBA's Philadelphia Warriors, but instead took over for Carl Furillo in the Dodgers' outfield in Los Angeles. When the Dodgers swept the Yankees in the 1963 World Series, it was Howard who broke a scoreless tie in the final game with a shot to the Upper Deck in Dodger Stadium. However, he was a fourth outfielder by 1964 and dealt to the Washington Senators.

During his days on the roster there, Howard was also called "The Washington Monument" and "The Capital Punisher." The Senators were a perennial cellar-dwelling team, but Howard became a feared slugger there. By the late 1960s, his offensive numbers and batting eye had improved, and he was moved to first to ease the physical toll on his legs and knees. He moved to Texas with the franchise in '72 but his numbers dropped off. After finishing the season with Detroit, he remained there in '73 for his final major league season. In 1974 he went to Japan but hurt his back during his first at-bat.

After retiring as a player, Howard served as a coach and hitting instructor. He also did two stints as a manager, with San Diego in '81 and the New York Mets in '83. Both teams finished in last place, so Howard went back to coaching.

A Day to Remember

Today is Memorial Day, a day where we need to remember the sacrifices others have made on our behalf. While many like to trumpet how those brave men and women died for our freedoms, I say we just need to remember them. They were the kids down the street, our cousins and people we went to high school with.

This man was serving in the Navy during World War Two:

Card #257 -- Yogi Berra and Coaches, New York Mets

As a gunner's mate, he participated in shuttling troops to the Normandy beachhead on D-Day.

Of course, he returned to resume a Hall of Fame career as one of the finest catchers to play the game. He was elected into the Hall of Fame in 1972, as well as having his uniform number retired by the Yankees. He also became the Mets' manager that year, after the sudden death of Gil Hodges in the spring. In 1973, he called the shots for a team that came all the way from last place to the World Series. He would remain at the position until 1975 and then went back over to the Bronx to become a coach there.

Roy McMillan is the only coach shown here who wasn't a member of Gil Hodges' staff. 1973 was his first season with the team as a coach; he had played with the team as a shortstop from 1964-'66 while winding down his career. When Yogi was fired in 1975, McMillan was his interim replacement until Joe Frazier took over. McMillan died in Texas in 1997.

Joe Pignatano was a former Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodger who was tagged to play with the Mets in their disastrous inaugural season. He finished his career as only a '62 Met could aspire to: his final at-bat saw him hit into a triple play. He became a coach under Hodges in Washington and joined him with the Mets in '68 and he stayed with them until 1981 as a bullpen coach. He was known for growing a vegetable garden in the bullpen at Shea Stadium.

Rube Walker was a backup to Roy Campanella in Brooklyn, but might be better known as the last card from the '55 Dodgers Rocky Dennis needed to complete his team set in the film Mask. After retiring as a player, he became a minor league manager before moving onto a major league coaching staff. He was the pitching coach in New York, where he mentored Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan and Jerry Koosman. He was with the team from 1968 through 1981, working with several mangers. Walker died of lung cancer in 1992.

Eddie Yost was also in the Navy during World War Two. After Uncle Sam let him return to the ballfield, he became one of the most consistent players for the Washington Senators in the 1950s. He was known as "The Walking Man" due to his ability to draw a base on balls. He bagam coaching while he was still a player for the 1962 Angels and moved to Washington under old teammate Mickey Vernon. When Gil Hodges became the Mets' manager in 1968, Yost moved with him and served as the team's third base coach until 1976. He went to Boston, where he coached through 1984.