Awesome Play at the Plate Shot

Here's a great "play at the plate" picture:

Card #574 -- Bob Didier, Atlanta Braves

Cleon Jones has slid into home with his left foot over Bob Didier's shoulder ("spikes up" they used to call that), Didier has applied a tag and is waiting for the umpire to make his call. The dust is still in the air, and Met catcher Jerry Grote can be seen in the background with his shin guards on, in case he needs to take his position.

Bob Didier only played 22 games in 1972, none of which were against the Mets. Since Cleon Jones is wearing home threads, we know the picture was taken at Shea Stadium. That takes us to a game on July 4, 1971. In the bottom of the fourth, Jones hit a single to center. He went to second base when the next batter (Ken Boswell) hit a slow grounder to Braves pitcher Phil Niekro, who threw to first for the forceout. Bob Aspromonte followed and lined a single to right. Jones ran home from second as Mike Lum fired the ball to Didier.

He was called out. The inning was over, so Grote (who had been standing in the on-deck circle) didn't need to remove his gear.

Bob Didier was a talented catcher who was good at catching the knuckleball. In Atlanta, that made him a favorite receiver for both Phil Niekro and Hoyt Wilhelm. However, injuries affected him after his superb rookie campaign in 1969 and he was finished with Atlanta after 1972. They traded him to Detroit during the '73 season. After 7 games with the Tigers in '73 and 6 with the Red Sox in '74, he was finished with his major league career.

"Mauch" 2

Where to begin with this card? Let's start with the skipper:

Card #377 - Gene Mauch and Coaches

Gene Mauch was the original manager of the Montreal Expos, beginning in 1969. it was the second of four teams he managed over a 28-year span. He holds the record for the longest managerial career without winning a pennant. It wasn't because he had the chance, however. In 1964, his Phillies led the league by six and a half games with only 12 to go. They lost all but one of those final games, a collapse that still brings sadness to Philadelphia fans today. He also led the California Angels to within one game of the World Series not once but twice (1982 and 1986), with the '86 playoffs the real tragedy. Mauch's team was only one strike away from winning the pennant before Dave Henderson took Donnie Moore's pitch long. Gene Mauch retired due to poor health before the 1988 season and passed away in 2005.

Dave Bristol never played in the majors, but was familiar to fans and card collectors in the 1960s as the manager of the Cincinnati Reds. When he took over that position, he was only 33 years old. He would be replaced by Sparky Anderson in 1969. He was then hired by the Seattle Pilots for 1970, only to be told six days before Opening Day that they were going to move to Milwaukee. He led the Brewers into 1972. Later, as the manager of the Atlanta Braves, Bristol would be replaced for one game as manager by team owner Ted Turner before Bowie Kuhn forced a reinstatement. He would also manage the Giants in 1979-'80.

Larry Doby was a star for the great Cleveland Indians teams of the late 1940s and early 1950s after several seasons in the Negro Leagues. While largely remembered as the first black-skinned player in the American League, he was an important cog in those Tribe teams that won the 1948 World Series and the '54 A.L. pennant. In an interesting coincidence, he would also become the second black manager when he took over the Chicago White Sox in 1978. He would be elected to the Hall of Fame in 1998, and passed away in 2003.

Cal McLish was a pitcher who played for seven teams over 15 years. He is probably better known for his full name: Calvin Coolidge Julius Caesar Tuscahoma McLish. He would be the pitching coach for the Expos from their inaugural season through 1975. McLish passed away this August.

Jerry Zimmerman was also one of the original Expos coaches. He served as their bullpen coach from 1969-'75 after a career playing mostly backup catcher for Cincinnati and Minnesota. He passed away in 1998.

California Dreamin'

Some parents place their kids' artwork on their refrigerators. Employees at Topps put them on baseball cards:

Card #570 -- Bill Singer, California Angels

Or at least that's what it seems like with some of the airbrush jobs they've featured over the years.

With the palm trees looming behind him, Bill Singer is obviously hanging around at a Spring Training facility (probably Vero Beach, the long-time preseason home of the Dodgers, Singer's team through the end of 1972). It's quite obvious that he wasn't wearing a California Angels outfit when the photo was snapped.

While with the Dodgers, Singer was a member of the team's rotation during the late 1960s. In 1969, he won 20 games; in 1970, he threw a no-hitter. Unfortunately,  he developed some injuries that limited his time on the mound.

After the 1972 season, the Dodgers sent him to their Anaheim neighbors along with Frank Robinson and Bobby Valentine to get Andy Messersmith. Singer earned 20 wins for the Halos in '73 and appeared in the All-Star game that season. However, injuries continued to affect him afterwards and he would travel to the Rangers, Twins and Blue Jays before hanging up the glove in 1978. In Toronto, he was part of history as the team's first-ever Opening Day pitcher. 

After retiring, Singer went on to coach and scout for various teams. He would show up in the news again in 2003, after making some insensitive remarks to Dodgers' assistant GM Kim Ng about his her Asian heritage. Singer was quick to use the "I was drunk" defense, but the Mets quickly tossed him to the curb when the story surfaced. Singer would soon work for the Arizona Diamondbacks, but in an interesting bit of irony given the reason he was canned by the Mets, the Washington Nationals would later give him a job coordinating their scouting efforts in Asia.

A Rolls "Reuss"

Here's a guy who was still a workhorse when I was watching baseball in the 1980s:

Card #446 -- Jerry Reuss, Houston Astros

Of course, by the time I was getting into baseball during the 1980s, Jerry Reuss was part of the Los Angeles Dodgers' rotation. Since I lived outside of the territory of any major league team (I was living in northern New York), I was at the mercy of whatever the TV stations I tuned in could get. Since NBC's Game of the Week was one of my ways to see baseball games, and NBC loved showing the Dodgers, I watched Reuss pitch a lot of games.

Thanks to Vin Scully on those weekend games, I learned the proper way to pronounce Reuss: sounds like "Royce." I had been rhyming it with "Moose" before that. While I realize he pitched with guys like Fernando Valenzuela, Bob Welch, Steve Howe and Orel Hershiser, he was but one of the many tools in Tommy Lasorda's arsenal (and I'm not using the word "tool" as a pejorative at all here), he showed up on the mound in enough games during my childhood to make me think he was the ace of their staff then.

In 1973, Jerry Reuss was in his second of two seasons with the Astros. He had been traded to the team before the '72 season from the Cardinals. He started a league-best -- and personal best -- 40 games that year and won 16 games. After that, he spent six years in Pittsburgh and nine with the Dodgers (where he threw a no-hitter in 1980) before finishing his career with a number of teams in the late 80s. He finished his career back in Pittsburgh in 1990. To give a perspective on how long he played, he is one of only a few pitchers to win 200 career games depite never getting 20 in a single season. He came very close some seasons, though.

From what I understand, Reuss is currently an amateur photographer and checks out the blogs frequently and even has stories about the pictures on his cards. So it may be nice that I left out the fact that he was 0-7 in the League Championship Series over his career. That way, he'll feel free to share wgat was going on during the game where this photo was taken. All I can tell is that he's wearing an Astros road jersey and the fans are just starting to make their way into the seats.

World Series Action

The 2010 World Series is set to begin tonight, with the Texas Rangers making their first ever appearance there in the 50 years of the franchise's existence. However, they are going up against the San Francisco Giants, team that last won the Word Series in 1954, when they were still playing at the Polo Grounds in New York...and the Texas Rangers weren't yet the Washington Senators, as there was a different team of Senators in D.C. (now the Minnesota Twins). Confused? Don't be.

So, today's card features a scene from the 1972 World Series:

Card #208 -- 1972 World Series, Game 6

Game Six of the '72 Series was played at Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium on October 21 (remember the days when the Series didn't go into November?). As the game started, the Reds were down 3 games to 2 and facing elimination by the Oakland A's.

It would be a scoreless contest into the fourth inning. Then, Johnny Bench took a Vida Blue pitch deep into left for a home run. This photo shows Bench coming home after that big hit, as teammates Bobby Tolan and Denis Menke (and the Reds fans behind him) celebrate. Third Base coach Alex Grammas is also seen in the shot.

The A's would tie the score in the next inning, but the Reds responded with a run in the fifth, another in the sixth, and five in the seventh. The 8-1 victory would set up another chance for the Reds to play for the title the next night in front of their home crowd.

(Edited to add...alert reader Don points out that this photo was actually taken when Bench scored again in the seventh inning, and that Tolan and Menke are actually signaling him not to slide into home. Looking at the lineup, Tolan was hitting ahead of Bench and scored on that same play in the seventh. He wouldn't have been at the plate after Bench's solo homer in the fourth. Having this play happen in a later inning better explains the expressions of Gene Tenace at the plate and the A's in the dugout; the game had pretty much slipped past them at this point. Thanks for the correction!)

Hot Corner, Hot Mustard

Here's a nice action shot from the 1973 Topps set:

Card #133 - Dave Roberts, San Diego Padres

San Diego third baseman Dave Roberts is getting ready to grab a pop fly. Getting himself into position, he's keeping his eye on the ball and moving in for the kill. But that's not exactly what focuses the eye on the picture.

There's the Ivy-covered Wrigley Field wall, the capacity crowd of Cub fans in the background and a golden trophy in the corner, but none of that seems to distract any attention from that Padres road uniform Roberts is wearing. Having a color that is part hot mustard, part 1970s-era household appliances. It's eye-catching for all the wrong reasons (something Fleer would later learn with its 1991 design).

There have been four baseball players named Dave (or David) Roberts. One was a first baseman in the 1960s and another was an outfielder between 1999 and 2008. The other two both appear in the 1973 Topps set; one was a pitcher and one a third baseman. The pitcher hasn't been featured in the blog yet, but the fact that both played and appeared in Topps sets through 1981 and even played for the Padres at different times has caused some confusion over the years.

This was the first appearance of Dave Roberts on a Topps card (the All-Star trophy wasn't always a dead giveaway). He was signed by San Diego out of the University of Oregon in 1972 and was immediately installed as the team's regular third baseman. There was no seasoning time in the minors for him, as he played his first game the same day he signed his contract. The position wasn't assured, though, as he would take several trips between the majors and minors beginning in 1973. The Padres eventually gave up on him in 1979, trading him to Texas. After a couple of years with the Rangers and one each with the Astros and Phillies, his career was over in 1982.

The "Supersub"

Here's a photo that is a little more than just a catcher politely posing for the camera in his signature crouch:

Card #592 -- John Boccabella, Montreal Expos

While John Boccabella waits for the cameraman to finish snapping a photo, you can see other stuff around him. The rest of his catcher's gear is laying on the grass behind him, some palm trees show that he was at Spring Training, and two people are talking behind the backstop: a player and a person (groundskeeper, security guard or somebody) wearing a khaki uniform.

Boccabella is called a catcher on this card, but played at several positions during his career. For many of his seasons with the Cubs (1963-'68) and Expos (1969-'73) he was used wherever he was needed, as a utility player. In fact, 1973 would be the only season in his career he appeared in over 100 games. He was the Expos' regular catcher that year, but it was the only time he was a regular anywhere.

That said, he's still fondly remembered by Expos fans. Beginning in the franchise's first year, the team's public address announcer at Jarry Park would say out his name phonetically: "John...Boc-ca-BELL-a!" Though used primarily as a substitute player, he became better remembered than some of the regulars.