Stop and Look at These Numbers For a Moment

Here's a glimpse into a different era:

Card #62 -- 1972 Home Run Leaders

It seemed like only a few years ago this card was a wonder to behold. In the wake of an increased number of home runs, it seemed odd to see that somebody could actually lead a league with 37 or 40 of them. And this wasn't a "live ball" era drought...Graig Nettles managed to win the A.L. home run title in 1976 when he hit 32, without anything holding him back like a strike or adjustments to the pitcher's mound. In fact, nobody in the American League could get 40 dingers in any season from 1971-'78, even with the introduction of the designated hitter. That's a big difference from the gaudy home run totals we saw between 1987 and 2007 (when MLB stopped looking away from alleged steroid activities).

Thanks in part to their home run totals, both Bench and Allen were named league MVPs for 1972, which meant they would be joined together again on a 1975 Topps card (the link is to another blog covering one specific Topps Set...Night Owl's great '75 blog).

" A Little More to the Right..."

Despite using more action photos for its 1973 baseball card set, occasionally Topps would revert to its old form and show a posed shot. Here's one of them:

Card #18 -- Leroy Stanton, California Angels

While it's good to look like you're waiting for your pitcher to make his delivery, perhaps standing next to the dugout isn't exactly wise. After all, if the batter hits the ball to him, it's foul anyway, and if he runs to the right he may fall.

While that seems like a rookie mistake, Stanton had been in the majors since 1970. After a couple of years with the Mets, he was one of four players traded to California in exchange for Jim Fregosi. Since one of the other players given up was Nolan Ryan, it's remembered as one of the worst blunders the Mets have made (admittedly, a long list...but I digress). During his five seasons in the Angels outfield he made a name as a steady and dependable if not necessarily outstanding player. On July 10, 1973 he would launch three home runs against the Orioles. The third blast was a 10th inning score that would be the game-winning hit. Amazingly, those three homers in one day were more than what Stanton had accumulated up to that point (he ended the season with 8 round-trippers).

After being selected by the Seattle Mariners in the 1976 Expansion Draft, Stanton would finish his career there in 1978. His last regular Topps card was among the ones I pulled from some of my first wax packs in 1979.

It Was So Big...(How Big Was it?)

Considering Match Game was one of the most popular game shows of 1973, might as well give it a tip of the hat in the title.

In a week of firsts, might as well continue the string. Monday, I showed my first blue-bordered checklist. The first active Yankees player appeared on Wednesday. Today, I show my first catcher:

Card #73 -- Ed Herrmann, Chicago White Sox

Just look at the size of the glove he's wearing. It looks huge. While obviously an optical illusion caused by the two-dimensional nature of photography and the angle of the camera, it still looks like the mitt is big enough to catch anything Wilbur Wood or Stan Bahnsen tossed his way and with enough padding to keep his hand from hurting when Rich Gossage was on the mound.

According to Baseball-Reference.com, Herrmann was among the league leaders at his position in 1973. He was among the Top 5 catchers in games played, putouts and assists. However, he also led the league in passed balls (so much for the size of his glove) and stolen bases against him.

Searching for information on Herrmann is a little complicated because there is an award-winning actor named Edward Herrmann. However, this Ed Herrmann was the grandson of Marty Herrmann, who pitched the final inning for the Brooklyn Robins on July 10, 1918, facing four batters and only allowing one walk.

Herrmann was sold to the New York Yankees in 1975 to DH and back up Thurman Munson. In return, the White Sox received cash and four players, none of whom ever made it past the minors. That season was followed up by stops in California, Houston and Montreal before he was released in 1978.

The End of an "Era"

Since beginning this blog, I've shown several cards and told quite a few stories, but it came to my attention that I have missed showing any Yankee players. That made me think...I mentioned Thurman Munson, but that was on Terry Crowley's card. Billy Martin's been here as well but as a Tigers manager. Lou Gehrig has been featured, but he was one of the All-Time Record Holders.

So, that's right, I haven't yet actually featured a current Yankee player from 1973. That changes today:

Card #198 - Horace Clarke, New York Yankees

While having an era of your team's history named after a player can be quite an honor, in Horace Clarke's case it's not very flattering. Starting at shortstop and then moving to second when Bobby Richardson retired, he was a regular player during a long stretch of time where the Yankees weren't quite the dynasty they had been for four decades. In fact, the pennants dried up after 1964, the year before Clarke played his first game in pinstripes. When the Yankees finally returned to the postseason in 1976, Horace Clarke had already left the team. Therefore, this 12-year "dark period" in Yankee history is sometimes called The Horace Clarke Era by fans.

But don't let that little fact sway your opinion of Clarke. Clarke wasn't at fault for an anemic Yankees team; the fact of the matter was that the New York Yankees were bought by CBS after they lost the 1964 World Series. Between its new corporate ownership, aging of the stars who'd been such great performers in the past, the arrival of the major league draft (instead of the individual contracts worked out before 1965) all mixed to compound the team's bad luck. 

While Horace Clarke wasn't necessarily gifted with a bat, he still managed to break up three no-hitter bid during the ninth inning in a four-week span in 1970. Despite being tagged as a fielder afraid to turn a double play in fear of being spiked (even though he was rarely knocked down on those plays), he was good enough to be a major league starter for several years. Roy White said he was the type of player who was always ready to take the field. The Yankees may have been underachievers during his tenure there, but it wasn't because of him. It's merely unfortunate that they weren't really competitive again until 1974, the same year Clarke was sold to San Diego.

Horace Clarke was also one of a handful of major leaguers coming from the U.S. Virgin Islands. Among all Virgin Islanders who've played in the majors, Clarke has played in more games than any other.

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.

North...But Look South!

I get it. When players get traded, Topps didn't always have a current photo to use on a player's card. In those instances, having an artist airbrush an old photo to reflect a new team makes logical sense: it's less expensive, more efficient and highly expedient. However, they sometimes forgot to do a thorough job.

Card #234, Bill North, Oakland A's

It's quite obvious that North's cap has been painted on, but could the artist have taken another few minutes and removed the rest of the "Chicago" from his chest? If the time was too tight, could the person who used the photo have just cropped that out?

North had been traded to the A's in November '72. Becoming the team's regular centerfielder that year, he oddly didn't play in that year's World Series. Known as a speedy runner, he would be among the league's leaders in stolen bases; however, he also was among the league's leaders in times caught stealing. He would remain with the A's until 1978 when he was traded to the Dodgers. One of the last people to wear Duke Snider's old number before it was retired, he played in one more World Series that year and finished out his career in San Francisco in 1981.

How the Pennant Was Won

One subset of the '73 Topps set spotlighted the 1972 postseason. Each LCS got a card and the World Series was given eight cards. For the NLCS card, Topps used a picture of the exact moment the pennant was won:

Card #202 - N.L. Playoffs

What a great picture of the pennant-clinching moment. George Foster is undeniably thrilled after crossing the plate, Pete Rose is the first to congratulate him and we see that Reds third base coach Alex Grammas ran the 90 feet to home plate with Foster. While the blue Helvetica type pretty much sums up Foster's significance it doesn't express just how dramatically the game was won.

The 1972 National League Championship Series went right down to the wire. In the fifth game (the Championship Series were still best-of-5 contests then), the Reds went to the bottom of the ninth down 3-2 to the defending World Series Champs from Pittsburgh. It was do-or-die time, and Johnny Bench led off the Reds' side of the inning by hitting a home run off Dave Giusti and tying the score at 3. Tony Perez followed that up with a single to center. Needing some extra speed on the basepaths, Sparky Anderson sent George Foster in as a pinch runner. Denis Menke notched another single, sending Foster to second. With a tie game and two baserunners on, Bob Moose was sent in to relieve Guisti. Next, Cesar Geronimo flied out to left, Foster tagged up and ran to third. After that, Darrell Chaney grounded to short and Foster was held at third. With Hal McRae coming up to pinch hit for pitcher Clay Carroll, Moose just needed to get him out to send the game into extra innings. Instead, he uncorked a wild pitch and Foster came in to score. A great comeback for the Reds and a huge crushing defeat for the Pirates.

Pete Rose was in the on-deck circle and right there to congratulate Foster as he crossed the plate. If you look closely, you'll also see that the Riverfront Stadium faithful were also celebrating the win. Just above Rose and Grammas, there is a guy in a long-sleeved white shirt that looks to be leaping over the wall and onto the field. Wonder how soon it would be before he was introduced to the business end of a policeman's billy club.