#115 -- Jim Fregosi

Jim Fregosi

Jim's gone through a lot of different phases of his career. He was one of the first California Angel wonderboys. Starting in 1972 his career went south and he became more of a utility guy and wandered around the league. Then he was a manager for several years. Now he's more of the wise old sage.

However, this makes two guys in a row who're not known for their All-Star years or other accomplishments. Instead, they're known for a single failure in their career. In Fregosi's case, it wasn't even his fault. The Mets chose to give up Nolan Ryan to pick up Fregosi to be their third baseman. In fact, as I mentioned in Gary Gentry's post, the Angels would have been fine with either Ryan or Gentry, but I think the Mets were reluctant to part with Gentry because he was more of a World Series hero. However, in some respects, this Ryan-for-Fregosi trade would have been the equivalent of the Braves trading Edgar Renteria a couple of years ago to the Orioles for Daniel Cabrera. You've got a good-hitting veteran shortstop for a talented, hard-throwing, yet erratic pitcher. Ryan could just have well turned out like Daniel Cabrera has (so far).

The Angels brought up Fregosi as a fresh-faced 19 year old in their expansion year of 1961. By August 1962 he was their starting shortstop. He was a 6-time All-Star through 1970 and was hitting for some pop. It was unusual for a shortstop to be hitting 15-20 homers a year in the 60's, but Jim was good for that. In 1971 he tailed off, largely because of a tumor that was found on his foot. He was traded to the Mets and struggled with a broken thumb in 1972. By mid-1973, the Mets had all they could take and they sold Fregosi to the Rangers. While it was kind of an insult to be sold, it might have been more of an insult to Fregosi to have been traded for any of the sack of you know what the Rangers had (Jeff Burroughs excluded).

He settled in as a backup with the Rangers into 1977 and then finished his career in Pittsburgh in 1978. He never really recaptured what he had with the Angels in the 60's, but he finished his playing career on his own terms. He retired in May to take the job managing Nolan Ryan and the Angels. He led the Angels to their first playoff appearance in 1979. He also managed the White Sox, Phillies and Blue Jays. Most remember him with the Phillies in the 1993 World Series, probably wondering why he had to put Mitch Williams out there.

1972 Feature

I've learned that when I put these dates into Google, I can get a lot of stuff. In addition to posting the Game of the Day from Major League Baseball, I can be posting highlights from transcripts of the White House tapes (tune in on card #119 for something on that), the concert tour of Led Zeppelin and Elvis Presley, and there's even a website that shows wrestling results for Superstar Billy Graham (the man who inspired Hulk Hogan's biceps and Jesse Ventura's wardrobe). However, I'm letting you off the hook (unless I see something interesting with the King or the Superstar).

The MLB Extra Innings package would have been worth having on June 13, 1972. The Angels overcame 5 errors to beat the Indians 3-2 in 11 innings. Wilbur Wood of the White Sox and Pete Broberg of the Rangers each threw 3-hit shutouts. The Braves had another come from behind victory over the Mets, 6-5 in 10 innings, tying the game with 3 in the 8th.

My Game of the Day will be in Fenway, where the Red Sox drew all of 12,000 fans against the Royals on a Tuesday night. You can't get into Fenway now unless you know someone that knows someone that knows someone (which is how my wife and I got to see a game in May 2006). Marty Pattin had the Royals shut down and, after getting help from Bill Lee to escape a jam in the 8th, the Red Sox were leading 2-0. In the top of the 9th, rookie Rick Miller is a defensive replacement for Yaz in left field, suggesting the Sox were about to salt one away.

However, Freddie Patek got a 2-run double off Lee and Amos Otis followed with a 2-run single off Bobby Bolin to give the Royals a 4-2 lead. The Royals could have tried to add to that, but Otis was made the 3rd out at 3rd base, trying to go from 1st to 3rd on a single to left by pitcher Bruce Dal Canton. Richie Scheinblum was coming up next and he was a .300 hitter.

In the 9th a Freddie Patek error and a Carlton Fisk double put the tying runners in scoring position. But Tom Burgmeier came in and got pinch-hitter Phil Gagliano and Tommy Harper out to end the game. Pretty tight finish. The Royals and Red Sox were both 5 games under .500 and floundering, but the Red Sox would get things going later on.

#114 -- Bill Buckner

Bill Buckner





This is one of my favorite cards in the set. He's holding the bat in a "coming at you" pose and it intersects neatly with his Topps All-Rookie Team cup of gold. You can see under the hat he's got a full head of black hair, with long sideburns and heck of a set of eyebrows crawling over his eyes. So far we've had Buckner and Andy Etchebarren with the eyebrows. I remember there being more. Has something happened in the last 35 years? Have some of those chemicals Al Gore rails against caused guys to have thinning in their eyebrow hair? Or have some of those chemicals Bud Selig rails against caused eyebrows to thin? I just don't see thick bushy eyebrows on today's player and (except for Eric Byrnes) don't tell me they sit around and tweese or wax them.


Buckner was a good all-around player when he came up. He played first and the corner outfield spots well. He didn't remind anybody of Maury Wills, but he stole 15-30 bases a year. He had doubles power and hit for average. Then he had a horrific ankle injury and that slowed him down. Later in his career, he just didn't move around well. However, he was still a .280-.300 hitter and didn't strike out (although he didn't take a walk, either).


Buckner isn't known for having 2700 career hits, a batting title, holding the record for assists by a first baseman or an All-Star appearance. Nope. He's known for something he supposedly did wrong. We all know what it is and I don't want to go there. That seems to be all we remember. The Sox actually waived him in 1987 while he was hitting .276 with 2 homers and 42 RBI. Yep. Didn't want anything for him, all so they could bring in future Hall of Famer Sam Horn. Acutally, that was probably more of a mercy thing for Billy Buck because Boston fans can be harsh. He went on to hit over .300 for the Angels after they grabbed him up. He struggled in 1988 and 1989 with the Angels and Royals. His 1988 card still shows he had quite the head of hair.


Buckner ended up going back to the Red Sox to finish his career in 1990. He didn't do well and was released in early June. However, before he was released, he hit his last career homer in Fenway Park. Was it an opposite field shot over the Monster? Did he curl one in around Pesky's Pole? Did he pour everything he had and lay into one and hit it out to the Triangle? Nope. This 41 year old with bad ankles managed an inside the park homer. The play-by-play says it went down the right field line, which is the shortest part of the park, but has some tough angles. Claudell Washington was playing right field that day and you have to wonder if he wasn't stricken with a nasty case of something for him to mess around with the ball long enough for Buckner to circle the bases. Or maybe it was like the end of the Bad News Bears movie when the opposing team's pitcher held the ball while Tanner (?) rounded the bases. If I remember right, he was mad at his Marinovich-like father. In any event, Buckner's last homer had to be his most improbable.

Sorry Mets fans (and I know some of you admit to it). I'm not going to show the video.

1972 Feature
June 12, 1972 was a light day on the schedule. There were only 6 games in the big leagues as half the teams had the day off. There was 1 blowout, 1 slugfest and 4 pitchers' duels. Maybe that's why I still appreciate the baseball of the day.

The best of the pitchers' duels would have been Pat Dobson and the Orioles hanging a 1-0 loss on Vida Blue (0-3 now after his dual Cy Young/MVP season). However, I'm going with the slugfest down on Peach Tree Street in Atlanta for my Game of the Day.

This starts out as a pitching duel between Gary Gentry of the Mets and Phil Niekro of the Braves. After 6, the Mets are up 2-1. The only scoring has come on solo homers by John Milner and Wayne Garrett of the Mets and Earl Williams of the Braves.

In the 7th the Mets loaded the bases with 1 out. The play account says Duffy Dyer hit a grounder to Niekro and he forced the runner at the plate. I'd want to know why they weren't able to get Dyer, a catcher, to complete the 1-2-3 double play and get out of the inning. Gentry then stepped up with a 2-run single to left and, after an error, Buddy Harrelson singled in another. The Braves came back with 3 in their half of the 7th on singles by Dusty Baker and Mike Lum.

In the 8th, Buzz Hardin replaced Niekro (who'd been lifted for a pinch-hitter) and he was promptly greeted with a solo homer by Rusty Staub. That was enough and Cecil Upshaw came in and gave up a 1-out homer to Ken Boswell and the Mets were up 7-4.

The Braves then took the lead in the bottom of the 8th off Faith Hill's father-in-law. With nobody out, Rico Carty knocked in a run. Next, two runs scored to tie the game on a wild throw by Met third baseman Wayne Garrett and Darrell Evans made it to third as the go-ahead run, still with nobody out. He wasn't able to score on Earl Williams' grounder to third. He was able to score when centerfielder Tommie Agee couldn't catch Dusty Baker's fly ball (he still got credit for a sac fly). Upshaw then put down the Mets 1-2-3 and that was the end to a wild game.

# 113 -- Rogelio Moret

Rogelio Moret








He's better known in later issues by the Americanized "Roger". I always connect he and Oil Can Boyd. Both were tall and thin. Roger was 6-4, 175 and The Can was 6-1, 150. They both pitched for just a few years with the Sox then went elsewhere and didn't do as much. They also each had pretty good winning percentages. Finally, they were each just a little nuts.



He was somewhat of a sidearming lefty. Not quite like Mike Myers, but he was probably more like Pedro Martinez in that he came from a lot of different angles. It must have been effective. From 1970-1975 he was 18-7 at Fenway, generally regarded as a place of death for lefties.



He was trying to get ahold of his control in the early 70's. He'd have probably stayed in the majors quicker, but he walked too many. For example, in 1971 he had a 4-3 record with a 2.92 ERA in 71 innings. Pretty good, right? Gave up only 50 hits and the league only hit .205 off him. That ought to work. He struck out 47, but walked 40. That won't keep you in the big leagues long.



He found his control in 1973 and went 13-2. In 1975 he helped the Sox to the World Series by going 14-3. There are references in the usually reliable Baseball Library and Baseball Reference Bullpen to him having a wreck at 4:30 a.m. on August 25, but going ahead and pitching that night against Jim Palmer. The game log shows Luis Tiant pitched (and lost) to Jim Palmer and that Moret didn't pitch between July 31 and August 11. Looks to me like he may have had the wreck, but didn't really pitch, simply missing that start.



He had 3 appearances in the 1975 Series. In the wild (that could have been said about many of those games) Game 3 in Cincinnati he came into a 5-5 tie in the bottom of the 10th with runners on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out. It was that situation instead of a runner on 1st with 1 out (or nobody on and 2 out) because Carlton Fisk threw wildly to 2nd as Eddie Armbrister bunted. That was one of the most controversial plays of the Series, with Darrell Johnson certain that Armbrister interfered with Fisk. Moret intentionally walked Pete Rose to load the bases. He struck out pinch-hitter Merv Rettenmund and then Joe Morgan singled to center. Imagine. If the Sox had won this game then Fisk's Game 6 homer could have been a walk-off World Series winner.








The Red Sox sold high on Roger, trading him to the Braves for Tom House after the 1975 season. Turned out to be no big deal for either team. Moret then went to the Rangers where his career ended one day when he had something odder than a 4:30 a.m. car wreck 150 miles away keep him from a start. He was found in the locker room in a catatonic state holding a shower shoe outstretched in his arm. He never pitched in the big leagues again. He wasn't the same anyway. Still, I'll remember Moret as a skinny whip-armed pitcher that almost never lost.


1972 Feature
Juan Marichal fell to 2-10 on the season in a 4-0 loss to the Cubs. Who would have thought Marichal to have 10 losses 10 weeks into the season? Dick Drago shut out the Yankees 1-0. In the first game of a double header the Brewers and White Sox combined to hit 7 homers (2 by MVP Dick Allen) in a 6-4 White Sox win. Lots of solos that day. My Game of the Day will be the Tigers coming from behind with 1 in the 8th and 1 in the 9th to beat the A's.



Through 7 innings Ken Holtzman shut down the Tigers with 1 run on 2 hits. He'd retired 13 in a row since walking in a run in the 3rd. Aurelio Rodriguez tripled to lead off the 8th and scored on a sacrifice fly to tie the score. The A's get runners on 1st and 2nd with 2 out in the top of the 9th off Chuck Seelbach. Mike Hegan pinch hit for Larry Brown, but Seelbach picked Downtown Ollie Brown off 2nd to end the inning. Bill Freehan then sent everybody home with a homer leading off the 9th.


Billie Jean King's brother (Randy Moffitt) made his debut as a reliever for the Giants on this day. He had a pretty good career as the Giants' bullpen ace in the 70's.

# 112 -- Greg Luzinski

Greg Luzinski









At 6'1", 215 pounds, Greg Luzinski was a big, burly slugger who didn't move around all that great in the field in the early 1970's. For comparison, Rick Ankiel is listed at 6'1", 210; Hideki Matsui is 6'2", 210; and Vernon Wells is 6'1", 230. I don't think any of those guys would be nicknamed "Bull" but Luzinski was thought of as a mountain of a man back then.


As you can see on his card, he had an outstanding minor league career. He destroyed the PCL in 1971 at Eugene after wreaking the same havoc in Reading the year before and with the beloved Durham Bulls before that. From what I remember of the old park in Durham in law school, it wasn't an easy place to hit 31 homers.


Some guys really hit a wall when they go from the thin air of the PCL to the big leagues. Luzinski adapted very well, hitting 18, 68, .281 in his first full season with the woeful Phillies. By the time the Phillies started winning in 1975, he established himself as a 30 homer, 100 RBI and .300 hitter at a time when that was the elite of the league. I'd honestly forgotten how good his numbers were then. He started tailing off in 1977 and never regained that form. He became a White Sox DH in the 80's. I remember when they won the AL West in 1983 there was a lot of discussion about whether Ron Kittle or Luzinski would have to play the field if the Sox made it to the Series.





Now, he runs a stand at the ballpark in Philadelphia called Bull's Barbecue. I guess now that I've plugged him and Manny Sanguillen, I'll have to find a photo when Boog Powell's card comes up.


In the comments, the Dean Family (of the 1980 Topps blog) reminds of the Bull's Miller Lite commercial from 1988 where he imitates John Daly (before Daly hit the limelight). I had to go back and put this in.




1972 Feature
On June 10, 1972 the A's beat the Tigers 5-2 in a preview of the ALCS. The A's improved their record to a league best 33-13 and opened up a 5 game lead in the West. The Twins had been close, but were fading fast. Today's Game of the Day shows this continuing to happen.


The Twins came into this game in Cleveland having lost 6 of their last 8 since June 1, when they were only 1.5 games behind the A's. Dick Woodson is cruising and has the Indians shut out on 3 hits through the first 7 innings. The Twins innocently pushed 1 across in the 4th when Rod Carew scored on a double play grounder after tripling. That was the only run through 7. In the bottom of the 8th, Del Unser gets it started by dropping down a bunt. An RBI double by Jack Brohamer tied it and, after an intentional walk to Alex Johnson, singles by Chris Chambliss and Buddy Bell make it 4-1. Steve Mingori comes in and goes through Cesar Tovar, Carew and Harmon Killebrew to close it out. The Indians aren't going anywhere, but the Twins pretty well insure they aren't either by dropping their 7th out of 9.

Single Digits

I've been working on collecting this set off and on (more off than on) for the last 37 years. I put bids on the last 12 cards I needed on an ebay set break and got 4 of them tonight. I was fortunate and found a seller that charged $2.75 shipping for the first card and free on all other cards, which made it affordable.

I got those for cards for under $20 with shipping. One was a semi-high, but the other three were from the high series. I think I got a pretty good deal.

Anyway, thanks to both of you for indulging me in reading through this post with no information, no pictures and all about me. Rich Reese, Bobby Murcer, Rick Monday and some Twins Rookies: you're mine. Paul Blair, Walter Alston, Rookie Pitchers, Rookie 1Bmen, Jerry Koosman, Bobby Bonds, Jack Aker and Jim Rooker.....you're in the crosshairs. I'm a little surprised that now I'm under 10 to go that I know them all. I'm not sure I need a checklist anymore. Hopefully I'll find them all by the time I get to #660.

# 111 -- Jim "Mudcat" Grant

Jim "Mudcat" Grant







People see this card and immediately see the mutton chops. However Mudcat Grant is a heck of a lot more than a set of bushy sideburns. He was a good starting pitcher for the Indians and Twins through the late 50's and early 60's. When he won 20 with the Twins in 1965 (he also won 2 games in the World Series and hit a homer that year) he became only the 3rd black pitcher to do that (following Don Newcombe and Sam Jones). He's written a book called "The Black Aces" (visit Mudcat's site) about the 13 men who've done so (Newcombe, Jones, Grant, Bob Gibson, Earl Wilson, Ferguson Jenkins, Vida Blue, Al Downing, J.R. Richard, Mike Norris, Dwight Gooden, Dave Stewart and Dontrelle Willis).


When Jim Grant came up to the Indians, he got to room with his idol, Larry Doby. I don't know if Doby remained his idol for long. It was Doby that gave him his famous nickname by saying he was as "ugly as a Mississippi mudcat." (A mudcat is a bottom dwelling catfish.) Fortunately, Jim Grant has a heart of gold and a great sense of humor and he's been proud of his nickname. There were 2 other guys named Jim Grant to play major league baseball, but only one Mudcat.

Mudcat struggled in the late 60's until he got to St. Louis in late 1969 when the Expos didn't want him any longer (Note: when an expansion team doesn't want you, things look bleak.) Red Schoendienst put him in the bullpen and he was good. He spent 1970 as the A's closer doing very well. He also pitched out of the pen for the Pirates in 1971, but missed out on a World Series ring when Charlie Finley purchased him at the end of the year for the stretch run. If Charlie Finley was willing to part with cash for you, he must think you're pretty special. Supposedly, Mudcat was the first player Finley convinced to put his first name on the back of his jersey. I guess it's OK that Suzuki doesn't do that in Seattle.


However, that was the end of the line for Mudcat. He spent 1972 at the A's AAA team in Iowa, but never got the call back to the big leagues. Mudcat's now a baseball ambassador. He signs baseball cards if you want to send to him in the mail. He makes appearances at the Negro League Museum in Kansas City. He basically loves to go places to meet people, smile and talk about baseball. Can't think of a better thing to say about a guy.


1972 Feature
June 9, 1972 was a Friday with new weekend series starting. Don Sutton lost his first game of the year to the Pirates thanks in part to 1st inning errors on Bobby Valentine, Steve Garvey and Bill Russell. Steve Blass of the Pirates threw a 3-hitter, though. The Cardinals beat the Padres 3-2 on a homer by Joe Torre in the top of the 9th. Bob Gibson and Bill Greif threw complete games in 2:05.


My Game of the Day, though, will be a rainy night in Boston. The Angels score 3 runs in the top of the 6th on homers by Bob Oliver and Leroy Stanton, 5-5. Rico Petrocelli sends one out to left-center to lead off the Sox 6th. Bill Lee comes out to relieve Marty Pattin in the top of the 7th and is ready to face pinch-hitter Syd O'Brien when the game is delayed and never restarted. Even though he didn't throw a pitch, Bill Lee gets credit for an appearance and a Game Finished. However, he didn't get the save.


That game marked the end of Roger Repoz' career. His card comes along a lot later. Suffice it to say that he blazed the way for guys like Kevin Maas in that he was touted as the next great Yankee slugger, but never fulfilled potential. Roger struck out as a pinch-hitter in this rain-shortened game, dropping his season average to .333 (1 hit and 2 strikeouts) and was never heard from again.

# 110 -- Ron Hunt

Ron Hunt







Ron is best known for one thing. He got hit by pitches. He led the league in being hit the last 7 years of his career. He didn't just lead that category, he dominated it. Only once in those seven years did anyone come within 10 of him. In 1971 he was hit 50 times and 2nd place was hit 9 times.

He wasn't one of these guys that played 150 games every year. He usually played around 120 games. Back then when you crowded the plate, it was daring the pitcher to hit you.....and he often did. Now, if a batter crowds the plate, the pitcher tries to throw a slider on the outside part because he might make the batter mad if he throws inside. Ron also didn't wear any protective devices except for a helmet (although, unlike Jose Cruz, he does have a batting glove). Finally, it's one thing when a big, muscular guy like Don Baylor takes a fastball in the shoulder, but Ron Hunt was a little guy. It should be no surprise that he was hit the most often, 6 times, by Bob Gibson.

Ron wasn't just a target. He was a 2-time All-Star for the Mets, starting the 1964 game. He now runs a baseball camp outside St. Louis.

1972 Feature
From what I can tell, June 8, 1972 was a quiet day. The Game of the Day is going to be a 2-1 Dodger comeback win over the Cubs. Tommy John and Juan Pizarro hooked up for a pretty good pitcher's duel. Jose Cardenal picked up an RBI single off John in the top of the 4th. The Dodgers didn't do anything until Steve Garvey homered in the 7th. John pitched around a jam in the 8th and played small ball in their half of the 8th. Billy Grabarkewitz led off with a walk and was sacrificed to second. He then scored from second on a wild pitch by Pizarro. The Cubs then went quietly in the 9th against Brewer.

Not a lot else going on in the world. The only other thing I could find of any marginal interest was the birth of Ginger Spice, Geri Halliwell. Honestly, for myself, I have overstated it when I said that's of "marginal interest." Sometimes it's good to have slow news days.

#109 -- Jerry May

Jerry May






I was at our local AA Texas League team (Springfield Cardinals) the other night when the shortstop came up, hitting about .217, when it flashed on the board that he is hitting .260 at home. The scoreboard told us another player was hitting .278 in the 3rd inning. One of my colleagues was at the game with me and was asking me about those obscure stats and why they put them up. I told him it sounded to me like (unintentionally) damning with faint praise.

I tell that story because of Jerry May's card back. He had significant playing time for the Pirates in the late 70's and was around a half-time catcher for the Royals in 1971, their first really good year. Heck, his first 2 minor league seasons were pretty good. However, Topps chooses to tell us about his 6 American Legion no-hitters, which would have had to have been from 1958-1961. In order to say something nice about Jerry, they had to go back to talk about him no-hitting high schoolers in Virginia in the Eisenhower administration. Jerry must not have hit very well in the 3rd inning.


Jerry was involved in one of those lopsided Royals trades in the early 70's. He, Freddie Patek and Bruce Dal Canton came for Jackie Hernandez, Bob Johnson and a bag of chips. Jerry didn't hang around long with the Royals. He split time in 1971, but his hitting fell off in 1972 and by 1973 they sold him to the Mets and he was released after 4 games in 2 months.

Jerry was a good fielder and kind of got Wally Pipped in Pittsburgh. As mentioned above, he was the Pirates' number one catcher starting in 1967 until crashed into a dugout in Montreal in 1969. He was taken to the hospital by ambulance. The ambulance then had a crash and that injured Jerry's right (throwing) shoulder. Manny Sanguillen replaced him and he was never the same. Talk about circumstances that "verily stinketh."


He also caught Dock Ellis' LSD no-hitter in 1970. Dock said the only thing that let him know where to throw the ball (other than when the ball told him where to throw it) was zeroing in on the reflective tape Jerry wore on his fingers. I suppose he must have been able to surmise Dock's condition and made allowances.


1972 Feature
On June 7, 1972, Pittsburgh and San Diego played a double header that was 2 games of dichotomies. The first game was a slugfest, Pirates got ahead early and pounded the Padres, 12-5. Four Pirates and one Padre had 3 hits. Willie Stargell hit 2 homers and drove in 5. The Padres had to use 5 pitchers just to record 27 outs.


In the nightcap, they went 18 innings before the Pirates were able to push one across and win 1-0. The game only lasted 4:27, shorter than a typical 9-inning Yankee-Red Sox or any playoff game nowdays. Dave Cash and Stargell had 3 hits in both games. Spots 5-9 in the Pirate order went 3-36. The Padres only got 6 hits in 18 innings off 5 Pirate pitchers. Because the Padres had shredded their bullpen in the opener, Clay Kirby went 13 scoreless innings and Mike Corkins pitched the other 5. The Padres never really threatened. The Pirates got a runner to 3rd with less than 2 outs only twice in the first 17 innings. The Pittsburgh Lumber Company scored with some unusual small ball in the 18th. They led off with infield singles by Al Oliver and Willie Stargell. Those 2 "speed demons" then executed a double steal (I'm sure catcher Fred Kendall had to be dumbfounded). Corkins then struck out Richie Hebner and intentionally walked Bill Mazeroski to set up the inning-ending double play. He then walked Gene Alley to force in a run. He got out of the inning by fanning Manny Sanguillen and getting Clemente to ground out, but that was it. What a game.


Also, the Padres first round draft pick, Dave Roberts, who was just drafted a couple of days ago, made his major league debut in this double-header. Don Leshnock of the Tigers played in his only game. He pitched the 9th inning of a 5-1 loss to the Angels. He got Leo Cardenas on a grounder and struck out Nolan Ryan. Sandy Alomar and Mickey Rivers then got base hits before he struck out Vada Pinson. Don can say his K/9IP ratio of 18.00 was even better than Ryan's.

#108 -- Gary Waslewski

Gary Waslewski








Before the 2004 post-season the Boston Red Sox were most known for 6th games. Carlton Fisk’s 1975 Game 6 homer is still one of the most dramatic moments in World Series history. The collapse in the 1986 Series (I attribute that to Schiraldi and Stanley as much as the first baseman) was in Game 6 and was the most defining moment of that franchise until 2004. However, back in 1967 a Red Sox team that had been underdogs all year found themselves at the precipice after 5 games of the World Series. They trailed the Cardinals 3 games to 2. It was Gary Bell’s turn to start, but he’d been rocked in Game 3 and relieved in Game 4.

Manager Dick Williams turned to a rookie that had a record of 2-2 for this elimination game. I’m sure Sox fans were thinking “Gary Who”? Gary didn’t get the win, but he pitched into the 6th and only gave 2 runs. The Sox went on to win Game 6, but fell to Bob Gibson’s hitting and pitching in Game 7. Nobody has ever started a World Series game with fewer career wins that Gary Waslewski. Only Hong-Chi Kuo, with 1 career win for the Dodgers before starting against the Mets in 2006, had fewer career wins to start a playoff game.

Things didn’t go well for Gary after that. He never had a winning season. He didn’t pitch in the World Series again, although he was on the A’s in 1972. He only pitched 8 games in relief for Dick Williams, but, despite a 2.04 ERA that was it for him in the big leagues. He pitched well in AAA for the A’s and Red Sox in 1973-74, but it seems there wasn’t a big market for a reliever in his 30’s that hadn’t done all that well in the big leagues. Gary packed it in and raised a namesake who is a sports medicine orthopedic surgeon in the Phoenix area.

What’s cool about this card is that it shows some of the old scoreboard in Yankee Stadium before the 1974 remodeling. I don’t remember the scoreboard having that shape. At first I thought it might be old Comiskey until I saw Gary in his home whites and figured out that was the Yankee logo on top of the scoreboard.

1972 feature

June 6 is D-Day. It’s a day we kind of remember because there was a big battle that day, but I think we have no idea what a tipping point in history that day was and how the Good Hand of God was upon us. All you have to do is watch the documentaries from how the odds were against us (bad weather, steep cliffs, PT boats not able to get to shore, soldiers very seasick), but we caught some breaks with the Germans not taking the initial reports of the landing seriously. I think we would have still won World War II eventually, but it would have taken longer and cost more. There aren’t many that stormed Normandy that day still alive. If you’re fortunate enough to know one, tell them thanks.

Although there as a 15-inning game in Baltimore, won by the Twins 5-4, I’m going to pick a Mets-Reds game as the Game of the Day. The Mets were a surprising first place team with a 4 game lead over the Pirates. The Reds were only 1.5 game back of the Dodgers. Johnny Bench hit a 2-run homer off Jim McAndrew in the 4th, but the Mets answered with runs in the 4th and 6th to tie it up. Tommie Agee singled in Jim Beauchamp with 2 out in the 7th off Don Gullett to put the Mets ahead. Tug McGraw came in and faced 7 batters to close the door in the 8th and 9th. The only runner to reach off Faith Hill’s father-in-law was when he hit Johnny Bench.

June 6 was also the 1972 draft. First rounders included overall #1 Dave Roberts (who went straight to the Padres), Rick Manning, Larry Christenson, Roy Howell, Dick Ruthven (who didn’t sign), Dave Chalk, Scott McGregor, Jamie Quirk, Jerry Manuel and Chet Lemon. Further down the draft were Dennis Eckersley (3rd round), Gary Carter (3rd round), Willie Randolph (7th round) and Lyman Bostock (26th round). No real big names here and I think Eckersley and Carter are the only future Hall of Famers in this draft.

#107 -- Jose Cruz

Jose Cruz








Guys don't put tape on tehir bats much anymore. However, in the days before everyone used 2 batting gloves, that was the way to keep your hands on the bat. I remember doing this some as a kid. I also remember callouses from swinging a bat a lot in the vacant lot next door. Jose looks like he's not needing the batting gloves here.


A lot of people forget that Jose came up with the Cardinals and that he finished with the Yankees. After the 1974 season he was sold to the Astros. The Cardinals were so-so at the time, but with an outfield of Lou Brock, Reggie Smith and Bake McBride there wasn't any room for Jose. That deal sure didn't work out for the Cardinals, because he went on to have 14 good years with the Astros.


In 1972, Jose was platooning with Luis Melendez in the outfield. The Cards were trying to find playing time in center and right for Jose, Melendez, Bernie Carbo and Matty Alou. Jose still got to play about half the time. But with the emergence of Bake McBride, he was out.


What I remember most about Jose was the Cardinal organization was ga-ga about the prospect of 3 Cruz brothers in the majors, kind of like the Alous. However, his brothers -- Tommy and Hector -- never really made it big. Hector lasted a few years (after failing miserably to replace Ken Reitz at 3rd) and Tommy bounced around.


Jose is still coaching with the Astros. He'll never make the Hall of Fame, but he was a solid player for a very long time.


1972 Feature
There were only 2 games on June 5, 1972. Both ended with 3-2 scores. My Game of the Day will be the A's over the Indians in 10 innings. They scored 2 early runs on Gaylor Perry, who then shut the A's down until the Indians scored in the 7th and 8th to send it to extra innings. Bert Campaneris hit a 2 out homer in the top of the 10th. Blue Moon Odom and Darold Knowles put down the Indians in the 10th to close out the win.


June 5, 1972 was also the day Mike Coolbaugh was born. He died on the field in Little Rock almost 2 years ago after being hit by a batted ball. Now, all field coaches wear batting helmets. It was a horrible loss of what everyone has said is a great guy.

#106 -- Brewers Team

Milwaukee Brewers

(Apologies to Matt. I was out of town when this posted and didn't realize I hadn't uploaded scans of the cards.)

The first thing that jumps out at you are the records on the back of the card. This team only had 3 years to compile records, so they're not going to be terribly impressive. For one thing, you can tell that Tommy Harper had a good year in 1970. Of the 11 club records, Tommy set 8 of them in 1970. The only batting record that fell in 1972 was that George Scott knocked in 88 runs to take the club record.

On the pitching side, Marty Pattin had a pretty good 1971, but things were a little more spread around. No pitching records fell in 1972, but Jim Lonborg tied Pattin's 14 wins in 1970 and 1971. Interesting that Pattin and Harper (and others) were traded to the Red Sox for Scott and Lonborg (and others) and they're all over the leader board on this franchise as of 1972.

The Brewers still sucked in 1972. They were last in the AL in attendance with 600,000. That's right. The Yankees or Dodgers can pull that in on a long homestand now. It didn't matter whether Dave Bristol or Del Crandall was managing, they still lost. Heck, you could have Whitey Herzog, Billy Martin, Tommy Lasorda and Earl Weaver on the bench and this team wasn't going to win. George Scott was 4th in the league in RBI and 9th in hits and Johnny Briggs was 9th in homers and slugging percentage and that was it for Brewers on the hitting leaderboards. Oh, Rick Auerbach was 4th in outs made. The pitching side was even leaner with Ken Sanders being 4th in saves and 5th in games pitched, unless you want to consider Billy Parsons being 3rd in earned runs allowed.

George Scott won a Gold Glove at first base. I would have thought he would be the Brewer All-Star, but that honor went to Ellie Rodriguez, who had 2 homers, 16 RBI and hitting .281 at the break. Boomer was only hitting .238 at the break and there are usually a lot of deserving first basemen.

I do like the guy wearing the letterman's jacket on the left side of the picture.

1972 Feature
Being a Sunday, June 4, 1972 was a big day for doubleheaders. The A's swept the Orioles in identical 2-0 games. The White Sox came back from yesterday's 13-inning loss to sweep the Yankees, including a 3-run walk-0ff homer by 1972 MVP Dick Allen in the 2nd game. The Pirates swept the Giants. The Red Sox and Royals split. The 2nd game of the Yankees-White Sox doubleheader would have to be the Game of the Day. The Yanks took a 4-2 lead into the bottom of the 9th. Wife Swapper Mike Kekich was cruising along, having allowed 2 runs on 3 hits, but had walked 6. Rick Reichardt flied out, but after Bill Melton walked and Mike Andrews singled, Sparky Lyle came in. Lyle was a stud, but he went 5 innings the day before. Weak hitting Rich Morales was due up, but Chuck Tanner sent up Dick Allen, who'd had the day off. As Ralph Cramden would say, "Bang Zoom" and the game was over.

Cy Acosta made his major league debut in this game (no doubt because of the way the Sox bullpen had been shredded), pitched a scoreless 9th and got the win.

#105 -- Gary Gentry

Gary Gentry







Sometimes, when you do well in the post-season, it really doesn't matter what else you do, you're remembered for that, good or bad. Just ask Cardinal fans about Tom Lawless. He did absolutely nothing, but he homered off Frank Viola in the 1987 Series and he would be enshrined in the Cardinal Hall of Fame if they'd won the Series that year. I suppose you can also ask Tom Niedenfuer (sorry Night Owl) who was a pretty good reliever that just happened to give up kind of important homers in Games 5 and 6 of the NLCS.

Gary Gentry won a game in the 1969 World Series and the regular season pennant clincher for the Miracle Mets. For Mets fans, he'll always be beloved, even though he was pretty much a .500/league average pitcher. He and Nolan Ryan emerged at about the same time, although Ryan was in the bullpen more while Gentry and Jim McAndrew held down rotation spots behind Seaver and Koosman.

He fell off some in 1972. It turned out he had an arm injury he'd been pitching through. The Mets traded him and Danny Frisella to the Braves for Felix Millan and George Stone. Looked like a pretty even trade at the time, but Stone went on to win 12 games for the '73 Mets and Millan was a regular 2nd baseman through most of the 70's. Gentry never recovered from his arm injury and Dan Frisella was a mediocre reliever until his death on New Years' Day 1977. While the Mets made a good trade here, they should have dealt Gentry a year earlier. Supposedly, when the Mets were picking up Jim Fregosi to be their regular third baseman, the Angels wanted the guy they got or Gentry, didn't matter to them. I think the Mets exercised some emotion and the rest is history.

Looks like Gary got picked off for his photo while the pitchers were warming up at the beginning of 1971 Spring Training. Hard to tell who's behind him. They look like black right-handed pitchers, but the Mets didn't have anybody like that on their 1971 roster. I suppose it could be position players (Cleon Jones, Tommie Agee, Donn Clendenon), but the guy on the far right definitely looks like he's in a pitching pose.

1972 Feature
The Game of the Day for June 3, 1972 is going to have to be the wild, 13-inning game won by the Yankees over the White Sox at Comiskey by an 18-10 score. The Sox scored 10 in the first 6 innings against Yankee starter Fred Beene and a couple of relievers. The Yankees had put up 8 runs in the 4th and 5th innings against Stan Bahnsen and Phil Regan. The Yanks tied the score at 10-10 in the top of the 9th with 2 runs off Rich Gossage. It was then a bullpen game and the Yanks had Sparky Lyle while the Sox (who had a thin bullpen anyway) only had Steve Kealey and Bart Johnson. I think they were out of pitchers because Johnson faced 13 hitters giving up 8 runs in the 13th. He got hit for homers by Thurman Munson and Bobby Murcer, gave up a double to Sparky Lyle, walked 4 and threw a wild pitch. That was Johnson's last game of the season, but in an interview he admitted to an off-season right knee injury (he reported it immediately to the Sox) that had been bothering and caused him to have surgery after 1972. I get interested in situations like this where, in a close game, the manager leaves the pitcher out there to absorb a beating.

There were a couple of other games I'd normally pick. Don Sutton improved to 8-0 with a 1-0, 7-hitter over the Cardinals. Bill Stoneman threw a 10-inning 1-0 shutout over the Astros.

The Number One song for the week ending June 3 was "I'll Take You There" by the gospel group The Staple Singers. I have a feeling they may have had a different idea of where "there" was than many of the hippies listenting on the radio. This is from the Flip Wilson Show (No, the Devil didn't make me do it.)

# 104 -- Toby Harrah

Toby Harrah

Toby Harrah. Dick Nen. Robb Nen. I know there are more ballplayers with palindromes for last names, but Harrah would have to be the longest. He had a long career. I didn't realize he broke in as a 20-year old in 1969. He pinch ran in 7 games and pinch hit in 1. Amazing year in 1969: starts the season in A ball ends the season in the big leagues playing for Ted Williams.

Even though he was an All-Star 4 times, I never thought of him among the best shortstops in the league at the time. However, he would have fit today's game very well. He was a solid, but not exceptional fielder. He had pop in his bat, hitting over 20 homers 5 times and had 5 years drawing over 90 walks. However, the typical shortstop in the 70's had good range in the field and if he did anything at the plate, it was hit for average and steal bases. That wasn't Toby's game. He hit over .270 only 3 times, but could steal bases.

Toby took the shortstop job in 1971 and didn't look back. He was the Ranger All-Star representative in 1972, but that was kind of like saying someone "runs fast for a catcher." Toby is staring off into space on the card, not because he's wondering how it would be to share a locker room with Bobby Murcer, Rod Carew, Carl Yastrzemski, Reggie Jackson, et. al. (he didn't play in the All-Star Game because of injury. Bobby Grich played the whole game because Earl Weaver was the manager, although Campaneris and Patek appeared to be available), but because he's wearing a Washington Senators cap that's not allowed in the 1972 set. I personally don't care much for this card because it just doesn't do anything.

Toby's career had a few oddities:

1. June 25, 1976. Played doubleheader at shortstop with no fielding chances. (He went 6-8, 2 HR, 8 RBI and 2 BB's offensively.)

2. September 17, 1977. Played 17 innings at 3rd without an assist (he had 1 putout, catching a throw from SS Bert Campaneris and tagging Rod Carew, who was trying to advance from 2nd to 3rd on a grounder to short, which we're taught not to try to do).

3. August 27, 1977. Along with Bump Wills, hit back-to-back jacks in Yankee Stadium. Big deal you say? Would you be impressed with the oddity if I told you they were both inside-the-parkers?

The question on the back of the card about circling the bases held too much intrigue for me to let pass. They didn't time guys hitting inside the park homers in the 20's. Apparently between games of doubleheaders (for all of you under the age of 38, a "doubleheader" is something where baseball teams used to schedule 2 games in 1 day, usually on Sunday, but also sometimes during the week, especially if there had been a rainout) they would hold contests. One of these was to have an around the bases race. Evar Swanson was an outfielder for the Reds and White Sox who'd also played in the NFL and ran track in college. Apparently he set the "record" in a September doubleheader at 13.3 seconds. Later, during his final year in 1934, he was timed at 14.8 seconds. I guess he slowed enough that he was out of the league. During that doubleheader, Al Simmons of the A's hit a fungo (throw it up and hit it) 428' and Hal Trosky threw a ball 376 feet. These contests alone make me wish they had doubleheaders now.

1972 Feature

Sorry, ladies, this is for all the guys out there. This was the cover of Life Magazine on June 2, 1972. I have to post it:

A couple of months later the movie "Kansas City Bomber" was released. I didn't see it at the theater when I was 8, but I remember seeing it several times on TV in later years. Can you imagine why Raquel Welch in a roller derby movie would stay ingrained in my pre-pubescent mind? I don't remember much of the plot, but I remember thinking "She's pretty," or something like that. She was certainly more interesting than George McGovern (I liked Nixon).

# 103 -- Checklist

Checklist

There's just not much for me to say about a checklist. At least nothing to say about a checklist that doesn't have a picture of Juan Marichal or Bob Gibson on it like they did in the late 60's. I'll go by the teaching of the Bible that if you can't find something nice to say, say something nice (Ephesians 4:29):

This checklist is very yellow.

There. Post complete.

1972 Feature
June 2, 1972 was a Friday night. There was an early season matchup of the 1971 ALCS with Baltimore beating the A's 5-1. It might have been a great pitching matchup of Jim Palmer against Vida Blue, except Blue was still getting himself in shape after he held out until May 24. The 1971 NLCS teams also had a matchup in San Francisco with Juan Marichal raising his record to 2-8 (ouch) with a win over the Pirates.

Raul Ibanez was born on June 2, 1972. A guy that needs a little recognition, however, is Tim Plodinec. Who the heck is that? He was a Cardinal pitcher who played his only game on this date. He pitched 1/3 of an inning in Dodger Stadium, coming in with runners at 2nd and 3rd and 2 outs facing Manny Mota (RBI single), Steve Garvey (RBI single after wild pitch let another in), Duke Sims (single) and Bill Russell (lineout). Unfortunately, he turned a 5-1 game into an 8-1 game, was pinch-hit for and never seen in the big leagues again.

However, my Game of the Day would be between the East leading Tigers (22-17) getting past the surprising Twins (23-14) in 11 innings by a 5-4 score. Mickey Lolich was dominating the Twins until weak-hitting Danny Thompson hit a 2-run dinger in the 8th and the Twins pushed another across in the 9th. Gates Brown got an RBI double in the 11th to end it.

Raul Ibanez was born on June 2, 1972. A guy that needs a little recognition, however, is Tim Plodinec. Who the heck is that? He was a Cardinal pitcher who played his only game on this date. He pitched 1/3 of an inning in Dodger Stadium, coming in with runners on 2nd and 3rd and 2 outs of a game the Dodgers led 5-1. He faced Manny Mota (RBI single), Steve Garvey (RBI single after a wild pitch let another in), Duke Sims (single) and Bill Russell (lineout). Unfortunately, he turned a 5-1 game into an 8-1 game, was pinch-hit for and never seen in the big leagues again.

#102 -- Lloyd Allen

Lloyd Allen

(Exchange between player and GM underling in California Angels spring training camp, circa 1971)

GM Underling: Hey, Rook. Yeah, you. Get over here for your baseball card picture.

Player: Here?

GM Underling: Of course here. Where did you think you were going to have your photo taken, Cooperstown?

Player: Why aren't you getting Cowan and Wright's pictures taken?

GM Underling: You don't understand the hierarchy, son. We know they're going to be with the team and Topps said they want to get their photos at the Stadium in Anaheim. Either that or they'll get some game action shots. You? Well, just in case you finally make the team they want to get something in their library so they can put you on a card next year.

Player: Oh. I see. But what will I wear?

GM Underling: Rook, you ain't funny. Just get over here.

Player: Against that temporary outfield fence? I hope Cowan and Wright get better backgrounds.

Lloyd Allen made the Angels in 1971. He was a 1968 1st round draft choice, made his major league debut in 1969 and had another cup of coffee in 1970. He broke through in 1971 and not only made the team, but, according to the Topps copy writer, was "one of the AL's top firemen..." He had an impressive year, with an ERA of 2.49 and 15 saves. He even hit a solo home run for his only career RBI off Dave Boswell of the Orioles in July.

Lloyd's 21 and has a promising future in Anaheim, right? Think again. The life of a reliever is a roller coaster. He gets off to a great start in 1972. By June 26, he's got a 2.11 ERA, saved 5/6 chances and pitching well. Well enough that the brass decides to put their 1st round draft pick into the rotation. He gets 6 starts, going 0-4, 4.97 (pretty bad in those days). He goes back to the bullpen. The last 14 games he pitched that year he went 1-0, 4.00 ERA. He blew saves in his first 2 games back in the bullpen (winning the 2nd) and didn't get another shot to save a game the rest of the year.

The win he got in relief was his last big league win. He was traded to the Rangers in early 1973, where he went 0-6. He was 0-2 in 1974 and 1975 with the Rangers and White Sox and that was it. What had been such a promising start ends with 3 years of 0-10, 8.89 ERA. He bounced around the minors through 1979 without getting back to the big leagues and then gave it up.

He also didn't get a cool background for his card like Billy Cowan and Clyde Wright did, either.

One more thing about the card. I love the cartoon. The Angels moved all the way from Los Angeles to Anaheim. However, Mr. Autry (if he was the owner at the time) could have at least let the players sit in the front of the moving van instead of sticking them in the back!

1972 Feature

On this day (June 1) in 1972, the Game of the Day was in Cleveland, where the surprising Indians (19-17) beat the Tigers 1-0 to draw them within 1 game of the lead. Gaylord Perry pitched a 7 hit shutout for his 9th victory. Cleveland scored its run with good fundamental baseball in the 3rd. Eddie Leon drew a 1 out walk, was bunted to 2nd by Perry and scored on a base hit by Tommy McCraw. Gaylord did the rest.

Also on this day in 1972, Stan Williams was released by the Angels. That was it for him.

#101 -- Astros Rookies (Greif, Richard, Busse)

Bill Greif

J.R. Richard

Ray Busse

None of these 3 guys provided any production for the Astros in 1972. Therefore, we should just consider this an example of Topps getting it wrong for its Rookie Prospects. The Astros went with a very set lineup of vets in 1972 and didn't have room for any rookies to break in. The Astros lineup was so set in 1972 it's a little difficult to play Strat-O-Matic because they just didn't have very many at bats to bench players. If somebody gets injured, the only infield replacements you've got are Bobby Fenwick and Jimmy Stewart.

Back to the Rookies on this card. I misspell Bill Greif's name all the time. I give myself a lot of "grief" over that. I guess perhaps I'll use that to learn to spell it properly. Bill's most known as a losing pitcher with the Padres. The Astros got more out of Bill in 1972 than anyone else on this card, as he and Derrel Thomas were the big parts of a trade to the Padres for Dave Roberts (the lefty pitcher). Bill proceded to go 5-16, 10-17 and 9-19 before the Padres decided to turn him into a reliever. Bill didn't do much better as a reliever. His 1977 card has achieved some fame as he never played with the Expos, despite what Topps made us believe.

J.R. Richard is the centerpiece of this card. I loved J. R. Richard in the late 70's and into 1980. He was big and fierce and looked it in the Astro rainbow uniforms. He threw hard and for several years didn't really know where it was going. In 1971 he pitched at Oklahoma City and averaged 10.5 K/9IP. Unfortunately, he also walked 105, which was almost 5.5/9IP. He wasn't a regular in the big leagues until 1975. His career really was only from 1975-1980 and in those 6 years he went 96-65 with 1339 strikeouts. That's in 5 1/2 years.

I remember 1980 very well. I was rooting for the Astros because of a good pitching staff, Bill Virdon was the manager (he lives in the same area I do), the cool uniforms, and the Cardinals were still kind of sucking. The Astros had picked up Nolan Ryan, so they had 2 guys who'd been striking out 300/year and a 20-game winning knuckleballer to sandwich between the two. J.R. got off to a great start and looked like a Cy Young for sure until he started complaining of a dead arm. Nobody believed him until he collapsed with a stroke in July. I remember a "Sporting News" cover with him and "Who Shot JR's Arm?" on the cover. He tried to come back through the minors, but he couldn't do it. He ended up losing a lot of money to an oil scheme and a couple of divorces and was living under a bridge in the mid-90's. He's got things back together now, thanks in large part to friends in baseball and his faith. One of my favorite autographed cards is a 1977 J.R. Richard. I don't know if it's real or not, but it's good enough for me.

I'd like to know what would happen if J.R. hadn't had a stroke end his career at age 30. If he had another 5 1/2 years like the preceeding 5 1/2 years, he'd be looking at roughly 200 wins, 3000 strikeouts and a Cy Young or 2. I think the Astros would have pushed by the Phils in the 1980 NLCS (the best LCS in history) if he was there, so he might have even had a World Series ring. I don't think he would have retired voluntarily at age 36, so he might have hung around to rack up stats like a lot of guys do, but for the prime 10-11 years, he'd have a great start on Cooperstown numbers. What a shame.

I actually knew who Ray Busse was without having to look him up. That's because the Cardinal announcers in the 1970's made every young player out to be the next great Cardinal Hall of Famer. Therefore, I have memories of guys like Ray Busse, Tom Heintzelman, Hector Cruz, Skip Jutze, Stan Papi, and so on. What I remember about Ray was, "at 6'4", he's a little tall to be a good shortstop." I think it was Mike Shannon who said that. A guy named Ripken came along about 10 years later..... However, Busse wasn't going to be the great 6'4" shortstop. He had a career batting average of .148 over 155 at bats. (The record for lowest career batting average by a non-pitcher with 155 at bats or more is Dick Smith's .134.) Ray did hit 2 homers in his 70 Cardinal at bats. They came off Rich Reuschel and Sam McDowell, who were a couple of pretty good pitchers. Perhaps Mike Shannon's comment about 6'4" shortstops had some basis in reality: Ray had a lifetime fielding percentage of .898 in his 23 games for the Cardinals in 1973. That's really bad. What's even worse is that the Cards trotted him out there as their starting shortstop 20 times in 1973, a year they finished only 1 1/2 games out of first. Man, if only Mike Tyson had been available more.

1972 Feature

On this date (May 31) in 1972, there were 10 games played in the big leagues and 8 of them were 1-run games. That would have been an exciting night on Baseball Tonight if such a thing existed then. The Angels came back with 1 in the 8th and 1 in the 9th to beat the White Sox (2nd major league win for Lloyd Allen, who's coming up next). Detroit beat the Indians 5-4 in 10, but not before the Indians tied the game in the 9th when Jim Northrup dropped a fly ball that would have been a sac fly. Dodgers beat the Giants 5-4 in 10 on a Manny Mota triple (he was then caught stealing home). In the pitching duel of the day, Bob Gibson and the Cardinals beat Ferguson Jenkins and the Cubs 1-0.

Also on May 31, 1972, Red Sox fans everywhere rejoiced (at least those who had been in 2004 and then got in Dr. Brown's DeLorean) as Dave Roberts was born. This is for all of Chowd Nation.

#100 -- Frank Robinson

Frank Robinson

When we get to the World Series subset (sometime in 2014 at the pace I'm going), I'll be able to share how Frank Robinson fits into my oldest baseball memory. As it is, he's one of the most underrated players in baseball history. When his name is mentioned now, it's more going to be associated with being the first black manager, taking over as manager of the 1988 Orioles and leading them to losses 9-20 to begin the season or doing a surprisingly good job with the Expos/Nationals.

Frank is the most underrated player of the last 50 years. He's a biscuit short of 3000 hits, has 586 lifetime homers (retired #4 on the all-time list), won a Rookie of the Year, 2 MVPs and a Triple Crown. Yet in a discussion of the greatest players, greatest right fielders, or even greatest Orioles, he seems to be forgotten.

Frank was a fierce competitor, whether as a player or a manager. I don't think you really wanted to get in his way. I heard stories about his time as a manager when he'd catch somebody jaking it. His intensity as a player was so fierce that Gene Mauch supposedly started fining any Phillie pitchers that brushed him back because his response would be to pound the ball mercilessly.

We all know the Reds traded him to the Orioles after the 1965 season. Red Owner/GM Bill DeWitt (father of Cardinal owner Bill DeWitt, Jr.) defended the trade because Robinson was an "old 30." Robinson had the greatest season of his career in 1966 winning the Triple Crown, his 2nd MVP and a World Series ring for the Orioles. Although DeWitt was gone from Cincinnati, I'm sure Frank got some satisfaction from helping the Orioles to a sweep in the 1970 World Series.

Frank had quite a career. He started as a high school teammate of Bill Russell (the Celtic, not the Dodger) and is still involved in the Commissioner's office. The Reds honored him as the Grand Marshall of their Opening Day parade in 2009 and he's still revered in both Cincinnati and Baltimore. However, no matter what he ever does, he's always going to be known for being baseball's first black manager. How did he do with that? He led the Indians to a winning record in his 2nd year (one of only 2 winning records in non-strike years between 1969 and 1985). He eased himself out of the lineup in 1975 in favor of Rico Carty at DH, but his first at-bat for Manager Robinson allowed Frank to lead by example. He homered off Doc Medich.

Frank Robinson deserves to be remembered not only as a black manager, but simply as a great baseball player.

# 99 -- Ross Grimsley

Ross Grimsley

Ross had a good career through the 70's and was known as a reliable and solid, if not spectacular pitcher. He was good for 14 wins and (when healthy) 240 innings a year. The Reds had a horrible down year in 1971, in between World Series years, but Ross was a bright spot, joining the rotation in mid-May and winning 10 games. Even in the early 70's, everyone loved a lefty. That performance allowed him to win that beautiful gold cup on his card signifying him as a Topps All-Star Rookie.

In 1972 the season started a couple of weeks late because of the strike, but Ross didn't join the Reds rotation until early May. He was solid through the season and stepped up big in the playoffs. The Pirates took a 2-1 lead (best of 5 in those days) into game 4 and Ross threw a 2-hitter at the Pirate lineup (which was heavily left-handed), and then the Reds won Game 5 to go to the Series. He lost Game 2 in the Series by a 2-1 score, which was certainly no disgrace. He pitched out of the bullpen, winning Games 5 & 6 to keep the Reds in it. He wasn't scored on in Game 7, but the A's already had the runs they needed to win it.

Ross was a good free agent sign by the Expos in 1978, winning 20 and making the All-Star team, but that was it. He had arm problems and was out of baseball by 1982.

Being a lawyer, I didn't realize it, but I can appreciate that Ross is famous in employment law circles for an incident in Fenway in 1975. I'll summarize what this blog reports (I recommend clicking the link if for no other reason than to get a great picture of Fenway from behind the right field stands, a view I don't know if I'd ever seen). Grimsley was warming up on September 16, 1975 and some of the friendly Sox fans were heckling him. The visitors' bullpen is available for that. Ross got fed up and threw the ball at the fans. It broke through the netting (prima facie evidence that the netting was defective) and hit a fan. The fan, named Manning, sued Ross and the Orioles. You would think it was pretty obvious that Ross was liable, but the trial court directed a verdict in favor of Ross and the Orioles on the claim for battery and the Orioles were trying to say that when he got mad and threw a ball in the stands he was no longer in the course and scope of his employment. The Court of Appeals felt differently, reversed the trial court and also found that the Orioles were responsible for Ross' toss. The case was remanded to the trial court and I suspect the case settled.

The original blog had a great limerick about this precursor to the Rob Dibble episode:

A reliever awaiting deployment
May act in the scope of employment
If he throws some high heat
At a fan in his seat
Unless for his own sheer enjoyment.

(Side note: Ross didn't make it into that game or any other game the rest of the year. The case wasn't decided until 1981, when Ross was with the Indians, but it didn't stop the O's from picking Ross back up for a few weeks in 1982.)

#98 -- Chuck Tanner

Chuck Tanner








Chuck was always known as the eternal optimist. He had to be taking over the White Sox in 1970. The Sox had contended throughout the 60's based on speed and pitching. They had nothing else. They were called "The Hitless Wonders." However, in 1969 some of the pitching started to fade, but there wasn't any hitting to replace it and they fell. They fell hard. In 1969 they were in the AL West with 2 expansion teams. They finished 1 game behind the Royals and only 3 games ahead of the Pilots. Ouch. 1970 wasn't better as they finished last and had the worst record in the AL.


Chuck was brought on in September after good guy Don Gutteridge was let go. As an aside, a fellow that I like to buy vintage cards from at my local mall shows would also do shows in Pittsburg, KS where Gutteridge lived until he died recently (I believe he was 96). He said Gutteridge would stop and chat with him, looking at his older cards and telling him about the guys. That must have been a blast.

Anyway, Chuck Tanner had to be the eternal optimist. In 1971, the White Sox moved up to a distant 3rd, 22.5 games behind the A's. Hey, I'd rather be a distant 3rd than a distant 5th. Then, in 1972, the Sox acquired Dick Allen and he went on a tear, winning the MVP and the Sox finished a surprising 2nd behind Allen, a rotation of Wilbur Wood and Stan Bahnsen, and a bullpen featuring a young Terry Forster and Rich Gossage.


It didn't last. Dick Allen didn't produce the same again, the pitching wasn't consistent and the hitting was non-existent. They fell back to 5th, 4th and 5th the next 3 years and Tanner was let go. The A's pick him up and he finishes 2nd to the Royals in 1976 in the season Finley decided to get rid of his stars to save money. Danny Murtaugh retires again for the Pirates, so they decide to trade for Tanner and he has his best years in Pittsburgh, winning the 1979 World Series.


Tanner was always a popular players manager. However, the Pirates fell in the 80's and then he managed some of the worst Braves teams in the 80's. Finishing last 4 of his last 5 years (and securing a 5th place finish the other one) caused his lifetime win/loss percentage to dip down to .495. I'm sure that didn't dim the optimism.


He's now back with the Pirates as a special assistant. That's good. He won't have to wear a uniform like the one in his 1972 card. I can't imagine that a major league team would think it was a good idea to wear a zip-up top, but the Sox were known for some imaginative uniforms. Who would have thought in 1972 that the uniform that Tanner was wearing would be the best uniform the Sox would have for over 20 years?

This Day in 1972

This was the day of a big trade for the Expos. They sent Rusty Staub to the Mets, where he would be a big part of their 1973 run to the World Series, in exchange for several starters. They got shortstop Tim Foli, outfielder Ken Singleton and first baseman/outfielder Mike Jorgensen.

The Chattanooga, Tennessee newspaper also had an article about a lawsuit seeking to stop a performance of the musical play "Hair" because of a nude scene and a message of drugs and sex. One local physician, who stayed to see the whole play in New York just so he could stand and boo it, said the play's message was to "ignore parents, ignore the schools, ignore the church and come live in the streets with us." I don't know how it came out. However, every generation has had its conflict of traditional values against what the play's supporters called "a need for rebirth, or change."

I'm not much of a hippie, I've never seen "Hair" and probably don't agree with the message, but I do like a couple of the songs from the play, including:

# 97 -- Tom Kelley

Tom Kelley





Tom Kelley didn't manage the Twins to 2 World Series wins. Tom Kelly did. It's hard to find much information on Tom Kelley beyond what we can see on the back of this card. He signed with the Indians before the draft, but made it to the big leagues for a few appearances in May of 1964, but spent most of the season in the Eastern League. He tore up AAA in 1965 (16-3) and pitched well in 4 late-season starts, so things were looking up.


He's with the Indians all of 1966, but can't crack the rotation, pitching out of the bullpen about once a week and getting about 1 start a month. Then in 1967 and 1968 he's hardly pitching anywhere. That could mean 2 things in the late 60's -- arm trouble or military service. Usually, when there's an empty year and the player was in the armed forces, Topps would put a line for that.


Tom had shoulder surgery. He had 12 AA starts in 1968 and in 1969 floated between A and AA ball. Then he's released. The Braves pick him up in 1970 and put him in AA where he flourished for the first half. But he couldn't get it done at Richmond in the second half. Things aren't looking good for Tom.


Then it came back. 1971 and 1972 were Tom's 2 best season. He was a swing man in between the rotation and the bullpen and he pitched well in 1971. He went back down in 1972 and then the bottom dropped out in 1973. He struggled in the minors through 1976 when he packed it in. It looks like he had recurrence of the arm troubles. I always hate seeing that in someone who has a promising start like Tom did in 1965. The fact that he fought through the arm troubles for about 10 years tells me how much he really loved baseball.


That Rawlings glove Tom's wearing looks a lot like the Bobby Grich model I bought in 1972 when I had need for a new glove (that story will come some other time). I used that glove until about 1995 when I had to break down and buy a new one to play softball. I don't know if there was still an original string left in that glove. I had a grandpa that had a lot of leather around the house and he'd restring it when I broke one. When I got that glove, I thought it was really cool how it had the hole in the back to stick out my index finger. Since Bobby Grich debuted in 1971, I really doubt Tom's wearing the same glove I had, but it's kind of neat to see him wearing it.