1975 boston red sox

this post covers the 1975 boston red sox and cards numbered 105 to 113 in the set. here are the fronts:

and backs:

what team is this?:  the american league champion 1975 boston red sox

why this team?:  the red sox won 95 games during the regular season, and then swept the three-time defending world champion a's in the alcs before losing to the reds in one of the most memorable fall classics of all time.

which players are featured?:  carl yastrzemski, carlton fisk, cecil cooper, dwight evans, fred lynn, jim rice, luis tiant, rick burleson, and rico petrocelli.

why these players?: this is pretty much the starting lineup for the 1975 bosox - only doug griffin and maybe bernie carbo are missing.  let's break it down.

one of two players appearing in the set for the second time as red sox players, carl yastrzemski played in 149 games for the red sox during the 1975 regular season.  by the way, here's a list of all the players in history who played in more games than carl yastrzemski.  pete rose.  that's it.  anyway, yaz was back to first base almost exclusively after nearly splitting his time between the outfield and first in 1974.  he hit .269 with 14 home runs and 60 rbi, but still scored 91 runs.  he made the all-star team for the 12th time, although not as a starter.  yaz hit .455 in the alcs against the a's, and then hit .310 against the reds in the world series.  he scored 7 times and drove in 4, but all 9 of his hits were singles.

carlton fisk missed almost the entire first half of the 1975 season, but came back to catch in 71 games.  he hit .331 with 10 homers and 52 rbi, and then hit .417 in the alcs.  the memorable moment, as documented in his lone card in this set, came in game 6 of the world series when he waved his 12th inning home run fair to force game 7.  fisk had another home run in the series, but hit only .240 over the 7 games.

dwight evans was the sox' right fielder in 1975, as he was and would be until 1990.  he hit 13 homers with 56 rbi, and had a .274 average in 128 games.  as you might guess, the strong-armed right fielder also led the league with 15 outfield assists.  the a's held him to just one hit (a double) in the alcs, but he hit .292 in the fall classic against cincinnati, with a double, triple, and home run among his 7 hits. his home run tied the game at 5 in game 3 of the series, essentially forcing extra innings in which the reds would triumph thanks to some possible interference by ed armbrister and a joe morgan single.

fred lynn's 1975 season is the rookie season that all others are, or should be, measured by.  en route to winning both the american league rookie of the year award and the most valuable player award, lynn led the league in runs (103), doubles (47), slugging percentage (.566) and ops (.967).  he was second in batting average (.331 to rod carew's .359), 4th in total bases, and 3rd in rbi.  he also won a gold glove and was named to the all-star team.  lynn's success continued into the postseason, where he hit .364 against the a's in the alcs.  he then hit .280 against the reds in the world series along with a homer and 5 rbi, tying dewey evans for the team lead in runs driven in over the 7 game series.

jim rice was also a rookie in 1975, and, had fred lynn not run away with the award, he would have easily been voted as the al rookie of the year.  as it is, rice finished 2nd in the voting thanks to a line of 22/102/.309 with 92 runs scored.  he also finished 3rd in the mvp voting (john mayberry of the royals finished 2nd in between the two red sox outfielders).  rice may have made the difference in the world series in 1975, as he was unable to play due to a late-season injury sustained when he was hit by a pitch.

luis tiant was an 18-game winner for the bosox in 1975.  he made 35 starts, completing 18, and earning a decision in a whopping 90% (32 of 35) of them.  his era was high at 4.02, but he did manage a couple of shutouts in september.  he was peaking at the right time apparently, as he threw a 3-hit complete game in his lone alcs start (he gave up a single unearned run), and then won 2 of his 3 world series starts as well.  the first start (and victory) came in game 1, via a 5-hit shutout of the reds, and his second start, in game 4, also was a complete game victory.  tiant's third start of the series came in game 6 where he pitched into the 8th inning but had no decision in the outcome.  that would be the final postseason appearance of el tiante's career.

man, the red sox had a good young team in 1975.  rick burleson was their shortstop, and in his second year in the big leagues, he hit .252 with 66 runs scored and 62 driven in over 158 games. he finished 13th in the league mvp voting and then hit .444 against the a's in the alcs.  he followed that up by hitting .292 in the world series, with an obp of .393.  the next time rooster would appear in the postseason, however, would be with the angels against the red sox in 1986.

rico petrocelli is the other holdover from the 1967 sox team to be featured.  1975 was his next-to-last season, but he still played in 115 games, mostly at third base.  he hit just .239 but did drive in 59 runs.  petrocelli was one of the few red sox batters to not have a strong alcs at the plate, hitting just .167, although he did have a home run to his credit.  he did better in the world series, hitting .308 with 4 rbi, but had just one extra base hit (a double) to go with 7 singles.
the stadium on the back is...?:  fenway park, of course.  that's where the red sox have played since 1912.  although the photo is much more recent, as i believe the monster seats are visible in the picture.  they weren't installed until the early 2000's.

did upper deck get it right?: the team certainly belongs in the set, and the players chosen were regulars on the team.  bernie carbo would have made sense, as it was carbo's 3-run 8th inning home run that tied the score in game 6, setting up fisk's blast.  the real tragedy, however, is in the photos.

yastrzemski's photo was taken in the original yankee stadium (note the greenish facade), so it can't be from any later than 1972.  we know that from the uniform, too, as boston went to the pullovers in 1973.  we don't know for sure when fisk's photo is taken, but the uniform looks right for 1975 (and most of the 70's, too) thanks to the waistband and the red cap the other guy is wearing.  the same goes for lynn and burleson, so no complaints about those images.  jim rice on the other hand, well, that photo has to be from no earlier than 1979, the year the bosox went back to button down jerseys. same goes for tiant, although i would point out the fact that it looks like he is holding a 1977 topps (or maybe o-pee-chee?) card in his hand, so we know just by that fact that the photo is not from 1975.

the worst of the worst, howver, is rico petrocelli.  not only is the photo, like yaz's, from before 1972, it is the same exact photo that upper deck used for petrocelli in the 1967 team subset.  that may be the worst offense in this set.

is this team timeless?: of course.  it was the last postseason appearance for yastrzemski, and the fisk home run is an all-time classic. they took the reds to seven games and got all of boston's hopes up.

1974 oakland a's

this post covers the 1974 oakland a's and cards numbered 100 to 104 in the set. here are the fronts:

and backs:

what team is this?:  the back-to-back-to-back world champion 1974 oakland a's

why this team?:  the 90-72 1974 oakland a's successfully defended their title as world champs for the second year in a row, becoming the first team to "three-peat" since the new york yankees of the late 1940's/early 1950's won 5 in a row.  in fact, the a's are the only franchise other than the yankees to have won as many as 3 titles consecutively.

which players are featured?:  bert campaneris, billy north, joe rudi, sal bando, and vida blue

why these players?:  we've seen all of these guys before - some in the 1972 subset, and some in 1973.

bert campaneris hit a career high .290 in 1974.  he stole 34 bases and scored 77 runs in 137 games as the a's shortstop.  he was the starter for the american league in the all-star game, and finished 15th in the league mvp voting.  he hit only .176 in the alcs against the orioles, but had 6 hits and two doubles against the dodgers in the world series for a .353 average.

billy north played in 149 games for the a's in 1974, and led the american league in steals with 54.  he also led the league in times caught stealing with 26.  on the year, north hit .260 and posted the lowest on-base percentage (.347) of any of his full seasons spent with the a's.  having missed the postseason in 1973, north made the first playoff appearance of his career in 1974.  unfortunately, he managed just 1 hit in each of the series for a alcs/world series combined average of just .061.

joe rudi played in a career-high 158 games in 1974, and led the american league in doubles (39) and total bases (287).  for the second time in three years, rudi finished second in the league mvp voting and was named to the all-star team. he also won his first career gold glove for his play in left field.  as the back of the memorable moments card indicates, rudi hit .333 against the dodgers in the world series, with a game 5 home run that was immortalized on this 1975 topps card.

although sal bando played in 'only' 146 games in 1974, he still hit 22 home runs and topped the 100-rbi mark for just the second time in his career.  he was an all-star for the final time (although he did not appear in the game), and finished third in the league mvp voting - his third top-4 finish in three years (with reggie jackson, the a's had three of the top four mvp vote getters, but jeff burroughs of the rangers took home the hardware).  he hit a couple of solo homers against the orioles in the alcs, but was held to just one hit (a single) in 16 at bats against the dodgers in the world series.

it was an even-numbered year, so vida blue didn't win 20 games for the a's (his 20-win seasons came in 1971, 1973, and 1975).  he probably should have, however, as he made 40 starts, posted a 3.25 era, pitched 12 complete games, and finished with a record of 17-15.   a quick review of his game logs shows that there were a few starts in which he took a loss despite pitching well enough to win, in my opinion.  in the postseason, blue out dueled the orioles' jim palmer to win game 3 of the alcs 1-0. blue allowed just two hits and struck out 7 in his shutout performance.  blue went on to make two starts in the world series, taking the loss in game 2 and having no decision in the game 5 clincher.

the stadium on the back is...?:  still the oakland alameda county stadium - the home to the a's since 1968.

did upper deck get it right?: the team is right, and we know by now that reggie jackson isn't going to show up in this set, but the player selection is still somewhat puzzling.  of the players upper deck previously featured in this set, ken holtzman, dick green, gene tenace, blue moon odom, and rollie fingers were all still a part of the a's in 1974 but were not chosen to represent the a's for that year.  the biggest headscratcher is the omission of rollie fingers, as he was the world series mvp in 1974 with 1 win and 2 saves in 4 games against the dodgers.  holtzman and odom each had a win in the series as well.

whatever, let's just look at the players upper deck did include.  all five of the players featured were starters on the team, and integral parts of the championship run, so i have no complaints.  the photos for the position players are certainly of the period, but i wouldn't be surprised if the campy photo is from 1973 (that looks like shea stadium in the background, and the a's played the mets in the 1973 world series).  as for vida blue's photo, while i like the action shot, the image comes from 1971 at the latest.

is this team timeless?:  a third consecutive title? well, then, yes.

1974 los angeles dodgers

this post covers the 1974 los angeles dodgers and cards numbered 93 to 99 in the set. here are the fronts:

and backs:

it's good to see some familiar faces!

what team is this:  the 1974 national league champion los angeles dodgers

why this team?:  this was the fist dodger team to win the pennant in the post-koufax era, and the last of walter alston's career.  they won 102 games to finish four games ahead of the cincinnati reds in the national league west, and beat the pittsburgh pirates in four games to win the national league pennant.  unfortunately, they lost in the world series to the oakland a's, four games to 1.

which players are featured:  bill buckner, davey lopes, don sutton, al downing, ron cey, steve garvey, and tommy john

why these players?:  with these guys, we have a pretty good representation of the team, although there were some others that could have/should have been featured as well.  for instance, steve yeager and bill russell will be included in the set later on, but for some reason were left off of the dodgers' 1974 subset.

bill buckner was the team's primary left fielder in 1974.  yes, that was billy buck climbing the outfield fence chasing hank aaron's historic 715th home run, but more on that later.  buckner had what may have been his finest season in los angeles in 1974.  he hit .314 in 145 games, scored 83 runs and had 30 doubles and 7 home runs.  in the postseason, he hit a solo home run in game 3 of the world series, but was otherwise pretty well contained by the pirates and the a's.

davey lopes was, obviously, the dodgers' second baseman in 1974.  in his second full season, lopes scored 95 runs, hit 10 homers, and stole 59 bases.  he scored 6 times in the postseason, and also stole a total of 4 bases, but hit only .182 in the dodgers' 9 postseason games combined.

don sutton was one of the aces of the staff in 1974, but finished second on the team in wins (19) to andy messersmith (20).  sutton was 19-9 for the second time in three years, and he finished 4th in the cy young voting which was an improvement over his 5th place finishes in the two previous seasons.  his 40 starts led the league, and he threw a one-hitter against the padres in may during which the only hit against him was an infield single off the bat of johnny grubb.  sutton was 3-0 in the postseason, with wins in game 1 (by shutout) and game 4 of the nlcs, and game 2 of the world series.  sutton also started game 5 of the fall classic but earned a no-decision in 5 innings of work.

al downing's claim to fame (or infamy?) may be why he was included in this set.  as the memorable moments card details, downing gave up home run number 715 to hank aaron in april of 1974.  on the season, downing was just 5-6 with a 3.66 era.  he did manage to pitch a 2-hit shutout against the giants in september, and he threw 4 innings of scoreless relief in his lone nlcs appearance.  downing was called upon to start game 3 of the world series, and took the loss even though just one of the three runs he allowed was earned.

ron cey manned the hot corner for the dodgers in 1974.  he was named to the all-star team (as a starter, no less) for the first time, and hit 18 homers with 97 rbi on the season.  and, the 88 runs he scored in 1974 turned out to be his career high.  cey hit .316 in the nlcs with 3 doubles and a solo home run, but in the world series, he managed an average of just .176 with no extra base hits.

steve garvey, the dodgers' first baseman, broke out in a huge way in 1974.  like cey, garvey established his career high in runs that year (he scored 95 times) and became an all-star for the first time.  garvey earned his berth in the starting lineup for the national league as a write-in at first base, and he went on to nab mvp honors in the game.  garvey also earned league mvp honors thanks to his 200-hit, 21/111/.312 performance at the plate for the dodgers.  he also won the first of four consecutive gold gloves.  and then there was the postseason.  garvey hit .389 with a double, two homers, and 5 rbi in the nlcs and then hit .381 in the world series, although he did not have an extra base hit against the a's.  there was no mvp of the nlcs until 1977, but if there were such an award in 1974, garvey might have earned an mvp trifecta.

tommy john was having a marvelous year in 1974 until he injured his elbow.  he was 13-3 with a 2.59 era after making 22 starts - the last of which resulted in a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow.  john, of course, missed the postseason, but did have surgery to repair his elbow and the rest is history.  i find it fascinating that even with john's injury, the dodgers still only used a total of 13 pitchers over the course of the 1974 season.  and, four of those pitchers appeared in 4 games or less!  for the record, geoff zahn filled john's spot in the rotation for the remainder of the season.

the stadium on the back is...?: dodger stadium, where the boys in blue have played since 1962.  right venue, but the photo is from the 90's at the earliest.

did upper deck get it right?:  first and foremost, jim wynn is missing. and, andy messersmith and mike marshall would have been appropriate players to feature as well.  i believe messersmith no longer signs, and marshall only signs for a large amount of money, so it makes sense why they are left out when we remember that there is an autograph parallel for every base card in the set.  wynn, however, is a good signer (and is included in this year's topps archives release).  while garvey netted the league mvp, wynn was arguably the best player on the team in 1974.

let's address the photos of the players featured. i am frankly disappointed here.  the buckner is probably correct given his facial hair when compared to his 1975 cards, but the lopes, sutton, cey and garvey images are not from 1974.  the downing and john photos are inconclusive.  sutton's photo is from 1969 at the latest, given the 'los angeles' across his chest.  the dodgers stopped using that on their away grays after the 1969 season and only returned to it in the early 2000's.  lopes and cey are wearing uniforms from the late 1970's/early 1980's (i would say late 70's given the lack of a patch on lopes' left sleeve) and the double flap helmet identifies the garvey image as early 80's for sure.

is this team timeless?:  the team boasted the national league's cy young award winner (marshall) and mvp (garvey), yet i don't know if i would consider this a timeless team.  the dodger teams of the latter half of the 1970's and into the early 1980's seem more worthy of the title.  what do you think?

1973 oakland a's

this post covers the 1973 oakland a's and cards numbered 85 to 92 in the set. here are the fronts:

and backs:

not a whole lot of carryover from the players featured with the 1972 a's.  only bando and odom are repeated, even though all of the other players featured last time (bert campaneris, joe rudi, and ken holtzman) were still with the a's in 1973.  and, you've got to love the fact that the copy on the back of north's card says pretty much the same thing as that on the back of tenace's card.

what team is this?:  the world champion 1973 oakland a's

why this team?:  the a's won their second straight world series title in 1973 by defeating the new york mets in 7 games.  they won 94 games in the regular season, and then beat the baltimore orioles in the american league championship series 3 games to 2.

which players are featured?:  billy north, blue moon odom, gene tenace, manny trillo, dick green, rollie fingers, sal bando, and vida blue.

why these players?:  well, there are a few starters (north, tenace, green and bando) along with one of their aces and their closer represented.

billy north was acquired from the cubs after the 1972 season and became the a's starting center fielder.  he played in 146 games and hit .285 while scoring 98 runs - both turned out to be career highs.  he also stole 53 bases (one behind league leader tommy harper), but was caught a league-leading 20 times.  unfortunately, north missed the 1973 postseason due to injury.

blue moon odom, as the back of his card suggests, did not have his best season in 1973.  he started out the season by going 0-5 in his first 6 starts, and at one point, his record stood at 1-9.  he finished up at 5-12 with a 4.49 era.  he was used solely in relief in the postseason, making one appearance in the alcs and two in the world series against the mets, and did not factor in any decisions.

gene tenace, the mvp of the 1972 world series, saw his postseason success carry over to 1973.  he was moved from catcher to first base, and wound up with a line of 24/84/.259 with 101 walks as the back of his card mentions.  tenace continued to get on base in the postseason - he had an obp of .467 in the world series despite having just three hits thanks to 11 bases on balls served up by mets' pitchers.

manny trillo made his big league debut with the a's in 1973.  he appeared in 17 games for oakland (fewer than vic davalillo - why wasn't he included in the set?) and hit just .250 with 3 hits, including 2 doubles.  he did not appear in the postseason in 1973.

a holdover from the kansas city days, dick green was the a's starting second baseman again in 1973 after having missed most of the 1972 campaign.  he hit .262 in the regular season, but struggled in the playoffs and world series, managing just a single hit in each series, despite starting every contest.

rollie fingers was 7-8 with 22 saves and a stellar 1.92 era in 1973.  he pitched in 62 games and averaged just over 2 innings per appearance.  that number is slightly skewed by the fact that fingers made the final two starts of his career in 1973, going 6 innings in the first and 1.2 innings in the second.  he was the losing pitcher in each of the games, although he allowed a total of one earned run in those 7.2 innings pitched.  fingers was named to the all-star team for the first time in 1973, and he pitched a scoreless inning against the national league.  he pitched well in the postseason, too, earning a save in the alcs (along with a loss) and two saves in the world series while pitching in 5 of the 7 games.  fingers took the loss in game 2 of the series thanks to a willie mays single with two outs in the top of the 12th inning, but he was back on the mound to finish out the a's championship in game 7.

sal bando had another solid season for the a's in 1973.  the third baseman played in all 162 games, and led the league in doubles and total bases.  he also hit 29/98/.287, made the all-star team, and finished 4th in the league mvp voting.  he hit just .167 in the alcs, but did homer twice.  in the world series, bando had a double and a triple, but no homers as he hit .231 with 5 runs scored.

in 1973, vida blue bounced back from his "poor" showing in 1972 (he was 6-10 despite a 2.80 era) to win 20 games for the second time in his career.  his record stood at 20-9 with a 3.28 era in 37 starts.  blue pitched 13 complete games with 4 shutouts.  he finished the season strong, winning 11 of his final 14 starts.  that strong finish did not translate into postseason success, however, as the a's lost all 4 of the games blue started after the end of the regular season.  he was 0-1 in each series, and his alcs era was over 10!

the stadium on the back is...?:  the oakland alameda county stadium as it was known back then.

did upper deck get it right?: the 1973 a's certainly belong in the set.  the players upper deck chose, on the other hand...

ken holtzman would have been a better repeat subject than blue moon odom, and both bert campaneris and joe rudi would have made sense to have carried over from 1972 as well.  manny trillo is clearly a checklist grab by virtue of his appearance as a phillie later in the set.  and, once again, reggie jackson's absence is puzzling, especially with him being the 1973 american league and world series mvp.

for those that were included, the photos for tenace, green, bando, and blue are from 1971 at the latest - the last year the a's wore the sleeveless jerseys.  the green photo is probably from the kansas city days given the fact that his hat lacks a logo - a trick that topps perfected in the late 1960's when the team made its move.

the other photos are quite possibly from 1973, and trillo's is definitely from 1973 or 1974 - his only years with the team.

the stadium is correct, although the photo is much more recent than 1973.

is this team timeless?:  yes.  this team won a second consecutive title, and any team that can repeat is worthy being known as a timeless team.

1972 oakland a's

this post covers the 1972 oakland a's and cards numbered 80 to 84 in the set. here are the fronts:

and backs:

what team is this?:  the 1972 world champion oakland a's

why this team?:  the 1972 a's won 93 games and were the first american league west team to appear in the world series.  they were only a few years removed from kansas city, and they won the first of three consecutive world championships by defeating the cincinnati reds.

which players are featured?:  that would be bert campaneris, john 'blue moon' odom, sal bando, joe rudi, and ken holtzman.

why these players?:  we have 2 of the team's starting pitchers who had very good seasons in 1972, and three of their everyday players (each of them all-stars in 1972), including the 1972 american league mvp runner-up.

bert campaneris was the a's all-star shortstop, although he didn't appear in the 1972 midsummer classic (earl weaver let his own shortstop, bobby grich, play the whole game).  campaneris led the american league in stolen bases in 1972 with 52, making it the sixth time in eight years that he had led the league in that category.  he also led the league in plate appearances, at bats, and sacrifice hits in 1972, and he played in 149 games.  in the postseason, he hit .429 in the alcs (although he only played in two of the five games) and then was just 5 for 28 in the world series.  to make things worse, he was caught stealing in his only attempt.

blue moon odom was 15-6 with a 2.50 era during the regular season for the a's in 1972.  but you knew that because you read the back of his 'memorable moments' card.  a card that is really more about the a's winning the world series than it is about any specific blue moon odom moment.  of course, his most memorable moment from 1972 would probably be not either of his two starts in the world series (he was 0-1 despite a 1.59 era in 11.1 innings pitched) but rather his pinch running performance in game 5.  odom was called upon to pinch run for gene tenace in the bottom of the 9th inning of game 5 with the a's trailing in the game 5-4 but leading the series 3 games to 1.  with one out, odom (who was often called upon to pinch run) was on third base and ill-advisedly tried to score on a short pop up that was caught by joe morgan.  he was thrown out to end the game but the a's wound up winning the series in 7 games so it's not really remembered like the merkle boner.

sal bando had been the a's everyday third baseman since 1968 - their first year in oakland.  he hit 15 homers with 77 rbi in 1972, and was named to the all-star team for the second time in his career.  his average dropped to just .236, however, and he had a lackluster postseason to match.  in the world series, he hit .269 with just one extra base hit (a double) and a lone rbi.

joe rudi played 147 games in left field for the a's in 1972, and wound up finishing second in the league mvp voting behind dick allen of the white sox.  rudi hit .305 with 19 homers and 75 rbi, and also led the league in hits (181) and triples (9).  he was named to the all-star team for the first time in his career and went 1 for 1 with a double off of tug mcgraw.  however, rudi's only extra base hit of the world series (in which he hit just .260) was a game 3 solo home run that gave the a's the second run in their 2-1 victory.

ken holtzman makes his second appearance on the blog, having been a member of the memorable and timeless 1969 chicago cubs team.  as such, he is the first player in the set to be featured on two different timeless teams. holtzman had been acquired in a trade with the cubs for rick monday after the 1971 season ended.  in his first year in oakland, holtzman was 19-11 with a 2.51 era in 39 appearances, 37 of which were starts.  he had 16 complete games and 4 shutouts.  in the postseason, he made two starts and another relief appearance during the world series.  he won game 1, got no decision in game 4, and then was called upon in relief in game 7.  he took over from catfish hunter with a 3-1 lead and pete rose on first in the 8th inning and promptly served up a double to joe morgan.  that was all for holtzman who was replaced by rollie fingers who eventually preserved the win and the championship for the a's.

the stadium on the back is...?: oakland coliseum - known in 1972 as the oakland alameda county coliseum.  currently named (but not known as) the o.co coliseum.  the a's have played there since moving to oakland in 1968, although the photo used on the cards is almost certainly not from the 1970's.

did upper deck get it right?:  this team certainly belongs in the set, but i am still wondering why the 1972 tigers were chosen instead of the 1972 reds.  many of the players on the '72 cincinnati team will show up later in the set, so it would have made some sense.  anyway, as far as the a's players are concerned, reggie jackson (who was injured in the alcs and missed the world series), rollie fingers, gene tenace (world series mvp) and possibly vida blue should have been no-brainers, and all but reggie are in the set with other teams.  that's weird because reggie, at one time at least, had a contract with upper deck.

for the players that were selected by upper deck, the photos seem to be a mixed bag.  campaneris' photo is from 1968 as that is the only year the a's went with the 'oakland' text on the front of their sleeveless jerseys.  odom's photo is from 1969 thanks to the all green hat and the capital 'a' on his jersey.  in 1970, the team went to yellow bills on the hats, and added the apostrophe-s to the jersey fronts.  the other three photos could all be legitimately from 1972 (we know holtzman's is no older than 1972) thanks to the different color combinations and the pullover jersey that the a's introduced that season.  if i had to guess, however, i would say that the bando and rudi photos are from 1973, as i don't think they were so scruffy in 1972.

is this team timeless?:  no doubt.  this was a team that started the dynasty (actually, the 1971 team that lost in the alcs to the orioles was the first a's team to make the postseason since the philadelphia days) and won the first championship for the franchise since the days of connie mack.

1972 detroit tigers

this post covers the 1972 detroit tigers and cards numbered 71 to 79 in the set. here are the fronts:

and backs:

so, upper deck skipped 1971, saving us from yet another grouping of that great orioles team but also denying us our first look at the pirates (how cool would it have been to see the likes of dock ellis, al oliver, manny sanguillen, and vic davalillo in this set? the answer is very very cool).  alas, we'll have to wait a few years to see pittsburgh in the set.  other possibilities from 1971 would have been the a's (we will see plenty of them) and the giants (thankfully they are completely omitted from the set).

what team is this?:  1972 detroit tigers

why this team?:  the tigers won the american league east in 1972 with an 86-80 record.  they finished a half-game ahead of the boston red sox thanks to the fact that they played one more game as a result of the player strike that delayed the start of the season and wiped out a different number of games for different teams.  if you look at the final standings that year, you'll see that not every team played the same number of games.  that's pretty fundamental, one would think.  the tigers wound up losing the 1972 american league championship series to the a's in 5 games.

which players are featured?:  it's a repeat cast from the 1968 detroit tigers team (which makes sense from a set checklist point of view) sans denny mclain who was out of detroit by the time 1972 rolled around.  that means we get al kaline, bill freehand, dick mcauliffe, jim northrup, john hiller, mickey lolich, mickey stanley, and willie horton.

why these players?:  in addition to from ed brinkman, these were the surviving everyday players from the 1972 tigers team.  mickey lolich was the ace, and john hiller a key bullpen cog, although chuck seelbach would have made sense to have been included.

al kaline was 37 during the 1972 season.  he played in 106 games and hit .313 in just over 300 plate appearances.  he managed to hit 10 homers, the last of which started the scoring in the first game of the crucial season ending three game set against the second place red sox.  kaline finished 24th in the league mvp voting and hit .263 with a solo home run in the alcs against the a's.  that solo shot came in the top of the 11th inning of game 1 to give the tigers a lead.  unfortunately, they were unable to hang on and lost the game in the bottom of the inning.

bill freehan was named to the american league all-star team for the 9th straight year in 1972.  in the game, he started at catcher and was 0 for 1 with a walk and a run before being replaced by carlton fisk.  during the regular season, freehan hit .262 and slugged 10 homers in 111 games played.  behind the plate, he threw out 37% of the would-be base stealers who ran against him, but made an uncharacteristic 8 errors in  105 games as a catcher.  freehan hit .250 with a homer and three rbi in the alcs.

dick mcauliffe hit .240 with 8 homers and 30 rbi in 1972.  his home run total was the lowest since his rookie season of 1961. the tigers' primary second baseman also hit a solo shot in the alcs.

jim northrup also saw his home run total drop to 8 in 1972.  northrup actually had his power numbers drop across the board, slugging just .362 with just 25 extra base hits in 134 games played.  he hit .357 in the alcs, but had no extra base hits and just one rbi in the 5 game series.

john hiller triumphantly returned to the big leagues in 1972 after sitting out the 1971 season due to the health concerns.  he pitched in just 24 games but had 3 saves and a 2.03 era.  all three of his decisions came in his only three starts of the season - two losses and a complete game 5-hitter for the win.  hiller pitched in 3 games of the alcs, earning the win in game 4 and posting a perfect 0.00 era in 3.1 innings of work.

mickey lolich went 22-14 for detroit in 1972.  his 2.50 era was almost half a run lower than his era from the previous year when he won 25 games.  although his strikeout numbers were down, he still k'd 250 batters, good for second in the league behind nolan ryan.  as an aside, if mickey lolich didn't retire and miss the 1977 season before returning to the big leagues in 1978, would he have tallied the 168 strikeouts he ultimately needed to reach 3000? and, if so, is mickey lolich in the hall of fame?  back to 1972 - lolich made the all-star team that year and pitched 2 innings of scoreless ball in relief of the game's starter, jim palmer.  he also finished fourth in the league cy young voting and made 2 starts in the alcs.  in game 1, he pitched 10 innings and allowed just one run before he was sent out for the 11th inning with a one run lead.  he gave up back to back hits to start the inning and was relieved.  the a's scored twice and lolich got the loss.  he returned in game 4 and held the a's to a single run in 9 innings of work, but was replaced as the game went to extra innings and didn't get the win when the tigers eventually won in 11.

mickey stanley played center field for the tigers in 142 games during the 1972 season.  he hit .234 with 14 homers and 55 rbi.  he made only one start in the alcs, but appeared in four of the five games, hitting .333 with 2 singles in 6 at bats.

willie horton appeared in 108 games for detroit in 1972 as the tigers continued to work three players (horton, kaline, and northrup) across two positions (right and left field).  like the rest, horton's numbers dipped (11/36/.231) although i don't know if that was due to playing time or the strike or just some fine 1972 pitching.  in the alcs, horton was held to just one hit in 10 official at bats.

the stadium on the back is...?:  "the corner", also known as "old" tiger stadium.  it opened in 1912 (as navin stadium) and was the home to the tigers through the 1999 season.

did upper deck get it right?:  well, they tried i suppose.  i think that this is the first instance of a team being featured simply because of the checklist.  all of these players were part of the 1968 tiger team (definitely timeless) and so were already in the set.  so, it was easy for upper deck to have them sign some more cards.

as for the players, i think these are the right guys to be featured although hiller wasn't with the team the full season, and joe coleman and chuck seelbach would have been worthy additions to the set.

the photos are a mixed bag.  kaline is too young in his photo for it to have been from 1972, and freehan is sporting the anniversary patch that was worn in 1969, as is horton.  john hiller is also sporting the away grays that were last worn in 1971.  as for the rest, they are wearing the away jersey that was first donned by tiger players in 1972, so they could be legit, although i would guess that the northrup and stanley images are from later in the 70's.  not helping is the guy lurking in the background of northrup's photo.  that's long time tiger coach (and former dodger) dick tracewski.  he coached for the tigers from 1972-1995, so we can't narrow the timing of the photo down that way.

is this team timeless?:  although 1972 was the final postseason appearance for each of these players, i don't see much of a reason to include them in the set.  not timeless.

1970 baltimore orioles

this post covers the 1970 baltimore orioles and cards numbered 61 to 71 in the set. here are the fronts:

and backs:

what team is this?:  the 1970 world champion baltimore orioles

why this team?:  they won the world series for the second time in their history, winning 108 games in the regular season and going 7-1 in the postseason.  they also boasted the league's mvp and three of the top five cy young award vote getters.

which players are featured?: all the same guys from 1969, as would be expected.  boog powell, brooks robinson, davey johnson, merv rettenmund, eddie watt, frank robinson, jim palmer, mike culler, paul blair, pete richert, and ellie hendricks.

why these players?:  these were the guys that made the o's tick in the late 60's and early 70's.

boog powell started at first base but went 0 for 3 in the all-star game in 1970.  that's ok, because after finishing 2nd in the league mvp voting in 1969, boog took home the hardware in 1970 with 35 homers and 114 rbi.  he hit 2 more homers and drove in 5 runs in the world series.

brooks robinson was the mvp of the world series in 1970 with 2 homers, 6 rbi and made some nice plays on defense, as his memorable moments card will attest.  otherwise, it was a typical year for the hall of famer, as he won another gold glove and was named to the all-star team.  speaking of which, robinson went 2 for 3 with 2 rbi in the all-star game as a reserve behind harmon killebrew at third base.

davey johnson won his second straight gold glove and started the all-star game at second base, going 1 for 5 in the game.  he hit .313 in the world series after hitting .364 with two homers in the alcs against the twins.

merv rettenmund hit .322 with a career high 18 homers as the orioles 4th outfielder in 1970.  he appeared in 106 games and played each outfield position in at least 30 games. rettenmund made two starts in the postseason (plus one appearance as a pinch-hitter) and he made them count.  he was 1 for 3 with 2 walks and an rbi in game 2 of the alcs and then went 2 for 4 with a walk, 2 runs scored, and a homer and 2 rbi in game 5 of the world series.

eddie watt was 7-7 with 12 saves for the orioles during the 1970 world series.  he made only one postseason appearance in 1970, and was saddled with the o's only loss for his troubles.

frank robinson went 0 for 3 as the starting right fielder in the all-star game, and posted a line of 25/78/.306 as the orioles' right fielder during the regular season.  it's worth noting that frobby hit two grand slams in a single game during the regular season.  he hit three more home runs in the postseason, including two in the world series.

jim palmer won 20 games for the first time in his hall of fame career in 1970.  he led the league in shutouts and innings pitched, and was named to the all-star team for the first time.  in fact, he was named the starter for the american league, and he pitched three scoreless innings in the game.  he also recorded three strikeouts - willie mays to start the bottom of the first, and then tony perez and johnny bench in the second inning.  palmer finished 5th in the cy young voting and went 2-0 in three postseason starts, including a win in game 1 of the fall classic against the reds.

mike cuellar led the league with 24 wins, 40 games started, and 21 complete games in 1970.  he made the all-star team and finished 4th in his attempt to defend his reign as the cy young award winner.  cuellar was knocked around in his lone alcs start, but he came back to pitch well in two world series starts, including a complete game victory in the game 5 clincher.

paul blair won a gold glove for the second straight year as the orioles' center fielder.  blair was held to just one hit during the alcs, but he came out strong in the world series and posted a .474 average with 3 rbi and 5 runs scored.

pete richert was 7-2 with 13 saves and a 1.98 era out of the bullpen for the 1970 orioles.  he pitched to just one batter in the postseason, but that batter was bobby tolan, and richert got him to line out to end game 1 of the world series with the tying run on base giving richert his lone career postseason save.

ellie hendricks matched his career high with 12 homers in 1970.  he appeared in 106 games as the orioles' primary backstop and helped guide the pitching staff to 60 complete games and three 20-game winners.  he hit .364 with a home run and 4 rbi in the world series.

the stadium on the back is...?: still memorial stadium, as it should be.

did upper deck get it right?: we know that the bird logo is not right, and that the players are appropriate to represent the team.  it would have been nice, perhaps, to have earl weaver included, and i would have understood if bobby grich were here as he shows up with the angels later in the set.  still, i am glad he is not, as he was not a big part of the orioles' 1970 team.

so, that brings us to the photos.  after using a later-era photo for boog on the 1969 card, upper deck reverted to an older photo for him here, similar to the one they used on the 1966 installment.  the uniforms look legitimate for powell, brooks, rettenmund, watt, frobby, blair, and richert.  davey johnson, however, is wearing a uniform that was introduced in 1971, as is mike cuellar.  jim palmer, on the other hand, is sporting the white front panel cap which wasn't introduced until 1975.  his photo looks like it is from the latter part of palmer's career - possibly from the early 80's.  and then there is ellie hendricks.  he is shown sporting the sleeveless jersey that was last worn by the orioles in 1969.  close, but no cigar.

is this team timeless?:  yes. the orioles in 1970 finished 15 games ahead of the yankees in the al east and dispatched the reds in the world series 4 games to 1.  they were the world champions at the time i was born, and that's good enough for me.