1976 cincinnati reds

this post covers the 1976 cincinnati reds and cards numbered 127 to 135 in the set. here are the fronts:

and backs:

everyone that was featured for the 1975 reds team is back, except for the manager, sparky anderson.  ken griffey sr. takes sparky's place.

what team is this?: the back-to-back world champion 1976 cincinnati reds

why this team?: the 1976 reds successfully defended their title by beating the yankees in the world series.  they won 102 games in the regular season, and were a perfect 7-0 in the postseason.

which players are featured?:  pedro borbon, dave concepcion, don gullett, george foster, joe morgan, johnny bench, ken griffey sr, rawly eastwick, and tony perez.

why these players?:  let's see what these guys did in 1976.

pedro borbon pitched in 69 games for the reds during the regular season.  he was 4-3 with 8 saves and a 3.35 era in those appearances.  he pitched in 2 games during the nlcs, earning a 4-inning save in game 1 and retiring the only batter he faced in game 2.  in the world series, borbon pitched only in game 1, closing out the reds' victory with a perfect 1.2 innings of work.

dave concepcion won his third gold glove and started at shortstop for the nl all-star team for the second year in a row in 1976.  he was solid at the plate, too, putting up a slash line of 9/69/.281 with 74 runs scored.  concepcion scored 4 runs in the nlcs and hit .357 with 3 rbi in the world series.

don gullett was 11-3 with a 3.00 era for the reds in 1976. he started 20 games and relieved in three others, earning a save in one of his relief appearances.  he won each of his postseason starts - one in each series - and shut the yankees down in game 1 of the world series by allowing just one run in 7.1 innings of work.  the bronx bombers must have liked what they saw, because they signed gullett to a free agent deal later in the fall.

george foster finished second to teammate joe morgan in the 1976 nl mvp vote.  he hit 29 home runs and led the league with 121 rbi.  he was voted to the all-star team for the first time, and his 3 rbi in the game earned him mvp honors.  he hit just .167 in the nlcs against the phillies, but both of his hits were home runs.  then, in the world series, he was held homerless, but hit .429 in the four games.

joe morgan's 1976 season saw him become the back-to-back nl mvp award winner thanks in large part to his .444 obp and .576 slugging percentage, both of which led the league.  he also drove in 111 runs (the only time in his career he topped 100) and stole 60 bases.  in the postseason, morgan was held hitless in the nlcs but hit .333 in the world series.

johnny bench had a memorable moment in 1976, apparently, but i am pretty sure it wasn't during the regular season.  bench was able to stretch his string of consecutive gold gloves and all-star game appearances to 9, but he hit just .234 on the season.  his home run total dropped to just 16, the fewest since his 1968 rookie season, and he drove in only 74 runs despite playing in 135 games.  he did steal a career high 13 bases, though.  still, upper deck is right - bench's display in game 4 of the world series against the yankees was an awesome display.  overall, he was 8 for 15 with  a double, a triple, 2 home runs and 6 rbi in the four game series with a whopping 1.667 ops, earning the series mvp award.  in game 4 alone, bench hit both of his home runs and drove in 5 of his 6 runs as the reds finished their sweep of the yankees in new york.

ken griffey sr was the right fielder for the big red machine, so it's nice to see him appear in the set with this team.  in 1976, griffey hit .336, just .003 points behind league leader bill madlock.  he scored 111 runs and stole 34 bases.  griffey made the all-star team for the first time, and finished 8th in the league mvp vote. while he hit .385 in the nlcs, griffey was just 1 for 17 (.059) in the world series.

rawly eastwick's 26 saves in 1976 allowed him to lead the league in saves for the second year in a row.  he pitched in 71 games and had a record of 11-5 with a 2.05 era.  he finished 5th in the cy young voting and even earned some mvp votes as well.  he got the victory in game 3 of the nlcs against the phillies, but he didn't pitch remarkably well in that game or his other nlcs appearance that year.  eastwick did not pitch in the world series against the yankees.

tony perez went 19/91/.260 in what turned out to be his last season in cincinnati for a while.  he made the all-star team and was 5 for 16 with a double in the world series against the yankees.

the stadium on the back is...?:  that's riverfront stadium, home to the reds from 1970 through 2002.

did upper deck get it right?: i was a little surprised that the reds are the only team from 1976 to be featured in the set.  the other playoff teams - the phillies, royals, and yankees - would all have made sense, especially the phillies and yankees as they have other teams in the set.  but, if you are only going to choose one team, it makes sense to pick the champion.

pete rose and cesar geronimo are still missing, and gary nolan would have made sense, too, but the addition of ken griffey kind of makes up for some of that.  otherwise, the players upper deck chose are a good representation of the team.

as for the photos, only pedro borbon's is obviously not from 1976.  his uniform tells us that the photo is from 1970 or 1971.  even though the uniforms match the year in the other photos, i still suspect that don gullett's photo and tony perez's photo are definitely from other years.  gullett's looks like it is from earlier in the decade, and as for tony perez, i would guess that upper deck used an image from his second tour of duty with the reds, which was from 1984-86.

is this team timeless?:  a repeat world champion and a yankee killer?  yes!

1975 oakland a's

this post covers the 1975 oakland a's and cards numbered 123 to 126 in the set. here are the fronts:

and backs:

what team is this:  the defending world champions (for the third straight year) and the 1975 american league west division winning oakland a's

why this team?:  they won the american league west for the fourth straight year and were heading towards a chance to defend their three consecutive world series titles until they met the red sox in the playoffs.

which players are featured?:  just four for this team - billy williams, gene tenace, jim perry, and vida blue.

why these players?:  well, billy williams and jim perry have appeared in the set before, although it was with different teams. williams was part of the 1969 cubs team, and perry checked in with the 1965 minnesota twins.  both blue and tenace have appeared as part of the a's dynasty - blue in 1974 and tenace in 1973.  to me, this team seems to be a bit of a checklist filler.

let's break it down.

billy williams joined the a's after the 1974 season, having spent his entire career to that point with the cubs.  he hit only .244 for the a's in '75, but did play in 155 games (mostly as their designated hitter) and hit 23 homers with 81 rbi.  one of those homers happened to be the 400th of his career, to boot.  in his first taste of the postseason, williams started two of the three alcs games, and appeared as a pinch-hitter in the other.  in all, he was 0 for 7 with a walk.

gene tenace tied his career high in runs scored (83) in 1975, and set personal bests in home runs (29) and rbi (87).  he hit .255 and was an all-star for the only time in his career.  oddly enough, he started the midsummer classic for the american league at first base, even though he spent most of his time in 1975 behind the plate.  in the alcs against the red sox, tenace was 0 for 9 with 3 walks.

jim perry arrived in oakland in may of 1975 via the trade that sent blue moon odom to cleveland.  perry appeared in 15 games (11 starts) for the a's, and had a record of 3-4.  he threw two complete games, one of which was a one-hit shutout against the baltimore orioles.  perry was released by the a's in august of 1975, meaning he did not get a chance to pitch in the postseason.

vida blue was 22-11 in 1975.  he appeared in 39 games, 38 of which were starts.  in his lone relief appearance, he earned a save.  to go along with his 13 complete games and 2 shutouts, blue also struck out 189 batters - the most he had k'd since his rookie year when he fanned 301.  blue was named the starting pitcher in the all-star game and finished 6th in the league cy young voting.  blue got the start in game 2 of the alcs, but lasted only 3+ innings, allowing 3 runs without recording an out in the 4th inning.

the stadium on the back is...?:  once again, the oakland alameda county stadium.  home to the a's since 1968.

did upper deck get it right?: as i said earlier, this seems to be a bit of a checklist grab.  the team made the playoffs but was swept by the red sox, so it's not even a league champion team.  all four players featured have previously appeared in the set, and one (perry) wasn't even with the team for the entire season.  although i will say that it is nice to have a card showing perry as an athletic.  given that, i am actually surprised that phil garner (who will show up with the 1979 pittsburgh pirates) wasn't given a a card.  other players that would have made sense include joe rudi, rollie fingers, and ken holtzman - all of whom have appeared in the set already.  i am going to say that this team should not have been in the set.

as for the photos, we know that the billy williams photo is either from 1975 or 1976, since those are the only years he played in oakland.  the tenace photo is from the same time because, thanks to the guy in the dugout with his feet up, it looks like it is from the same game or maybe even inning as the williams image.  jim perry's photo is certainly from 1975 as he was only with the team from may until august of that year.  the vida blue photo, however, is from no later than 1971 due to the uniform he is wearing.  three out of four isn't too bad for this set.

is this team timeless?:  not to me.  the 1972-74 a's are certainly 'timeless teams', but the 1975 team, although comprised of essentially the same players, is not considered to be part of the oakland dynasty of the early 1970's.

1975 cincinnati reds

this post covers the 1975 cincinnati reds and cards numbered 114 to 122 in the set. here are the fronts:

and backs:

what team is this?: the world champion 1975 cincinnati reds

why this team?:  the reds won 108 games during the 1975 regular season, and then swept the pirates in the nlcs.  they capped their season by winning their first world championship since 1940 as they beat the red sox in seven games.  they were the 'big red machine'!

which players are featured:  pedro borbon, dave concepcion, don gullett, george foster, joe morgan, johnny bench, rawly eastwick, sparky anderson, and tony perez

why these players?:  well, let's find out.

pedro borbon pitched in 67 games for the reds in 1975, all in relief.  he was 9-5 with 5 saves and a 2.95 era in those appearances which were just shy of will mcenaney's team leading 70 games.  borbon earned the save in the reds' pennant clinching game 3 win over the pirates in the nlcs, and pitched in three world series games, giving up two runs over 3 innings of work.

shortstop dave concepcion was an all-star for the second time in 1975 (first time starting), and he also won his second straight gold glove that year.  over 140 games in the regular season, he hit .274 and stole 33 bases.  in the postseason, concepcion hit .455 against the pirates, and although he hit only .179 against the red sox in the world series, he did have a home run, 4 rbi and 3 stolen bases.

don gullett won 15 games for the reds in the regular season, tying him with gary nolan and jack billingham for the team lead.  gullett lead the starting staff in era, however, with a 2.42 mark.  he finished 5th in the league cy young award voting, and was chosen to start both game 1 of the nlcs and game 1 of the world series for the reds.  against the pirates, gullett threw a complete game as the reds won 8-3.  against boston, however, gullett gave up 10 hits and 4 runs in 6+ innings, and the reds lost game 1 6-0.  he started game 5 a few days later, and earned the win with 8.2 innings pitched.  gullett was then tapped to start game 7, in which he pitched 4 innings and gave up three runs.

george foster had a bit of a breakout year in 1975.  the 26-year old played in 134 games and hit 23 home runs with 78 rbi and a .300 batting average.  foster was 2 for 4 in each of the first two nlcs games, and then had two hits in 3 of the 7 games against the red sox. one of those games was game 6, in which he hit a two-run double to give the reds a 7th inning lead.

joe morgan won the first of his two back-to-back nl mvp awards in 1975.  he hit .327 that year, with 67 stolen bases and a league leading .466 obp.  he was also the national league's starting second baseman in the all-star game, and he won his third consecutive gold glove as well.  morgan's regular season success didn't directly translate to the postseason, although all 3 of his hits in the nlcs were doubles, and he stole four bases.  in the world series, he hit .259 with 4 runs scored and 2 steals.  in game 7, however, morgan was 2 for 4 with a walk, and it was his 9th inning single that drove in the game (and series) winning run.  a memorable moment to be sure.

johnny bench won his 8th straight gold glove for his work behind the plate in 1975.  he also started his seventh consecutive all-star game and finished fourth in the league mvp voting for the second straight year.  at the plate, bench hit 28 homers and drove in 110 runs during the regular season.  in the nlcs, however, the pirates held him to just one hit in 13 at bats.  he did a bit better in the world series, hitting .207 with a home run and 4 rbi.

1975 was rawly eastwick's rookie year, and he didn't disappoint.  although he finished 3rd in the rookie-of-the-year balloting, eastwick led the national league with 22 saves.  he had a 5-3 record in 58 appearances with an era of 2.60.  eastwick was 3-0 in the postseason with a save, although the first of those wins came after he blew a save in game 3 of the nlcs.  he earned the wins in both games 2 and 3 of the world series, and then got the save in the reds' game 5 victory.  in game 6, it was eastwick who gave up bernie carbo's game-tying home run in the bottom of the eighth to set the stage for carlton fisk's walk-off homer in the 12th.

a first for our set so far - a manager is featured on a card.  sparky anderson won his third pennant in 1975 with the reds.  the 108 games that cincinnati won that year was the most any team managed by anderson (including the detroit tigers) ever won.

tony perez was the first baseman for the big red machine in 1975, and he hit .282 with 20 home runs and 109 rbi during the regular season.  he was named to the all-star team, although he didn't start because steve garvey had begun his stranglehold on the position a year earlier.  perez hit .417 against the pirates in the nlcs, and despite batting just .179 against the red sox in the world series, he drove in 7 runs with 3 homers.

the stadium on the back is...?: an outside shot of old riverfront stadium.  that's where the reds played from 1970 through 2002.  i did not realize that the stadium opened during the 1970 season, and hosted the 1970 all-star game a mere two weeks after the reds began playing there.

did upper deck get it right?: i think that each of these players were a big part of the reds' success in the mid-1970's.  of course, pete rose, the 1975 world series mvp is missing from the set due to licensing issues stemming from his ban from baseball.  other reds that would have made sense to be included are ken griffey (their right fielder), cesar geronimo (their center fielder), and maybe gary nolan or will mcenaney.  still, the 9 that upper deck chose to represent this team, given their inability to include rose, make sense to me.

the photos, on the other hand, are not all kosher.  for everyone but gullett and sparky, the photos could be from anywhere between 1972 and 1992.  well, not until 1992, but you get the idea - the reds wore those pullover unis for a long time.  that also means that the photos could be from 1975.  i like eastwick's photo, by the way, with dodger stadium showing up in the background.  however, for gullett and sparky, we have photos from no later than 1971.

gullett and sparky both first appeared in the reds' uniforms in 1970, so we know the photos are from either 1970 or 1971.  in sparky's case, wayne granger offers no additional clues because he was on the team both years.

is this team timeless?:  yes.

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.