#481 - Jerry Terrell

If you take away all the post-season cards this is our second rookie one in the past few and it represents a milestone in the set. Jerry Terrell is the final player who made the Topps 1973 Rookie All-Star Team so that sub-set is now complete. Jerry was a pretty old rookie, 26 when the season started, as he’d gone the college route and then took a few years in the minors. He was a versatile guy and would play pretty much every position by the time his career ended but up to this point in his career he was primarily a second baseman. But with a guy named Rod Carew inhabiting that spot, Jerry’s first year saw him on the left side of the infield, mostly at shortstop. Danny Thomson had that position in ’72 and retained it for a good deal of ’73 but he’d been recently diagnosed with leukemia – which would take his life in a few seasons – and had a season-long slump at the plate. So Jerry was a welcome addition with his hustle and drive and an average that topped Danny’s by 40 points. Here Jerry poses in Oakland and I’m not even going to hazard a guess as to whom that is behind him. He’d work his versatility into a pretty long career, both on the field and elsewhere. But he’d never get as much work as in his rookie year.

Jerry Terrell grew up in suburban Minnesota and after high school went to Minnesota State at Mankato – sometimes just called Mankato University – where he got a degree in accounting and played ball, finishing with a .301 average. He graduated in ’68 and was taken by the Twins in the draft and then hit .296 in A ball while playing second. In ’69 he hit .200 in a few games in the Instructional League but spent nearly the whole year doing time in the military. I have read on a couple sources that he did time in Viet Nam but have been unable to confirm that and that he played at all in ’69 would dispute that since generally call-ups had to do basic for about six weeks and then a full year in country. Regardless of where he spent his military time, Jerry was back to baseball in ’70 and that year in A ball hit .279. The next year he slumped to .231 in Double A – though he did steal 36 bases - but in ’72 he rebounded to a .290 in Triple A and made a believer out of Twins manager Frank Quilici, a recent Twin reserve infielder himself. In spring training of ’73 he got the boost.

In ’74 things got a bit crowded at Terrell’s favorite spots on the left side. Eric Soderholm was solidifying himself as the man at third and shortstop was sort of a committee position with Thomson and Jerry being joined by rookies Luis Gomez and Sergio Ferrer. Jerry put in as many games at DH as anywhere else and his average slumped 20 points. In ’75 he began the season in Triple A but two things returned him to The Show: his .320 average in the minors and experimenting with Carew at first. So Jerry did middle infield work, hit .286, and recorded lifetime highs in doubles (16) and RBI’s (36). The next year Carew was moved to first full-time and second was ripe for Jerry. But Minnesota had a new rookie – Bob Randall – who leapfrogged him and Jerry did his back-up thing, including games at each outfield position. In ’77 Soderholm went to the White Sox as a free agent and Jerry spent most of his time at third. After the year he went to Kansas City himself via free agency.

With the Royals Terrell reprised his back-up role but with much less time on the field and much discounted numbers. In ’78 he spent most of his time at third as he hit .203 in only 133 at bats but did make the post-season roster. His time retracted considerably in ’79 and ’80 as he was more a late-inning defensive replacement and the latter year spent time back in the minors. He also pitched in a game each year, leaving catcher as the only position he didn’t play during his MLB career. He was a great guy to have on the bench and a positive clubhouse influence and he would become the team’s player rep, ironically winning the Danny Thomson Award for good citizenship one year and then being the only player rep to vote against the ’81 strike, which he did for religious reasons. He was recalled too late in ’80 to be a roster player for the Series that year but was given a spot on the bench. It would be his last time there as a player as he was released right before the start of the ’81 season. Jerry finished with a .253 average up top and .277 in the minors. He got shut out of any post-season stats.

After a year off Terrell returned to baseball, primarily as an advance scout for different organizations. He hooked up with the Royals a couple times in that role: ’83 to ’86 and ’93 to ’95. He performed the same gig for the Twins (’88-’92), the Dodgers (’96), and the Expos (2001- at least ’04). He also coached in the minors (’97-’98) for the White Sox and managed there as well: ’87 for Kansas City; and ’99-2000 for Chicago. His record was 168-250. I haven’t been able to get a handle on his work since 2004 and there is no indication he went with Montreal to DC. In late 2011 he did a community kids baseball gig with the Royals so perhaps he is back in their fold.

Jerry gets star bullets for his two league-leading seasons in the minors.

I’ve used this guy before:

1. Terrell and Butch Wynegar ’76 to ’77 Twins;

2. Wynegar and Mike Marshall ’78 to ’80 Twins;

3. Marshall and Willie Crawford ’74 to ’75 Dodgers.

#386 - Gary Matthews

This is a great card. First off it is a true action shot with 1973 NL Rookie of the Year Gary Matthews sliding into third at Shea with coach John McNamara cheering him on while Wayne Garrett waits for the ball. It’s a panoramic shot with all identifiable characters which has been very rare in this set. You have an iconic NY advertiser – Manufacturers Hanover – visible in the background. Okay, that’s all great. It really is. What really intrigues me now is why is Gary sliding? Maybe he just launched a triple. That or he was just advanced by another batter. Either way, Wayne isn’t anywhere near ready to take a throw. Since he’s looking into the outfield the shortstop is either covering second or taking a relay throw but if the latter he’s out there pretty deep since we don’t see him. That means the short shadow to the right is probably the pitcher’s and that means there is nobody backing up at home. So why isn’t he at least rounding the bag? Let’s see if baseball-reference can help us here. Gary came up too late in ’72 for any Shea games so this shot is from ’73. That year on two occasions did Gary make a stop at third base. On June 12 he advanced to second on a single by Chris Speier and to third by an error by Garrett. I am guessing it wasn’t that play since Wayne is gazing to left-center and there’s no way that’s where he threw the ball. So that leaves August 25 when Gary went to third on a single to left by Tito Fuentes. That looks about right. The play occurred in the top of the fifth on two outs with the Giants up 1-0 so I still don’t get why he’s not rounding the bag at least. I think McNamara blew that one. But the 1-0 score held so I guess it’s no biggie. Still, as a Little League coach I gotta shake my head on that one.

1973 was pretty huge for Matthews. Finally up top with Bobby Bonds and Garry Maddox, the trio would form the best young outfield of its day. They all hit over .300 for a significant part of the season. They played the tough Candlestick outfield well. And they were all bad asses. This Gary moved from the six spot to the top of the lineup by the end of the year to take advantage of his aggressive playing. He was a few years away from his “Sarge” nickname but it already applied. It was sort of a shame that these guys only had two seasons together. Gary romped pretty well in the ROY voting over an awfully good rookie class (Steve Rogers, Ron Cey, Dan Driessen, Bob Boone, and Davey Lopes to name a few) on his kinetic game and take charge attitude. He’d go on to a solid career.

Gary Matthews was a big deal athlete at San Fernando High School in LA where he averaged 20 points a game as a senior in hoops and was all-county in both that sport and baseball. As a kid he had played baseball on the same block as Buddy Bradford and in the spring of ’68 he was a first round pick by the Giants. He had a nice start the next summer in A ball and followed it up with another good season at that level in ’70. He then managed to pick up his stats each of the next two seasons as he moved up a level and in late ’72 got in some September games in San Francisco. Prior to the ’73 season the Giants sent outfielder Ken Henderson to the White Sox to free up a place for Gary.

After his big rookie season Matthews had a nice follow-up year increasing all his stats pretty significantly as he moved lower in the lineup except his average (he hit .287 with 82 RBI’s). In ’75 he got off to a pretty good start and had 24 RBI’s by the end of May when he broke his thumb fooling around with Derrell Thomas. He missed six weeks and the interruption hurt his power stats and didn’t make management too happy. He would have a strained relationship thereafter even though he returned in ’76 to post a pretty good season of .279 with 20 homers and 84 RBI’s. After that season he moved to Atlanta as Ted Turner’s first big plunge into the free agent market. Unfortunately for Ted the results weren’t immediately apparent in the team’s records. Gary did well enough – his first two seasons he averaged .284 with 18 homers, 63 RBI’s, and 82 runs. In the second season he moved to right field from his normal spot in left. He also lost a bunch of time the second year with a dislocated shoulder. But he wasn’t the big power generator he was probably imagined to be. That changed a bit in ’79 as he put together his best season to date: .304 with 97 runs, 27 homers, and 90 RBI’s. Those stats got him his first All-Star nod. After another year in Atlanta in ’80 that was a bit of a downtick, Gary was traded to Philadelphia for pitcher Bob Walk.

Matthews didn’t have the best timing as he joined the Phillies the year after they won it all. He was actually supposed to go to Cincinnati for Dave Collins but that deal fell through. In the Philly outfield he returned to left field and rejoined Garry Maddox. Gary put up an excellent year during the strike season of ’81 and then hit .400 against Montreal in his first playoff action. '82 was a good year as well and the one in which he earned his “Sarge” sobriquet from Pete Rose. ’83 would be tough because he broke a wrist and his offensive stats slid as did his playing time. But he again had a great NL playoff, torching LA pitching at a .429 clip with eight RBI’s in four games. He then hit .250 in a Series loss to the Orioles. After that season he was on the move again, this time to the Cubs with Bob Dernier for Bill Campbell and Mike Diaz. While by this time after three seasons on the artificial turf in Philly his knees were going south Gary put up a big season for the Cubbies, hitting .291 with 14 homers, 82 RBI’s, 101 runs, and a .410 OBA to lead the NL. He was also a big locker room presence and a fan favorite, helping rally the team to a division title. But in ’85 and ’86 knee injuries significantly limited his time and after an ’87 split between Chicago and Seattle he was done. Gary hit .281 for his career with 234 homers and 978 RBI’s and a .364 OBA. In the post-season he hit .323 with seven homers and 15 RBI’s in 19 games.

Matthews took off a bunch of years to pursue some business interests and then returned to baseball in the mid-Nineties. His first gig was as the Cubs’ minor league hitting instructor from ’95 to ’97. He then moved to Toronto as their hitting coach (’98-’99) and then broadcaster (2000-’01). In between he may or may not have coached for Milwaukee. In ’03 he returned to Chicago and was a Cubs coach through ’06. Since ’07 he has been a radio announcer for the Phillies.

Gary gets a star bullet for each of his full minor league seasons to date. It looks like he signed his signature on something moving. We get another dancing cartoon in which the artist tries to portray these guys as Fred Astaire.

Nothing like recycling old hook-ups:

1. Matthews and Chris Chambliss ’80 Braves;

2. Chambliss and Don Gullett ’77 to ’78 Yankees.

#353 - Rich Coggins

Sometimes things happen in bunches in this set and this is one of those times. Like the subject of the last post, Rich Coggins spent some time in Montreal, although he wasn't nearly as successful as Bill Stoneman was there. Like Dwight Evans from two posts back, this card represents Rich's first solo one from Topps. And like Dan Driessen from a few posts ago, Rich is a member of the Topps Rookie All-Star Team for '73. That after a gap of over 100 cards. Rich was an interesting choice for this designation since his fellow outfielder Al Bumbry was AL Rookie of the Year and got left off the Topps team. At least Rich kept the award in the O's family. So '73 was obviously a pretty good year for this kid. On top of other achievements visible on the stats line he also stole 17 bases and set an Oriole rookie record - later tied - by hitting in 15 straight games. He sported a .363 OBA and went on to hit over .400 against Oakland in the playoffs. Rich was on a pretty good roll but it wouldn't last too long. Here he demonstrates his fondness for pine tar at Yankee Stadium.

Rich Coggins was born in Indianapolis and had a pretty itinerant high school career, attending three on the way to graduating from Garey High in Pomona, California in '68. That year he was drafted by the Orioles in the 21st round and started off that summer in A ball where he hit pretty well at the top of the order. In the minors he was primarily a center fielder. There is some literature indicating that he attended Mt. San Antonio College - the same school at which Bill Stoneman kicked off his college career - at around this time but if he did he sure didn't play ball there. What he DID do in '69 was steal a total of 30 bases on two Single A and one Double A team. Then in '70 he boosted his average 75 points at the higher level to get promoted to Triple A the last third of the season. He lost none of his juice at the higher level and in '71 he had a big year with 20 homers and 107 runs in the top spot. Then in '72 he pulled his average up 40 points and by the end of the season he was in Baltimore.

For the Orioles in late '72 Coggins got off to a pretty hot start, filling in for injured Merv Rettenmund and showing off his speed. He finished with a .333 average in limited appearances - he got hurt - and the next season returned for his big rookie year. He split time in right with Rettenmund as part of Earl Weaver's platoon system and also played a bunch in center. In '74 both he and Bumbry had sophomore jinx seasons and Rich lost about 75 points off his average although he did steal 26 bases. Then after a poor playoff series against the A's he was sent to the Expos with Dave McNally and Bill Kirkpatrick for Mike Torrez and Ken Singleton.

The trade that sent Coggins to Montreal has long been regarded as one of the worst ever. Singleton went on to have an All-Star career with Baltimore and Torrez won 20 in his only full season with the O's. In the meantime Kirkpatrick never made it out of the minors, McNally retired after a poor start, and Rich went down with a weird thyroid ailment that spring, requiring hospitalization for liver and kidney damage. When he returned in early June he hit .270 in a few games but the Expos, possibly looking to put the horrible trade behind them, sold him to the Yankees before the month was over. New York had problems of its own with incumbent right fielder Lou Piniella having a tough time coming back from his own injury and Rich was acquired as insurance and to add a bit more speed to the lineup. He hit .224 the rest of the way, actually playing a bunch more in center than in right, but with only three stolen bases in over 100 at bats he wasn't exactly the runner the club had anticipated. Early in the '76 season after some token at bats he and Ken Brett were sent to the White Sox for Carlos May, another former Topps Rookie Team member. In Chicago Rich got more time but only hit .156 and in July he went to the Philles for Wayne Nordhagen. For them Rich went down to Triple A where he hit .252 with a .330 OBA, good enough to get called up that September. But he refused to report to the Phillies and after the season was disqualified. At age 25 he was done in baseball. Rich had a .265 average with 50 stolen bases. In the post-season he hit .200 in five games.

And that's it. There is zero out there on what Coggins did after baseball. There is a truck driver in South Carolina with the same full name but there is no way to tell if it is the same guy.


Now Topps has some interesting commentary in Rich's star bullets. In the first one the word "incredible" is employed about a pretty prosaic achievement. I'd have loved to have a 16-game hitting streak at any baseball level but I would think if they opted for that word it should have at least been used for his streak in '73. 15 games at the MLB level is a lot more impressive than 16 in Triple A. Those two doubles were emblematic of his start as he posted four that year in only 39 at bats. The hand injury is what took him out of action late that season.

So we have two Expos who were a couple years apart. No problem:

1. Coggins and Earl Williams '73 to '74 Orioles;
2. Williams and Mike Jorgensen '76 Expos;
3. Jorgensen and Bill Stoneman '72 to '73 Expos.

#341 - Dan Driessen

This is our first true rookie card in a long while. It also represents the first Topps 1973 Rookie All-Star Team honoree in over 100 cards. I love this card. You have the subject, Dan Driessen, in a posed shot way out of position. You have a billboard ad for Sunbeam in the background. You have Don Gullett looking huge on the mound in the background. And you have a beautiful sunny spring training day that looks like it was a great one in which to do even the tedious workout stuff. Dan had a fun year in '73 and filled a big hole for the Reds when he came up. Denis Menke, who'd been the starter at third completely stopped hitting and Cincy was in a jam. But they had this guy and his .409 average at Indianapolis and when they pulled him up and slotted him in the line-up he didn't disappoint. Dan went on to hit .301 and provide good enough D at third to make the Reds stop worrying. He also put in a bunch of games at first - and in fact played many games at both - which enabled the Baseball Digest guys to throw him on their rookie team at that position (they picked Ron Cey for third). Dan came in third in NL ROY voting in a strong year for rookie third basemen (besides Cey, Ken Reitz was a rookie, as was Bill Madlock, Mike Schmidt, and Jerry Terrell) so copping the Topps spot was a pretty big deal.

Dan Driessen came out of what was back then a pretty rural Hilton Head, South Carolina, before the place turned into a resort vacation destination. His high school did not have a baseball team, so Dan - who was a catcher - and his older brother Bill both played for a rec league team many towns away. Since Dan had no real organized footing he flew under the radar and his rec coach wrote letters to every big league team advocating for both Bill and Dan. They both got tryouts with the Braves and Dan was the last guy cut. Then he had a Florida tryout for the Reds and made the cut. That year - 1970 - he got off to a rocky start in A ball by hitting only .223. But he played excellent D at his new position, first base, and was able to return the next year to add over 100 points to his average at the same level. In '72 he moved up to Double A and put in some time at third so the Reds must have known what was coming. Then to kick off '73 it was third base all the way at Triple A where he hit .409 and had a nearly .500 OBA before he was called up that June.

After his impressive debut, Driessen pretty much took over third the next year, hitting pretty well with a .281 average but having a bit of trouble defensively. In the meantime fellow '73 rookie Ken Griffey was stepping things up huge and George Foster was finally coming around so with Pete Rose and Cesar Geronimo Cincy had four starting outfielders. Beginning in '75 Dan would be the odd man out as Rose was moved to third and he backed up first base and the outfield. He hit .281 again in '75 but slid to .247 the next year, but both years put up nice OBA and power numbers. He got almost zero playoff time each year but in '76 they incorporated the DH in the Series for the first time and Dan was the Reds' guy, hitting .357. The next year Cincy let Tony Perez leave as a free agent and Dan took over first. He had a nice '77, continuing Doggie's run of 90-plus ribbie seasons by posting 91 himself while hitting .300. He also stole 31 bases that year. He then settled into a long run as the regular guy at first, excelling defensively and being a middling hitter for the position. In '80 he led the NL in walks and he continued as the number one guy midway through the '84 season when he was traded to the Expos for Andy McGaffigan and a minor leaguer. He then became a journeyman, moving to San Francisco and Houston before settling in St. Louis in '87. He actually spent most of that season - as he had in '86 - in Triple A and was called up after Jack Clark got hurt. He had a couple key hits in the post-season that year but it was his last hurrah as he was released that November. Dan finished with a .267 average with 153 homers and 763 RBI's. He also stole 154 bases and had a .356 OBA. In the post-season he hit .212 with a homer and four RBI's in 23 games. Defensively he is 19th all-time with a .995 fielding average at first base.

Driessen had spent some winters playing ball in Mexico and even won a batting title there in the mid-Seventies. In '88 he played there during the regular season and then in '89 returned to the States to play in the Senior League which he did for both its seasons. He would eventually return to Hilton Head year-round where he started his own excavating and truck business and spent a bunch of years as the assistant baseball coach at the high school. This year he will be inducted into the Reds Hall of Fame.

Dan has one of the more qualitative card backs I have seen in this set. Topps needs to let us know in the first star bullet that he was "completely" overlooked in the draft. And the second part of the last star bullet is great. I guess that .327 average in '71 was done with a cricket paddle. The "Cobra" nickname came from Dan's habit of sort of unwinding into his swing.

Let's get the hookup with the '76 Series opponent now. The middle guy was already mentioned above:

1. Driessen and Don Gullett '73 to '76 Reds;

2. Gullett and Thurman Munson '77 to '78 Yankees.

#173 - Randy Jones

This is the rookie card of Randy Jones. Being a low-numbered Padre, Randy gets a two-fer. He looks pretty magnanimous at Jack Murphy Stadium but that's OK since he won a pitching spot on the Topps Rookie All-Star Team that year (so he's pitcher two). Randy's whole pitching career was basically built around his two wonderful seasons in the mid-'70s but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Randy Jones grew up in Brea, California and wanted to play for the Dodgers. He went undrafted out of high school though as two guys he played against - Steve Busby and Al Hrabosky - were snapped up. Randy then attended Chapman College where, due to an arm injury, he had to refine his pitching game from primarily heat to placed pitches. He was drafted and signed by the Padres in '72 and had a pretty quick rise up. By the end of that year he was in Double A and after a super start there in '73 he was moved up to San Diego. His move there was also helped by the sale of Fred Norman to the Reds that season, as the Padres needed a lefty starter to fill the gap. In going one game over .500 Randy set the then club record for winning percentage by a lefty and made the Topps team.

'74 would be tough for Jones. His money pitch was a sinker that only hit the mid-'70s but could move up and down. Most of his outs were therefore groundouts and the Padre infield of '74 was pretty porous. Top that off with declining confidence and Randy's record fell to 8-22 with a 4.46 ERA. In 17 of those losses the Padres put up two or fewer runs and the bullpen was pretty dreadful. Going into '75 Randy worked with pitching coach Tom Morgan to re-establish the sinker and refine his slider. Both would prove hugely successful when in '75 after a middling start Randy caught fire and won 20 games while leading the league with a 2.24 ERA. While Randy threw a slow pitch he worked quickly and his games averaged less than two hours. In '75 he threw a complete game on 68 pitches. Randy would finish second to Tom Seaver in Cy Young votes, make the All-Star team and win Comeback Player of the Year, which was a bit silly. In '76 the magic continued as Randy would be 15-3 by the All-Star break. He started that game, ultimately went 23-14 with a 2.74 ERA, and won the Cy. He tied a record by throwing 68 consecutive innings without giving up a walk. He would throw 315 innings that season and in his last game snapped a nerve in his upper arm that left him unable to flex his bicep. Unfortunately for Randy that injury set the tone for the balance of his career.

In '77 Jones began the season going 4-1 but the nerve damage wouldn't go away and he ended the year only 6-12 with a 4.58 ERA. For the next three seasons the ERA came back to earth but he went a combined 29-39 and after the '80 season he went to the Mets for a couple minor league pitchers. Things didn't improve in NY as Randy went a combined 8-18 in two seasons before being released. '82 was his last year and he finished things up with a record of 100-124 with a 3.42 ERA, 73 complete games, 19 shutouts, and two saves. In 305 career games he only gave up 503 walks.

After baseball, Randy moved around a bit career-wise. He did the real estate thing and also owned and ran a group of car washes. He then moved into food service and would travel worldwide seeking concessions on military bases. In the Nineties he returned to the Padres as a community rep and also opened a barbecue stand at the stadium. Away from that he has been running a baseball school - one of its graduates is Barry Zito - and does some radio work for the Padres.

The adjectives are flying in these star bullets. That's a cool cartoon. No wonder he had Dodger blue in his eyes.

This time we go all NL:

1. Jones and Jerry Morales '73 Padres;
2. Morales and Gene Clines '77 Cubs.

#169 - Steve Rogers

Here is one of the pitchers from the Topps Rookie All-Star Team of '73 (the other is only a few cards away). Steve Rogers had a monster rookie year for the Expos that season and we catch him here at their Daytona Beach site - Thanks, Clay - in the first photo on part of the compound that actually looks like a ballfield. Steve really did start off with a bang. After giving up two runs in an eight inning no-decision in his first start he threw a one-hit shutout for his first win, another shutout in his next start for his second win, and by the time he was 5-3 a few weeks later, four of those wins were shutouts. While things wouldn't always roll that easily for Steve, he would go on to be arguably one of the best Montreal pitchers ever.

Steve Rogers grew up in Missouri where he was a late bloomer in baseball, not even making his high school varsity team until there were two games to go in his junior season. But he improved quickly and during his American Legion season in '67 he was drafted by the Yankees whom he shot down. Instead he went to the University of Tulsa where he grew three inches, pitched very well, and earned a degree in petroleum engineering. He was a first rounder for the Expos in '71 and went right to Triple A where he pitched the next two seasons. He didn't start off too well, going a combined 5-16 with an ERA around 4.00. In winter ball in '72-'73 he had Billy DeMars as a manager. DeMars helped Steve fix his delivery and taught him a rising fastball. Then in '73 spring training he picked up a slider from Cal McLish, the Expos pitching coach. Sent first to Double A Quebec and then Triple A Peninsula to work on his new array of pitches, he posted excellent numbers and that July got called up to Montreal. He responded with a 10-5 record and 1.54 ERA in the rotation, fueling a second-half rally by the Expos that kept them in the race through late September. In addition to making the Topps team he came in second in NL ROY voting.

In '74 Rogers would make his first All-Star team but he got hit with a bit of a sophomore jinx as he went 15-22 with an ERA of 4.46. Part of the reason for the numbers reversal was some subtle changes to his delivery caused by what would turn out to be bone chips in his elbow which wouldn't be discovered and removed until after the '76 season. But in '75 and '76 he would pull his ERA back to the low 3.00's while putting up losing records for some pretty bad teams. In '77 he went 17-16, in '78 he won 13 with a 2.47 ERA, and in '79 he again won 13 and led the league in shutouts with five. In both the later years he was an All-Star. In '80 he stepped things up, winning 16 and in '81, the strike year, he went 12-8 in only 22 starts. He then kicked Philadelphia's butt in the divisional series and threw well against LA in the NL playoffs, but got immortalized by giving up the winning series homer to Rick Monday (overall in the post-season that year he went 3-1 with a 0.98 ERA in four games). In '82 he had his best season, going 19-8 with a 2.40 ERA to lead the league and finishing second in NL Cy Young voting. In '83 he won 17, but by now a nagging shoulder injury was taking its toll and in the next two seasons he would go a combined 8-19 before being released early in '85. After a couple attempts at comebacks with California and the White Sox - both in Triple A - Steve retired. He finished with a record of 158-152 with a 3.17 ERA, 129 complete games, 37 shutouts, and a couple saves. He ultimately made five All-Star teams and is the Montreal/Washington career leader in wins. His post-season work was restricted to the '81 season.

After his playing career ended, Rogers made it back to baseball through consulting work with the Major Leagues Players Association which was a natural step as he'd been a player rep during his time with the Expos. The MLPA hired him in '98 and he continues to work there. He was inducted to Tulsa's hall of fame in the mid-Eighties.

This is a good card back. Steve gets props for his college career, summer ball, rookie year, and military service. His career record at Tulsa was 31-5 with a 2.06 ERA and 327 K's in 301 innings. He was an All-American his senior year and twice led his team to the CWS. The National Baseball Congress Tourney is a summer series held in or around Wichita that essentially works as a championship for summer league teams. Other participants in the tourney who've already had posts include Tom Seaver, Rich Troedson, and Johnny Grubb.

Let's use a recently deceased HOF guy to hook up these two:

1. Rogers and Bob Stinson '73 to '74 Expos;
2. Stinson and Harmon Killebrew '75 Royals;
3. Killebrew and Danny Thompson '70 to '74 Twins.

#131 - Bob Boone

Here we have the catcher for the 1973 Topps Rookie All-Star Team. Bob Boone was a welcome addition to a roster that had seen a not great recent history at his listed position. In '70, in the wake of a Tim McCarver injury, the Phillies used six catchers, including one they pulled out of retirement. Then, while Tim was healthy in '71 his fragility returned the following year and a mid-season deal with Montreal brought over John Bateman to take the catching lead, but that wasn't a long-term solution either. So Bob got a quick peek that September and then in spring training of '73 impressed everyone with his defensive work. He stuck, had nice rookie numbers, and made the Topps team. Not bad for a guy who didn't become a full-time catcher until the prior season. Here he gets his first solo card in this set and he looks pretty sanguine in a catcher's crouch somewhere during spring training.

Bob Boone went to Stanford where he played third base, a position he also played in the summers of '66 to '68 in Alaska. Up there he joined other alumni we have already seen (Tom Seaver, Rick Troedson, etc.). Looking at the list of Goldpanner players I noticed one of his contemporaries was Dan Pastorini who would go on to QB for the Houston Oilers (a little cross-sports reference). Bob was drafted by the Phillies in '69 and played that year in Single A where he hit .300, again playing third. After missing nearly the entire '70 season to injury, he beagn putting in some time behind the plate in a '71 spent in Double A. By '72 he was at Triple A Eugene and while his offensive numbers were pretty good - he even showed some power that year - his real strength was defense. That season he moved exclusively to catcher since there was another Eugene kid named Mike Schmidt who was a pretty good third baseman. Bob did pretty well in his late season call-up to Philly and was given the starting job in '73. He was an excellent pitch-caller right off the bat and eventually even Steve Carlton would let him call his pitches. Boone would be the primary Phillies receiver through the '80 season. He would get on a good run offensively as well; after a couple sub-.250 seasons, he averaged over .280 from '76 to '79. By then he had accrued three All-Star appearances, two Gold Gloves, four division-winning seasons, and one Series-winning season. And two serious knee injuries. The latter of those occurred in '79 and although Bob hit a ton in the '80 Series, his offensive and defensive numbers were hurting in '81, he was pissing off management by being player rep in the strike year, and he lost some starting time to Keith Moreland. After that season the Phillies sold him to California.

The Boone sale by Philadelphia would turn out to be a bad move. Bob was physically recovered by the beginning of the '82 season, threw out 21 of the first 36 guys to try to steal on him, and helped mold the Angel pitching staff into a division winner. He would go on to start the next six yearns for California, adding another All-Star season and four more Gold Gloves. In '88 he hit .295 but was released (he was 40 at the time). He then signed with Kansas City where he had a decent '89 while winning another Gold Glove. In '90 he was a reserve and after breaking a finger decided to hang them up. At that point he was the leader in games played at catcher, but that was broken almost immediately by Carlton Fisk. Bob is now third on the list. He finished with a .254 average, 105 homers, and 826 RBIs. In the post-season he hit .311 with 13 RBI's in 36 games. Defensively he caught 40% of the guys who tried to steal on him against a league average of 33% and he is in the top 25 all-time of catcher assists and the top ten in putouts and double plays.

After playing, Boone turned to coaching. In '92 and '93 he managed in the Oakland chain. In '94 he coached with KC and then took over as manager from '95 to '97. He also managed the Reds from 2001 to '03. His managerial record in the majors is 371-444 and in the minors 125-161. He has stayed in baseball since and is currently assistant GM of the Nationals.

That second star bullet shows what an easy transition he made from third to catcher. Pretty impressive. Bob's dad was an All-Star as would be both Aaron and Brett, his two sons who played in the majors. He also had a brother Rod who played for the Goldpanners right after he did. Speaking of the Goldpanners, Bob did some excellent work his summers in Alaska. For his career he put up a line of .376 with 20 homers and 139 RBI's in his 154 games. He is still the career leader in those stats plus hits and runs.

This one's easy. These guys played together:

1. Boone and Reggie '82 to '86 Angels.

#112 - Davey Lopes

This is Davey Lopes' first solo card. In '73 he had a rookie one. In my ignorance I had always thought Davey was a Hispanic kid from one of the islands or the Americas. Actually he was an urban kid from Providence who grew up in tough circumstances and is of Cape Verdian - a small country off the west coast of Africa - descent. In '73 he was a savior for LA, becoming their first full-time second baseman since Ted Sizemore got traded and solidifying the middle defense with Bill Russell. The improved defense was a big deal for LA because that year most of their pitchers were low ball specialists which meant lots of grounders. That year Davey would be named second baseman on Topps' Rookie All-Star Team. In this photo, I am pretty sure those are Astros in the background, but this sure ain't the Astrodome, so I guess it's a spring training shot.

Davey Lopes was drafted by the Giants in '67 - to which he said no thanks - and the Dodgers in '68. He had attended college at both Iowa Wesleyan and Washburn following their athletic director as he traveled between schools. His name was Mike Sarkesian and he had coached against Lopes in Providence and took an interest, eventually persuading him to go to school. Lopes had nine siblings and no dad so it wasn't in the cards without the outside push. After he signed with the Dodgers Davey elected to continue school, hence his two short minor league seasons in '68 and '69. That second year he graduated with a degree in education. That freedom allowed his elevation to Triple A ball in '70 where he resided the next three summers with a whole bunch of other future major leaguers. Prior to '71 he was an outfielder but during that season he started playing second base. He got a late look in LA in '72 there and then in '73 was kept on the roster to back up Lee Lacy, who had an excellent spring training and was handed the second base job. But Lacy started slowly and then got hurt, allowing Davey to step in. He recognized an opportunity when he saw it and he never looked back, becoming the regular second baseman through '81. Davey would put up good offensive numbers, play a superior second base, and show exceptionally good base-running abilities. Some of his stolen base ratios were pretty amazing: in '78 he stole 45 bases and got caught four times. In '75 he set a record by stealing 38 straight without being caught. He led the NL twice in steals, including in '76 when he missed a bunch of time to injury. Given the above, Davey was normally a top of the order guy and he would report some pretty good offensive numbers away from his stolen base work. He averaged about 90 runs a year in his full seasons, topping out at 109 in '79. And he had some pop in his bat, that same year hitting 28 homers. He also did a pretty good job getting on base, putting up a .349 OBA, and adding about ten points to it when healthy. With the Dodgers he would play in four All-Star games, earn a Gold Glove, and get to the post-season four times, winning the Series in '81. But that year Davey got off to a super slow start and missed a month to injury on top of losing all the strike time. He posted by far his worst regular season numbers.

In '82 the Dodgers had Steve Sax coming up and they broke up the storied infield by trading Lopes to Oakland. While his '82 wasn't anything special - though he did add over 30 points to his average - he had a nice offensive year in '83. The next season Davey would get shifted to the outfield by the arrival at second base of - of all people - Joe Morgan. Late in the season he was sent to the Cubs and re-joined Ron Cey. In '85, at age 40, he stole 47 bases (and was caught four times) in about half a season while hitting .284. Then in '86 he was hitting at a .300 clip when he was traded to the Astros. He stayed in Houston as a reserve through '87. He finished with a .263 average, .349 OBA, 155 homers, and 557 stolen bases. In the post-season, Lopes hit .238 with six homers, 22 RBIs, and 19 stolen bases in 50 games.

After playing, Lopes moved into coaching right away for Texas, Baltimore, San Diego, and the Nationals through 2006. From 2000 to '02 he managed the Brewers for whom he was 144-195. From 2008 to 2010 he was the Phillies' first base coach and during that time the team had the league's highest stolen base ratio. This year he will be coaching first for LA.

That first star bullet is pretty cool. From '70 to '72 Davey put up really good Triple A numbers but he was overshadowed by guys like Valentine, Garvey, and Paciorek. I had read elsewhere that he taught so he got some usage out of his degree. He has certainly taught a bunch of current players. Davey was quite an old rookie in '73 at 27.

Lopes is the third NL'er in a row. Let's try to keep this all NL:

1. Lopes and Joe Morgan '84 A's;
2. Morgan and Clay Carroll '72 to '75 Reds.

Nope.

#32 - Johnny Grubb

Johnny Grubb is a milestone card in the 1974 set for two reasons. The first is that he is the second Topps Rookie All-Star team member for the 1973 season. Johnny pretty quickly established himself up top as a good contact/good on base guy and posted a nice average and .373 OBA from the leadoff spot while playing center field.The second - and more significant for the set - is that Grubb is the first San Diego Padre in the set. That means that he is also the first Washington player in the set. The last bit requires an explanation.

Shortly after the end of the '73 season a bunch of noise was being made about bringing a team back to Washington D.C. The Senators had departed D.C. following the '71 season, moving to Texas to become the Rangers. Despite the poor attendance record of the old Senators, pangs were running deep for a team back in D.C. after a two-year absence; there had been a team there since the A.L was founded in 1901. Plans were made to re-locate the Padres and when the Topps set went to print, those plans seemed set. While Topps technically stopped issuing cards in series with the '73 set, cards were issued sequentially during the '74 season. Hence, the traded cards were issued later in the season. Similarly, it became clear that the Padres were NOT moving to D.C. so Topps re-issued the players given "Washington Nat'l" designation as regular Padres cards. The change occurred sometime between card 364 (Clarence Gaston) and card 387 (Rich Morales). That is why every Padres card in the earlier batch also has a Washington card. The ones after the "catch" only have San Diego cards. The only exception is the Rookie card #599 which has a Washington variant. I assume they began putting those cards together earlier than their numbers imply but I do not really know.

As for Mr. Grubb, he was a hot prospect when signed in the first round of the '71 draft by the Padres, fresh out of Florida State and the College World Series. Johnny had grown up in Virginia a big baseball guy and prior to Florida State had gone to Manatee, a JUCO school in Florida. While at Manatee he was drafted by both Boston and Cincinnati, but instead moved on to his new school. He was then selected by Atlanta in June of '70 but decided to return for another semester. Then the Padres showed up with a better round and presumably better bucks in January of '71. Johnny started hitting right away, posting good averages in A ball in '71 and Double A in '72 while playing the outfield. For a bit the Padres tried Johnny out at third base as well but when they grabbed Dave Roberts out of Oregon with the first pick in '72 that experiment ended. Johnny got up to San Diego in September of the latter year and after hitting well in his quick trial was up to stay.

Grubb came out of the box strong in '74 and his .316 average around selection time contributed to his being named to the All-Star team. He would slow down a bit in the second half and finish with a .284 and in '75 a .269 but he would keep his OBA up there. In '76 San Diego picked up Willie Davis so Johnny got moved to the corner spots and also missed a month-plus to injury, though around it he pushed his average back up to .284 and posted his best San Diego OBA of .391. Following that season he was sent to Cleveland in the trade that brought the Padres George Hendrick. From that point on Johnny was strictly an AL guy.

'77 was a tough year for Grubb, which is too bad because it looked like it was going to be a good one. A nice stretch in May had Johnny hitting above .300 with a .425 OBA when in his first game in June he was hit on the hand by a pitch from Gaylord Perry. That pitch shattered Johnny's hand and he missed the rest of the season. The next season Johnny stayed healthy and though his average came down a few notches, he was posting by far his biggest power season when in late August he was sent to Texas. He would finish that year with a .275/15/67 line. With Texas Johnny would go into platoon mode, swapping time mostly with Billy Sample, but also with Richie Zisk and Leon Roberts. He wouldn't provide as much pop as in '78 but outside of a tough '81 he would generally hit in the high .270's and post an OBA that was about 90 points higher. Prior to the '83 season he would go to Detroit for pitcher Dave Tobik.

When Grubb got to Detroit he was 34 and was made an outfield reserve guy and pinch hitter. He continued to get on base at a good clip - about .380 - and had nearly perfect timing as in a year the Tigers would win the Series. Johnny had some nice post-season numbers and was a steady guy for Detroit through '86 when he put up his biggest line for the team: .333 with a .412 OBA, 13 homers, and 51 RBI's in only 210 at bats. He had a big fall-off in '87 but enjoyed a great playoff that year, his final one as a player. Johnny finished with a .278 average with 99 homers, 475 RBI's, and a .366 OBA. In the post-season he hit .429 with a .467 OBA in nine games.

After playing, Grubb was pretty low key. He returned to his hometown area and in '89 did the Senior League thing. In '90 he coached in the Atlanta system and then with the Niekro brothers coached the Silver Bullets women's professional team for a few years. In 2000 he returned home full time and for the next ten years coached his alma mater's high school baseball team. Since then he has been retired. 

I have scanned both the San Diego (top) and Washington backs for Johnny. They are identical and in the future I will just scan one back. Grubb's quick minor league success is apparent on the stat list and all references point to his good hitting.

Linking Grubb to Gomez should be easy and hard, respectively. Let's see. For Gomez as manager:

1. Grubb and Clarence Gaston '72 to '74 Padres;
2. Gaston and Preston Gomez '69 to '72 Padres (Gomez was gone by the time Grubb came up).

For Gomez as player:

1. Grubb and Al Oliver '78 to '81 Rangers;
2. Oliver and Ron Kline '69 Pirates;
3. Kline and Eddie Yost '61 Angels;
4. Yost and Preston Gomez '44 Senators.

So I had to recycle the names from the last post. Without Eddie Yost, the list would have doubled.

#18 - Gary Thomasson

This is the second rookie card in a row as this was Gary Thomasson's first Topps card. Per the back of the card, he was on the Topps Rookie All-Star Team as a first baseman although he was primarily an outfielder. He began '73 in that latter role as a regular for the first month-plus. But when Gary Matthews then came on strong this Gary lost his spot as his .229 average couldn't compete with the .300 of the other Gary. So for most of the middle part of the season this Gary did pinch hit work. Then in July he began getting some work at first to spell the injured Willie McCovey and he would get occasional starts there and in the outfield the rest of the way while pulling his average up nearly 60 points. Regarding his rookie team status, in '74 Topps for some reason eschewed the gold cups normally placed on the front of the cards to indicate who was on the team. If the back narratives indicate it, however, it should be easy enough to create the whole bunch. If not, a little digging will have to be done. It is another exercise I look forward to in annotating this set.

Gary breaks the away uniform streak by having his shot taken at Candlestick. In the background is a gentleman wearing uniform number 4 who I imagine is a coach since he has neither a bat nor glove and his number is not on the roster. I am going with Joey Amalfitano.

Gary Thomasson hailed from Oceanside, California where a big high school career in football and baseball got him selected by the Giants in the seventh round of the '69 draft. He would hit quite well that year in Rookie ball while playing first and the outfield. He then moved up a rung each year and in '70 hit not too badly as a top of the order guy and stole 37 bases. He would preserve most of his stat line in '71 in Double A - though not the stolen bases - and add some power in Triple A in '72 as well as some strikeouts, which would be a continuing demerit. That year he got his first look in Frisco and the next year he moved there to stay.

For the two years after his rookie season Thomasson would play mostly the outfield in a platoon role - Cary was a lefty - as he started about half the games each year. But over that time his average fell to .244 and then .227. In '76 in the wake of Willie Montanez's trade to Atlanta he got more time at first and revived his average to .259, before having his busiest year in '77 when he put up a .256/17/71 line in 446 at bats. After that season he was part of the biggest trade for one guy when he, Gary Alexander, Dave Heaverlo, Mario Guerrero, Phil Huffman, Alan Wirth, John Henry Johnson, and $300K went to Oakland for Vida Blue.

Thomasson did his reserve thing for Oakland in '78, but only hitting .201, before a mid-season trade for Del Alston and Mickey Klutts brought him to the Yankees. He second half was significantly better than his first one as he hit .276 in NY and then got some post-season time. Just prior to spring training of '79 he returned west and to the NL in a deal for Brad Gulden, one of the three catchers that would unsuccessfully try to take over the recently deceased Thurman Munson's place behind the plate that year. Gary had one of his better offensive years with a .248/14/45 line in 315 at bats but also struck out 70 times. So when LA got some new kids in the outfield in '80 - Rudy Law and Pedro Guerrero - Gary spent most of '80 on the bench before a sale that December to the Yomiuri Giants in Japan. His MLB time ended with a .249 average and he hit .200 in six playoff games.

When Thomasson was signed by the Giants, he was the highest paid player in the league and big things were expected. And though Gary had an OK stat line in '81 with a .261/20/50, the biggest stat he produced was his 132 strikeouts, which nearly set a record. And Gary certainly paid for that transgression. On top of being benched the next year, he was given the nickname in Japan of "the great whirring fan" and an artist developed an exhibit called a Thomasson which was explained as "a big, expensive thing that does nothing." Awfully harsh and understandably it has been quite difficult to get a line on Gary's activities or whereabouts after his playing days.

On the card back is evidence of a decent minor league career that peaked at Phoenix in '72. As mentioned above, the last star indicates his attained status vis-a-vis Topps Rookie team. The cartoon indicates Gary was a musician. I have not been able to verify this elsewhere, but since according to his stats he had a bit of both power and speed, he was probably multi-talented enough for that to be true. Also, I believe he has the first middle name I have seen that is a girl's name and a biblical one at that.

Thomasson and Bird meet through the Yankees, as follows:

1. Thomasson and Willie Randolph '78 Yankees;
2. Randolph and Doug Bird '80-'81 Yankees.

I hope that is not too abhorrent for a west coast guy.