#593 - Steve Yeager

This photo finds Steve Yeager in the midst of his second season of catching in LA. After being called up in ’72 to be part of the milieu behind the plate in the wake of Tom Haller’s departure he stayed up all of ’73 to play behind Joe Ferguson and his 25 homers. It had taken Steve a while for his bat to catch up to his catching prowess and he would never be a super hitter. But he hit pretty solidly in his two seasons in LA and that would help get him into the line-up on a regular basis going forward. But ’73 had some rough spots. On June 20^th Ferguson broke his thumb in a game against Atlanta, providing an opening for Steve, who was hitting .280 at the time in limited at bats. But in the 15 games he started during Joe’s absence he hit only .108. He would then sit for about a month before he returned to add over 50 points to his average down the stretch. For now he looks pretty content on a sunny day at Candlestick.

Steve Yeager grew up in Dayton, Ohio, where in high school he was a star in the big three sports and was a fourth round pick by the Dodgers in ’67. He had to finish a state tournament that summer so started his A season late but barely played because he wasn’t hitting too well. That was the theme in each of the next two seasons as lousy averages kept him on the bench a lot but his ability to call games and his toughness behind the plate kept him on the roster. That was illustrated when he played on a broken leg during ’69 and then also missed a bunch of time on the DL. In ’70 he moved up to Double A, hit much better, and got some starting time. Then in ’71 he maintained his hold on that starting spot at the same level, upping his numbers considerably. After a slightly better start in Triple A in ’72 he got called up to LA that August in the wake of Dick Dietz breaking his hand.

In ’72 the Dodgers catching situation was a bit of a hodgepodge as Chris Cannizzaro, Duke Sims, and Dick Dietz all spent time at the position. But by the end of the year Dietz got his injury, Sims followed Tom Haller to Detroit, and Cannizzaro just didn’t have enough stick so Yeager came up, got himself in a slump, and later pulled his average up to respectable. In ’74 he began the season with a hot bat as Ferguson got hit with a sophomore jinx and by the end of July Steve still had a .300 average and now the starting gig behind the plate since Ferguson could also man the outfield. Steve’s average would fade but not his defensive work as LA went 64-28 during his starts that year. And he bounced at an appropriate time in the post-season as he hit .364 in the loss to Oakland. In ’75 he fractured his knee to start the season but then had his busiest year as Ferguson too was one of many Dodgers to see DL time and though Steve’s average shrunk to .228 he upped his RBI total to 54. In ’76 he went down again after he was speared in the throat by shards off Bill Russell’s broken bat while in the on deck circle. That year Ferguson was traded to St. Louis and the following one Steve had his best offensive year with a .256/16/55 season in 359 at bats as he played ahead of veterans Johnny Oates and Jerry Grote. That was also the year LA returned to the Series and Steve was again a main offensive threat, hitting .316 with five RBI’s in six games. In ’78 a year-long slump and missed time to some cracked ribs had LA bring back Ferguson mid-season as Steve bottomed out with a .193 average in just 228 at bats. In ’79 he put up better power numbers with 13 homers and 41 RBI’s but his average only got to .216 in a big slump year for the Dodgers.

By 1980 Yeager had a nagging elbow injury that would limit his time in the field and with his average pretty much entrenched in Mendoza territory his playing time withered a bit more. That year he split time with Joe Ferguson and rookie Mike Scioscia. In ’81 Scioscia took over as the main guy and Steve barely played, racking up only 86 at bats in the strike year. But in the extended post-season he hit well and in the Series against the Yankees’ lefty-dominated rotation, he played in every game. It turned out to be an excellent fit as he hit .286 with two homers and four RBI’s to share the MVP award. In ’82 he continued in his back-up role and though he missed a month to a broken wrist, he upped his average to .245, his highest in five years. In ’83 he moved to the number one spot as Scioscia missed nearly the whole season to injury and though his average slid to .203 Steve hit 15 homers with 41 RBI’s. The next two seasons he returned to reserve work, in ’84 suffering knee damage in a plate collision. By ’85 he and Bill Russell were the only two left of the young guys who revived the franchise in the mid-Seventies. After that season he was sent to Seattle for Ed Vande Berg. He then finished his playing career in an ’86 with the Mariners in the same role. Steve wrapped things up with a .228 average with 102 homers and 410 RBI’s. In the post-season he hit .252 with five homers and 14 RBI’s in 38 games. In the field he twice led the NL in picking off runners and also led once each in putouts and assists.

Yeager did some community work with the Dodgers after his playing career ended, but his main professional work was elsewhere in the LA area: as an adviser, trainer, and actor in the Major Leagues movies. He did consulting work on other sports movies as well. He also hooked up with a company called Collectibles International, for which he was a spokesperson. The company purported to be a seller of franchises by which to make money in sports collectibles, but it turned out to be a sham shop. By ’99 Steve was back with the Dodgers full-time as a coach in their system. He coached there as well from 2004-’07. From 2000-’01 he managed the independent Long Beach Breakers and then in ’08 managed the city’s new independent franchise. Beginning in 2010 he became a spring training and roving minor league catching coach for the Dodgers and this year he has had that role in LA.

These two star bullets are worth investigating. The game was only Steve’s sixth MLB one and it occurred at Riverfront. That is a ton of chances for a game, seemingly, but this one ran 19 innings and Steve was behind the plate for all of them. That’s pretty amazing. All the putouts were strikeouts: Tommy John K’d 13 guys in his nine innings; Jim Brewer six in his three; Pete Richert one in two; and Ron Perranoski two in three innings. LA gave up only eight hits and two runs and still lost the game. He also got two assists for gunning down Tony Perez (fifth inning) and Joe Morgan (ninth) when they attempted to steal second. He missed nailing Bobby Tolan on another steal later and dropped a pop fly foul by Darrell Chaney, who flied out in that at bat. I guess that makes 24 chances though I’d count the assists also. Steve was related to fighter pilot and “The Right Stuff” profilee Chuck Yeager, who famously broke the sound barrier for the first time. He was on Family Feud, danced on Solid Gold, and posed for Playgirl. Sounds like he belonged in LA.

The link here was a big free agent signee for LA but nobody likes to remember that:

1. Yeager and Dave Goltz ’80 to ’82 Dodgers;

2. Goltz and Ed Bane ’73 and ’75 to ’76 Twins.  

#587 - Larry Christenson

The latest big deal rookie of the ’74 set is Larry Christenson and this is his rookie card since at this time the prior year Larry was still playing high school ball. Larry had a pretty good debut in ’73, sticking with the MLB roster out of camp when he was just 19. He threw a five-hit complete-game win at the Mets in his first start ever, giving up only one run. Tellingly, he also walked six in that game and a little wildness and too many big hits given up would have him back in Triple A by early June. There he didn’t throw much better though his control got more balanced and his record moved back to the winning side. Larry would be a Phillie his whole career and would battle through lots of injuries to do pretty well. Here he casts a glaze in Candlestick probably not too soon before he was sent down. But he’d be back pretty soon.

Larry Christenson grew up in Washington State where he played nearly everything, including in high school tennis, cross country, baseball, and basketball. That last one was his biggest sport and during his senior year in which he averaged 21 PPG as a forward he was recruited by all the Pac-Ten schools. He was headed in that direction when he sort of exploded in baseball that spring, going 7-2 with a 0.28 ERA and 143 strikeouts in his 72 innings. He also hit .406 and stole eleven bases. That June of ’72 the Phillies made Larry the third pick of the draft and after a very good start in Rookie ball that summer he joined the Phillies out of the gate in ’73.

In ’74 Christenson went 11-9 with a 3.30 ERA and much better control in Triple A before returning to Philadelphia late that August to go 1-1 in some relief work with a 4.30 ERA and a couple saves. He again began the next year in Triple A but after 12 shutout innings in his two starts he was back in the pen by mid-May. By mid-June he was in the rotation and he finished the year 11-6 with a 3.67 ERA and only 45 walks in over 170 innings. In ’76 he upped his win total to 13 with the same ERA but missed some time due to injury. He had a chronic bad back since high school and as a result would suffer occasional groin pulls. A good hitter, that year he teed off a couple solo homers in a game against the Mets. In ’77 Larry had his big year, going 19-6 with a 4.06 ERA and doubling his strikeout totals from the prior year. He also had his first playoff action. Then in ’78 his record was a disappointing 13-14 but he lowered his ERA nearly a run and topped out his complete game (9) and shutout (3) totals. Then in ’79 the injury bug bit him hard and before the season even began. He’d signed up to do an 1,800 mile bike ride – that’s pretty impressive – for charity back on the left coast and was going at a pretty good clip on the tour in February when he fell off the bike and broke his collarbone. While the initial injury was bad enough, it got worse when after the season started the collarbone developed a spur that required surgery. He missed a ton of time and for the year went 5-10 as his ERA flew up to 4.50. It would be more of the same the next two seasons as he lost time to elbow injuries, more groin pulls, and a smash to the knee on a comebacker. In ’80 he went 5-1 in his 14 starts and in ’81 4-7 around the injuries and the strike. In ’82 he had a relatively healthy year, going 9-10 with a 3.47 ERA in his first season of over 200 innings since ’78. But the rebound was short-lived as in ’83 after a not bad start – 2-4 but with great control and a 3.91 ERA – he hurt his elbow again and required two more surgeries. The Phillies released him after the season – on his birthday! – and Larry was done with a record of 83-71, 27 complete games, six shutouts, four saves, and a 3.79 ERA. In the post-season he was 1-2 with a 7.40 ERA in six games. He hit .150 for his career but with eleven homers and 46 RBI’s in 427 at bats.

Christenson was only 29 when Philadelphia let him go after the ’83 season and he had a deal with the club that if he rehabbed successfully they would take him back. So the next couple years that was what he did, for a while returning to do some kinesiology work with a certain Dr. Mike Marshall, former LA reliever. But the rehab never really worked and by ’86 he had moved on to a new career as a financial advisor, which he began in earnest after moving back to the Philadelphia area – where most of his professional contacts resided – in ’87. He worked on the advisor side through ’94 and then moved to the investment management side that year for the next ten years, part of it with Phoenix Investment Partners, a huge money manager. In 2004 he founded his own business, Larry Christenson Investment Partners, which offers products and services to investment managers. It has been a pretty successful run for him and has allowed him to be very involved in charitable work and occasional appearances on behalf of his old team. He continues to reside in the Philadelphia neck of the woods.

There’s Larry’s high school record as a senior so I didn’t need to plow through those old news articles. Who were the two guys chosen ahead of Larry? We’ve seen one of them already and the other would have his Topps unveiling in the ’76 set: Dave Roberts, third baseman from the University of Oregon was selected first by the Padres; and Rick Manning, then a high school shortstop from the Niagara Falls area in NY, was selected second by Cleveland. I do not know what Larry did for the lumber company in the off-season but given the status of his back, I hope it wasn’t swinging an axe.

These one-team guys can be tough:

1. Christenson and Ed Farmer – what a save! – ’74 and ’82 to ’83 Phillies;

2. Farmer and Jack Brohamer ’72 to ’73 Indians.

#569 - Rick Dempsey

In probably the best pose demonstrating the Yankee Stadium 50^th Anniversary patch, Rick Dempsey shows his batting stance with a stick that probably wouldn’t pass the pine tar threshold. Rick barely had any playing time in NY because Gerry Moses was the number two guy to Thurman Munson. So Rick spent most of his time at Triple A Syracuse where his numbers weren’t too bad for a guy who was a defensive specialist: .248 with six homers, 47 RBI’s and a .338 OBA in his 387 at bats. He would get up to back-up status the next two years in NY, though he had to literally fight Bill Sudakis for it – see the details on that guy’s post – but it would be a big trade in ’76 that would finally get him to the role for which he would earn his renown. This is also Rick's final card pre-mustache.

Rick Dempsey had two parents who were stage stars in NYC, his dad in vaudeville, and his mom on Broadway. Somehow he was born in Tennessee and then relocated to the LA area when he was a kid so his parents could find work in show business. Rick went to a small Catholic high school there where he played football but didn’t start catching until his senior year. He must have made a pretty quick impression because he was drafted by the Twins that June and as a 17-year old Rookie baller hit .206 but with excellent defense at both catcher and in the outfield, where he played about a third of his games. In A ball in ’68 he showed some decent pop, hitting a combined .285 for a couple teams, with eight homers and 61 RBI’s. In ’69 came some military time, a big show in A ball with a .364 average, six homers, and 31 RBI’s in 151 at bats, and his debut in Minnesota in September. '70 was pretty much a repeat, with some late season relief work up top after hitting .245 in Double A with a contraction in his power. He hit a tad better at that level in ’71 with a big reduction in his strikeouts and then batted .236 in Triple A in ’72 in his 161 at bats after spending the first half of the season on the Minnesota roster behind George Mitterwald and Phil Roof. Following that season he was sent to the Yankees for outfielder Danny Walton.

In more recent interviews, Dempsey has indicated he was a big fan of Thurman Munson’s and that Thurm was actually pretty sweet to him, though that would have been a surprise when they were playing together. I remember one time shortly after the trade away from NY Rick claimed he was the superior catcher which I thought absurd. But for two-plus seasons they worked well together. In ’74 Rick busted the 100 at bat barrier for the first time, hit .239, and threw out 16 of the 22 guys that tried to run on him. In ’75 he upped his average to .262 with an OBA above .350, and also got some work as DH. Then in ’76 he’d barely been used when at the June trading deadline he, Tippy Martinez, Dave Pagan, Rudy May, and Scott McGregor went to Baltimore for Doyle Alexander, Ken Holtzman, Elrod Hendricks, and Grant Jackson.

Once Dempsey made it to Baltimore he became the number one guy behind the plate, that season starting 53 games in the second half. Good thing too, because he threw out 53% of attempted base stealers, leading the majors. He would repeat that status in ’77 when he caught 58% and during his time in Baltimore he would put up a considerable premium in that stat to the rest of the league. His hitting wouldn’t be anything too special – at least not in the regular season – but it wasn’t crazy bad as he averaged .239/7/34 seasons during his ten-plus years there. But he would do an excellent job continuing the tradition of catching a premium pitching staff during most of his run there and he would be half of a battery of 16 Cy Young winners during his career. Twice during his Baltimore run he led the AL in fielding percentage, once in assists, and once in double plays. He sort of famously would often be at odds with manager Earl Weaver though he was certainly Earl’s type of player. And he would generally step things up in the post-season: he hit .400 in the ’79 playoffs and .286 in that year’s Series and then had his best run in the ’83 Series when every one of his five hits went for extra bases and he won the Series MVP. In ’85 and ’86 Rick’s strikeout totals ratcheted up a bunch in part due to bone chips floating around in his elbow. By that second season the O’s were in decline mode and at 36 Rick departed Baltimore as a free agent and got surgery to repair the elbow damage.

For the ’87 season Dempsey signed with Cleveland to provide some veteran support and locker room wisdom for a young club that was generally viewed as on the rise (SI picked them to win their division). But that team crashed and burned right away and in the midst of it Rick was having a tough time negotiating his return from surgery. After hitting .177 with zero power in his 141 at bats he was released by the Tribe the following winter. A few months later he was picked up by the Dodgers to pretty much perform the same role, mostly in support of Mike Sciosia. That first year Tommy Lasorda did his best Earl Weaver impersonation, riding a super pitching staff and a well-thought platooning system to the post-season. Rick played an integral part, posting a .255/7/30 season in his 167 at bats and then stroked the ball at a .300 clip as LA surprised first the Mets and then Oakland in winning the whole thing. He would then spend two more seasons in LA in back-up mode, his hitting discounted a bit, but still nailing runners at a significant premium to his peers. In ’91 he signed with Milwaukee as a free agent in the same role and then in ’92 he returned to Baltimore for a few games before he retired as an Oriole at 42. Rick hit .233 for his career with 96 homers and 471 RBI’s and a not too bad .319 OBA. In the post-season he hit .303 with eleven doubles, a homer, and seven RBI’s in 25 games.

 Dempsey was a productive guy both on and off the field. During his career he ran a gym on the left coast with his wife a few years and did some color commentary work for sports events. It was during one of those that he threw a bat at Weaver after the manager chewed him out on air. When he was done playing he became a manager in the minors, first for LA (’93-’95) and then for the Mets (’97-’98), going a combined 345-358 and winning a title. He then moved up top to coach for the Dodgers (’99-2000) and Baltimore (2002-’06). In 2001 he was a broadcaster for Baltimore, a role he has also taken since 2007 for the local cable affiliate, MASN. He also designs his own ties and has an eponymous food court entry at Camden Yards. He has some good YouTube videos, including his rain delay activities, and a three-part interview from 2008 when he was inducted into his high school’s hall of fame.

Rick gets the star bullets for his minors work though that second one seems redundant. His relationship to Jack Dempsey was also mentioned on his ’75 card though I have been unable to verify it away from these instances. I guess several Yankees trying to break up that Sudakis fight wouldn’t contest it. If you do check out the YouTube vid for his high school – Rick is good but the interviewer is super lame – the final installment ends with him signing a few baseballs, all with his left hand. I wonder why he became a righty for baseball.

These two were ships in the night, missing each other a couple years in both NY and Baltimore:

1. Dempsey and Lee May ’76 to ’80 Orioles;

2. May and Mike Torrez ’75 Orioles.

#518 - Derrel Thomas

Derrel Thomas looks like he’s the only guy on the field at Riverfront. That makes this photo a pretty good representation of its subject since over the course of his career Derrel put in time at every position outside of pitcher. In his sophomore year of ’73 he put in most of his time at shortstop after playing mainly second his rookie year. In ’74 he’d start some games at second and for the Giants a couple years later he put in his first considerable amount of time in the outfield. In his return trip to San Diego later in the decade he’d do his first base time and a few years later during his long stay in LA he gave catching a shot. That flexibility kept Derrel in the game a long time, which was a good thing since things fell apart for him a bit when he finally left his playing career behind. But right now it’s ’73 and while offensively it was a bit of a step back from his rookie year he did up his stolen base total. He also didn’t get into as much trouble so he was seen as a bit of an anchor for the middle defense. At least for a little while.

Derrel Thomas grew up in LA where he played the big three sports and in baseball was a pitcher, shortstop, and first baseman. His senior year he hit .520 and he was made the first pick by Houston in the ’69 winter draft. He hit pretty well that summer in A ball and then upped his average when moved to Triple A. The same thing happened in a ’70 split between Double A and Triple A, though the averages weren’t quite as high and he began the season at the higher level. Those two years he played mostly at shortstop. In ’71 he moved primarily to second, had a very good year at Triple A, and made his debut in a late game in Houston. After the season he, Bill Greif, and Mark Schaeffer went to San Diego for pitcher Dave Roberts.

With the Padres Thomas was immediately placed on the big league roster and his rookie year he was primarily based at second. He was considered a bit of a showboat but had a pretty solid rookie season and made the Baseball Digest rookie team as its shortstop (Dwain Anderson, one of Derrel’s back-ups in ’73, was the Topps guy). But his real notoriety came via some of the trouble he got into with management: he complained loudly when he was briefly sent down to Triple A; and he refused to wear his seatbelt during a flight, nearly getting the whole team kicked off the plane. Things settled a bit in ’73 and in ’74 the Padres got Glenn Beckert to play second, initially relegating Derrel to understudy status. Beckert was hurt at the beginning of the season though, and with new teammate Bobby Tolan helping to corral his negative energy, Derrel had a strong offensive start to the season, hitting over .300 well into May. Then when Beckert came back he didn’t have his offensive pop any more, so Derrel continued as the de facto starter at second and also filled in at third when the bats of Dave Hilton and Dave Roberts went cold. He had a much better year offensively - .247 with 24 doubles and 41 RBI’s – but after that season he was traded to San Francisco for Butch Metzger and Tito Fuentes. In ’75 Derrel replaced Fuentes at second and had his best offensive year, hitting .276 with 99 runs scored and 28 stolen bases. In ’76 the Giants got Marty Perez from Atlanta and between that acquisition and some down time from a thigh injury, Derrel’s stats pretty much halved and his average slid 40 points. In ’77 he bounced to over 500 at bats and his stats all revived to close to where they were in ’75 along with ten triples. That was also the season he had over half of his starts in the outfield, primarily center. After that year he returned to San Diego for Mike Ivie. For the Padres this time he was super-sub, getting over ten starts at first, second, third, and center, but only hitting .227 for the season. After that year he left as a free agent.

Thomas became only the second free agent signed by the Dodgers – the first was Terry Forster – and his signing was primarily to replace Lee Lacy, who had moved on to Pittsburgh. He would stay in LA the next five seasons, where he played varying amounts each season. The most was his first season of ’79 when he became the starting center fielder due to injuries to Rick Monday and Reggie Smith. He hit .256 with 44 RBI’s and 18 stolen bases in 406 at bats in what was by far his biggest offensive year there. In ’80 he got into some games at catcher but played mostly center and the infield. He hit .266 that year and then .248 in ’81 for the Series winners. He got into all three post-season series that year and also made headlines when a boat he was piloting was seized by the FBI coming into the harbor in San Diego (it belonged to Harold Smith, a boxing promoter who’d embezzled a bunch of money). In ’82 he missed about half the season after breaking a leg colliding with coach Danny Ozark while rounding third base. After the ’83 season he left as a free agent, dogged by an accusation that he was one of the players caught up in the drug investigation going on then, which was later rescinded. He hooked up with Montreal for the ’84 season for whom he played shortstop and left field before being sold to California in September for the stretch drive. In ’85 he hooked up with the Miami Marlins, an independent A team, before being sold to the Phillies in May where he played things out. Derrel finished with a .249 average with 140 stolen bases and in the post-season hit .263 in 15 games.

In ’86 Thomas played in Mexico, for the Tabasco Ganaderos, before returning to The States. In ’87 he managed the independent Class A Boise Hawks but after a 9-29 start he was let go. In ’88 and ’89 he managed at Leuzinger, an LA high school, but that experience didn’t go terribly well and resulted in the team quitting on him. During his time there he also managed a strip club, which he continued to do until he returned to Dorsey, his alma mater, to manage the team in ’92. Shortly thereafter he got busted in a sting operation for trying to sell cocaine. He pleaded no contest, served a little time, and got back into ball by umpiring local high school games beginning in ’94. He got back into coaching and in ’97 managed the Billings Mustangs, a Reds rookie team, going 39-32. That ended when he was again accused of possessing cocaine. In ’98 he managed the Tri-City Posse, an independent team with a loose affiliation with the Devil Rays. He was then a roving minor league coach for a few years before hooking up as a scout for the Rays (2002-’05), and then Oakland (’06) and LA (’06-present). He also began a foundation a few years ago that is baseball-based and seeks to inspire kids through the game.

Derrel’s star bullets are all one-liners from ’72. He was an all-city wide receiver.

These two guys never faced each other:

1. Thomas and Bobby Murcer ’75 to ’76 Giants;

2. Murcer and Mike Hegan ’73 to ’74 Yankees.

#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.

#360 - Greg Luzinski

On the eve of the 2012 season we come to The Bull, who looks appropriately at home in a dugout somewhere actually away from home. Greg was one of the young guys who would help turn the Phillies franchise around from its moribund early Seventies ways. In '73 he continued his promising slugging, topping 90 RBI's for the first time and had a streak of five homers in five games. He also had a run of two games in which his shots hit the upper deck in Veterans Stadium, something which had only happened ten times total after he did it since the stadium opened in '71. It wasn't all good, though. Greg suffered a pretty nasty slump early in the season and by the end of May was only hitting .211 with 14 RBI's. Then after hitting well over .300 the rest of the way he got nailed in the face with a Bailor Moore pitch in late September that forced him to leave the game. But The Bull was back in the lineup the next day. Once Mike Schmidt got established in the year of this set, the two of them would have a few years of being a pretty powerful slugging duo. That's why Greg's resting up in the dugout.

Greg Luzinski grew up in the Chicago area where when he got to Notre Dame High School he was a 500-foot hitting catcher and a sought-after fullback/linebacker in football. He'd already signed a letter of intent to go to Kansas in the latter sport and when he was negotiating with a Phillies scout both USC and Notre Dame - the university - called to recruit him. That pushed the Phillies offer up to $45,000 and Greg signed as a first rounder in '68. That summer he hit 13 homers with 43 RBI's in 57 games of A ball for his first manager Dallas Green, who would also be his last manager in Philly. He also suffered a horrible beaning that put him in the hospital after blood started coming out his ear. The next year, again in A ball, he moved to first base while torching league pitching. He did that the next two seasons while moving up a rung each year. In '70 he got a short look up top and then in '71 hit .300 while backing up Deron Johnson at first. In spring of '72 he made the Phillies for good.

When Luzinski came up for good, Deron Johnson was still the man at first so Greg was converted to an outfielder. Never a premier defenseman he became the regular guy in left where good friend Larry Bowa could help him out by taking a lot of fly balls to shallow left. Philly was pretty awful in '72 and outside of Steve Carlton's magical year there were few bright spots. The Bull provided one when he hit the facsimile Liberty Bell in center field with a homer, a shot estimated to have traveled over 550 feet. After the big uptick in '73 his '74 season was pretty much killed when he tore a ligament in his right knee while chasing a foul ball. That put him out of action for a couple months and his power fell off to seven homers and 48 RBI's. But Greg would make up for that huge the next three seasons as Philly became a contender: from '75 to '77 he averaged .305 with over 31 homers and 115 RBI's in thee All-Star seasons. In '76 and '77 - his best season with a .309 average, 39 homers, and 130 RBI's - he helped lead the team to the playoffs. He would hit pretty well in those post-season games but famously dropped a fly ball in a loss to the Dodgers in '77. But that season, in a little-publicized move, he renegotiated his contract to have over $22,000 retained by the Phillies each year. The money was used each season to buy under-privileged kids tickets to Phillies games. In '78 he continued his All-Star ways by tagging 35 homers and 101 RBI's but the average fell to .265. That year was widely considered a slump and in '79 he showed up a bunch of pounds lighter. Then that year things got worse as leg ailments pulled the numbers down a bunch more - 18 homers and 81 RBI's. While there were some physical ailments, a telling stat - he hit .303 on the road and .187 at home - indicated that the always friendly Phillies fans booing were making an impact. Greg was viewed by many as the principal reason the club faded down the stretch. By '80 his knees were going south, he was losing starting time in left to Lonnie Smith and Greg Gross, and his stats all bottomed out: .228 with 19 homers and 56 RBI's in 368 at bats. After the Phillies won the Series he asked for a trade back home to Chicago where he could be a DH and rest his knees. He was sold to the White Sox the following March.

In Chicago Luzinski did DH and the rest impacted his stats nicely. In the strike year of '81 he boosted his average nearly 40 points and picked up across the board. In '82 he posted over 100 RBI's for the first time in four seasons and in '83 he hit 32 homers with 95 RBI's. Late in that season he put in some games at first base since the ChiSox were on the way to winning their division and there would be no DH in that year's Series. But the work in the field was short-lived after they lost to Baltimore in the playoffs. Greg returned for the '84 season, played out his contract, and retired. He finished with a .276 average, 307 homers, 1,128 RBI's, and a .363 OBA. In the post-season he hit .244 with five homers and twelve RBI's in 23 games.

Luzinski had done a nice job investing while he played which allowed him to step things down a bit income-wise and coach both baseball and football at his son's high school in Jersey, Holy Cross. His son was one of his successes and went on to play minor league ball for eight seasons. Greg coached there through '92 and then went to join old manager Tony LaRussa in Oakland from '93 to '95. He then coached with the Royals from '96 to '97 after which he relocated to Florida. Since then he has played golf on his artificial knee and has had an eponymous food concession stand at the Phillies new ballpark.


Greg gets some excellent star bullets about his time in the minors. The semi-pro ball was in the summer following his junior year in high school when he was only 16.

Bobby Tolan comes in handy again:

1. Luzinski and Bobby Tolan '76 Phillies;
2. Tolan and Brent Strom '75 Padres.

#356 - Jerry Koosman

Jerry Koosman is another Met who had a roller-coaster ride of a season in '73. Jerry began the year by going 5-0 with a 1.79 ERA and was a big reason the Mets were able to play .500 ball with zero hitting. Then came a horrible 3-14 run that lasted through mid-August and the team in sixth place, nine games back. But from then on Jerry went on a 6-1 tear that included almost 32 straight shutout innings. Judging by his expression here, this photo was probably snapped at Shea during the bad middle streak. Maybe if he pitched from the mound instead of just off the on-deck circle he'd have done better. From wherever he pitched he would go on to have a pretty good post-season and in the end nearly win the whole thing.

Jerry Koosman was a farm boy from Minnesota who took a long road to the majors. A pitcher since a young kid he was playing semi-pro ball while still in high school. He then briefly attended the University of Minnesota but left when he realized the school didn't have a baseball team and transferred to a school in North Dakota called the State School of Science. At both schools he worked toward a degree in engineering. Then before the season began he was drafted into the Army in '62 and was stuck on a stateside base the next two years. When he got a chance to play on an Army team he was spotted by a Mets scout and signed with them in late '64. He had a big fastball and his first season in '65, split between A and Double A, he fanned over a batter an inning but otherwise went 5-11 with a high ERA. Prior to the '66 season he was taught a slider which he picked up fast and back in A ball that year he went 12-7 with a 1.38 ERA and again over a strikeout an inning. In '67 he moved back up to Double A, went 11-10 with a 2.43 ERA, and got in a couple games in NY with less than impressive results.

Koosman kicked off the '68 season by getting a Topps rookie card on which he was pictured with Nolan Ryan. I have not checked but I have to believe that the pair's 544 career wins are the most represented on a rookie card ever. The card would be a good omen for Jerry as his 19 wins and 2.08 ERA got him a spot on the All-Star roster and named TSN Rookie Pitcher of the Year. The next season was pretty much just as good and was punctuated by an excellent Series in which he won both starts. In '70 he missed a few starts after getting whacked in the face with a line drive but still had a nice record and in '71 a back muscle tear put him on the DL for a while also. In the '72 season the loss of manager Gil Hodges hit Jerry hard and he needed to spend some time in the pen to get his rhythm back. Then after his up-and-down '73 he won 15 for a pretty poor team and 14 the next year, both seasons posting very good ERAs. Then in '76 he had maybe his best season, going 21-10 with 200 strikeouts and a 2.69 ERA, finishing second in NL Cy Young voting to San Diego's Randy Jones. But then things hit the skids. Fast, the Mets got horrible, and though Jerry would post a pretty good ERA the next two years his combined record over that time was 11-35. After the '78 season he went to the Twins for Greg Fields and Jesse Orosco. He was the last player traded away from the '69 Series team (Ed Kranepool would retire the following year).

Back home in Minnesota Kranepool experienced a revival, going 20-13 with a 3.38 ERA in '79. He won 16 in '80 and then between some back pain and down time from the strike was off to a 3-9 start in '81 when he was traded to the White Sox that August for Randy Johnson - no, not THAT one - and a couple minor leaguers. He then went only 1-4 the rest of that year but did pull his ERA down nearly a run. In '82 and '83 he went 11-7 both seasons for Chicago before he was traded prior to the '84 season for fellow old guy - and '69 playoff opponent - Ron Reed. Jerry went 14-15 with a 3.25 ERA for Philly his first year and then 6-4 his second after which he was released. At 42 he was done and he finished with a 220-209 record, a 3.36 ERA, 140 complete games, 33 shutouts, over 2,500 strikeouts, and 17 saves. In the post-season he was 4-0 with a 3.79 ERA in seven games. He has a great bio on the SABR site.

Shortly after Koosman retired he founded an organization called America's Best that was intended to represent young baseball players but was never given authorization by MLB, which was to be the group's selling point. When that failed he became more active at an engineering company in which he bought a stake while playing, Mesa Technologies. Eventually he bought out a bunch of other investors and moved the company to Wisconsin. He has remained affiliated with the firm ever since and worked there through 2008, except for parts of 1991 and '92 when he did some pitching coach work for the Mets organization. In 2009 shortly after appearing at Citi Field for a '69 reunion he served six months for tax evasion after he got caught up in the big anti-tax movement that also nailed actor Wesley Snipes.


Jerry gets some props for his Series work in his star bullets. Regarding the cartoon, his catcher in service ball was a Queens native whose dad was head usher at Shea. The dad had a good relationship with Mets management and turned them on to Jerry. When a scout went down to see him they offered him $4,000 on the spot. Jerry shot the guy down after his friends told him to hold out for more money. The Mets ended up signing him for about $1,900. That experience should have kept him away from the advice of those anti-tax guys.

This one uses an ex-Pirate to help:

1. Koosman and Gene Clines '75 Mets;
2. Clines and Jeff Burroughs '76 Rangers;
3. Burroughs and Dave Nelson '71 to '75 Senators/Rangers.

#346 - Ron Reed

We have had a bunch of guys who played both hoops and baseball in high school and a few who went on to have significant college years in both sports. But Ron here is the only guy in this set to go on to have careers in both the NBA and MLB. Here he seems to be expressing his full 6'6" height at Shea. '73 was a bummer of a season for him as a couple losing streaks early in the season and elbow pain that worsened through the year produced by far the worst record of his career. He was on the shelf by early July which given his role as a starter was one of the reasons Atlanta could never take advantage of its big power surge that year. By that summer he was probably wishing he was back on the court.

Ron Reed grew up in basketball-crazy La Porte, Indiana, a pretty quick drive from Notre Dame. In high school he pitched pretty well but hoops was his game and he went to South Bend on a scholarship for it. By the time Ron was done in '65 he had built a career that allowed him to be ranked one of the top 25 ND hoops players of the 20th Century. He was an especially good rebounder and a pretty good scorer, ranking third all-time for the school in the former and in the top 25 in the latter. He was drafted that year by the Detroit Pistons. The Pistons also got him a tryout with the Braves to appease their future star. Ron had only played his senior year at ND in baseball and the Detroit GM knew the Milwaukee one and the tryout went well. He got in a few games that summer in A ball and did well, going 3-2 with a 1.47 ERA. After an off-season in Detroit he returned in '66 to pitch excellent ball at three levels in the minors: 5-2 with a 1.76 ERA in A ball; 3-1 with a 1.20 ERA in Double A; and 5-2 with a 3.52 ERA in Triple A. At the end of the year he got a couple starts in Atlanta and threw pretty well. The Braves then wanted Ron to throw winter ball but instead he returned to the Pistons where he didn't play as much as he liked and after his last game - in which he scored 22 off the bench - he told player-coach Dave DeBusschere - one of the very few guys who pulled off the double himself - that he was going baseball full-time. After his late spring training start he spent the bulk of the season back in Triple A, going 14-10 with a 2.51 ERA. When he got called up later in the season, it was pretty much for good this time.

In '68 Reed joined the Atlanta rotation and pitched well enough to get an All-Star nod. The next year he upped things by winning 18 on the division-winners. He got bombed in his only start against the Mets but was slotted as the number two guy for '70 when he broke his collarbone in a spring training game. He missed a bunch of the season and pretty much took the rest of the year to get going. In '71 he nearly doubled his win total and he then remained in the rotation through '74, when he won 10 and improved his ERA by a run. In '75 he was off to a so-so start when he was traded to the Cards for Ray Sadecki and Elias Sosa. In St. Louis he improved things markedly, winning nine the rest of the way and losing a run off his ERA. Following the season he was traded to the Phillies for outfielder Mike Anderson.

When he got to Philadelphia, Reed was told he would be moving to the bullpen, about which he initially wasn't too happy. But he settled in nicely to the team's effective bullpen by committee and became a significant producer the next eight seasons, averaging around 60 games, over 100 innings, and double figures in saves each year. He also improved his ERA significantly and right away experienced an almost annual return to the post-season. He went 57-38 in Philly and won 13 in '79 and finally won a ring in '80 when he pitched shutout ball in the Series. After the '83 season he was traded to the White Sox for Jerry Koosman, the guy he faced in his first post-season game back in '69. After a pretty good year for Chicago - 0-6 but with 12 saves and a 3.06 ERA - he was released the following spring and retired. He finished with a record of 146-140 with a 3.46 ERA, 55 complete games, eight shutouts, and 103 saves. He is one of very few pitchers to win and save over 100 games. In the post-season he went 0-2 with a 5.06 ERA and a save in 22 games. He could also be a pretty good hitter, batting .217 during his years in Philly.

I have read conflicting accounts of what Reed has done since playing. One has said that he returned to Indiana and taught there for many years. Another that he moved back to the Atlanta area to work in finance. One thing for sure is that since the late Nineties he has been associated with a company called Team MVP, whose site I link to here.


Ron gets a couple good early-career star bullets. He was pretty much a success right off the bat in baseball which led him to quit hoops. With the Pistons he averaged eight points and 6.5 rebounds per game in his two seasons as the sixth or seventh man.

We can use North's only LA season to hook up these guys:

1. Reed and Johnny Oates '73 to '75 Braves and '76 Phillies;
2. Oates and Bill North '77 Dodgers.

#320 - Dusty Baker

Dusty Baker gets a shot at Shea and a "10" card for his sophomore season. He had a good year and while he didn't hit 40 homers like a few of his teammates, he did score 101 runs, get 99 RBI's, and hit .288. Following up a .321 average his first full season, Dusty was thought by many to be the heir apparent to Hank Aaron, at least in the average department. That was not to be but despite a couple off seasons Dusty would have a pretty solid career and be around baseball for a long time after this card.

Dusty Baker hailed from California and was drafted out of high school - in the 26th round! - by the Braves in '67. Despite his late pick he played that summer in Double A but not too much. The next year he missed time for his military hitch and then hit .325 between two Single A stops. In '69 he had a mediocre year split between Double and Triple A, but then in '70 and '71 he hit .325 and .311 - but without too much power so I still don't understand the Aaron comparison - at Triple A Richmond. All those seasons he also missed some playing time due to his reserve commitments. He got in some at bats in Atlanta each season from '68 to '71 but with guys out there like Hank Aaron (his brother Tommie was on the team then as well), Rico Carty, Felipe Alou, and Ralph Garr all hitting .300 he couldn't crack the lineup.

In '72 things were pretty messy at first base with Orlando Cepeda's crash and burn. So despite the return of Rico Carty from injury, Hank Aaron had to spend most of his time at first and Baker finally got his shot and took over center field from Sonny Jackson, who had moved out there from shortstop in '71. Dusty used the promotion to his advantage and hit .321 to secure a spot. After his excellent follow-up season, '74 and '75 were pretty mediocre in comparison. Atlanta's offense in general took a huge hit from '73 and Dusty averaged .259 with 20 homers and 70 RBI's. Both years he also spent a bunch of time in right field to make way for Rowland Office. Some games in '74 he would play both positions which he said later influenced his offense in a negative way. After the '75 season he was traded to the Dodgers in a pretty big deal that brought Jimmy Wynn, Lee Lacy, and Tom Paciorek to Atlanta.

Hopes were high for Baker in LA in '76. The team publicly announced that they made the trade with the expectation that Baker would do for the team that year what Wynn had done in '74. Talk about a high bar. But things didn't quite go Dusty's way. Bothered by a knee injury, his stats cratered to a .242 average with only four homers and 39 RBI's. But to open the '77 season new LA manager Tommy Lasorda named Dusty his starting left fielder and the response was huge: not only did Dusty hit .291 with 30 homers and 86 RBI's in the regular season but he won two playoff games against the Phillies with homers. After a '74-like '78 he posted big power years in '79 and '80. In the latter year he hit .294 with 29 homers and 97 RBI's to come in fourth in NL MVP voting and win a Silver Slugger. In '81 the power came in substantially but he hit .320 for his second Silver Slugger. He also was named to his first All-Star team and won his Gold Glove in the Dodgers' World Series year. Another All-Star season followed in '82 as he kept his average above .300 and rediscovered his power, with 23 homers and 88 RBI's. After a discounted '83 he left LA and moved to San Francisco as a free agent. For the Giants Dusty split time in right with Jack Clark, hitting .292. He was then traded across the bay to Oakland for a couple minor leaguers. He put up pretty good numbers in '85 but then ran out of gas during '86 and after the season he retired. Dusty finished with a .278 average with 242 homers and 1,013 RBI's. In the post-season he hit .282 with five homers and 21 RBI's in 40 games. His career OBA was .347.

Baker's conversion to the coaching side was pretty much immediate. In '88 he re-joined the Giants as first base coach. From '89 to '92 he was the team's hitting coach. He became the manager in '93, won 103 games, and NL Manager of the Year. He would win that award twice more during his stay in San Francisco which lasted until 2002, winning three division titles and reaching the Series his last year. He then moved to Chicago where he managed the Cubs from '03 to '06. His first season there the Cubbies reached the post-season. Things went south in '05 when the team's two franchise pitchers, Kerry Wood and Mark Prior, both got hurt and Dusty was accused of going Billy Martin on the pitching staff and over-using its aces. In '07 he took over Cincinnati where he continues to manage after returning the Reds to the playoffs in 2010.


At this point in his career Dusty had good enough numbers to not have to mention basically the same info in two star bullets. Dusty had a pretty interesting time in high school. He grew up in Riverside where Bobby Bonds was on his Little League team. When he was a junior he moved to Carmichael where he and his siblings were the only black kids in the school district and Dusty was a four-sport star including - obviously - track. When he signed with the Braves, his dad - who was a strict guy and wanted his son to go to college - sued the Braves to block the deal. When he lost he put Dusty's money in a trust until he was 21.

Given the closeness of Dusty's given name to a Chuck Berry tune it is appropriate to post some music news. On this date in '74, two new number ones hit. In the States Ringo Starr had his second chart-topper as a solo guy with "You're 16." On the song he was backed by former band-mate Paul McCartney - on kazoo, of all things. In the UK the new top spot belonged to "Tiger Feet" by Mud. I never heard of these guys or this song and just checked out the video on YouTube. Think of something halfway between Styx and the Partidge Family and you get the picture. The violinist wears a cape which tells you all you probably need to know.

So at least Johnnie B and Randy were both in the same league:

1. Baker and Rick Monday '77 to '83 Dodgers;
2. Monday and Randy Hundley '72 to '73 Cubs.

#300 - Pete Rose

Pete Rose brings us back to the action shots, his just after he apparently dragged a bunt down the third base line at Shea. Pete has the fourth Reds action shot taken at Shea so far - Billingham, Bench, and Clay Carroll have the others - and given the size of the crowds I have been tempted to say they are playoffs shots. Billingham and Carroll did pitch in game five but in Bench's shot it looks like he hit his down the third base line and Seaver appears to be on the bench. But Bench hit only against Seaver in that game. Plus I have seen no obvious Rose at bats in any of the Shea games that would be a bunt situation. So I may be reaching. In any case, '73 was one of the best seasons of Rose's excellent career at this point and for all his hits - nobody else in the Seventies except Joe Torre in '71 and Rod Carew in '77 had as many - and for sparking the Reds to the division title he won the NL MVP. I think the most surprising thing about this card is that it only represents about halfway through Pete's career.

Pete Rose was about as local as you can get for a future Red. He was born and raised in Cincinnati and played football and baseball in high school. In the latter sport he would frequently play second base and his DP partner was Ed Brinkman, who was the more sought-after player. Pete's dad was a big athlete - he played local football for the first Bengals team - and he had Pete stay back a year in high school which meant he was ineligible to play his senior year. Instead he played for a local amateur team and in the summer of 1960 he was signed by the Reds. That summer he played D ball and hit .277 while playing second and third. The next year he upped his average to .330 - with 30 triples - while playing exclusively second and in '62 he hit for the same average in A ball. In '63 he was named second baseman on the Reds, replacing incumbent Don Blasingame (and pushing aside a young Cookie Rojas).

Rose started his Major League career strongly, allowing his hustle to replace some defensive inadequacies at second, and putting up a pretty good average. He won NL Rookie of the Year, and had one of the top OBA's on the team. He did his military hitch during the off-season and in '64 experienced a bit of a sophomore jinx, spending some time on the bench. He came back strong in '65, leading the NL in hits and boosting his OBA to .382. He made his first All-Star team and recorded the first of what would be nine straight .300 seasons. In '66 the Reds traded Frank Robinson and though Pete again had over 200 hits the team sort of had a crap year. So in '67 they moved people around a bunch and '66 ROY Tommy Helms moved to second as Pete took over left field. In '68 Tommy Harper moved to Cleveland and Pete moved to right field, where he stayed through '71, and won his first batting championship. In '69 he had probably his best offensive year, adding a .428 OBA to his NL-leading average and 120 runs. He also won his first Gold Glove. In '70 he got his first post-season experience and in '72 he led the NL in hits for the fourth time. That year with the acquisition of Cesar Geronimo, who had a stronger arm, Pete returned to left field. From '74 to '76 Pete led all of baseball in runs and doubles and the latter two years won two Series rings. A big part of the Reds' success those two seasons was Pete's move to third base which both plugged a defensive hole there and allowed George Foster to become a full-time outfielder. After two more excellent seasons - the last in which he recorded his 3,000th hit - Pete left Cincinnati as a free agent and signed with the Phillies.

Rose's first season in Philly in '79 saw him hit .331 with a .418 OBA. Since the Phillies had Mike Schmidt at third, Pete took over first base. The next season his average fell to .282 but he turned it on in the playoffs against Houston and won another ring against the Royals. In '81 he led the NL in hits for his last time with 140 in the strike season and hit .325, also the last time he would hit over .300. His average moved significantly lower the next couple years and after an '83 in which he hit .245 he was released. But at age 43 Pete was within a few hits of 4,000 so Montreal picked him up. As planned, he got his 4,000th as an Expo and then returned to Cincinnati in a mid-season trade for Tom Lawless. After hitting .365 the balance of the '84 season Pete, now the manager as well, played himself as the starting first baseman in '85, allowing him to break Ty Cobb's hit record that season. After a short '86 he was done as a player. He finished with a .303 average on 4,256 hits, 2,165 runs, 756 doubles, 160 homers, 1,314 RBI's, and a .375 OBA. He hit .321 in 67 post-season games. He made 17 All-Star games, won two Gold Gloves, and a Silver Slugger and led the NL in hits seven times, doubles five times, runs four times, and average three times. He had over 200 hits ten seasons.

Rose managed the Reds from '84 to '89, going 412-373 for his career. In '89 he ran afoul of commissioner Bart Giamatti for allegedly betting on baseball games - possibly including his own - charges he initially denied but has slowly taken responsibility for over the years. The '89 agreement he forged with baseball banished him from association with the game and so far has wrecked his chance for election to the Hall. He was also busted for tax evasion and served some jail time in the early Nineties. He has since written a couple books, pleaded his case for reinstatement, and supports himself through appearances and memorabilia sales.



Pete has a great card back deserving of the milestone card in this set. He would only hit .214 in the '72 Series. An interesting record he has is the most career RBI's for a player that never hit 100 or more in a single season.

We'll use some old guys for this hook-up:

1. Rose and Deron Johnson '63 to '67 Reds;
2. Johnson and Felipe Alou '68 Braves;
3. Alou and Gene Michael '71 to '73 Yankees.

#295 - Rick Monday

Bummer! I missed posting Rick Monday's card on a Monday by a day. But I'm generally behind so I didn't want to slow my postings down any more. Rick is smiling broadly at Candlestick in what was arguably the best season of his career to date in '73. A power-hitting center fielder who would bat at the top of the Chicago order, he recorded highs until then in runs - 93 - and homers, both of which he would surpass in '76. Rick got there in time to solidify the outfield with Jose Cardenal, Billy Williams, and Jerry Morales; unfortunately though, that time coincided with the vaunted infield shutting down and it would be a while before he would again see any post-season action with a whole other team.

Rick Monday was born in Arkansas and when he was a year old moved to California. He grew up a local multi-sport star and when he came out of high school was being chased by a bunch of teams. He opted for Bobby Winkle's pitch and went to Arizona State instead in '63. After sitting out his freshman year he played summer ball for the Goldpanners in Alaska with Tom Seaver, Graig Nettles, and Gary Sutherland. Returning to ASU he won College Player of the Year with a .362 average and led the team to the CWS title (though Sal Bando was the tournament MVP). He was then drafted and signed as the first guy ever by Kansas City in '65 for $104,000. He finished up the year in A ball where he poked 13 homers and 44 RBI's. In '66 he moved up to Double A and again showed pretty good power with 23 homers and 72 RBI's. He also posted a .384 OBA and struck out 143 times. Big K totals would be a feature of his career. After a couple games up top that summer he returned in '67 to fill the starting spot in center field. While his rookie numbers were nothing special, his homer and RBI totals led the team. He also made that year's Topps Rookie All-Star Team. The next year he was one of the few AL guys to pull his average up and he enjoyed his first All-Star selection, but the arrival of fellow ASU stars Bando and Reggie pushed him all over the lineup so his power numbers came in a bit. As the A's improved markedly with the addition of other players, Rick's lineup movement would be characteristic of his stay in Oakland. After a couple seasons under John McNamara, the team was led by Al Dark in '71. Dark began platooning Rick with Angel Magual, which meant that Monday wasn't one of his manager's biggest fans. After playing only one game in the AL playoffs that year Rick was traded to the Cubs for fellow '65 All-American Ken Holtzman.

For the Cubs Monday would be a welcome addition. Always a hustler who played a very good center field, he enjoyed lineup stability he never had in Oakland, always appearing near or at the top of the order. His walk to K ratio improved and his numbers became more consistent. In '74 he hit .294 as the rest of his numbers nearly matched '73's. In '75 he maxed out his doubles with 29 and nearly had as many walks as strikeouts. In '76 he finished third in NL homers and runs scored, with 32 and 107 respectively. That April he also raised his profile significantly when in LA he rescued an American flag from a couple of fans who jumped on the field and were about to burn it as an act of protest. After that season he was traded to the Dodgers with Mike Garman for Bill Buckner and Ivan DeJesus.

Monday kicked off his LA career as the primary guy in center although his at bats came way in since he shared time there with Reggie Smith and Glenn Burke. His homer totals more than halved but that turned out to be OK since there was plenty of power in the lineup. That year he also returned to the post-season for the first time since '71. The next year he split center with Billy North, who ironically more-or-less replaced him in Oakland. Rick's offensive numbers improved that season and in '79 he was off to a nice start when he injured his ankle and missed pretty much the rest of the season. By the time he returned in '80 Rudy Law and then Ken Landreaux - yet another ASU guy - had taken over in center and Rick would be a reserve guy. But his '80 numbers were pretty good and in '81 he was a super-sub, hitting .315 with 11 homers and 25 RBI's in only 130 at bats. The icing on the cake that year was when he hit a playoff-winning homer against Steve Rogers to put LA in The Series. After another clutch year in '82 - 42 RBI's in 210 at bats, Rick then played out his career in LA until released in June of '84. He hit .264 lifetime with 241 homers, 775 RBI's, and a .361 OBA. In the post-season he hit .210 in 30 games.

Immediately after playing Monday moved into broadcasting, hosting a local pre-game show for the Dodgers beginning in '85 as well as a play-by-play gig on cable. He also did some newscasting and called the '88 CWS. From '89 to '92 he called Padres games on television. He returned to LA in '93 and since then has done both radio and TV work as both the color and the play-by-play guy.

Rick has some pretty good star bullets. Defensively he also led the NL in fielding in '72 and ranks high in lifetime stats in center: he is in the top 75 in assists and double plays and in the top 50 in putouts. He also played in the game in '76 in which Mike Schmidt hit four out so he's been on both sides of that one. He may be the first guy in this set who actually ended up doing for a living what his cartoon indicated.

Big trades are big helps here:

1. Monday and Fergie Jenkins '72 to '73 Cubs;

2. Jenkins and Steve Foucault '74 to '75 Rangers.

#283 - Mike Schmidt

Well this is nice. After a pretty dry run, we get the second Hall of Famer in four cards and that doesn't even count the guys detailed on the Giants team card. Mike Schmidt shows us his stance on his last card sans mustache at a site that frankly has me mystified. He is in a road uniform so that can't be a Phillies bullpen cart behind him. That would leave either Riverfront or Busch but they were both turf fields and Mike is standing on grass. So I'm guessing it's a spring training shot. Wherever it is Mike looks a tad pained which was how the '73 season must have affected him: lots of strikeouts, lots of boos, a sub-.200 average, and not enough power. But that would all change fast.

Mike Schmidt came out of Ohio and went on to play ball at Ohio University. There he was twice an All-American shortstop where he ironically had a tough time breaking into the lineup his freshman year. But incumbent Rich McKinney - who went on to play for the White Sox, among other teams - got drafted and Mike put up some good numbers in local summer ball. In his three years on the OU team he hit .326 with 27 homers and 98 RBIs in 386 at bats and in '70 led them to the College World Series. In '71 he was drafted and signed by the Phillies and that summer played Double A ball at Reading, sticking to shortstop and displaying good power for that position but a lot of K's and not enough average. After a winter in PR he went to Eugene, a Triple A team, played mostly second, and boosted his offensive numbers significantly. By the end of the season he was up in Philadelphia.

After the '72 season the Phillies traded incumbent third baseman Don Money to the Brewers and handed Schmidt the job. It was a tough first year but manager Danny Ozark was a fan and stuck with him. Ozark was rewarded in '74 when Mike flirted with .300 much of the season, led the NL in homers, and nearly doubled his walk total, rendering his high strikeouts pretty much moot. He also made the first of what would be 12 All-Star teams. Mike would lead the NL in homers for three consecutive seasons and not coincidentally his arrival helped propel the team from division doormat to division winner by '76, the last of those seasons. That year he also acquired what would be the first of ten Gold Gloves - nine consecutive - at third base. He did an excellent job on turf and was a specialist at barehanding chops to the bag. When added to his defensive work, his offensive show indicated a pretty complete player. Besides leading the NL in homers eight times, he also led in RBIs and walks four times, OBA three times, and slugging five times. After the three division winners from '76 to '78, the '79 team lost out to the Pirates but Mike set new highs in homers - 45 - and with 120 walks. But the best was yet to come.

1980 would be the year of third basemen. George Brett flirted with .400 most of the year and Schmidt ratcheted things up with 48 homers and 121 RBIs to win his first MVP award. The two would meet in the Series and after a brief slowdown in the NL playoffs against Houston, Mike resumed his hot hitting putting up two homers and seven RBIs in the six games with his .381 average for the winners. Then in '81 he had probably his best offensive year with 31 homers, 91 RBIs, and career highs in average (.316) and OBA (.453) even though a third of the season was wiped out by the strike. Those stats got him his second MVP. He would put up another seven excellent seasons including '86 when he won his third MVP with a .290 average, 37 homers, and 119 RBIs. The award was even more meaningful for him as the year before he had no fun in a season in which he was moved to first base. Early in the '88 season Mike had an injury to his rotator cuff that significantly hurt his ability to both hit and field. Ultimately that injury led to his retirement early in the '89 season. He finished with a .267 average, 548 homers, 1,595 RBIs, and a .380 OBA. He also stole 174 bases and added six Silver Sluggers to his awards total. Defensively he is third all time in assists at third base. In the post-season he hit .236 with four homers and 16 RBIs in 36 games.

Schmidt has had a moderately public profile since he finished playing. He coached for a couple seasons and from 2004-'05 managed in the minors. He also did some broadcasting for a season. Most of his energy has been spent on various promotions and activities for multiple sclerosis research.


Mike's first star bullet encapsulates the numbers that got him onto the OU starting lineup. Regarding the cartoon I remember an article in the first issue of a magazine called "Inside Sports" that partly profiled his love of model trains as well.

On December 2, 1973 The Who, still on their "Quadrophenia" tour, trashed a Montreal hotel room and got thrown in jail. They got out after agreeing to pay $4,000 in damages. The night in the suite with the bars led bassist John Entwistle to write the song "Cell Block Number 7."

This is an interesting hookup:

1. Schmidt and Dick Allen '75 to '76 Phillies;
2. Allen and Doyle Alexander '71 Dodgers.