#67 - Tommy Helms

Here we have yet another Astro card shot in a location that barely resembles a ballfield. While I suppose that could be the outfield fence over Tommy Helms' left shoulder, it seems awfully far away. Frankly it looks much more like a farm what with the fencing and the low buildings. These guys rival the Expos in odd training parks.What wasn't odd was Tommy's '73 season. Tommy topped out in RBI's that year and his average was the best he put up in his three years as a Houston regular. That offense, coupled with his usual sterling work at second base, helped keep Houston in the playoff hunt for a while until his old team and LA steamrolled the division.

Tommy Helms was from Charlotte, NC, where he was chased by at least half a dozen MLB teams before being signed by the Reds in '59 out of HS. Then a shortstop, he started his career that summer in D ball and was a bit challenged. But he rebounded nicely at that level in '60, pulling his batting average up 40 points and his fielding one up over 20. He then moved up the ladder, putting up ten triples in B ball in '61 and then a fat .340 average in A ball the next year. That season enabled him to jump all the way to Triple A in '63 where his average dropped considerably while he got his first work at second base. But '64 saw another nice bounce at the same level to .309 with 69 RBI's as he again played short exclusively. It also got Tommy his first short look in Cincinnati. Most of '65 was spent in Triple A again, where the average moved up to .319 before an extended late season look in which Tommy brought both his position and high average up with him. After that trial he was up for good.

Helms' shortstop spot was still manned by All-Star Leo Cardenas in '66 and his other favored position of second base was taken by another All-Star guy, Pete Rose. But Cincy management wanted Tommy's glove on the field so in the wake of a disastrous trade - see ya Frank Robinson - incumbent third baseman Deron Johnson got moved to the outfield and Tommy got third base, a position he'd never played at any level. But Tommy was an adaptive athlete and he responded by by putting up good enough offensive (.284, 23 doubles, 72 runs) and defensive (only 13 errors) numbers to win the NL Rookie of the Year. In '67 the Reds moved Rose to the outfield, Tony Perez to third, and Tommy to second, the position he would inhabit during the bulk of his career. His numbers stayed pretty consistent the next two years and he would see All-Star appearances in each one. His average dropped a tad the following two seasons although he maintained his defensive excellence, acknowledged by the Gold Gloves he won each year. But following the '71 season he was part of the big trade that brought the Reds Jack Billingham, Joe Morgan, Denis Menke, and Cesar Geronimo for Lee May, Jimmy Stewart, and him.

While it would be tough to be on the wrong side of a trade that built a pennant-winning Machine, Helms helped it pay immediate dividends for the Astros as the team recorded its best record in '72. Tommy teamed with Roger Metzger to solidify the middle infield into one of the best in the league and would remain Houston's starting second baseman through '74, a year in which his offense was comparable to his '73 numbers. After that season, Houston traded Lee May to the Orioles for Enos Cabell and Mike Andrews' younger brother, Rob. Rob was the second baseman of the future and pretty much immediately replaced Tommy. After a year at backup, Tommy went to the Pirates for '76 to sub for Richie Hebner at third. He was then sold to Oakland and then traded back to Pittsburgh in a hugely populated trade that brought the A's two third's of that year's outfield. He finished out the season with Boston as a DH and then was done. Tommy finished with a .269 average with 34 homers and 477 RBI's. In the post-season he hit .241 in eight games. Defensively he is in the top 100 second basemen in career putouts and assists and in the top 65 for double plays and fielding percentage.

Helms stayed close to baseball following retirement, becoming a Texas coach for the '81 and '82 seasons after running his own vending machine business back in NC. In '83 he moved to Cincinnati where he would eventually be joined by his old pal Pete Rose and even did some managing stints for the Reds after Pete was suspended - for bumping an ump - and finally dismissed. Tommy went a combined 28-36 in that role. He then left the Reds at the end of the '89 season to manage in the Cubs system. He would then ten years later manage the independent Atlantic City Surf from 2000-2002. In those roles he went a combined 175-205. What he did during the Nineties or since AC is a mystery but in a 2010 interview he looks awfully good so I guess he did something at which he prospered.

I like the signature; it has some flash but is still legible. It's a bit hard to check the cartoon data - at least for me - but Tommy had an awfully low strikeout ratio.

We are back to crossing leagues, so this exercise may add some miles:

1. Helms and Pete Rose '65 to '71 Reds;
2. Rose and Sparky Lyle '80 to '81 Phillies.

One of the things Blogger does is keep data rolls on the Posts page summing up categories placed in the Labels box. The last post was the 66th card, or 10% of the set. I thought it might be interesting to see some of the totals and other data. Here are some tidbits:

Every playoff year from '64 to '87 is represented by a player from one or more of that year's teams. '57 to '59 and '61 are also represented. There are ten players from the '71 post-season and nine from '72, '74, and '78.

There have been 14 action cards. There have been 38 cards in away uniforms and 19 in home uniforms.

Award-wise, there have been five MVPs, four Rookies of the Year, four Cy Young winners, four Comeback Players of the Year, and two guys from the '73 Topps Rookie Team. There have been nine guys who would one day be enshrined in the Hall of Fame.

Milestone-wise, there have been 13 rookie cards, eight Traded cards, seven cards that were the last ones for that player, and five guys who are now deceased, which I think is pretty good for 37 years down the road.

There have been four cards with the parenthetic names, four cards I have classified as ugly, and two guys who served in Viet Nam.


But the Astros are still the only guys pictured on the horse farm.

#66 - Sparky Lyle

This is Sparky Lyle's last card without his walrus mustache. It is also one of the cards I am classifying as an action shot even though there is nothing happening. Not unless you include that wad of tobacco being chewed. The shot looks like it was taken by the dugout at Yankee Stadium. Spark's '73 was pretty active though it didn't start that way as an off-season ankle injury led to an abbreviated spring training and a save-less April. But in May he caught fire and by the end of June had 19 saves which helped him grab his first All-Star nod. He would finish with 27 saves for the season despite missing some significant time from early August on, again due to the ankle.

Sparky Lyle played American Legion ball in rural PA during high school - his HS didn't have a baseball team - and was signed by the Orioles in '64. After spending that summer as a starter in Rookie ball (not so good) and A ball (quite good), Sparky was left unprotected and taken in the first year draft by the Red Sox. While his first season for Boston didn't produce great numbers - 5-5 with a 4.24 ERA in A ball - it was a very important year for Sparky career-wise because of two things: he met Ted Williams who told Sparky he needed to pick up a slider; and he got moved to the pen. Armed with his new pitch Sparky accelerated his move upward as a nice 8-3 extended season in Double A and fall ball in '66 was followed by a '67 in Triple A during which he went 2-2 with a 1.71 ERA in 16 games that got him elevated to Boston that June.

Once Lyle got to the MLB level he was there to stay and he picked up that summer of '67 where he left off in the minors, throwing excellent ball and adding five saves. An injury in late September kept him from the Series though. Two excellent seasons followed during which Sparky accumulated a total of 28 saves. Then, after not giving up a run until early May a tough spring of '70 led to a poor record and elevated - for him - ERA, though he did record 20 saves. '71 saw the ERA returned to its norm, another 16 saves, and a trade. Prior to the '72 season the Sox, looking for a first baseman after the trade of George Scott to the Brewers, sent Sparky to the Yankees for Danny Cater and Mario Guerrero. The trade worked out damn well for NY.

While the trade hardly matched the Ruth sale from years earlier, it did land the Yankees an All-Star reliever for a backup infielder and a guy that would be out of baseball in three years. Lyle hit the ground running for NY in '72, posting his best numbers to date, including a sub-2.00 ERA, nine wins, and a then-AL record 35 saves (that record was broken the next season by a guy we have already seen, John Hiller). Sparky was viewed as the primary reason the Yanks almost won the division and he would ironically finish higher in MVP voting (third) than in Cy Young voting (7th). After his All-Star '73 he repeated the great/OK pattern in '74 -'75: the first year he went 9-3 with a 1.66 ERA and 15 saves; in '75 as things got a bit testy with manager Bill Virdon, his line was 5-7/3.12/six. In '76 Spark returned to the All-Star game, led the AL with 23 saves, and pitched shutout ball in the post-season. In '77 he stepped up those numbers in his final All-Star season, led the league in games, went 13-5 with a 2.17 ERA and 26 saves, and won the Cy, the first AL reliever to do so. He won two games against KC and one in the Series. The reward for that was being stuck behind free agent Goose Gossage the following season and while the numbers were decent - 9-3/3.47/nine saves - it was a very frustrating season for Lyle as detailed in his diary of that year, "The Bronx Zoo." After repeated requests to be traded he got his wish when after the season he was sent to Texas in a deal that brought the Yankees Dave Righetti.

Things didn't go super well for Lyle once he departed NY. His record woulds be pretty good and his first season in Texas produced a 5-8/3.13/13 saves line. But after his ERA moved up by over a run in '80 Sparky was sent to Philadelphia for the pennant dash and while he threw well he got there too late to make the post-season roster. In '81 he went 9-6 in 48 games but the ERA stayed up there and he only recorded two saves. After a poor start to the '82 season he was sold mid-year to the White Sox in his final year. Sparky finished with a 99-76 record, 238 saves, a 2.88 ERA and 899 games, all in relief. In the post-season he was even better: 3-0 with a 1.69 ERA and a save in his 13 games. And he wasn't a bad hitter, putting up a career batting average of .192.

After playing Lyle made some Miller Lite commercials and spent a few years working the casino circuit. He then returned to baseball in '97 when he became the manager of the Somerset Patriots, a Jersey minor league franchise. He just finished his 13th year there.

The first star bullet refers to a game in '64 in which Lyle pitched 15 innings. The cartoon is very tongue-in-cheek although the author of it may not have known that at the time. Sparky's primary association with birthday cakes was that he enjoyed sitting - naked - on the ones that came for his teammates. This is also courtesy of his book. I do not remember anything from it that specifically related to the '73 season, but there will be other pearls on future posts.

It does seem appropriate to link these two All-Stars with a third:

1. Lyle and Lou Piniella '74 to '78 Yankees;
2. Piniella and Amos Otis '70 to '73 Royals.

#65 - Amos Otis

If you were a Yankee fan in the '70's, Amos Otis was one of those guys that you respected but kind of hated. He was a pretty complete player. His '73 season was a good indication of that: a big power boost got him to 26 homers and 93 RBI's while hitting .300 and a starting All-Star nod in center field. Plus he looked a little like Superfly. Here he is in one of the poor action shots that marred these sets for a while. He is in pretty good focus but everyone behind him looks like they are being viewed through a glass of water. That is probably Chuck Tanner looking out from the dugout which would place this shot at Comiskey. There is some irony regarding the placement of this card in the set, but I will get to that in a bit.

Amos Otis hailed from Mobile, Alabama which may have presaged his time with the Mets since that team's two outfield stars of the late Sixties/early Seventies - Cleon Jones and Tommie Agee - were from Mobile as well. And the Mets did scout Amos but he was drafted by the Red Sox in '65 out of HS as a shortstop. In Rookie ball that summer he got moved to third base since the Sox already had a big deal kid in Rico Petrocelli at shortstop. Amos put up a .329 average while fielding pretty well at his new position. In '66  he got moved to A ball where he played both corners and his offense cooled a bit. But he then hit .360 in fall IL ball only to be left unprotected and be taken by NY in the minor league draft. For the Mets he moved up to Triple A, added outfield to his infield corner positions, and put up a discounted '67 average of .268 but ramped up his base-running with 29 steals. When he came up at the tail end of that year his primary position was center field. '68 was all Triple A where the average moved up to .286, the field time was all first and center, and he rediscovered his power stroke with 15 homers. In '69 Amos made the NY cut titularly as the club's new third baseman - about number 135 in the series -  but then didn't get any starts there until mid-April when Ed Charles was out a couple games. The Mets gave him three starts at third during which he hit .300 and had one error. Then they moved him to center where his bat cooled off and he got left on the bench until June. So much for the new third baseman: the Mets sent Amos back to Triple A in June where he had an excellent half season and then pulled him back up in September for some limited outfield time. Then they did a very bad thing: they sent Amos to the Royals for a "true" third baseman in Joe Foy, ironically the guy ahead of Amos at that position back in the Boston system. Foy who'd put up somew decent numbers in Boston, had some weight issues and was rumored to have drug ones as well. The NY flyer on him didn't work out too well as Joe only lasted there for a season before finishing things up in DC in '71. To make things even worse for NY, Foy's failure at third prompted the other big bad trade NY undertook, but that's for another time.

Otis would be The Man in KC for pretty much the next decade, moving right into a starting outfield shot. His first year as a regular he led the AL in doubles while stealing 33 bases and posting a nice average while earning his first All-Star selection. In '71 the steals got bumped up to an AL-leading 52, the ribbies popped, and he recorded his first .300-plus average.as well as his first Gold Glove. After another good '72 Amos saw some cleanup time in '73 which helped move up the power stats. A discounted '74 was prelude to an injury-marred '75 that saw his average decline to its KC low of .247 but his stolen bases spike back up to 39. Then came the playoff years of '76 to '78 when Amos averaged .276 with 19 homes, 87 RBI's, and 27 stolen bases. In '76 he again led the AL in doubles with 40. In '77 he missed some time for injury and in '78 he topped out in RBI's with 96. In '79 both NY and KC missed the annual playoff battle but not because of Amos who posted his only 100 run season and a .295/18/90 line while stealing 30. In '80 injuries allowed Willie Wilson to begin getting some center time and Amos' time in the field declined that season and the next few, though he did post 88 RBI's and a .286 average in '82 in under 500 at bats. He stuck with KC through the '83 season, went to the Pirates as a free agent in '84 as a backup, and was released during the season. He retired with a .277 average, over 2,000 hits, over 1,000 RBI's and 374 stolen bases. In the post-season he hit .295 with three homers, eleven RBI's, and eight steals in his 22 games. He was an All-Star five times. And as a three-time Gold Glover, he also excelled defensively, more or less.

That was the knock on Otis when he played. A bunch of people felt he was not the most aggressive hustler out there. He was sort of infamous for not running out popups, not crashing into outfield walls, stuff like that. Sparky Lyle - coming up next, hence the irony - was not a fan and in "The Bronx Zoo" slams Otis for being less than enthusiastic in the field. Who knows? His stats look awfully good to me: tenth all-time in center field putouts; 20th in assists; and 12th in double plays.

It has been tough to get a line on what Otis did after playing. He DID play in the Senior League's two seasons in '89 and '90. He also coached for San Diego ('88-'89) after a year as a roving hitting coach in that system and Colorado ('93) sandwiched between doing the same thing in the Rockies system ('92 and '94). In '92 he admitted his bat was corked for the bulk of his AL career. At some point since then he retired to Las Vegas out of where he golfs and does card shows.

We are looking at a man who discovered his niche. While the star bullets focus on '70 and '71, the next two seasons were not shabby either. I could see Amos dancing, but not in a finger-snapping, knee-bumping kind of way.

I should address my minor infatuation with the signature leans since it came up on my last post. When I grew up, I was at the tail end of the "being a lefthander is bad" social more system, which was apparently not decided by a baseball man. Being left-handed was considered egregiously wrong and I remember the nuns at the Catholic school to which I went - not for long - trying to convert all the poor lefties to righthanded writers. When cursive was taught, the natural lean for righties was to the right; for lefties - or at least the ones I knew - it was to the left. When the teachers failed to convert the lefties, which was most of the time, they insisted they pick up the rightie lean for their writings. Some did, some didn't. For signatures, most people defaulted to their natural lean. So in addition to supplying a point for commentary on the card backs, the whole signature lean thing is, at least for me, a point of culural reference.

But, back to Mr. Otis, he and Doug Rau barely missed each other a couple post-seasons so let's see how we hook them up now:

1. Otis and John Mayberry '72 to '77 Royals;
2. Mayberry and Jimmy Wynn '70 to '71 Astros;
3. Wynn and Doug Rau '74 to '75 Dodgers.

#64 - Doug Rau

Doug Rau was one of the mainstay Dodger starters when the team won pennants in the mid and late '70's. This is his first solo card and I am pretty sure it is Holman stadium at Vero Beach, the Dodgers' spring training spot at the time. '73 was sort of a transitional season for Doug in that it was his rookie season and also the only one during which he was primarily a setup guy. He got some spot starts but inconsistent usage didn't help his stats too much so that he kept his ERA below 4.00 was pretty impressive. He also put up three saves. That would change in '74. Rau's pitching hand looks enormous in this picture. He also has the shortest name thus far. Also, the guy in the background looks like he's zipping up after relieving himself. But this is a post about a starter, not a reliever, so let's go.

Doug Rau was originally drafted by the O's in '67 but chose to go to Texas A&M where he still holds the school's lifetime ERA mark of 1.50. As a junior in '70 his ERA was another record 0.86 and he was an All-American. He was also drafted by LA in the first round and had a bang-up summer in A ball with some sick stats. He maintained the low ERA in '71 in Double A and watched it get a little fatter up a level that year. But that got fixed by another excellent record in Triple A in '72 that got him moved up for good - more or less - that September, leaving behind a minor league record of 38-15.

Rau began his MLB career in a spot role and continued his excellent ERA numbers his first month in LA. After his mixed rookie year  in '74 he moved into the departed Claude Osteen's spot in the rotation and his first year there went 13-11 while shaving 20 points from his ERA. From that year on, Doug was the main left-hander in the LA rotation and would contribute some very good pitching lines: 15-9 with a 3.11 ERA in '75; 16-12/2.57 in '76; 14-8/3.43 in '77; and 15-9/3.26 in '78. In '76 he finished second in the NL with his ERA number. His post-season success, though, was dubious at best and there is a famous verbal clip - it is on YouTube - of Tommy Lasorda yanking him from a '77 Series game (lots of f-bombs, so don't play it around the kids). Early in the '79 season Doug got hurt; from what I remember it was rotator cuff stuff. His productivity fell off a cliff. He won one game that year, took a stab at minor league rehab in '80 and got cut in early '81. He signed with the Angels, pitched horribly there, and was done before the '81 season was over. He finished with an 81-60 record with a 3.35 ERA, 33 complete games, 13 shutouts, and those three saves. In the post-season he was 0-2 with a 6.55 ERA in six games.

Rau had completed his A&M degree early in his pro career and then during it laid seeds for his life after baseball. He co-founded a firm called Crown Financial in Houston, a VC-type small business lender, where he remains a principal.

Another right-tilted lefty signature! I know I'm grasping, but I still find it an interesting phenomenon. The star bullets are informative but a little dry, as is the cartoon. What male wasn't into cars back then? Here's a tidbit: Rau married and is still married to the woman (girl) he met in first grade.

These guys miss being teammates by a year, but let's keep it all LA:

1. Rau and Willie Davis '72 to '73 Dodgers;
2. Davis and Bill Sudakis '68 to '71 Dodgers

#63 - Bill Sudakis

OK, so here we go. Check out this picture of Bill Sudakis and then look at the one of Luis Aparicio two posts ago - how's that for self-advertising? - and you'll see that they are almost the exact same spot. Who says this blog stuff isn't exciting? Speaking of exciting, Bill's '73 season was much more so than his injury-marred '72. Picked up from the Mets for one-time phenom Bill McNulty, this Bill caught a little bit and DH'd a couple games but by the end of June was toting an average well below Mendoza levels on less than 100 at bats. But by then various experiments at third base for the Rangers had failed - six guys in '73 got significant time at that position - and big Mike Epstein had been traded. So Bill got a bunch of work the rest of the way at the infield corners and made it count by posting a .276/12/38 line on just under 200 at bats. He only played two games in right field which makes his card designation a little odd - it should have been 1B-3B - but he would eventually up his season profile a bit when he got a mention or two (kind of) in a great book.

I have always wanted to categorize Bill Sudakis as an enigma because I have found him strangely interesting. But outside of a couple blurbs, I can't really find anything to justify that. Sudakis was signed by the Dodgers in '64 out of his Joliet, Illinois HS and that summer had a tough run in Rookie ball while playing third. The next year in A ball he added 30 points to his average and second base to his resume. That was followed by a '66 in which between A ball and his fall IL season Bill put up a .286/24/110 line that got the folks in power-starved LA very excited as he put in time at yet another position - shortstop - but didn't wow anyone with his defense. By then Bill was doing his military reserve bit so he'd miss some time but around that in '67 at Double A he hit .293 with 73 RBI's while completing the infield sweep by getting a bunch of time at first. After a very similar '68 at the same level, Bill got everyone excited again with a very nice September run in LA at the hot corner. So in spring training of '69 he was named the latest in a recent endless spate of LA third basemen.

Sudakis' rookie year of '69 was a bit mixed: while his offensive stats - particularly his average - didn't live up to the promise of his '68 season, he still posted the best year of an LA third sacker in a long while and finished second on the team in homers and fourth in RBI's. But his defense was a little suspect. So in '70 an impatient LA management combined with Bill's seeming ability to play just about anywhere led to two things: the Dodgers moved on to a new starter at third, Billy Grabarkewitz (who would give way to Steve Garvey, who would give way to Bobby Valentine, who would give way to Ken McMullen, who would give way to ... that guy that stuck); and half of this Bill's games were at catcher. In that role he was a gamer, adding 30 points to his average and again finishing second in homers even though his at bats dropped by over a third. But Bill was a big guy whose only real playing time at the position was an abbreviated '69 fall IL season and on top of  an inability to throw out base stealers - he caught two out of 32 - he really messed up his knees in his new position. So '71 saw an extreme contraction of playing time, a big drop in the offense, and in early '72 a placement on the waiver wire. The Mets grabbed him but with knees still a hot mess, Bill got almost no playing time at any level, putting in a little rehab time in Triple A. After the trade to Texas, he was an AL guy.

After the second half revival of '73, Sudakis hit the road again in the trade shown here. With the Yankees, he played first and DH'd, posting numbers that were a slight discount to his Rangers ones. For a few reasons - see below - he was then traded to the Angels for Skip Lockwood. After a few games in '75 for California he was released mid-season and picked up by Cleveland, where again he got very little playing time before an August release. In '76 he signed with Kansas City where after an abbreviated but productive Triple A season for the Royals in '76, he was done. Bill finished with a .234 average, 59 homers, and 214 RBI's in 530 games.

This Traded card looks familiar, right? It is just a closeup of his regular card. This is another card I think is not too bad as the airbrushed Yankees logo looks pretty good. I know it seems I am being generous, but there will be some bad ones coming up.

So Bill Sudakis did have some colorful moments with the Yankees. In Sparky Lyle's book about the '78 season, "The Bronx Zoo", he tells stories about various teammates from the past. The Sudakis one is that when Bill Virdon (lots of Bills on this post) was managing the Yanks, he was fond of flexing his biceps while doing the locker room lecture thing. Sudakis, who had really big pipes himself, would stand behind Virdon and do double bi shots during the lectures. So at least the guy had a sense of humor. Then, there is the Dempsey fight. Rick Dempsey and Sudakis were both back-up catchers to Thurman Munson during the '74 season. After calling each other out status-wise on a flight back to The City, they got in a big brawl in the lobby of their hotel. There are lots of incarnations of this fight - Sudakis stabbed Dempsey with a fork, Dempsey KO'd Sudakis with three punches, flying chairs, Lou Piniella - but what seems uniform is that the fight ended when Munson got Dempsey in a headlock. Also Bobby Murcer hurt his hand breaking up the fight; that was significant because the Yanks were in the pennant hunt - it was late September - and they went into the last series without their best hitter. They would lose out to the O's by two games.

In '68 Bill had only five errors at third. Regarding that third star, he did have some killer games during his September show. I think the cartoon is pretty amusing. I am frankly no bowling scholar, but I find it hard to believe that one made lots of bucks being a part-time professional bowler, especially in the early Seventies. I could see this guy in the plaid pants and short-sleeved collared shirts though.

Lots of December trades; in fact this is the 37th anniversary of this one. Sudakis' nickname was Suds, which I just remembered. The trade was a purchase and from what I remember, Suds and Mike Hegan were going to spring training in '74 to fight it out over who got first base, since both Alou's had been traded in late '73. Frankly, neither won, and the Yankees got their guy later in the season from Cleveland in yet another good trade/ bad trade depending on how close you were to Lake Erie.

The other book in which Sudakis gets mention, indicated in the opening paragraph, is "Seasons in Hell", one of the best baseball books ever, which covers the Texas seasons from '73 to '75. The best bit about Bill in the book was a bit salacious, so much so that the author kept him anonymous in the narrative (Bill's enjoyment of sharing positions extended beyond the diamond; I'll leave it at that) but in the index that bit gets included under his label. Turns out that from the rest of the book, Bill fit in nicely with that team.

Let's use the competition to get these two guys linked:

1. Sudakis and Mike Hegan '74 Yankees;
2. Hegan and Bob Locker '71 to '73 A's.

#62 - Bob Locker

Here is Bob Locker in full 'stache which was pretty much mandatory if you were an Oakland guy in the '70's, which Bob was. Here he is in one of the few Cubs pinstripes of this set. He looks pretty happy even though it looks like a tornado is welling up behind him. But that's cool, because whatever the weather Bob had such a good '73 - with ten relief wins, 18 saves, and his normally excellent ERA - that he should have been beaming. Plus he knew he was headed back west to rejoin two-time champs in Oakland.

Bob Locker was signed by the White Sox in 1960 out of Iowa State where he played hoops and baseball. In the latter sport, Bob's best numbers came his senior year when he went 5-3 - the team as a whole went 12-6 in what was a typically short Big Eight baseball season back then - with a 3.50 ERA and 41 K's to earn all Big Eight status. He also earned his degree in Geology on time. After a very short summer season split between C and B ball that year, he was cranking things up with 15 wins and a 2.57 ERA in '61 when he was drafted into the military for the next two years. He came back in '64 right where he left off, winning 16 with a 2.59 ERA for Indianapolis, then the Sox' Triple A club. When he came up in '65 he was already 27, but he fit seamlessly into the Sox bullpen, and established himself as a premier reliever right off the bat by putting in some nice numbers as a setup guy. In '66 he segued into the closer role with a much better ERA and twelve saves. He then posted his best season in '67: a league-leading 77 games, seven wins, 27 saves, a 2.09 ERA, and almost 125 innings, all in relief. In fact, Locker never once started a game in the majors. After a discounted '68 - ten saves on a team that was in freefall - Bob had a poor start in '69 and was traded to the Seattle Pilots, the initial name of the Brewers. He was traded for Gary Bell, a big name for any old Red Sox fans out there. He is the first former Pilot in this set.

Locker had a nice second half  for another horrible team, adding six saves to his excellent posted stats. The next year he moved with the Pilots to Milwaukee. Halfway through that season during which his usage contracted a bit, he was sold to Oakland, where his numbers again improved for his new team. There he worked a bunch as Rollie Fingers' set-up guy, maintaining an ERA well below 3.00 while over his two-plus year run he added 20 saves of his own. His performance in the '72 post-season was not great and he was soon traded to the Cubs for Bill North, a pretty good pick up for the A's. From what I have read, there was an understanding between Bob and Oakland owner Charlie O that he would be re-acquired by the A's after one season. Pretty odd, but it did happen, as evidenced by the included card. Before the '74 season, however, Bob got hurt and spent zero time on the field during the season. He was then sent back to the Cubs as part of the trade that brought Billy Williams over to DH. After a poor start, the Cubs released him and that was it. For his career, he was 57-39 with a 2.75 ERA and 95 saves. In the post season Bob posted a 9.00 ERA in his four games.

Following his baseball days, Locker put in time in the real estate industry. He has a pretty high profile on the web right now: he is the author of a website, www.thanksmarvin.com, dedicated to getting Marvin Miller into the Hall of Fame. The site has a lot of touching personal tributes to Mr. Miller and is a very dedicated and selfless endeavor by Mr. Locker. It seems like he is an awfully good guy.

So, is this the best airbrush job on the Traded card, or what? The reason it looks so good is that it is not an airbrush, merely an old photo of Locker in his Oakland uniform. I also think this is the second of what will be three shots in a row from the Coliseum (thanks for the affirmation, Jim!).

The no-hitter was a B level game; Bob was with Lincoln then. That consecutive game mark was broken by a guy coming up in a few cards. I guess he was a happy golfer also.

Look at that date on the back of the Traded card. This is almost an anniversary posting. Topps really seems set on getting that record in our heads. The headline makes it sound like Oakland is getting some equipment back.

This is an easy one:

1. Locker and Lou Aparicio '68 to '69 White Sox.

Ron Santo's obituary was in the paper today. RIP Mr. Santo.

#61 - Luis Aparicio

Look at this - two Hall of Famers in a row and they're both named Lou, more or less. Despite my propensity to mess this up - I really blew Ross Grimsley's geography - I am going to say this shot is from Oakland. If I am wrong, it will be doubly so because this almost exact setting is coming up again in two cards. This is also Aparicio's last card, so in homage I hope I am correct. Little Louie put in his final season as a player in '73 - and it was a pretty good one as his average topped his career one and he recorded double figures in stolen bases (against only one pick) for the first time since '69 - so the stats on this card are complete career ones.

Luis Aparicio grew up in Venezeula, the son of Luis Aparicio Ortega, probably the country's biggest baseball star. The senior Aparicio was also a shortstop who taught his son well, so that by the time the Baseball Amateur World Series was hosted in Caracas, the son was famous as well locally.After an excellent performance in that series as well as later that year in the country's first national tournament, Luis' reputation crossed borders and at the urging of both his manager, Lum Harris (whose biography will be up many cards later) and local and MLB star shortstop Chico Carrasquel, the White Sox signed him in early '54. Luis then moved pretty quickly through the Chicago system, hitting .282 in B ball that year and .273 - both very good averages back then for shortstops - in Double A in '55. Following that season The Sox sent its starting shortstop - ironically Chico Carrasquel - to Cleveland in order to make room for the team's new budding star.

Aparicio did not disappoint. His rookie season of '56 he won the AL Rookie of the Year title on the back of his .266 average and AL-leading 21 stolen bases. He also partnered right up with Nellie Fox at second base to provide excellent middle infield defense though that first year Luis had a bunch of throwing errors to the point where purportedly the home crowd was afraid to sit behind first base. But that got fixed quickly and Luis' D and speed would be the backbone of the improving Sox teams over the next few years. He led the AL in stolen bases with numbers in the upper twenties the next two years and in '58 won his first Gold Glove and received his first All-Star nod. Things peaked in '59 when Louie and Nellie together took the Go Go Sox to the '59 Series, finally breaking the NY stranglehold on the league and in which Luis performed very well. That year Luis upped the stolen base totals to 56 and he kept the number elevated the next couple years even though the Sox' fortunes faded pretty quickly. He would continue to lead the AL in that department and pick up All-Star and Gold Glove selections every year. He and Nellie played together through '62, which was an off one for Luis, partly, it was deemed, because he had put on weight. His stolen base total slid to 31 - though he still led the league - and his average 30 points. He was then traded to the Orioles for another Rookie of the Year guy, Ron Hansen, Pete Ward, and Hoyt Wilhelm.

Aparicio added his fine defensive touch to the Baltimore infield, reviving his offense a bit in '63 and much moreso in '64 when he hit .266 and stole 57 in the last year he would lead the AL in that department. In '65 the average took a hit but he reached his career high with ten triples and in '66 he helped the O's reach the World Series with one of his best offensive seasons, this time winning a ring. But '67 was another off year and following that season he was sent back to Chicago in a trade that brought Baltimore Don Buford.

While the Sox teams to which Aparicio returned were a pretty steep discount to the Go-Go guys, it was during this second round for the team that his average bloomed, popping to over .280 from under .260, including his sole .300 season, in 1970. Following that season he made his last move, going to the Red Sox for Mike Andrews and Luis Alvarado. This Luis continued garnering All-Star picks for Boston and was released during '74 spring training. He finished with 2,677 hits, 506 stolen bases, and a .262 average. He led the league in stolen bases nine consecutive seasons. He also appeared in ten All-Star games and won eight Gold Gloves. He led league shortstops in putouts four times, assists seven times, and fielding percentage six times. He is second all time in shortstop assists, fourth in double plays, and sixth in putouts. In the post-season he hit .286 in his ten games. He made it to the Hall on votes in '84, the first Venezeulan to do so.

After his career ended Aparicio returned to Venezuela to manage in its winter league, do some baseball commentary, and be revered as a local icon. Back in The States he has been a big baseball card show attendee.

No bullets/ stars on this card - no room! We get the parentheses back and the cartoon is nice and familial. I know Luis' dad was a big baseball guy but can find no information on the son, so I must assume that he was not.The one knock on Luis that I have read from a couple sources is that he wasn't very helpful to new or rookie infielders with whom he played during his career. Despite that, I'm a bit surprised he doesn't get an honor card in this set.

Even though we have a lifetime AL'er following a lifetime NL'er, this one is short:

1. Aparicio and Reggie Smith '71 to '73 Red Sox;
2. Smith and Lou Brock '74 to '76 Cards.