#270 - Ron Santo

The second double post in a row is of a guy a bit more familiar than the last post subject. Sometimes these Traded cards come in bunches and this one pretty much represents the last hurrah of Ron Santo's playing career. In '73 he hit .386 early in the season as the Cubbies made their last serious division run for a few years but both he and the team faded right after the All-Star break and only Don Kessinger would return from the infield starters for the '74 season. This card has a pretty good supporting cast on it in what looks like the Cubs' spring training facility. That looks like Bobby Bonds in the Giants uniform and that guy without a cap is Leo Durocher, then the Cubs' manager (between this card and the Houston manager one we have two near misses for Leo the Lip in this set). That means this photo is from '72 at its most recent since Leo left the team during that season.

Ron Santo grew up in Seattle where he was a super athlete and played third base in high school until his senior year when he switched to catcher and made a national team. He was signed by the Cubs in '59 and in spring ball that year so impressed the Cubs' hitting instructor, Rogers Hornsby, that he went to Double A that year and had no problem hitting .327 with 11 homers and 87 RBIs while playing third. In '60 he moved to Triple A where his offensive numbers down-ticked a bit but his defense improved considerably. By the end of the season he was up in Chicago where he would take over third base from Don Zimmer and hit and field well enough to come in fourth in NL ROY voting and make the Topps rookie team. Ron then settled in for a long run as one of the NL's best third basemen. After a great sophomore season in '61 his average took a hit in '62 but his RBI total stayed pretty fat. Then in '63 began a long run of accolades. That year he made the first of what would be nine All-Star selections in the next 11 seasons. In '64, perhaps his best offensive season, he won the first of his five successive Gold Gloves. That season he led the NL in triples and walks and for the next eight seasons he would average over 90 walks a season, giving him some pretty hefty OBA totals, peaking in '66 at .412. By that year the Cubbies' solid infield turned them from losers into contenders, no year moreso than in '69 when they held a pretty significant lead over the Mets most of the season. Ron was involved in that run in two big ways that had nothing to do with his playing: he would jump up and click his heels at the end of every Cubs win which the fans loved (and then hated); and he famously had a black cat cross in front of him while playing third in a game that began the team's fall from grace that year. In the Seventies he continued to post pretty good power numbers and in '72 put up his second highest average. After his hot start and fade-out in '73 he moved across town in this trade, clearing the way for the next Cubs super third bagger, Bill Madlock, who came over in the Fergie Jenkins trade. While big things were expected with the ChiSox - a sort of power platooning at first, third, and DH with Dick Allen, Bill Melton, Carlos May, and Ron was the plan - Ron's average took a big hit as he played as much second base as third and way too much DH for his liking. He retired after the season leaving behind a lifetime .277 average with 342 homers and 1,331 RBIs and a .362 OBA. He is yet another guy whose stats put him right on the cusp of HOF levels and there has been some pretty strong advocacy for his inclusion.

Santo was pretty successful off the field and while playing he began his own insurance agency - and employed his buddy and teammate Glenn Beckert there - which he later sold. After playing he moved to the broadcast booth and was a Cubs color guy for as long as he could be. In 2010 after a couple amputations his diabetes finally caught up to him and he passed away at age 70 but not before endearing himself to a whole new generation of fans as an announcer and a spokesperson and fund-raiser for his disease. He has another very detailed bio on the SABR site that I have linked to here.

The Traded card is another pretty generic one for which there is no shot at guessing a locale. The artist got pretty lazy this time and didn't even put on a logo.


Nicely, Topps gives Ron props for his fielding, which despite the Gold Gloves, was often overlooked for his offense numbers. Ron grew up near Sicks Stadium in Seattle and worked there as a kid. Sicks would rather infamously be the home of the Seattle Pilots in their initial season.

This trade was sort of a push for both sides. I'd give the edge to the Cubs since Swisher - Nick's dad - would be a quasi-starter and All-Star for them in the mid-'70s. Stone won a bunch that one year but he did that for the Orioles. That last line would unfortunately not be true as Allen's MIA the last month of the season, Melton's drop-off in power, and rundown pitching would keep the Sox from making a big play for the division.

Over in the music world, on October 30, 1973 the Osmonds began a UK tour by being mobbed at the airport by thousands of fans. Wow. That's enough to bring this site back to baseball only.

This trip takes us through both leagues:

1. Santo and Larry Gura '70 to '73 Cubs;
2. Gura and Cookie Rojas '76 to '77 Royals;
3. Rojas and Bob Johnson '70 Royals.

#269 - Bob Johnson

Bob Johnson stands in Candlestick which is appropriate since he pitched what was probably the best game of his career against the Giants. That game was Game Three of the 1971 NL Championships in which Bob started at the last minute due to an injury to Nelson Briles. Bob would pitch five-hit ball with seven strikeouts in eight innings and only give up one unearned run to give Pittsburgh the series lead while beating Juan Marichal. There are a couple of Pirate players in the background on the regular shot. The low butt of the guy leaning on the wall leads me to believe it's Manny Sanguillen but I have no shot on the other guy. Bob looks pretty serious in this photo. And also old. He'd have been about 30 when it was taken but I could easily add ten years to that based on this shot. We'll get into a potential reason for that below. These two cards would be the final ones in Bob's career.

Bob Johnson came out of Illinois and pitched for two years at Bradley University there before being signed by the Mets in 1964. He went 10-9 that year in A ball splitting time between the rotation and the pen. In '65 he improved to 10-2 as a starter at Single and Double A. He spent the bulk of '66 at Double A before getting in some games at the next level. Bob threw some serious heat and he was averaging nearly a strikeout an inning at this point in his career. In '67 he was off to a great start back in Double A - 3-1 with a 1.02 ERA and 53 strikeouts in 53 innings - when he was in a motorcycle accident that nearly wrecked his left leg. After missing the rest of that season he also missed all of '68 for military duty. When he returned in '69 he again put up excellent numbers at Double A Memphis - 13-4 with a 1.48 ERA that took him through Triple A and into a couple games for the Series winners up top. After the season he was traded to the Royals with Amos Otis for Joe Foy.

The Royals were a pretty exciting young club that had a pretty good expansion season but in '70 they took a step back, losing 97 games. As a result, Johnson only went 8-13 despite an ERA of 3.07 and 206 strikeouts in 214 innings. It was an excellent rookie season, and he finished second to Bert Blyleven for TSN rookie pitcher of the year. Following the season he was traded to the Pirates with Jackie Hernandez for Fred Patek, Jerry May, and Bruce Dal Canton. For Pittsburgh in '71 he would get 27 starts but disappointed with a 9-10 record and only 101 strikeouts in 174 innings. After his show in the playoffs he would not pitch terribly well in the Series. But he got a ring and in '72 when moved to the pen as the long guy and spot starter he recorded a nice season, adding three saves to his four wins and 2.96 ERA. In '73 he continued his good work, adding four saves, although his ERA moved up a bit.

When Johnson went to Cleveland in this trade he was moved into the rotation and early in the season he was 3-4 with an ERA around 4.00. They weren't spectacular numbers but his behavior was significantly worse. Bob, who'd had a severe drinking problem since his trade to Pittsburgh, got into some ugly altercations with various people while saucing it up and he was placed on waivers by the Indians before the end of June. Texas claimed him and put him in Triple A where he posted pretty good numbers in the rotation (5-3 with a 3.24 ERA). But he injured his arm late in the season and was cut during '75 spring training. Over the next two years he would be signed and dropped by both the Yankees and the Royals as he went a combined 4-8 for them in Triple A. In '77 he signed with the Braves but threw poorly for them in a few games up top and was done. Bob finished with a 28-34 record with a 3.48 ERA, 18 complete games, two shutouts, and twelve saves. He went 1-1 in five post-season games with a 3.32 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 19 innings. He cleaned himself up in '75 and since '77 has owned a construction company in Oregon. He has also coached American Legion ball. He has a detailed bio by the SABR guys linked to here.

Bob's Traded card is yet another one in an unrecognizable place. He looks much happier here but not much younger.

These star bullets invite commentary. The first one is impressive because Bob led in those two categories despite only playing about half a season at that level. He is one of very few guys to get over 200 strikeouts in his rookie season. And the third bullet is just wrong - he was the starter in that game.


The Traded card back recycles some info from the regular card. The best part about this card is the name of the guy for whom Bob was traded. Burnel Flowers would have been a great name on a card or being rolled out by stadium announcers. For a little background, Burnel was a speedy outfielder from Alabama whose best season was probably his '74 for the Pirates in Triple A: .275 with seven homers, 40 RBIs, 70 runs, and 29 stolen bases. He never made it to the majors.

In 1973 a new song hit number one on both sides of the pond. Stateside "Midnight Train to Georgia" by Gladys Knight and the Pips took over from "Angie", a slight downtick but a pretty good song. But in the UK "Daydreamer" by David Cassidy of The Partridge Family finally displaced that "Eye Level" song. Cassidy was so huge in the UK that year that his songs were banned from the "Top of the Pops" show there after there was a riot at one of his shows. In '74 on the 26th "Then Came You" by Dionne Warwick and the Spinners took over in the States and "Everything I Own" by Ken Boothe in the UK. I used to think Dionne was a classy lady until she started doing cable ads for those clairvoyant phone lines a few years ago. But The Spinners were pretty cool. The Ken Boothe song is actually pretty good - it's a reggae version of the hit by Bread from '72. A day earlier in '74 the singer Nick Drake died of an overdose in England.

Nothing like a Hall of Famer to bring people together:

1. Johnson and Gaylord Perry '74 Indians;
2. Perry and Tom Grieve '75 to '77 Rangers.

#268 - Tom Grieve

In another serious pose we get Tom Grieve in Oakland holding onto his bat at this point as hard as he's trying to hold on to the Major Leagues. Tom was experiencing his third try up top when this photo was taken, and though not used too much, he would lead the Rangers in batting average in '73. He would end up sticking for an exceptionally long career as a Ranger, but not always as a player.

Tom Grieve was a huge deal when he was selected by the Senators as a first-rounder in the '66 draft. He had led his high school team to the state championship and then played Cape Cod ball in the summer, hitting .416 in 89 at bats with 19 RBIs. He began the following spring in A ball and while producing a low average did knock in 44 runs in just 58 games. He had some trouble in his few games when moved to a better league, however. Then in '68 he lost time to the military but would hike his average up at the same level. In '69 he jumped to Triple A and had an OK year before he improved things at that level significantly in '70. He was then pulled up to Washington where he continued to play outfield in a supporting role. After a poor spring in '71 he spent the whole season back at Triple A Denver. He then returned up top, this time in Texas, for good in '72, where he raised his average a bit in a reserve role.

In '73 Grieve wouldn't get too much playing time in a young outfield, but he did make the most of it, hitting .317 with 22 RBIs in 123 at bats. That season would lead to increasingly more playing time, both in the outfield and at DH. He also escalated his offensive numbers the next three seasons. His homer totals moved from nine to 14 to 20, his RBIs from 32 to 61 to 81, and his average from .255 to .276 and back to .255. In '77 the Rangers traded Jeff Burroughs to Atlanta and Tom lost his starting role in the new outfield of Claudell Washington, Juan Beniquez, and Dave May while Willie Horton put a stranglehold on DH. After hitting .225 in just 236 at bats he was part of the huge multi-team trade that took him and Ken Henderson to the Mets and brought Jon Matlack to the Rangers. But with no DH time his at bats continued to drop and before the '79 season he was sent to the Cards for pitcher Pete Falcone. After a few at bats for St. Louis he was released whereupon he re-signed with the Rangers. For Texas he finished things up playing outfield and first base for their Triple A Tucson club. Tom finished with a .249 average with 65 homers and 254 RBIs.

But Grieve wasn't done with baseball, nor with Texas. In 1980 he did a bit of radio color work while also becoming director of group sales. In '81 he moved to assistant director of player development and after the '82 season was named director. In '84 he became the Texas GM, a position he held for 11 seasons. He brought Nolan Ryan and Rafael Palmeiro to the Rangers (but famously gave up Sammy Sosa). Upon stepping down in '94 he returned to the booth where he has been the local color guy ever since.

                             

Regarding the first star bullet, Tom initially wasn't getting the bonus he wanted from Washington which is why he opted for Cape Cod ball. He also signed a letter of intent to go to Michigan which pressured the Nats into paying up. He was recently inducted into the Cape Cod League's hall of fame. Tom homered twice in the infamous "25 cent beer game" in Cleveland and as he crossed the plate after the second one, a naked fan slid into second base. Tom's son Ben would follow his dad as a first rounder, win AL Rookie of the Year in '98 and post some big seasons for Oakland in the late Nineties. The book "Seasons in Hell" notes that Ben's signing bonus was more than Tom made his whole MLB career.

Another Angel helps this hook-up:

1. Grieve and Jim Spencer '73 to '75 Rangers;

2. Spencer and Andy Messersmith '68 to '72 Angels.

So Joe Rudi was the 40% mark of this set and I'd like to throw some milestones out there from the set at that point, although I'm a tad late. So here goes:

Post-Seasons: like the last milestone, every season is represented by at least one player from a post-season team that year from 1957 to 1989 except 1960. 1974 still leads the way with 41 players.

Awards: There are 14 MVPs in the set and ten Cy Young winners. There are also 15 Rookie of the Year winners, 15 Comeback Player of the Year winners, and seven guys who have won The Sporting News Minor League Player of the Year. Managers of the Year have jumped to twelve but Fireman of the Year is stuck at nine.

Milestones: There has only been one rookie card in the last 66 making a total of 25. There are now 27 Hall of Famers and 27 official or unofficial Traded cards. There are 15 guys whose card in the '74 set is the final ones of their careers and 26 players who have since deceased.

Rookies: The Topps Rookie All-Star Team for '73 remains stuck at six. The other years have been represented as follows:

'59-2 '61-2 '64-3 '65-3 '66-4 '67-2

'68-4 '69-3 '70-4 '71-3 '72-6

Random: There have been 67 action shots, 89 photos of home uniforms, and 144 of away uniforms. There have been 21 players with the parenthetic names. Both the ugly cards and the cards of players that served in Viet Nam remain the same at five and four, respectively.

#267 - Andy Messersmith

After a bunch of posts where the subject's photo is appropriately in a ballpark we get this one of Andy Messersmith in someone's backyard. Andy doesn't look too happy here but he should be. He is about to embark on his best season, one in which he would be the best starter on the best team in the NL and have an excellent run until the Series when the Oakland juggernaut stopped LA cold. If it wasn't for teammate Mike Marshall's record-breaking season, old Andy here would have won the Cy as well. After that season and another excellent one the following year things would get rigidly un-fun for him in baseball as injury and being a high-profile trail-blazer pretty much stole his career from him. Then the glum face would have been appropriate.

Andy Messersmith was born in Jersey, moved to California and then went to Berkeley where he was an All-American pitcher his sophomore year in '65, going 8-2 with a 1.63 ERA. He was drafted by the Tigers but when they wouldn't meet his price instead played a summer in Alaska (with Graig Nettles, Danny Frisella, and Tom Seaver) and returned to Berkeley for his junior year. He was then drafted by the Angels in the first round of '66 with whom he signed for a $30,000 bonus. He went right to Triple A and while his stats were pretty good - 4-6 in the rotation with a 3.36 ERA - he was moved a rung lower in '67 where his 9-7 record was pretty good but his 4.34 ERA and over a hit an inning made Angels manager Bill Rigney think he was a washout. But in '68 he was back at Triple A Seattle where his command of pitches and 2.96 ERA with 86 strikeouts in 85 innings moved manager Joe Adcock to convince Rigney to pull Andy up top. It would be a good move as he put less than a baserunner on base per inning and added four saves and a shutout to his four late-season wins. In '69 things began badly as he went 0-5 to start the season with a 3.98 ERA and was briefly pulled from the rotation. But he then picked up a screwball and mastered it well enough to go 16-6 the rest of the way with an ERA under 2.00 and held the AL to a .190 average against him. In '70, an aggressive guy at the plate and on the basepaths, he hurt his shoulder sliding into second and his totals came in although his control continued to improve. '71 would be his first season in which he started exclusively and the result was pretty huge as he won 20 with four shutouts and came in fifth in the AL Cy race. After the season Baltimore would offer up Frank Robinson and Tom Phoebus for Andy but California shot the deal down. In '72 a broken finger would drop a bunch of starts off his calendar and the resulting losing record would instigate the Dodgers to go into overdrive to get him, the final arrangement being Andy and Ken McMullen for Bobby Valentine, Frank Robinson, Billy Grabarkewitz, and Bill Singer.

In his first year as a Dodger Messersmith more than turned his record around as he posted another fine ERA and expanded his pitching repertoire to include a fastball, two curves, and two change-ups. By now he was considered the league's best at the last pitch, mastering its speed so that it looked so much like a fastball that batters were constantly well ahead of it. Everything would come together in '74 as he went 20-6 to lead the NL in wins, posted a 2.59 ERA, and recorded a career-high 221 strikeouts. He also won the first of two consecutive Gold Gloves and hit .240 with eight doubles and 11 RBIs. He won his only start in the playoffs against Pittsburgh but then lost two against Oakland. When it came time to negotiate his '75 contract things turned testy when GM Al Campanis made it personal and Andy played that season without a contract, refusing to negotiate with Campanis. His numbers didn't suffer as he won 19 with an NL-leading 2.29 ERA, 40 starts, and seven shutouts. When the player's union sued the owners over the reserve clause, Andy's was the name on the suit and after an arbitrator ruled for the players free agency was born. He signed with the Braves for three seasons for $1,000,000, $400,000 of it up front.

But things went south pretty quickly for Messersmith. Experiencing both recurring injury problems and fans' wrath for his perceived greed, he began the season 0-4 but recovered to 9-7 by the All-Star game for which he was selected. Shortly thereafter he broke his elbow and finished with 11 wins. In '77 the win total fell to five as the elbow required an operation and after the season he was sold to the Yankees. There, according to Sparky Lyle's book "The Bronx Zoo" he was having an excellent spring training when he hurt his shoulder covering first base. He wouldn't get his first start until late May when he gave up one hit in five innings. His next few games weren't as good and after an 0-3 record had been accrued Lyle noticed that when Andy dressesd he couldn't even lift his right arm. He wouldn't pitch again that season and was released in November. The Dodgers signed him but his arm was toast and after going 2-4 with a 4.91 ERA in 11 starts he was released. Andy finished with a record of 130-99 with a 2.86 ERA, 27 shut-outs, and 15 saves. He was a four-time All-Star. In the post-season he was 1-2 with a 3.86 ERA. Only Sandy Koufax (2.76), Jim Palmer, and Tom Seaver (2.86) have pitched as many innings as Andy since WW II and have as good a lifetime ERA.

Since he finished playing Messersmith has twice taken on head coach stints at Cabillo Community College in Soquel, California: from '86 to '91 and from 2008-'09. Outside of that he has done some youth league coaching but it has been very difficult to get good info on how he has spent his time since baseball (when asked, he still won't talk about the personal issue in his '75 negotiations with the Dodgers). When asked about him, though, the players on his teams at Cabrillo were universal in saying he was a great coach. Quality over quantity.

Regarding the star bullets, he is one of very few guys to win 20 in both leagues as well as strike out over 200 in both leagues. He was 8-8 at the '71 All-Star break. Regarding his signature one wonders how Andy gets out from John Alexander.

The California connection helps here huge:

1. Messersmith and Aurelio Rodriguez '68 to '70 Angels;

2. Rodriguez and Jim Northrup '71 to '74 Tigers.

#266 - Jim Northrup

Detroit of the late '60's and early '70's really did a good job of corralling local sports stars, didn't they? Jim here grew up in Michigan, as did Al Kaline, Bill Freehan, Willie Horton, and Mickey Stanley. Jim is smiling here while admiring the end of his bat in Detroit but all was not well for him in '73. Although he posted the highest average of his career that season he had a bad relationship with manager Billy Martin which led to his being benched a significant amount of time and being moved way down in the order, killing his RBI totals. It was too bad because most of the time Jim was an agreeable guy who prospered when the team was rocking. In the end he would only outlast Martin in Detroit by about a season.

As indicated above Jim Northrup was a local Michigan boy, an all-around athlete in high school who went on to play five sports at Alma College in Michigan. In baseball there he pitched and played outfield and first base. In '59 he threw a no-hitter. He was a QB in football and both the Bears and Titans showed some interest, but Detroit put some money on the table so Jim opted for baseball and signed with the Tigers in '60. He began his career the following spring in C ball but didn't start off too hot so moved down to D ball where his stroke improved. In '62 the same thing happened in A ball and he revived things in C ball, hitting .324 with some power and a .434 OBA. In '63 he moved to Double A without needing a reboot, and in '64 to Triple A. Both seasons he won his league's rookie of the year award and after stats of .312, 13 triples, 18 homers, and 92 RBI's the latter year he came up for good.

In '65 Northrup would be the fourth outfielder behind Willie Horton, Al Kaline, and Gates Brown even though he saw more games in right field than anyone that year. The next season he took over that position and would occupy it more-or-less for the duration of his time in Detroit. On occasion he would move to center - like in '67, '69, and '71 - when either Al Kaline or Mickey Stanley was injured or had to play elsewhere. He would show increasing power, particularly in clutch situations, peaking with 90 RBIs in '68, and 31 doubles and 25 homers in '69. He was a very competitive guy and a hard worker, endearing him to the Detroit fan base. in '71 Jim missed a few games to injuries and when Martin arrived to manage his playing time got crimped further, ostensibly due to platooning but probably truly due to Jim's troublesome relationship with his manager. He would have an excellent playoff in '72 and an eight-RBI in day in '73 but late in August of '74 he would be traded to the Expos right before his tenth anniversary as a Tiger which would have allowed him to nullify the deal. After a few games in Montreal he was sold to the Orioles. He would play a full season in Baltimore as a back-up outfielder in '75 and then retire. Jim finished with a .267 average, 153 homers, and 610 RBIs. In 12 post-season games he hit .286 with two homers and nine RBIs.

After taking some time off to be with his family Northrup returned to Detroit where he worked color on local Tigers broadcasts from the mid-'80's to the mid-'90's. He also sold insurance and worked in marketing. He passed away earlier this year at 71 from complications of Alzheimer's.

Jim, whose nickname was The Grey Fox, was for a time also known as The Grand Slam Kid, He hit four in the '68 regular season and then the big one in the Series. He was also inducted into the State of Michigan hall of fame, another future employer.

On October 20, 1973, "Angie" by the Rolling Stones, took over first place in the stateside charts, a marked uptick from Cher's "Half-Breed." In '74 "Nothing From Nothing" by Billy Preston was number one in the States while in the UK "Sad Sweet Dreamer" by Sweet Sensation took over from John Denver's " Annie's Song." That song is a mellow R&B number reminiscent of the Chi-Lites stuff. The video is pretty funny (it can be seen on YouTube) in that there is a sax solo and there is no sax player on stage.

These two guys probably would have hit it off but they never played each other:

1. Northrup and Tony Taylor '71 to '73 Tigers;
2. Taylor and Tug McGraw '75 to '76 Phillies.

#265 - Tug McGraw

Like his '73 Series opponent on the prior post, Joe Rudi, Tug here had a very mixed pennant season. After getting five saves by the end of April his season blew apart and as late as mid-July he was 0-4 with a 6.00 ERA. But after a team meeting that month Tug coined the "Ya Gotta Believe" mantra and took the team with him on a tear. The final two months he went 5-2 with 14 saves with a 1.61 ERA. His fist-pumping enthusiasm became infectious as he solidified his role as a fan favorite and helped galvanize the Mets to their late-season run.

Frank "Tug" McGraw grew up outside of Vallejo California and then attended Vallejo Junior College where he pitched. After a poor showing in the JC state playoffs most teams lost interest. But Tug had a brother Hank who was a big baseball star ahead of him and had been signed by the Mets a few years earlier and Hank insisted the Mets sign Tug which they did in '64. It proved to be an opportunistic signing as he went a combined 6-4 with a 1.64 ERA as a starter that summer in Rookie and A ball. In '65 the Mets took him all the way up top to keep him out of the first year draft where his record wasn't so hot but he put up a very nice ERA. In his second win that year he became the first Met to beat Sandy Koufax in a start. While he pitched mostly out of the pen that year in '66 he grabbed mostly starting assignments in a year split between NY and Triple A. He'd hurt his shoulder working out before the season and it showed in an elevated ERA up top and not so great numbers at the lower level. But he DID pick up a pitch that season - a screwball - which became his signature pitch. While his few games in NY the '67 season were a wash he would put up excellent seasons with his new pitch the next two years in Triple A going 19-18 with a 2.71 ERA in the rotation. In '69 he came up for good.

After a few starts in '69 McGraw was pulled aside by manager Gil Hodges who told Tug he believed his future lay in the pen, which Tug embraced. He would put up killer stats the rest of the season as the Mets came from far back to be Series winners. He would throw well in the playoffs but not be needed against Baltimore. After an OK '70 he put up back to back seasons of 1.70 ERAs in '71 and '72, recording a career-high 27 saves the second season and earning his first All-Star selection. In '73 he had 25 saves but in '74 he had only three as his record fell to 6-11 and his ERA moved above 4.00 after he again hurt his shoulder. He also made a few starts that season including one in which he threw his only career shutout. After the season he went to the Phillies with outfielders Don Hahn and Dave Schneck for Mac Scarce, Del Unser, and John Stearns, leaving NY as the Mets career saves leader.

For the Phillies McGraw would have another long, successful run. In '75 he became the top guy in the pen, earning his second All-Star nod with a 9-6 record, 14 saves, and a 2.98 ERA. From then on he would be a strategic part of the Phillies' bullpen-by-committee as he was joined by Ron Reed, Warren Brusstar, Gene Garber, and others in helping Philly reach the playoffs in five of the next six seasons. He averaged records of 7-5 with ten saves in 59 games and a 2.77 ERA over the three division-winning seasons of '76 to '78. In '79 shoulder issues returned and his ERA popped above 5.00 although he recorded his second most saves as a Phillie, 16. Then in '80 he put together a wonderful season during another title run - 5-4 with 20 saves and a 1.46 ERA in 57 games - to get some serious Cy votes and capped it with an excellent Series against the Royals. He would then put up pretty good numbers as his innings declined over the next four seasons. When he retired after the '84 season he also finished as the Phillies' saves leader. Overall Tug went 96-92 with a 3.14 ERA, five complete games, that shutout, and 180 saves. In the post-season he went 3-3 with seven saves and a 2.24 ERA in 26 games. He also hit pretty well: .182 with 18 RBIs in 214 career at bats and .200 in the post-season. He has a very detailed bio by the SABR guys.

After he played McGraw did a bunch of speaking gigs and was a color commentator and news guy for a Philadelphia station from '85 to '91. In the early '90's he became actively involved in the fledgling music career of his son Tim. He would also do some work in spring training with the Phillies through 2003. It was in spring training that year that he found he had an aggressive form of brain cancer from which he would pass away in January '04. He was 59.

I like how the Tug in the signature is printed while the rest is in script. Those are two pretty good star bullets although the second gives no indication of the drama Tug endured during the season. It's too bad he didn't do the jewelry gig later. He probably would have been an excellent pitchman on cable.

On this date back in the music world in '74 Al Green was hospitalized with second and third degree burns resulting from his girlfriend pouring hot grits over him while he was in the shower. She then shot herself. Al's big hit was "Let's Stay Together" although he had a bunch of other Top Ten songs. After he recovered he became a gospel singer, turning his back on his self-proclaimed hedonistic life style. Drama all over back then.

Another two Series opponents. Thankfully the itinerant Alou's help here:

1. McGraw and Tom Seaver '69 to '74 Mets;
2. Seaver and Jesus Alou '75 Mets;
3. Alou and Joe Rudi '73 to '74 A's.

#264 - Joe Rudi

This card is sort of a big deal in this set. First of all, Joe Rudi's back! Joe took a hiatus in the '73 set since he was not one of the three players featured on his own card. It was an action card, but of Gene Tenace. Joe gets another action card in '74 and it's actually him lofting what appears to be a hit to right-center. And it's a big crowd which leads me to believe this is a playoff or Series shot since Oakland never filled the stands in the regular season. Joe's card also represents a milestone in the set as it represents the 40% mark of the total amount of cards. That means a recap is coming, but it'll be on the next post.

'73 was a mixed season for Rudi. He got hurt and missed a bunch of games. He was hitting around .217 in early June when he got benched by manager Dick Williams as Oakland was sort of floundering around the .500 level. But he and the team caught fire and Joe hit over .300 the rest of the way as the A's won their third division title in a row and returned to the post-season.

Joe Rudi grew up outside of Modesto California where he was a multi-sport star in high school. He was signed as a free agent by Kansas City in '64 after a few other teams lost interest because his hand was broken by a pitch his senior year. After a hot start in rookie ball that summer in a few games he cooled off in Single A ball. Until then mostly an infielder, Joe had a tough time at third base in Single A in '65 and it affected him at the plate. In '66 he stayed at that level but moved to Modesto - his hometown - and revived his average while hitting 24 homers and moving to the outfield. In '67 he sandwiched a Double A season in which he played mostly first and retained his stroke with a few games up top. Then in '68 it was back to the outfield in a few games at Triple A (where he certainly didn't have 74 RBIs as baseball-reference reports) but did well enough to spend the remainder of the season in Oakland, which turned out to be a bit challenging. In '69 an awesome season back in Triple A - .354 with 65 RBIs in 240 at bats - brought him back up for good as he rode out the season as an outfield and first base reserve guy.

In 1970 slugger Reggie Jackson held out and Rudi got his first significant starting time, responding well with a .309 average and 23 doubles in about half a season. In '71 Joe took over left field after the trade of Felipe Alou to the Yankees. He was doing pretty well offensively until he had to take two weeks off for his military hitch. He would then also miss a few weekends for the same reason and his offensive stats sort of tailed off the rest of the year. But '72 would be a huge year for him as his average pushed back above .300, he led the AL in hits and triples, and in the wake of his first All-Star nod Joe came in second to Dick Allen in AL MVP voting. In '74 he had perhaps his best offensive year, reaching a career high with 99 RBIs while leading the league in doubles, with 39, and total bases. Again he made the All-Star team and finished second in the MVP race and he also added his first Gold Glove. '75 was another All-Star and Gold Glove season although he missed some time and played primarily first base. His '76 season would be noteworthy because his mid-season trade to the Red Sox was nullified by Bowie Kuhn and in protest Charlie O benched Joe, which hurt his average. But he still put up 94 RBIs and won his third Gold Glove. After the season Joe left Oakland for California as one of the first big-name free agents.

Rudi got off to a pretty rocking start for the Angels but mid-season he would hurt his Achilles tendon and its condition would impact the rest of his career. He wound up hitting 13 homers with 53 RBIs in only 242 at bats. In '78 he was healthy as California improved significantly and his offense provided 17 homers and 79 RBIs. The next two seasons he would still be the primary left fielder but his playing time was hampered significantly by his Achilles ailments. In '79 he missed his last playoff action. Following the '80 season Joe went to Boston with Frank Tanana for Fred Lynn and Steve Renko. For the Sox he would do some reserve work and after the season would sign with Oakland for one last year of more of the same. '82 was his last year as a player and he finished with a .264 average with 179 homers and 810 RBIs. In the post-season Joe hit .257 with three homers and 15 RBIs in 38 games.

Rudi became involved in real estate while he was playing and has continued in that field on and off ever since. He also has done some work in insurance and even coached for Oakland a bit. In the late '80s he bought a farm in Oregon where he started and coached a local high school baseball team and went crazy with his ham radio hobby, putting up huge antennas on his spread (there was a small article about him with a photo in one of the "Where Are They Now?" SI issues a few years back). He has moved back and forth between there and the Modesto area since. His son played some minor league ball.

Joe gets one of those group of year-old props in his star bullets. The catch from the second one was pretty amazing as he pancaked himself on the outfield wall and barely held onto the ball (there is a photo montage of it linked to here). Joe was a big kid growing up and was six feet tall before he was 12, so the wresting is no surprise. He must have had lots of friends.

On the music side, in '73 Chet Atkins became the youngest guy inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, but country music's not really my thing. Also around this time Joe Perry and Steven Tyler met for the first time at an ice cream store in New Hampshire, a significant moment for any Aerosmith fan.

These guys both played almost exclusively in the AL West:

1. Rudi and Reggie '67 to '75 A's;
2. Reggie and Lou Piniella '77 to '81 Yankees;
3. Piniella and Ed Kirkpatrick '69 to '73 Royals.