REVISITING A POST FROM 10 YEARS AGO: ACCIDENTAL PHOTO BOMBING: PART VII

Good day everyone!

For those of you who are new to the blog, you may not know that one of my favorite early threads was my "Photobombing" series, showcasing cards that had famous players as secondary figures on baseball cards from the decade.

It ran for a bit before I used up all the cards that had this feature, but today I wanted to take a look at one of them, this from August of 2013.

Here's the original post, as written way back when:

I haven't uploaded a "photo-bombing" post in a while. Long overdue.
So today I spotlight the 1972 Rick Wise and the 1973 Jim Fregosi cards, which collectively have a Hall of Fame battery lurking in the background.
First up is the 1972 Rick Wise (#43) card:

 

While you have Wise frozen in time with this lame follow-through pitching pose, there are three teammates gathered in the background, and one of them is Hall of Fame pitcher and future American politician Jim Bunning (#14). He's talking to pitcher Bill Wislon (#37) and most likely a Spring training invitee since I can't find any record of a player who wore #54 for them that year.
What's interesting is that the photo is from 1971 and was Bunning's last year in the Majors. He wasn't included in the 1972 set. So he snuck in there after he hung up the cleats.
Another interesting note is that Wise would be suiting up for another team in 1972, the Cardinals, as he was dealt to St. Louis for Steve Carlton before the season started.

Next up we have an awesome card from the 1973 set: (#525). What a great card. This is "action" done right:

We have Fregosi obviously looking back at a foul pop that went into the stands, as none other than Johnny Bench of the Reds looking on. I love the fact that you also see all the Mets in the dugout watching the action. I wish I could make out who the they are, but I've tried enhancing the image as best I could and didn't recognize any of them.
One of my favorite cards from the set right here.
Interesting coincidence is that both Rick Wise and Jim Fregosi are long remembered as being the "bust" part of two separate historically lopsided trades.
As stated earlier, Wise was traded to the Cardinals for Steve Carlton, who went on to a Hall of Fame career mainly on what he did with Philadelphia, and Fregosi was traded to the Mets for future Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan, who immediately became a superstar with the Angels in 1972.

CAREER-CAPPER: 1979 JIM FREGOSI

I never realized until recently that I never created a career-capping 1979 card for former All-Star shortstop Jim Fregosi, so here goes:

Fregosi closed out a very nice 18-year career in 1978 with 20 games for the Pittsburgh Pirates, hitting an even .200 with four hits over 20 at-bats.
Although he is largely remembered for being "the guy traded for Nolan Ryan", he was arguably the best shortstop in the American League in the 1960's while with the Angels (sorry Luis Aparicio! NOT as clear cut as people would think for you).
Between 1963 and 1970 he was a six-time all-star and garnered M.V.P. votes each and every year, finishing as high as seventh in 1967.
After his playing days he immediately went on to a managerial career, in 1978 as a matter of fact, leading his former team the California Angels between 1978 and 1981 before moving on to head the Chicago White Sox (1986-1988), Philadelphia Phillies (1991-1996) and Toronto Blue Jays (1999-2000).
He was the 1993 Phillies manager that led them to the World Series, famously won by the Blue Jays on a Joe Carter home run off of Mitch Williams if you don’t remember.
Just a great MLB career that gets overshadowed because of “that trade”, which wasn’t as ridiculous at the time as you would think.
The Mets had an abundance of young pitching (Seaver, Koosman, Matlack, etc), and Ryan wasn’t exactly in control of his mechanics yet, so acquiring a six-time All-Star who was still only 29 wasn’t too absurd.

NEGATIVE SPOTLIGHT: 1972 JIM FREGOSI BOYHOOD PHOTOS

Found this negative that was used for Jim Fregosi’s 1972 “Childhood Photo’s” card and wanted to spotlight it today. Check out the painted image and how it was used by Topps:

It’s strange that because it was just used as an inset on the bottom right of the card, the terrible, and I mean TERRIBLE, paint job on the photo doesn’t look as bad as when you see the actual negative used.
Holy cow! The pink logo, the pen-like outline on the cap. It’s all there!
Of course this all just brings up the harsh reminders for Mets fans that Fregosi came to the team in a trade that sent future Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan to the California Angels, perhaps the worst trade in the organization’s history.
Though to be fair, Fregosi was the best hitting shortstop in the American League during the 1960’s, was a six-time all-star that received MVP votes every season between 1963 and 1970. And was still only 30 years of age, with Ryan being a young fireballer who could not get his fastball in control at the time.
So really it wasn’t, AT THAT TIME, such a ridiculous trade. Just turned out to be in the coming seasons with Fregosi’s downturn in performance, and Ryan’s immediate impact for the Angels.

MISSING IN ACTION-"IN ACTION" #52: 1972 JIM FREGOSI

Let’s go and give former all-star shortstop Jim Fregosi a “missing” In-Action card in the 1972 Topps set:

It’s easy to forget that Fregosi was the top American League shortstop in the 1960’s.
However by the time the 1970’s rolled around the six-time all-star was about to see a dramatic downturn in his career, beginning with THE trade that will always be remembered: Fregosi for a guy named Nolan Ryan.
Nevertheless he put together a very nice 18-year career, finishing up after the 1978 season with the Pittsburgh Pirates, collecting over 1700 hits, 150 homers and a .265 batting average with a Gold Glove and the aforementioned all-star nods.

THEN AND NOW #24: JIM FREGOSI 1978

My subject for the latest "Super Veteran" card is former all-star shortstop and Major League manager Jim Fregosi.

Take a look:

Exciting since it's the first 1978 format for this series, and I've also come to appreciate Fregosi and his career so much more since I started this blog.

Fregosi was wrapping up a very nice 18-year career in 1978, and although he is largely remembered for being "the guy traded for Nolan Ryan", was arguably the best shortstop in the American League in the 1960's while with the Angels.

Between 1963 and 1970 he was a six-time all-star and garnered M.V.P. votes each and every year!

After his playing days he immediately went on to a managerial career, in 1978 as a matter of fact, leading his former team the California Angels between 1978 and 1981 before moving on to head the Chicago White Sox (1986-1988), Philadelphia Phillies (1991-1996) and Toronto Blue Jays (1999-2000).

A true baseball "lifer", I'm happy to give him props any chance I can here…

REST IN PEACE: JIM FREGOSI: 1942-2014

Six time All Star shortstop for the California Angels

Sad to hear that long time baseball man Jim Fregosi passed away after suffering a stroke at a Major League Alumni cruise.
Fregosi will always be remembered as the guy that was traded to the Mets for Nolan Ryan back in 1971, but he was so much more than the answer to some trivia question.
It's easy to forget that Fregosi was a six-time American league All-Star shortstop while with the California Angels through the 1960's, and received M.V.P. votes every year between 1963-1970.
After an admirable 18 year playing career he immediately began a 15 year run as a manager, guiding the 1979 Angels to their first post-season appearance, as well as leading the 1993 Phillies to the World Series, famously won by the Blue Jays on a Joe Carter home run off of Mitch Williams.
Today I post up his 1971 Topps card, another of my favorites from the set with it's landscape action photograph.
R.I.P. Jim Fregosi, April 4th, 1942-February 14th, 2014.

"GIMME A DO-OVER"- PART XIX: 1972 #595 NOLAN RYAN

Today I want to redesign a card that, although it wasn't a truly ugly card by Topps, it's one that really could have been so much better.
If Topps had more time to have an image of the player on his new team, we'd have a nicer representation of what was to be "history in the making": 1972 Nolan Ryan (#595).
Since this was a late series card, Topps did have the time to do an airbrushing job on Ryan's photo and "put" an Angels cap on him. However, all this left them with was a boring photo where you could also clearly see Ryan wearing a Mets' jersey.
Since this was the beginning of what was to become the legendary "Ryan Express", straight to the Hall of Fame almost 30 years later, let's use a nicer shot for his '72 card, shall we?
As we all know, Ryan was traded to the Angels along with three other players for Jim Fregosi, star shortstop.
And as we ALSO know, this goes down as one of the worst trades in baseball history, as Ryan IMMEDIATELY became THE fire-balling pitcher of his day.
I know I don't have to state the obvious here, but we're talking: 300+ wins, 5000+ strikeouts, seven no-hitters, 11 strikeout titles with six of them being 300+ seasons, two E.R.A. crowns and an almost unanimous Hall of Fame induction.
You can see why people can forget that Fregosi was a legitimate star the Mets were trading for, while Ryan was still trying to prove himself on the Major League level.
Anyway, let's do away with a portrait shot on his first card as a "star" and replace it with a decent action shot of him during his first year in Anaheim.
I got to see Ryan pitch a few times before he hung them up, and he was STILL throwing high-heat (with a loud GRUNT with every delivery) well into his LATE-40's!
It was truly something to behold...

Not the worst card, but not nearly the best.

A vintage shot of the beginning of the "Ryan Express".

MISSING IN ACTION- 1977 JIM FREGOSI

Jim Fregosi pretty much gets a bum-deal all because of "that" trade in December of 1971. You know which one I'm talking about so I won't go too much into it.
Between 1963 and 1970 he was arguably THE best shortstop in the American League, and was selected to appear in six all-star games. He even got M.V.P. votes EVERY single year in that span.
You can see why the Mets thought he'd help them, leading to the trade that saw Nolan Ryan heading West.
He also seamlessly moved onto managing right after his career ended. Like, RIGHT AFTER his career ended.
In 1978 he was released by the Pirates on June 1st, and was immediately hired by the California Angels to manage the team, taking over for Dave Garcia, who had them at 25-21. Fregosi did pretty well actually, managing them to a 62-54 record the rest of the way.
In the end he managed up until the 2000 season for the Angels (1978-81), White Sox (1986-88), Phillies (1991-96) and Blue Jays (1999-00), putting together a very respectable baseball career spanning 40 years.
Anyway, for whatever reason, Topps didn't include him in their 1977 set, even though he appeared in 58 games for Texas in 1976 with 133 at-bats. Odd considering they issued cards for guys like Chip Lang, Eric Raich and Tommy Sandt. Not exactly on par with a former perennial all-star and M.V.P. candidate.
So here is my design for the "missing" card. I forget where I got this image from (I created this card a while ago), and wish it was a bit "crisper". But it's good enough. Love the bushy side-burns, '70's style...

More than just that trade in 1971.

ACCIDENTAL PHOTO BOMBING: PART VII

I haven't uploaded a "photo-bombing" post in a while. Long overdue.
So today I spotlight the 1972 Rick Wise and the 1973 Jim Fregosi cards, which collectively have a Hall of Fame battery lurking in the background.
First up is the 1972 Rick Wise (#43) card. While you have Wise frozen in time with this lame follow-through pitching pose, there are three teammates gathered in the background, and one of them is Hall of Fame pitcher and future American politician Jim Bunning (#14). He's talking to pitcher Bill Wislon (#37) and most likely a Spring training invitee since I can't find any record of a player who wore #54 for them that year.
What's interesting is that the photo is from 1971 and was Bunning's last year in the Majors. He wasn't included in the 1972 set. So he snuck in there after he hung up the cleats.
Another interesting note is that Wise would be suiting up for another team in 1972, the Cardinals, as he was dealt to St. Louis for Steve Carlton before the season started.

Jim Bunning, second from left in the background.

Next up we have an awesome card from the 1973 set: (#525). What a great card. This is "action" done right!
We have Fregosi obviously looking back at a foul pop that went into the stands, as none other than Johnny Bench of the Reds looking on. I love the fact that you also see all the Mets in the dugout watching the action. I wish I could make out who the they are, but I've tried enhancing the image as best I could and didn't recognize any of them.
One of my favorite cards from the set right here.
Interesting coincidence is that both Rick Wise and Jim Fregosi are long remembered as being the "bust" part of two separate historically lopsided trades.
As stated earlier, Wise was traded to the Cardinals for Steve Carlton, who went on to a Hall of Fame career mainly on what he did with Philadelphia, and Fregosi was traded to the Mets for future Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan, who immediately became a superstar with the Angels in 1972.

Johnny Bench tracking the foul pop.

1972 TOPPS TRADED SUB-SET: A CLOSER LOOK

Today I wanted to examine one of my favorite sub-sets of the 70's, Topps first attempt at a "Traded" set of any kind, cards #751 through #757.

It comprised of only seven cards, but among them you have three future Hall of Famers, six Cy Youngs awards, five M.V.P. awards, and a few little tid-bits of importance in baseball "history".

Starting off with the first card in the sub-set, #751 Steve Carlton, we have the future Hall member showing up as a Phillie for the first time on a card. We all know what happened next: an absolutely amazing 1972 season where he went 27-10 with a 1.97 E.R.A. and 310 strikeouts, easily giving him his first of FOUR Cy Young awards. "Lefty" would go on to forge a Hall of Fame career, ending up with 329 wins to go along with 4136 K's and a championship in 1980.

The second card, #752, was a signifier of a very important piece of baseball history that was about to unfold: the "Big Red Machine" Cincinnati Reds of the 1970's. When Joe Morgan was traded to the Reds in November 1971, it was to be the final piece the Reds needed to become the juggernaut they were hinting they would become a few years later.

Morgan was added to an already powerful line up featuring uber-stars Bench, Rose, Perez and Concepcion among others, leading to two consecutive championships in 1975-76 and catapulting Morgan into the spotlight with M.V.P.'s both years, ending up in the Hall of Fame in 1990. Easily the cream of the crop in the N.L. as far as second basemen went, the perennial all-star gave the Reds that combination of speed and power that was relentless in a line up that could bash you into submission from the get go.

Card #753 shows Denny McLain, former two-time Cy Young winner and 1968 M.V.P. on his new team, the Oakland A's as he was closing out his career.

A bit of a tragic story, McLain is obviously best knows as the last pitcher to win 30+ games in a season (1968), but sadly equally as known for all his problems with the law in his post-baseball career.

1972 was to be his last season in the bigs, closing out a short 10-year career with the Braves down in Atlanta, where he was traded to in June for Orlando Cepeda. In the end he sported a 131-91 career record with a 3.39 E.R.A. to go along with his awards mentioned above.

Next up in the sub-set we have one of the all-time greats, card #754, Frank Robinson, who was traded over to the Los Angeles Dodgers in December of 1971 from the Orioles. He ended up spending only one season in L.A., but didn't move very far, as he was traded to the California Angels about a year later and had a couple of very productive seasons, contributing to his amazing career of 586 home runs, 1812 R.B.I.'s and 2943 hits. I always wondered why he didn't have the "extra" at-bats at the end of his career to try and get to 3,000, especially since he ended his playing days as a player-manager on the Indians. 

Anyway, his one year in the City of Angels wasn't his best showing: a line of .251/.353/.442 to go along with 19 homers and 59 ribbies in 103 games. This lead to only the third time in his 17 year career at that point where he didn't garner any M.V.P. consideration. Incredible.

Jim Fregosi follows up Robinson in his new Mets digs on card #755. As we all know, Fregosi was traded to the Mets in December of 1971 for four players, one of them being Nolan Ryan. Definitely one of the all-time bad trades in baseball history! However, at the time it must be noted that Fregosi really was arguably the best short stop in the American League, posting eight consecutive seasons where he received M.V.P. votes by season's end. Sadly for the Mets he couldn't continue this success, and found himself in Shea for only about a season and a half.

He did move onto a relatively successful managerial career after his playing days were done, managing the Angels, White Sox, Phillies and Blue Jays over 15 years between 1978-2000. Of note, he was the manager of the Phillies team that lost the World Series to the Jays in 1993 thanks in part to Joe Carter's series-ending blast of Mitch Williams. He was also at the helm of the powerful 1979 Angels team that finished first and lost to the Orioles in the playoffs. This was a team with Rod Carew, Don Baylor, Carney Lansford, Bobby Grich, Brian Downing, Dan Ford and Willie Aikens. A monster line up that also had Nolan Ryan as their pitching ace. Not too shabby.

Card #756 gives us Rick Wise, the pitcher that was traded for Steve Carlton, whom we looked at earlier in this sub-set. At the time of the trade, this wasn't exactly a lop-sided trade as Wise was already a proven veteran with seven successful years under his belt even though he was still only 25 years old.

However, when you look at what Carlton ended up achieving as a Phillies ace, you can't help but call this a trade-bust even though Wise went on to have a few more solid seasons before he hung up the spikes in 1982. All told he posted a 188-181 record with a 3.69 E.R.A. and 1647 K's over 18 seasons. Certainly admirable to say the least. But of course he'll always be that answer to the trivia question: who did the Phillies give up for Steve Carlton?

The last card in the set, #757, is perhaps the only card in the set that doesn't really depict a star player, even though this player did post a decent 18-year career spanning 1963-1980: Jose Cardenal.

Traded from the Brewers to the Cubs in December of 1971, Cardenal posted his best seasons as a big-leaguer as a member of the North-siders. As a matter of fact he even got some M.V.P. play in both 1972 and 1973 as an outfielder with a little pop in his bat and some speed on the base paths. He eventually hung them up after the 1980 season where he split time with the Royals and Mets. All told he would end up with just under 2000 hits, a .275 batting average, and over 300 stolen bases spread out over 2017 games.

So there you have it: seven cards that show "Traded" blazing across the front with a small write-up on the back, thrown in as a new sub-set in the monster 787-card 1972 Topps baseball card set. Definitely a great idea, but I wish they could have done something other than the "Married with Children" stencil font "rubber-stamp" TRADED designation. But hey, at least their player selection was on point! Great group with tons of accomplishments.