1973 DEDICATED ROOKIE: RON CEY

Time to go and give former All-Star third baseman Ron Cey a "dedicated" card in the 1973 set, after initially appearing (famously) on a multi-player card also featuring some guy named Mike Schmidt:

Now, for Cey this ISN'T a dedicated rookie since he also appeared on a 1972 multi-player rookie card, but nevertheless the "Penguin" deserves a solo edition here as well, and I'm happy to oblige!

Cey pretty much made an immediate impact in the Major Leagues, going on to a very nice 17-year career that saw him excel with the Los Angeles Dodgers at third base, being named to six consecutive all-star games between 1974 and 1979.
By the time he hung up the cleats after the 1987 season, he slammed 316 home runs while collecting 1139 runs batted in, with a .261 lifetime average.
As we all know he’d also be part of an infield that came up together, and stayed together for quite some time, Ron Cey at third, Bill Russell at short, Davel Lopes at second and Steve Garvey at first base.
And very solid and dependable quartet if there ever was one!
They’d help bring the Dodgers four National League Pennants and a World Series victory in 1981 over the New York Yankees.
Not bad at all...

 

1977 N.L. CENTENNIAL: RON CEY

Up on the blog today, we add the "Penguin", Ron Cey to my on-going 1977 National League Centennial sub-set, celebrating the league's 100th anniversary of 1876:

Cey had perhaps his finest season in the Big Leagues in 1977, hitting the aforementioned 30 "jacks" while also driving in a career-best 110 runs for the eventual National League champs, as he also made his fourth straight All-Star team while finishing eighth in the MVP race.

Over 17 seasons you could pretty much pencil him in for about 25 home runs, 80-85 runs batted in, and a .275 batting average.
After the 1982 season he moved on to the Chicago Cubs where he’d play for another four seasons, then finish up his career with a single season in Oakland.
By the time he retired, he collected 1868 hits, with 316 home runs, 1139 RBIs and 977 runs scored with a .261 batting average.
He was named to the All-Star team six straight seasons between 1974 and 1979, and garnered MVP consideration five seasons, with four of them consecutive from 1974 to 1977.

The man was as solid and dependable as they came between 1973 and 1985!

1978 SPECIAL SUB-SET- "1977 30 HOME RUN CLUB" RON CEY

Another National League addition to my on-going 1978 "30 Home Run Club" sub-set, another Los Angeles Dodger! 

Today's addition is "The Penguin" Ron Cey, who hit a career-best 30 to give the Dodgers four sluggers reaching the mark, a new Major League record at the time:

 

Cey had perhaps his finest season in the Big Leagues in 1977, hitting the aforementioned 30 "jacks" while also driving in a career-best 110 runs for the eventual National League champs, as he also made his fourth straight All-Star team while finishing eighth in the MVP race.

Over 17 seasons you could pretty much pencil him in for about 25 home runs, 80-85 runs batted in, and a .275 batting average.
After the 1982 season he moved on to the Chicago Cubs where he’d play for another four seasons, then finish up his career with a single season in Oakland.
By the time he retired, he collected 1868 hits, with 316 home runs, 1139 RBIs and 977 runs scored with a .261 batting average.
He was named to the All-Star team six straight seasons between 1974 and 1979, and garnered MVP consideration five seasons, with four of them consecutive from 1974 to 1977.

The man was as solid and dependable as they came between 1973 and 1985!

GIMMIE (MY OWN) DO-OVER- 1978 DODGERS 30+ HOMER HIGHLIGHTS CARD

I came across this great image of the 1977 Dodgers 30-home run club and decided it was perfect to re-do one of my own, my 1978 “Highlights of the 1970’s” card that was created for the blog a long time ago:

For those who never saw it, this was the “original” I created some five years ago:

Though the feat has been accomplished since this groundbreaking feat in 1977, it is STILL a rarity.
Here’s my original write-up of it all from that initial entry in 2014:
“Here's a highlight from the 1970's that always wowed me as a kid: the 1977 Dodgers with FOUR players hitting 30 or more home runs in the same season.
Not until these four sluggers achieved this was it ever accomplished in Major League history.
Call me nuts, but this feat deserved a card in the mighty 1978 set in my book.
Think of all the classic slugging teams throughout history up until that point ('27 Yanks, '61 Yanks, '56 Reds, '64 Twins), and this team was the first to do it.
Steve Garvey, Reggie Smith, Dusty Baker and Ron Cey.
Four "thumpers" who powered the Dodgers into the World Series against the Yankees by combining for 125 homers and 398 runs batted in all on their own!
Not until the home run days of the late 1990's/early 00's did another team also match the 1977 Dodgers.
In 1995 the Rockies accomplished this feat in the first of what would be FOUR TIMES in the next five years, with the 1997 Dodgers also having four players attain those lofty numbers.
Since then, a handful of other teams have reached the now watered-down milestone in team-power, but when the 1977 Dodgers did it, it was big stuff.
Big enough for the Los Angeles team to even feature a picture of the four sluggers under the L.A. Scoreboard with "30" emblazoned in lights.
You think Topps could have found a little room to fit a card like this in their set instead of an Oscar Zamora or Dennis Blair! (No offense to those ex-players).

1975 IN-ACTION: RON CEY

Next up in the 1975 “In-Action” thread is Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Ron Cey, aka “The Penguin”, who was just about getting started as a perennial National League All-Star, on his way to an excellent 17-year career:

Cey was coming off of his first All-Star berth in 1974, helping the Dodgers get to the World Series before losing the series to three-time champs the Oakland A’s.
Over the next 16 seasons you could pretty much pencil him in for about 25 home runs,80-85 runs batted in, and a .275 batting average.
After the 1982 season he moved on to the Chicago Cubs where he’d play for another four seasons, then finish up his career with a single season in Oakland.
By the time he retired, he collected 1868 hits, with 316 home runs, 1139 RBIs and 977 runs scored with a .261 batting average.
He was named to the All-Star team six straight seasons between 1974 and 1979, and garnered MVP consideration five seasons, with four of them consecutive from 1974 to 1977.

DEDICATED ROOKIE- 1972 RON CEY

Time to go and give “The Penguin” Ron Cey a “Dedicated Rookie Card” in the 1972 set, the first of two sets that he appeared on a multi-player rookie card:

Cey pretty much made an immediate impact in the Major Leagues, going on to a very nice 17-year career that saw him star with the Los Angeles Dodgers at third base, being named to six consecutive all-star games between 1974 and 1979.
By the time he hung up the cleats after the 1987 season, he slammed 316 home runs while collecting 1139 runs batted in, with a .261 lifetime average.
As we all know he’d also be part of an infield that came up together, and stayed together for quite some time, Ron Cey at third, Bill Russell at short, Davel Lopes at second and Steve Garvey at first base.
And very solid and dependable quartet if there ever was one!
They’d help bring the Dodgers four National League Pennants and a World Series victory in 1981 over the New York Yankees.
Not bad at all...

NICKNAMES OF THE '70'S #19: "PENGUIN" RON CEY

Longtime Los Angeles Dodger third baseman Ron Cey get's today's "Nicknames of the '70s" entry for HIS nom-de-plume "Penguin".

Check it out:

I used the 1976 format since he was at the height of his game then, starting the All-Star game in '74, '75 and '77.

Part of the Dodger infield that played and stayed together for so many years (Cey, Steve Garvey, Davey Lopes and Bill Russell), Cey put together an excellent 17-year career between 1971 and 1987.

In 1977 he teamed up with Garvey, Reggie Smith and Dusty Baker to become the first teammate foursome to slam 30+ homers in the same season, and he'd enjoy four trips to the World Series (1974, 1977, 1978 and 1981), with a Championship in 1981, helping the Dodgers finally beat the Yankees after losses in '77 and '78.

In 1983 he found himself as a member of the Chicago Cubs, and helped lead them to their first postseason berth in almost 40 years a year later, posting solid numbers as a seasoned veteran: 25-homers and 97-R.B.I.'s.

By the time he retired after the 1987 season as a member of the Oakland A's, he clubbed 316 home runs, collected 1139 runs batted in and scored 977 runs on 1868 hits over 2073 games.

A six-time all-star, Cey also collected M.V.P. votes in five seasons: 1974-1977, and 1984.

I tell you, as a kid watching him play he seemed so much shorter than 5'10"! But for some reason I always liked the guy as a player even though I didn't know much about him.

"HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE 1970'S" #4: 1977 DODGERS 30+ HOME RUN FOURSOME

Here's a highlight from the 1970's that always wowed me as a kid: the 1977 Dodgers with FOUR players hitting 30 or more home runs in the same season.

Not until these four sluggers achieved this was it ever accomplished in Major League history.

Call me nuts, but this feat deserved a card in the mighty 1978 set in my book.

Think of all the classic slugging teams throughout history up until that point ('27 Yanks, '61 Yanks, '56 Reds, '64 Twins), and this team was the first to do it.

So take a look at the card design I came up with:

Steve Garvey, Reggie Smith, Dusty Baker and Ron Cey.

Four "thumpers" who powered the Dodgers into the World Series against the Yankees by combining for 125 homers and 398 runs batted in all on their own!

Not until the home run days of the late 1990's/early 00's did another team also match the 1977 Dodgers.

In 1995 the Rockies accomplished this feat in the first of what would be FOUR TIMES in the next five years, with the 1997 Dodgers also having four players attain those lofty numbers.

Since then, a handful of other teams have reached the now watered-down milestone in team-power, but when the 1977 Dodgers did it, it was big stuff.

Big enough for the Los Angeles team to even feature a picture of the four sluggers under the L.A. Scoreboard with "30" emblazoned in lights. (I couldn't find a decent enough sized file for the cover shot since it was a natural for a card design):

You think Topps could have found a little room to fit a card like this in their set instead of an Oscar Zamora or Dennis Blair! (No offense to those ex-players).

Hope some of you out there are enjoying these "highlight" cards.

I'm having a blast designing them and revisiting these high-points of my baseball youth.

More to come!

So keep an eye out here...

RANDOM QUICKIE: 1974 RON CEY

Ron Cey wasn't the tallest player in the big leagues, but at 5' 10", he certainly wasn't short either.
That's why I've always loved this 1974 (#315) card of the "Penguin" that made him look like five feet tall.
I'm sure his stocky build helps, but there seems to be something about the angle of the shot that really contributes to why he looks so small.
I mean, look at home plate! It looks oddly big in relation to Cey.
Hilariously "wrong" looking photo, but a really card overall actually.

Awww, look at the little kid on a Major League field.

Ron Cey is always one of those players that gets lost when talking about star players from the 1970's.
Until Mike Schmidt really hit his stride, Cey was arguably the best third baseman in the National League.
It's easy to forget that Cey was on three all-star cards as the N.L. starting third baseman: 1975, 1976 and 1978, getting beat out by Pete Rose in 1977 and 1979.
But when you look at his career, you see that between 1974 and 1977 he received M.V.P. votes each year while also appearing in every all-star game through 1979.
By the time he retired in 1987 after 17 years in the Majors, Cey pounded out over 300+ home runs with 1100+ runs batted in, and will always be linked the that awesome starting infield for the Los Angeles Dodgers that included Steve Garvey, Davey Lopes and Bill Russell.