#624 - Bob Miller

There is a lot to say about this card. First of all it is the third card in a row that represents the subject's final Topps card as a player. Bob Miller had at this point had a pretty long run that began in the Fifties and, especially recently, had covered a whole bunch of teams. Secondly, this is a damn ugly card, which we have happily been without for a long time. Nothing against Mr. Miller, who in younger years was a good looking guy, but he is all of 33 years old at the oldest (see below) in this photo and he looks 20 years older. Plus this must be about the nastiest air-brush job in the set, with Bob’s Pirates uniform being compromised into a Mets one. The neck line is horrific and the hat looks like a pile of atomic waste. Third, the newest this card is is from ’72 and it may even be much earlier because the background is very Forbes Field-ish and that park closed in ’70. So it’s probably a spring training shot. Lastly, and best-ly (I know that’s not even a hyphenated word but you get the drift) it has Roberto Clemente in the background, which is awfully nice and pulls the card back to respectability. Don Leppert appears to be there also over Bob’s right shoulder, but I’m no good with the rest of those guys. ’73 was an all too-typical year for Bob in the Seventies: lots of traveling conjoined with some pretty good pitching. He actually went through nearly all of spring training with Pittsburgh, only to get released right at the end of it. Immediately picked up by the Padres he got off to a pretty good start in relief until some messy outings in May pushed up his ERA. Unfortunately, too, in not one of the San Diego games in which he pitched did the team record a win. So after 18 games he was placed on waivers from which he was again snatched pretty quickly, this time by Detroit. Bob won two of his first three games with the Tigers, threw generally good ball, and added a save through late September. He was then sold to NY for a very short stretch drive, especially for him since he only threw one inning. So Topps really didn’t get much of an opportunity to not airbrush Bob. But it would be nice if they did a better job.

Bob Miller grew up in St. Louis where at Beaumont High School he went 22-1 during his career and 12-0 as a senior. He also led his team to the American Legion national championship and in ’57 was signed as a bonus baby by St. Louis out of high school. Like most players signed under that umbrella Bob rarely played his first year and after the rule associated with those kinds of signings was changed in ’58 he went to the minors. After beginning the year in Triple A with a bit of a fat ERA he moved to Double A where he went 8-11 with a 3.54 ERA in the rotation. The next year he pretty much matched those numbers in Triple A – 8-12 with a 3.50 ERA – before he returned to St. Louis that August, winning his first game in his first start. He threw well the rest of the way but then had an injury-filled ’60 during which he missed most of the middle part of the season and did some Double A rehab time. In ’61 he moved to a reserve role and saw a spike in his ERA – but everybody did that year – and recorded his first three saves. After that season he was one of the early round picks by the new Mets in the expansion draft.

Miller spent most of the ’62 season in the NY rotation but probably wished he didn’t. He lost his first 12 games and didn’t put up his first win of the season until late September. Mercifully he was traded after the season to LA for Larry Burright and Tim Harkness, two infielders. Bob’s timing was pretty good and his first year he worked as a swing guy for the Series winners, getting a save in his relief work. After being shut out of any post-season work he was pretty much strictly a reliever the next few seasons. In ’64 he led the NL with his 74 appearances and recorded nine saves. He hit that save total again in ’65 and then put up five in ’66. Both those years he threw shutout ball in the Series. In ’67 the Dodgers did a fast fade and Bob went right with them as both his record and his ERA deteriorated and he was shut out in the saves department. In ’68 he went to Minnesota in a big trade with Johnny Roseboro and Ron Perranoski for Mudcat Grant and Zoilo Versalles. With the Twins Bob basically did set-up work for Perranoski and over the next two years garnered five saves for himself. In ’69 he added some spot starts which bumped up his innings and returned to the post-season. Then with the beginning of the Seventies came the real onset of his travels. Three years during that decade he played for three teams, beginning in ’70 when prior to the start of the season he was involved in another big trade, going to Cleveland with Dean Chance, Graig Nettles, and Ted Uhlaender for Luis Tiant and Stan Williams. It wasn’t a great year for Bob: as a swing guy for The Tribe, a starter for the White Sox (he went there in June for Buddy Bradford), and a reliever for the Cubs (a sale in September), his work was below par and his ERA escalated quite a bit. But in ’71 after a lousy start for the Cubbies he went to San Diego after being released in May and did some excellent work in the pen, recording seven saves with his miniscule ERA. He continued that after an August trade to Pittsburgh for Ed Acosta and Johnny Jeter. After posting three saves for the Pirates he again got some post-season work, winning another ring. In ’72 he stayed put for a change, adding another three saves, before he did the three team thing again in ’73. In ’74 he finished his MLB time with pen work for the Mets, going 2-2 with a 3.58 ERA and a couple saves in 58 games. Bob finished with a record of 69-81 with a 3.37 ERA, seven complete games, and 51 saves. In his post-season work he was 0-2 with a 3.07 ERA in nine games.

In ’75 Miller returned to the Padres as a player/coach for the team’s Triple A Hawaii franchise. He went 0-1 with three saves in his 15 games and the following year got a straight-up manager gig, going 81-54 for the team’s Double A franchise. In ’77 he was named pitching coach of the new Toronto Blue Jays – so he got a card that year – and retained that role through the ’79 season. After a year off in ’80 he joined the Giants as a minor league pitching instructor from ’81 to ’84 and then returned to The Show with an ’85 stint in San Francisco. After the whole staff was canned following a disappointing season Bob became a scout for the club. He was still doing that when he was killed in a car accident outside San Diego in August of ’93. He was 54.

Bob has zero room for star bullets, mostly because of his travels in the Seventies. Sixteen different managers, huh? Dare I name them? Why not:

Fred Hutchinson (’57 Cards);                                Don Gutteridge (’70 White Sox);

Solly Hemus (’59 -’61 Cards);                               Leo Durocher (’70 –’71 Cubs);

Johnny Keane (’61 Cards);                                    Preston Gomez (’71 Padres);

Casey Stengel (’62 Mets);                                     Danny Murtaugh (’71 Pirates);

Walt Alston (’63 -’67 Dodgers);                            Bill Virdon (’72 Pirates);

Cal Ermer (’68 Twins);                                          Don Zimmer (’73 Padres);

Billy Martin (’69 Twins and ’73 Tigers);               Joe Schultz (’73 Tigers);

Al Dark (’70 Indians);                                           Yogi Berra (’73 –’74 Mets).

Bob also famously roomed with another Bob Miller on the ’62 Mets which was memorialized by a Topps card.

Bob played with everybody apparently except this guy:

1. Miller and Lindy McDaniel ’57 and ’59 to ’61 Cardinals;

2. McDaniel and Celerino Sanchez ’72 to ’73 Yankees.

#579 - Cecil Upshaw

Back to the action shots we get a great follow-through of a sidearm delivery by Cecil Upshaw at Candlestick. At 6’6” Cecil was a tall guy with a big wingspan so that delivery must have looked like it was coming from third base. It was effective for a while, too, until a couple injuries to his pitching hand really compromised his pitching. That downfall began in earnest in ’73 when after an ineffective start to the season, Cecil was sent to Houston by the Braves for outfielder Norm Miller. Things didn’t get much better in Houston where a fat ERA and not much use only led to one save. And as the Traded card illustrates, it was a very short stay with the Astros. It would be an even shorter stay with the Tribe and though he pitched not too shabbily, Cecil would be out of ball in a couple years. That’s too bad since he was generally regarded as one of the nicer guys playing. His Traded card is my guess an airbrush Atlanta cap, possibly during spring training. It’s not a terrible art job but with Cecil looking like he just woke up and facing the sun it is reviving a seldom-used category in this set, the ugly card.

Cecil Upshaw grew up in Louisiana and after graduating high school he went to Centenary College in his home state. There he played hoops and baseball, setting a couple scoring records in the former sport and going 12-4 his two varsity seasons with 156 strikeouts – another school record – in 126 innings. He was signed by the Braves in early ’64, missing his senior year, for a bonus of about $30,000. Apparently, though, the team let him finish both his basketball season and his degree, which at least partly explains his pitching in only two A ball games that summer, going 1-0 with a 1.12 ERA. After a couple early relief jobs at that level in ’65 he moved to Double A where he went 3-8 with a 3.18 ERA as a swing guy. In ’66 he was a starter at that level the first half of the year, going 4-5 with a 2.77 ERA, before spending the second half in Triple A where his numbers were awfully close: 5-5 with a 2.87 ERA again as a swing guy. Later that season he made his debut in Milwaukee. Cecil then began the ’67 season in Triple A where he posted a 2-2 record with a 2.16 ERA in 25 games, all but one in relief. His position now better defined, he returned to Milwaukee that summer for good.

For the balance of the ’67 season Upshaw continued his good work, showing excellent control, and recording eight saves. In ’68 he took over as Atlanta’s closer, putting up 13 saves in his 52 games, while pitching more than two innings per appearance. In ’69 the Braves did a better job setting up Cecil as his innings per appearance fell but his saves total more than doubled to 27. He continued his good work in the playoffs, getting into all three games and recording a 2.84 ERA, though he was unable to prevent his team from going down in a straight set. Then during spring training of ’70 he was out with some friends for dinner and while strolling home he decided to show off some of his hoops moves. Bad move since he was ironically wearing his college ring on his pitching hand and when showing his dunk move he got the ring stuck on either an awning of a sign and nearly severed the finger. The resulting surgery caused him to miss all that season and for part of that time he busied himself with writing a sports column in a local paper. He returned in ’71, promptly hurt the same finger again in one of his first appearances, and put together a pretty good comeback season, adding 17 saves to his career-high eleven wins. But amidst those numbers there were some indication he was not the pitcher he had been: his control was sliding a bit and his pitches weren’t as overpowering and the increased number of hits he was giving up popped his ERA by over half a run. In ’72 he added 13 saves as his workload dropped by about a third. Frankly, both seasons were pretty good, especially given the dimensions of Atlanta’s home park, and I think the ’73 trade was about the potential for more injury – he’d missed a month in ’72 with a sore arm – and that Cecil was the Atlanta player rep which was never a positive thing for one’s career. So first he went to Houton and then, with this trade, to Cleveland. With the Tribe he put up a pretty good ERA in his first few games before being included in another April trade, this one a tad bigger: he, Dick Tidrow, and Chris Chambliss went to the Yankees for Fred Beene, Tom Buskey, Steve Kline, and Fritz Peterson. It was a very unpopular trade in NY and Cecil pretty much helped fill the setup and occasional closer gap, going 1-5 but with six saves and an ERA just over 3.00. After the season he was sent to the White Sox for infielder Eddie Leon and though he did more passable work -1-1 with a save and a 3.23 ERA in 29 games – he was released at the end of the season. That finished things for Cecil as he walked away with a 34-36 record with 86 saves and a 3.13 ERA.

After playing Upshaw remained in the southeast where he worked in several businesses, none of which has been specified. He was pretty low profile media-wise and pops up generally in three instances: as some background for his son Lee, who was a minor league pitcher for the Braves in the late Eighties; as the name bequeathed more than a few times to Toronto outfielder/first baseman Willie Upshaw; and in 1995 when he passed away from a heart attack in Georgia. He was only 52.

Cecil gets a star bullet for his college stats, and it appears to have been a pretty good final year for him, though he did not play his senior year as noted above (so I guess Topps means his junior year). He didn’t bring that hitting prowess to his pro time though for a reliever his .160 average wasn’t too bad. A ping pong paddle would actually work in his right hand on the card front. Cecil gets a mention in “The Bronx Zoo” by Sparky Lyle that is actually quite funny, but it’s pretty gross so I won’t mention it here.

The guy for whom Cecil was traded, Jerry Johnson, had a season sort of similar to Cecil’s. He went 5-6 with six saves and a 6.18 ERA. He doesn’t have a card in this set for some reason, though he did every other year from ’69 to ’76.

Another double hook-up, Cecil missed pitching for The Major by less than a season. For Houk as a manager:

1. Sparky Lyle and Cecil Upshaw ’74 Yankees;

2. Lyle was managed by Ralph Houk form ’72 to ’73.

Now for The Major as a player. Pretty much the same as last time:

1. Upshaw and Roy White ’74 Yankees;

2. White and Mickey Mantle ’65 to ’68 Yankees;

3. Mantle and Ralph Houk ’51 to ’54 Yankees.

#87 - Fergie Jenkins

Okay, so let's start with the good things. First of all, it's Fergie Jenkins. Second, how often do you get a card whose player's first name is the same as the last name of the guy on the last card! Now for the bad. It's a non-Traded traded card. Because of that, Topps used a photo with no hat and no discernible uniform. But it's not a uniform; it's an undershirt! And how far back did they go for this card? Pre-mustache obviously. This card could be anywhere between one and six years old. Sorry Topps, but Fergie Jenkins deserved a lot better than that. And Fergie also deserved a lot better than his '73 season. After winning 20-plus for six straight seasons, nearly everything went awry for him in '73: he led the league in homer give-ups, but he almost always did that. But the complete games dropped by over two-thirds; the ERA floated up to league average; he posted his first losing record since '66; and during the season he indicated that year would be his last in baseball. Did all the Chicago pratfall seasons over the years take their toll? Who knows. But what probably nobody figured on was that it would take this trade - to the worst team in the AL - to revive Fergie's achievement level in baseball.

So what kind of guy is Fergie Jenkins? About the best, to which I can attest from personal experience (probably the only time I can say that about a guy in this set). I was lucky enough to spend some time with him a few years ago. For anyone interested there is a wonderful SI article regarding him here. It was written around the time he got in the Hall and is very poignant and gets to the nature of the guy pretty completely.

Fergie Jenkins is from Ottawa, Canada, from a small town outside Chatham. He played hockey and hoops growing up and his dad played in the Canadian version of the Negro Leagues. Fergie picked up baseball relatively late and honed his skills tossing rocks down a coal chute. A local scout got him a tryout with the Phillies in '62 and they signed him to a minor league contract. He started off really well at the lower minor levels - a combined 19-7 in two years of A ball; 10-6 in a '64 in Double A - but couldn't get a decent Triple A run until later that year when he went 5-5 with a 3.16 ERA. A better '65 (8-6 with a 2.95 ERA) at that level followed and he then came up at the end of that season and threw some very nice ball in relief. Fergie's trademark pitching style was already apparent - lots of hits and homers, but excellent control resulting in some miniscule walk totals. He remained on the Philly roster to start the '66 season but only got in one game before he was on the right side of one of baseball's worst trades: in late April Fergie went to the Cubs with Adolpho Phillips for Bob Buhl and Larry Jackson.

Jenkins spent his first season as a Cub initially in the pen - he recorded five saves - and then the rotation. The next spring manager Leo Durocher installed Fergie in the rotation full-time, a very good move as Mr. Jenkins would win at least 20 each of the next six seasons. He tended to give up a bunch of home runs - his 484 career total is third all time - and to compensate he became a low ball specialist which also helped his strikeout totals since the NL Is a low ball strike league. He also had amazing control and his K to walk ratios generally led the league. During that time frame he also led the league in starts three times and complete games three times. In '67 he came in second in the Cy race. In '68 he added innings and dropped his walk totals. In the heartbreaking season of '69 he led the NL in strikeouts. In '70 he led MLB in baserunners allowed per nine innings. In '71 he won the Cy via his NL-leading win total and a sick total of only 37 walks in 325 innings. '72 was a third-place Cy year and was followed by his last forgettable season in Chicago, at least for the first run. That October he was traded to the Rangers for new infielders Vic Harris (second base) and Bill Madlock (third base).

Jenkins continued his record of doing well in new environments as well as performing well for difficult managers. Going from Leo Durocher to Billy Martin wasn't anybody's idea of a picnic but Fergie made it work. In '74 he went 25-12 with a 2.82 ERA, 225 strikeouts, and six shutouts to nearly ride the Texas train to a divisional championship. He came in second in AL Cy votes and won comeback player of the year. But because things never went well in Billy-land for long, the following off-season Fergie hurt his knuckles punching out a guy in a pick-up hockey game and his stats declined the following year and he went 17-18 as the homer tally ratcheted up a bit. In November he went to Boston for Juan Beniquez as the piece to guarantee the Sox' continued playoff presence. While Fergie put up way better than average numbers league-wise he was only a game over .500 the next two years, winning just 22 in that span, and ended up in manager Don Zimmer's doghouse (he was viewed as way too friendly with Bill Lee, a personal adversary of Zimmer's). From there, Fergie's career reversed itself geographically. In '78 he returned to the Rangers where he won 18 his first year and was the best Texas starter for three seasons. He had an off '81 and the next year went to the Cubs as a free agent. He won 14 in '82 at age 39, pitched one more season and was done. He finished up with a record of 284-226, a 3.34 ERA, with 3,192 strikeouts, 267 complete games, 49 shutouts, and seven saves. He, Greg Maddox, Curt Schilling, and Pedro Martinez are the only guys to have over 3,000 lifetime Ks and less than 1,000 career walks. Not a bad hitter, he poked 13 homers with 85 RBI's lifetime and made four All-Star teams. He got in the Hall in '91 on his third attempt.

Following his career Jenkins coached a bit, first for Texas, and then for other organizations. But he has since spent most of his time running his working farm back in Texas.

The card back is not nearly as bad as the front, but I'd tweak it a little. For the cartoon, Fergie definitely played hockey, but by his own admission he wasn't so great so I am pretty sure he didn't get several pro hockey offers. He did, however, get to show off his basketball skills by touring with the Harlem Globetrotters a couple years. The year he won the Cy he also hit a ton: .243 with 6 homers and 20 RBIs in 115 at bats. He still holds the season K mark for the Cubbies. And this is the first card that we see the little notation regarding the trade. There will be a couple of these. And that number sucks. 87??!! Even if his '73 was below standard for him, Fergie was deserving of at least a "5" card.

So how do we connect the Fergusons?:

1. Jenkins and Bill Buckner and Ron Cey '83 Cubs;
2. Cey, Buckner, and Joe Ferguson '73 to '76 Dodgers.

I love the guy, but Fergie gets an ugly card here, just because of the t-shirt.

#43 - Jim Wynn

This is the second great action shot in a row. The only downside is that like the earlier George Scott photo, in this one it looks like Mr. Wynn is popping out. Plus this is the third Astro already and only one Dodger? I guess that gets rectified a little by The Trade.

I capitalize that last bit because Jimmy Wynn's move to LA was probably the most important off-season transaction prior to the '74 season. The only comparable one was the other big pre-season Dodger trade, but we will get to that one later. All Jimmy would do was hit 32 homers, drive in 108 runs, play a pretty mean center field, and lead LA to its first pennant since '66. Yes, I know they had Garvey and the rest come into prominence that year, but Jimmy was definitely the missing offensive piece. That year, Jimmy won Comeback Player of the Year. As for '73, the season from which he had to come back, it was one of his toughest. Along with missing some time to an injured shoulder Jimmy was moved to the top of the Houston order to take advantage of his normally uncanny ability to get on base, and because no other Houston hitter was doing the job there. So his power numbers tanked pretty hard and so did his average as he was very uncomfortable in that spot. But that experience probably made his '74 one all the sweeter.

Jimmy Wynn grew up in the Cincinnati area, played ball at Central State University in Ohio for two years and was signed by the Reds in '62. He had a big first season that summer in D ball, hitting .290 with 14 homers, 81 RBI's, and a .448 OBA. A shortstop in high school and college, he played primarily third and second that year. Despite those numbers he was left unprotected and then taken by the Colt .45's in that year's expansion draft. For Houston, Jimmy jumped to Double A in '63, resumed playing shortstop, and put up a .288/16/49 line with eleven triples in about a half season, though his walk totals came way down. He came all the way up mid-season and the rest of the way put in OK rookie numbers at short and in the outfield. He began the '64 season in Houston but after a tough time at the plate, went down to Triple A where he put up better numbers while playing nearly exclusively in the outfield. He made it back up top in September to stay and brought his new position with him.

Wynn moved into the Houston starting center field role that last month of '64 and the next year he would show some good power, some big K totals, and steal an uncharacteristic 43 bases. He also walked at a good clip and put up his first good OBA at .371; that stat would be a hallmark of his career. In '66 though his average came in a bit, he pulled his strikeouts much lower and in general his offense was running at a premium to the prior year's when he crashed into a wall chasing a Dick Allen fly, pretty much shattering his left arm and ending that season. But '67 was a big comeback season as he put up big power numbers (and led the NL with his 137 K's), scored over 100 runs, and made his first All-Star game. '68 was tougher: on top of it being the year of the offensive swoon, it was also the year Houston got a new manager in Harry Walker. Walker was a big hitting guru and Jimmy chafed under Walker's criticism of his free-swinging batting style (apparently all the walks were just random occurrences). But despite the generally lower numbers Jimmy upped his OBA and then did that huge in a much better '69 when he put up a .436 while leading the NL with 148 walks. After another good year in '70, Jimmy went through an ugly divorce in '71 that killed his season that year. That year Jimmy also moved to right field as new guy Cesar Cedeno took over center. Another big bounce followed in '72 before the problematic '73 and the trade shown here.

Wynn's big season in LA in '74 earned him his second All-Star get as he returned to his familiar spot in center. In '75 he was cruising at about the same pace and by the end of June Jimmy was hitting .280 with 13 homers, 43 RBI's, and a .430 OBA. But LA got hit bad with injuries that year and partly to compensate Jimmy was moved all over the line-up. The rest of the way he would hit only .200 with five homers and 15 RBI's, though he did get his final All-Star nod. After that season he was traded to Atlanta with Tom Paciorek, Lee Lacy, and Jerry Royster for Dusty Baker and Ed Goodson. With the Braves in '76 Jimmy would split time between left and center and lead the NL with his 127 walks. But he was aging fast, hit only .207, and his other stats resembled his '75 ones. After the season he was sold to the Yankees. There he would DH and play right field. But after a very hot first couple weeks, he tailed off considerably and was released. Picked up by Milwaukee to fill the same role, his numbers never improved in what would be his last season. For his career Jimmy hit 250 with 291 homers and 964 RBI's, 225 stolen bases, and a .366 OBA. In his lone post-season he hit .192 - but with a .450 OBA - with a homer and four RBI's in his nine games. Defensively he is 30th all time in double plays from center and is in the top 75 in assists and putouts.

Wynn remained in the LA area and immediately after playing got a gig as a marketing rep for a beverage company. An attempt at a comeback in the Mexican Leagues in '79 went nowhere fast and by '85 he had relocated back to Houston. There he became a bartender, went through some tough financial times, and needed help from the Baseball Assistance Team. But another big comeback ensued and in the late Eighties he got a community rep gig with the Astros and for a while has been announcing for the team as well.

I cannot conclude the front card commentary without a couple notes. The regular card is from Candlestick and I would assume the Giant in the background is the shortstop, but the guy looks too meaty to be Chris Speier. Maybe Mike Phillips? Secondly, the Traded card is just butt-ugly. Since Wynn was quite photogenic - see his other cards - Topps gets the blame for that one. He looks like he just woke up. In a trash can.

The thing that most jumps out at me on the back of the regular card is Wynn's vital statistics, particularly his height. I know that same data is on baseball-reference, but I could swear the guy was closer to 5'8". Jimmy would average over 100 walks a season from '67 to '76. The cartoon is a little disappointing; I am sure with a little work Topps could have dragged out a more interesting tidbit. I guess when the notes are upside down it's jazz.

Jimmy Wynn had one of the greatest all-time nicknames and Topps gets to it on this card. The trade wasn't exactly even up as the Astros also got a minor leaguer named Dave Culpepper. I am pretty sure this will be that guy's only mention on this blog.

Since they were only a year apart in LA, this exercise is pretty easy:

1. Wynn and Steve Garvey, Don Sutton, Ron Cey, etc. '74 to '75 Dodgers;
2. Claude Osteen and all those guys '73 Dodgers (or longer).

#31 - Preston Gomez

Here we have the first manager/ field leaders card for the 1974 set. This card has a few unique attributes. First off, on the set checklist, card 31 is listed as the A's manager card, of which there was none in this set (Dick Williams had resigned right after winning the '73 Series; more on that on future cards). Secondly, poor manager Gomez is standing beside that same damn ugly wall that Bob Gallagher had to abide earlier. Preston wasn't actually the manager of the Astros in '73; Leo Durocher was. But at least Preston doesn't have to be airbrushed into his new role since he was a Houston coach in '73.The third thing that stands out will come up shortly. I would like to follow the format I did with the Baltimore team records card and do a little bio on the manager and all those floating heads below him.

Preston Gomez was born in Cuba and played for its national team before in mid -'44 he came to The States and played eight games for the Senators which would be the extent of his Major League career. He would then play a tiny bit in Double A that year and then in '45 hit .269 at that level, which was pretty good then for a shortstop, his regular position. But when the WW II guys floated back to the pro leagues the next year, Preston got pushed down to the lower levels and some seasons barely played. His best years were '47, when he hit .287 in B ball, and '51, when he hit .268 in C ball. Overall in the minors he hit .245 and up top .286 with a couple RBI's in his seven at bats. By the early Fifties he was coaching as well, both in The States, and south of them, in Cuba and Mexico. His managing career began in '57 as he took the helm for two years for the Mexico City Reds and had a winning record. Then it was a season in Havana in the Cincinnati system, three years in the LA system ('60-'62), and two in the Yankees one ('63-'64) during which his record was 469-485. He then moved back up top as a Dodgers coach ('65-'68) before in '69 being tabbed as the first San Diego Padres manager where he would remain through early '72. After a year as an Astros coach, he took over as manager for the '74 and '75 seasons. He then coached for the Cards ('76-'79) before being named manager for the Cubs ('80) in his final managerial gig. Preston went 347-529 in that role. In '81 he took up with the California Angels, first as a coach for four years ('81-'84) and then in administration. He was still working there when he passed away in 2009 from injuries sustained in a car accident at 85.

Roger Craig was a pitcher from North Carolina who was first signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1950, won 14 each of the next two years (in D and B ball respectively), and then missed all of 1952-'53 for military duty. He returned to a good short season in B ball in '54 and then started '55 by going 10-2 in Triple A before making the big club later that summer. He went 5-3 with a 2.78 ERA and a couple saves the rest of the way before pitching in the Series. In '56 he joined the rotation and went 12-11 but in '57 back in a spot role his ERA got toppy and he would spend a considerable part of the next two seasons in Triple A. He got back up top in '59 and had an excellent summer, going 11-5 with a 2.06 ERA. He would maintain his spot role through '61, when his ERA got pretty bloated. After that season he was lucky enough to be drafted by the Mets so that he could lead the league in losses the next two years, going a combined 15-46 during that time. Redemption came in his trade to St. Louis for the '64 season, another Series year for Roger, during which he moved to the pen and went 7-9 with a 3.25 ERA and five saves. He then pitched super for the Cards against the Yankees in the Series. He then moved to Cincinnati and Philadelphia, in neither spot pitching too much, before finishing his MLB time in '66. For his career he went 74-98 with a 3.83 ERA, 58 complete games, seven shutouts, and 19 saves. In the post-season he was 2-2 with a 6.49 ERA in seven games. He then scouted for LA in '67 before managing its Triple A club in '68, going 70-69. He then took on various coaching roles: for San Diego ('69-'72); in the LA system ('73); for Houston ('74-'75); and back with the Padres ('76-'77). By then Roger had attained guru status and he got his first managing gig for San Diego from '78 to '79, the first season leading the Padres to their first winning season. For the next five seasons he coached in Detroit reaching another Series in '84. He then became manager of the Giants, leading them to an NL title in '89. He managed the Giants from '85 to '92 and then retired. For his MLB managing career he has gone 738-737. I believe Roger is still kicking.

Grady Hatton was an infielder from the mid-40's through the mid-50's. His primary position was third base. He played shortstop in his Texas high school and then short and third at the University of Texas, where he played from '41 to '43, twice leading his team to a conference championship. Immediately after the '43 season he was called into the Air Force and spent the next three years as a PE instructor - that was also his major at school - in South Carolina. While there he also played service ball and when that gig was done in '46 he opted to go to Cincinnati. He went right to the Reds and his '46 rookie season was quite good (.271, 14 homers, 69 RBI's). He would be the regular guy at third through '50, putting up comparable numbers. He was injured in '51 and then made the All-Star team in '52 as a second baseman, his only year that position was his primary one, and stayed in Cincy through '53 when injuries forced him to a back-up role. He then went to the White Sox before a quick flip to Boston where he was the regular guy at third the next two seasons, though his offense was a discount to his best days in Cincy. After playing sparingly for the Cards and the Orioles in '56, he went to the PCL in '57 debuting in the minors as a 34-year old! He then moved to Double A San Antonio, a Baltimore ('58) and Cubs ('59-'60) franchise where he was a player-manager before coming up to Chicago for his final MLB time. Up top Grady finished with a .254 average with 91 homers and 533 RBI's. He returned to the minors to manage for Chicago, ironically in Houston, before taking a position for the new Colt .45's as director of player development. He then had nice success managing its top minor league club from '63 to '65. He was brought up to manage the Astros in '66 and lasted midway through the '68 season, replaced by Harry Walker. After some time scouting, he was brought back to coach during the '73 to '74 seasons. He then returned to scouting, a job he also did for the Giants through the late Eighties, when he retired. As a manager Grady was 482-409 in the minors and 164-211 for Houston. From what I can tell he is still around also.

Hubert ("Hub") Kittle was a minor league pitcher from 1936 to - yes - 1980, when he was 63 years old. Admittedly, he did not pitch that whole time. Hub grew up in LA, won a couple city championships, and then went to a military academy in San Diego. There he got scouted and his first season he went 15-3 for a team on Catalina Island. He was then signed by the Cubs and had a bad season in C ball before the next year at the same level going 18-8 with an ERA that shaved over two runs from the prior year. In '39 he moved to B ball in Yakima, beginning a long relationship with that city, and won 20. A similar start to his '40 season got him up to Double A at mid-season where his ERA got fat again; that would be the highest level he would reach as a pitcher, ex an exhibition game. His '41 season was going the same way so he quit and went to work in a tire factory. He got back in ball the next year, won 16 between B and A ball, and then in '43 had a good start to the season in Double A before he was drafted and missed through early '46 to the military. Back that year, Hub would win a combined 28 the next two seasons in B ball and then in '48 return to Yakima at the same level where he would also get his first managing gig. As a pitcher, Hub would then move to a bullpen role, pitching regularly through '54, but he did pitch that one inning in '80 (that is the third unique item regarding this card mentioned above). He would finish 144-115 with an ERA of about 3.80. After Yakima, Hub would manage in the Phillies system ('49-'54), and then return to Yakima, which in '58 would join the Braves system, where he would manage through '60. He was also GM that last year, and would then fill that latter role for a couple clubs through '63. In '64 he returned to Yakima to manage. He would remain in the Braves system through '67, manage in Houston's ('68-'70), and then coach for the Astros from '71 to '75. It was in '73 that Hub threw in the exhibition game at the Astrodome against MLB hitters. In '76 he moved to the St. Louis system where he coached ('76,'78-'80, '84-'96) and managed ('77) in the minors and coached for the Cards from '81 to '83 and was the Cards' pitching coach when they won the Series in '82. As a manager Hub was 1,364-1,282 lifetime. After retiring following the '96 season, Hub signed for a minimal amount as a roving pitching coach for the Mariners in '99 which he continued to do until he passed away at 86 in 2004.

Bob Lillis came out of Pasadena where he won a regional championship in '49 for Pasadena City College and then was named to the CWS all-tournament team in '51 after moving to USC. He was signed by the Dodgers that summer and spent the bulk of the 50's in their minor leagues. His averages were quite low until '53, when he hit .291 in B ball, but then he missed the '54 to '55 seasons to military duty. He returned in '56 to Triple A and that year posted his best offensive season with a .265/18/65 line. A shortstop, he was unlucky to be behind both Pee Wee Reese and Maury Wills and he remained at Triple A through most of the next four seasons. From '58 (when he hit .391) to '60 Bob got small MLB field time as a backup infielder. He then went to the Cards early in the '61 season and swapped time at short the rest of the way. After that season he was drafted by Houston for its inaugural year. Bob would be the Astro starting shortstop most of the next four years and then in '66 and '67 take on a reserve role finishing as a player that later year with a .236 career average.He finished that season as a player/coach, then worked for Houston in scouting and player development through '72. In '73 he joined the coaching staff which he did through mid-'82 when he replaced Bill Virdon as manager. Bob maintained that role through the '85 season, going 276-261, one of few Houston skippers with career winning records. From '86 to '96 he joined Roger Craig in San Francisco as a coach. Since then he has been retired. He appears to be with us still also.

These cards on the back are pretty dry. The only thing that jumps out at me is that Gomez was born in a town called Preston in Cuba. Maybe he was named after his hometown.

The degrees of separation exercise gets tricky here. It is easier to get to Gomez as a manager but let's try doing it as a player as well. First we have:

1. Gomez coached Ollie Brown on the '69 to '71 Padres;
2. Brown and Bobby Bonds '68 Giants.

Next is the player to player link and it is much neater than I would have thought:

1, Gomez and Eddie ("The Walking Man") Yost '44 Senators;
2. Yost and Ron Kline '61 LA Angels;
3. Kline and Bobby Bonds '69 Giants.

It took only three guys to cross 30 years of baseball.

#25 - Ken Singleton

I was and am a big Ken Singleton fan. He seems like a nice guy and was a very talented outfielder, plus he came up with the Mets. But outside of his smile, his card here surpasses even the Bob Gallagher one as the nastiest one so far. This setting is actually kind of depressing. Where the hell was this taken? That building behind Ken has no ventilation, the fence looks like it's falling down, and I have seen more grass growing between sidewalk cracks. It is obviously an Expos property, since he has on the home uniform, but it can't be Jarry Park, can it? If you told me the Expos played spring ball in Camden, New Jersey, I wouldn't be surprised. It's a "5" card so you'd think they'd make it presentable. And Ken deserved an honor card for his big '73 season. In addition to his posted stats he scored 100 runs and led the NL with a .425 OBA, which back then was Morgan-esque. Ken was a big reason the Expos nearly won the division title before faltering in the last week. So an action shot would've been nice. Or at least something on a field that doesn't look like if you slid, you'd leave a pint of blood on the basepath. Poor guy.

Ken Singleton grew up in Mount Vernon, a stone's throw from the upper reaches of NYC. A big hoops guy and better baseball player, he went to Hofstra University after high school but got nabbed in the first round of the '67 draft by the Mets after one year there. That summer he'd hit .277 while playing first and the outfield in A ball but his big number was his .451 OBA, which would be a good indication of his future. For some reason he remained in A ball in '68, added some power and hit .284 with a .439 OBA. A .309/.428 season in Double A followed in '69 before in '70 a sick start to his Triple A season - .388/.531(!) - had Ken in NY that June. By then he'd pretty much dropped first base from his repertoire and was strictly an outfielder.

Singleton had a decent truncated rookie year, swapping time at the corner outfield spots after his call-up and posting generally good numbers. In '71 he was the most-played Met in right, taking over Ron Swoboda's spot after that guy was traded to Montreal, of all places. Manager Gil Hodges was a big believer in platooning his players, which is odd in Ken's case, since he was a switch-hitter. But he stepped his numbers up a bit and in his first two seasons posted a .369 OBA. Just prior to the '72 season Ken, Tim Foli, and Mike Jorgensen went to Montreal for Rusty Staub.

With the Expos Singleton took over left field his first season and while at first glance his offensive numbers seemed unextraordinary, they beat those of just about every other Montreal outfielder to date outside Staub, and that first year he led the team in runs, hits, and doubles. After seriously upping everything in '73, a year in which he moved to right field, he put up a .276/9/74 line in a '74 in which the Montreal offense did a bit of a retreat. At the end of that season the Expos assessed their team and decided the missing pieces were outfield speed - Ken did NOT steal bases - and a quality lefty rotation guy on the mound. So after that year he was traded to the Orioles in '75 in another big trade that was one of the most one-sided ever, with the Orioles getting Mike Torrez - who would win 20 games in '75 - with Ken for Dave McNally and Rich Coggins, neither of whom would finish the season there. And just like that the rising Expos went the other way pretty quickly.

In the meantime Singleton made himself right at home on his new team in his new league, hitting .300 with a .415 OBA as a top of the order guy. He hit 37 doubles, which would be a career high. After a bit of a discount in '76, Ken went into full-bore slugger mode in '77, posting a .328/24/99 line with a .438 OBA. Those numbers got him his first All-Star selection and third place in AL MVP voting. After a .293/20/81/.409 year in '78 Ken had his biggest power season in the pennant year of '79 with a .295/35/111/.405 stat line that earned him All-Star pick number two and second place in the MVP run. Another big year in '80 followed with a .304/24/104/.397 line and then a final All-Star appearance in the abbreviated '81 season. The next two years Ken spent mostly at DH while averaging lines of .265/16/81/.370 before retiring after a discounted '84 season. Ken finished with an average of .282 with 246 homers and 1,065 RBI's and over 2,000 hits. In the post-season he hit .333 with six RBI's and a .391 OBA in 17 games, winning a ring in '83.

Singleton began announcing a bit while still playing and immediately after he finished he turned to that full-time. He had a long run of calling games for Montreal from '85 to '96. When that run ended he hooked up with the MSG network to call Yankees games and then moved on to do the same thing for the YES network where he still resides professionally. He has called games for other networks as well and earned some local Emmy awards for his work.

The back of the card brings up Singleton's ability to get on base and his nice '73 campaign. I suppose the cartoon could have just used the word "ambidextrous" but I guess Topps was afraid kids wouldn't know what that meant. I am pretty sure the first time I heard that word it was a baseball reference and I bet a lot of people have that same initial experience. Ken may have been pre-destined for a baseball career: the house in which he lived in Mount Vernon had been owned by Ralph Branca's family; and the field on which he played some club ball in high school was across the street from Yankee Stadium.

Lets hook Ken up to Mr. Hiller. This will be strictly an AL party:

1. Singleton and Jim Northrup '75 Orioles;
2. Northrup and John Hiller '67 to '74 Tigers.

#21 - Bob Gallagher

Okay, no knock on Bob Gallagher, but this is about the nastiest card photo I have ever seen. It looks like it was taken behind a stable or a prison and there is just no way the back of the Astrodome was that ugly. It must be a spring training shot and it looks like a dreary day. That coupled with the scowl on Bob's face really sort of short-changes him on his initial card, doesn't it? Maybe it was part of the rite of being the new guy. Bob had been picked up by Houston in the Rule 5 draft at the end of '72 from Boston, the second time he'd been moved that way. A good spring training got him on the Astros roster on Opening Day and for most of the season, Bob's primary role was as pinch hitter before taking a regular outfield gig in mid-August, after Cesar Cedeno and then Jimmy Wynn got hurt. While Bob would do pretty well during that stretch, hitting .278, it would prove to be pretty much his only time in a regular role up top. So while it wasn't always green, at least there is some grass in the photo.

Bob Gallagher was born in Massachusetts, moved to California as a kid and after graduating high school in '65 went to Stanford, where he continued to play ball. He was drafted by the Dodgers after his junior year of '68 but opted to play summer ball and then finish his degree so he didn't get rolling professionally until '69. A first baseman/outfielder in school, Bob moved nearly exclusively to the outfield and had a decent first summer in A ball, stealing 18 bases. In '70 and '71 he moved up the ladder to Double A and Triple A, respectively, raising his average substantially on two powerhouse teams. A top of the order guy, while his stolen base totals declined - he had five that second year - he maintained an OBA of about .380 over that time. Still, after the '71 season he was plucked for the first time in the Rule 5 draft by Boston,put up a pretty good Triple A season and then had a cup of coffee in '72. After that year he moved to Houston.

In '74 though the Astros traded Jimmy Wynn to LA, Houston had some new guys vie for outfield time in Greg Gross, Wilbur Howard, and Cliff Johnson, all of whom had better sticks than Gallagher. So Bob reprised his early '73 role for the team and hit .172 on only 87 mostly pinch-hit at bats. Just after that season he was traded to the Mets for Ken Boswell. He would spend most of the '75 season in Triple A, where he hit .264, before putting in minimal outfield time for the Mets, and shortly after the season was traded again, going to the Giants for Leon Brown. After one year at Phoenix, San Francisco's Triple A club - .258 with 61 RBI's in his busiest season - he was done. Bob finished with an MLB average of .220 and in the minors hit .288.

Gallagher had received his Stanford degree in '69 in education and pretty much immediately after his playing career ended he became a social studies high school teacher back in California, an occupation it appears at which he is still active.

The back of the card indicates that Bob was some player during his Stanford days and what he did between semesters. He was a tall guy st 6'4' which matches the tallest we have seen so far. Bob hit a bit above .300 during his Goldpanners career - so that was the summer ball he did after being drafted - and had some big deal teammates up there in the Nettles brothers, Bob Boone, Brent Strom, and Dave Kingman, most of whom have cards in this set. Lastly, his cartoon refers to his grandfather, Shano Collins. Any baseball historians will recognize that name: Shano was an outfielder on the 1919 Black Sox. He was purchased by the White Sox in 1910 from Springfield, an independent minor league team, and played for them through 1920. He was not one of the players indicted and subsequently thrown out of baseball (he hit .250 in the '19 Series). He played for Boston through '24 and retired with about 1,700 hits and a .264 average. He then played a couple years in the minors, putting up over .300 averages until he was 42. He passed away in '55 at age 69. His photo on baseball-reference does show a resemblance to Gallagher.

For the degrees exercise, I don't think his Mets stay warrants going that route, which would shorten the trip. Therefore I go through the Astros so here goes:

1. Gallagher and Skip Jutze '73 Astros;
2. Jutze and Leroy Stanton '77 Mariners;
3. Stanton and Nolan Ryan '72 to '76 Angels.

No Yankees.