In my 1973 Topps pursuit (down to 3 cards!) I wanted to see how many of these grizzled old veterans featured in the set had played 15 or more seasons entering the 1973 campaign. By my unofficial count, it turns out the number is 19. I'm sure you could name some of these players if you sat down to brainstorm (and feel free to quiz yourself, because I will reveal all of the names). But I imagine, like me, there are some you never would have guessed.
I'll highlight them here in order of card number, giving you some images and tidbits along the way for some of the players.
29 - Tony Taylor
19 major league seasons
Final season: 1976
46 - Lindy McDaniel
21 major league seasons
Final season: 1975
50 - Roberto Clemente
18 major league seasons
Final season: 1972
Final season: 1972
Clemente was the only 1973 veteran to not play during the 1973 season. He died on December 31, 1972, when the plane he was on crashed at sea. He was on his way from Puerto Rico to Nicaragua to deliver relief supplies after an earthquake.
70 - Milt Pappas
17 major league seasons
Final season: 1973
75 - Vada Pinson
18 major league seasons
Final Season: 1975
90 - Brooks Robinson
23 major league seasons
Final season: 1977
Robinson made his last two All-Star team in 1973 and 1974, his 17th and 18th appearances of his career.
100 - Hank Aaron
23 major league seasons
Final season: 1976
Aaron played a majority of his games in 1972 at first base, but Mike Lum took his spot there in 1973, with Hank moving back to the outfield.
125 - Ron Fairly
21 major league seasons
Final season: 1978
Fairly lasted the longest of the 1973 veterans, wrapping up his career in 1978 with the California Angels.
165 - Luis Aparicio
18 major league seasons
Final season: 1973
170 - Harmon Killebrew
22 major league seasons
Final season: 1975
A great card of Killer.
175 - Frank Robinson
21 major league seasons
Final season: 1976
One of those unique angles that only 1973 Topps can provide. You either love it or hate it, it seems. I love it, of course.
277 - Bob Miller
17 major league seasons
Final season: 1974
280 - Al Kaline
22 major league seasons
Final season: 1974
Something about Al Kaline still playing in 1973 seems crazy to me. I always thought he was a guy that probably retired in the late 60s, but here he is. And still providing some value it seems, too.
305 - Willie Mays
23 major league seasons
Final season: 1973
Mays is the super veteran of the group. His 1951 debut with the New York Giants is the earliest debut of any of the veterans of 1973.
485 - Norm Cash
17 major league seasons
Final season: 1974
TCDB tells us that this card incorrectly states that Norm Cash was a 1st round draft pick of the Chicago Bears. He was actually drafted in the 13th round.
490 - Claude Osteen
18 major league seasons
Final season: 1975
535 - Johnny Callison
16 major league seasons
Final season: 1973
560 - Frank Howard
16 major league seasons
Final season: 1973
Howard had a decent season in Detroit in 1973 before hanging it up.
650 - Felipe Alou
17 major league seasons
Final season: 1974
According to Wikipedia, Freediving, free-diving, free diving, breath-hold diving, or skin diving is a form of underwater diving that relies on breath-holding until resurfacing rather than the use of breathing apparatus such as scuba gear.
Other random observations:
- Just 3 players out of the 19 were not given a "star" number, that is, a card number ending in 5 or 0 (Tony Taylor, Lindy McDaniel, and Bob Miller).
- The group of 19 also featured 8 eventual Hall of Famers (Clemente, B. Robinson, Aaron, Aparicio, Killebrew, F. Robinson, Kaline, Mays).
- Johnny Callison, Frank Howard, and Felipe Alou fell in the dreaded high number series, though none of them were too difficult to obtain.
- Al Kaline, Willie Mays, and Hank Aaron are the only players to appear in both this set and my other set project, 1955 Bowman.
Incidentally, if you have any of these 73 Topps cards lying around, feel free to connect with me for a possible trade:
- 380 - Johnny Bench
- 610 - Rookie Pitchers (Freeman/Hough/Webb)
- 615 - Rookie Third Basemen (Cey/Hilton/Schmidt) --- going to have to save up for this one.
I mentioned this recently on another blog but it's cool how those '60s and early '70s cards not only listed complete stats of the veterans but all their minor league stats, too! I grew up during a time where the minor league stats were omitted if a player had been in the majors for at least 5 years.
ReplyDeleteIn my time, the minor league stats were omitted if they had 3+ years in the majors.
ReplyDeleteI still need 20 cards in this set, including Hough and Schmidt. No extra Bench, unfortunately.
The Killebrew has always been a favorite of mine. It's also the first "vintage" baseball card that I ever got.
ReplyDeleteThere's always something special about a card back that's just chock-full of big-league stats. I always seem to forget Felipe Alou played well into the '70s.
ReplyDeleteA. Such a cool PC. I'm always amazed how collectors find unique and interesting ways to collect.
ReplyDeleteB. I suck at these types of quizzes. My strategy was to think of which players that had cards in 1956 (should have used 1958, but I'm more familiar with 1956) and 1973. Sadly, I still managed to miss a few. I guessed Clemente, Mays, and Aaron. I missed Kaline, Killebrew, Aparicio, and probably a few more.
I probably would have missed a bunch, too, if I had done the quiz myself before being familiar with this set.
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