The Grizzled Veterans of 1973 Topps

Playing 15 seasons in the majors is an impressive accomplishment. Not only do you have to be a talented player, but a lot of other things need to go right for you to reach the decade-and-a-half mark. Getting a timely call-up to the majors, staying relatively healthy throughout your career, and having marketable value into your late thirties are some of the requirements. Fifteen years in the majors also makes for a great back-of-the-baseball card for those companies that dare try to cram all those seasons onto the back. I, for one, am thankful for those companies. So much so that I have a binder featuring only cards of players with 15 or more seasons of MLB stats listed on the back. Call it a fifth-tier mini-collection, because it doesn't get a lot of attention.

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

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.

Time to Finish Some Projects

I figured it must be time for another spring update, to let you know I'm still around. I've been reading the blogs a little more than I usually do during the winter months in an attempt to stay connected. As usual, my fall/winter included some reading, but my favorite wasn't one of several baseball books I read. It was actually a book about the assassination of President James Garfield called Destiny of the Republic. Of the baseball books I read, my favorite was probably a book about Roger Clemens called The Rocket that Fell to Earth. I also read biographies of Buck Weaver, Satchel Paige, Dave Dravecky, Bill Lee, Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe, and Dick Williams. 

I've been doing some trading and have to mention the great haul I got from Nick's 10th anniversary giveaway over at the Dime Boxes blog. Though those cards are now safely filed away, Nick's generosity must be mentioned (thanks Nick)! 

A recent trade with Bo from Baseball Cards Come to Life was sparked by my interest in a single card:

I actually was interested in this card more for Harmon Killebrew than for Mantle, though it was neat to get my first vintage card featuring The Mick. 

I put together a bigger group of cards for Bo, and he sent a bunch in return. I sometimes think I need to narrow my focus to fewer collection goals, but the cards that follow show that I haven't done that yet. Still have a lot of card juggling to do with my collection.

These are some cards for my ongoing TTM project. I started sending my first TTM (through the mail) autograph requests last summer/fall, focusing on players that played locally as well as Cubs players. I've had pretty good success and would like to eventually share some of the cards I've gotten signed. 

A few from my 15+ year player project. This mini collection consists of cards that have 15 or more years of stats on the back. I'm at 597 of these cards now, which is kind of crazy since this is like my 10th collection priority (or maybe lower). 

Kerry Wood cards seem to find their way to me lately, and that's just fine!

Can't ever get enough of those waxy rookies, especially of one of my all-time favorite players. Plus a few new ones for the collection (now over 400 different). 

A few candidates for my second Frankenset, which is in progress. I've been working on posting the images from my first Frankenset, and am close to halfway there. This is a sincere attempt to finish a project for good! 

Bo sent two unexpected items that were arguably the highlight of the trade. 

Bill Zuber played for the Fargo-Moorhead Twins in 1934 when they were a minor league affiliate of the Cleveland Indians. He later made the majors, and opened a restaurant in Homestead, Iowa. The restaurant is now a hotel, but still displays some of Zuber's baseball memorabilia. Guessing one of these matchbooks might be there. 

The second matchbook is of the Powers Hotel here in Fargo. The building is still standing and now houses apartments. Very cool.

There were more cards in the trade package from Bo that I didn't show, which tells you it was a great trade. Thanks Bo!

Hope everyone is well. I've been updating my TCDB profile to hopefully spark some trading, so check it out if you get a chance. Help me finish some projects so I can add some sanity and order to my collection!

Right Here Waiting (Not a Post About Richard Marx, So Please Keep Reading)

Warning: This post contains large pictures. You'll see why.

You may have had the same experience as me growing up. I became a baseball fan maybe around age eight or nine. When I entered my mid to late twenties, as certain players began to retire, I came to the realization that I had never known Major League Baseball without them. It was a weird feeling, and it kind of made me feel old. For my timeline, those players would include the likes of Jim Thome, Frank Thomas, and of course, Jamie Moyer, among others. When baseball season began, these guys were always right there waiting.

I've always been fascinated by players with long careers, and one reason for this was being able to see line after line of their stats on the back of a card. This was my earliest cherished baseball card, and remains to this day right up there on my list:

1994 Collector's Choice #249, Nolan Ryan

27 season of greatness from the Ryan Express. A simple picture and design on the front and 27 years worth of grit chronicled on the back. Years later, I think this card probably served as inspiration for one of my mini-collections. I was able to get a list of players with 15 or more years of service with the help Fred Worth at SABR (Society for American Baseball Research). He was able to mine the baseball-reference.com database and produce such a list. The best I could find was a list of the players with the longest service time, but that only went down to 18 years. At the time (about two years ago), the list of 15+ players amounted to 1,011.

My goal with this mini-collection is to find a card of each of the players on the list, but the card needs to list the statistical record for that player for at least 15 seasons of his career. To date, I have 364 cards in the collection. A recent boon to this collection was a lot of Conlon cards I found at a cheap price. So I thought I would showcase the cards I have of players who played 25 or more seasons in Major League Baseball. There are 10 players that fit that category.

_________________________________________

Can you name them? Quiz yourself if you'd like, or just scroll down.

_________________________________________

Here's the list:

1) Nolan Ryan - 27 seasons

2) Cap Anson - 27

3) Deacon McGuire - 26

4) Tommy John - 26

5) Rickey Henderson - 25

6) Jamie Moyer - 25

7) Jim Kaat - 25 

8) Charlie Hough - 25

9) Bobby Wallace - 25

10) Eddie Collins - 25

I have cards of seven of the players, including the Nolan Ryan card shown above. I probably could easily find one of Cap Anson, and cards of Deacon McGuire and Bobby Wallace probably exist, too, but this is a "passive" collection. That means I don't usually actively seek out cards to put into the binder. It's just as I come across them. Here's the gallery:

Tommy John - 26 seasons (1963 - 1989)

1989 Fleer #255, Tommy John

The career of Tommy John through 1988 is chronicled on the back of this card. Tommy lost a chance to tie Nolan Ryan and Cap Anson when he missed the 1975 season due to injury, but at least he got a surgery named after him as part of the deal. John first pitched during the Kennedy administration and finished his career during the George H. W. Bush administration (7 presidents). Let that sink in.

Rickey Henderson (1979 - 2003)

2000 UD MVP #118, Rickey Henderson

This card shows Rickey's stats through the 1999 season. Henderson first appeared during the Carter administration and finished his career during the George W. Bush administration (5 presidents).

Jamie Moyer (1986 - 2012)

2006 Topps #358, Jamie Moyer

Career spanned Reagan to Obama (5 presidents). Moyer's stats through 2005 are featured. He did not pitch in 2011 after having Tommy John (remember him) surgery in December 2010 at the age of 48. He came back and pitched one final season in 2012, topping out at something like 82 mph on his fastball. Insane.

Jim Kaat (1959 - 1983)

1980 Topps #250, Jim Kaat

 

Career spanned Eisenhower to Reagan (7 presidents). Hard to read the stats due to the horizontal arrangement. This card shows Kaat through the 1979 season, but I have a 1983 Fleer lying around somewhere...

Charlie Hough (1970 - 1994)

1994 Topps #625, Charlie Hough

A great card, though the alignment on the back is again horizontal. Gotta love the photo on the front. Old man Charlie gripping that knuckler and smirking like he knows how ridiculous it is that he's still throwing softballs up there in his mid-40s.  

Hough's career spanned Nixon to Clinton (6 presidents). He finished his career with two years pitching for the Florida Marlins in 1993/1994. Hough pitched the first game in Marlins history in 1993. He got the win, pitching six innings, allowing three hits and three runs against a lineup featuring Brett Butler, Darryl Strawberry, Eric Davis, Tim Wallach, Eric Karros, and Mike Piazza. He beat Orel Hershiser. He was 45 at the time. No biggie. 

Eddie Collins (1906 to 1930)

1991 Sporting News Conlon Collection #21, Eddie Collins

Career spanned the Teddy Roosevelt to Herbert Hoover administrations (6 presidents). Played only 12 games in his final two seasons under Connie Mack, with all appearances as a pinch hitter (as opposed to his usual 2nd base). 

Writing this makes me want Tommy John, Jamie Moyer, Jim Kaat, and Charlie Hough in the Hall of Fame because playing that long is unreal.