The Short Guys of 1973 Topps

As a short guy myself, I appreciate those athletes of my height (or shorter!) that have made a name for themselves in professional sports. A couple of favorites that come to mind are Tony Campana (5'8"), formerly of the Cubs and Diamondbacks, and Doug Flutie, who I enjoyed watching upon his return to the NFL in the late 90s. A Google search claims that Flutie is 5'10", meaning he's somehow grown an inch or two since retiring at age 43. Maybe I should start saying I'm 5'10". 

I recently chronicled the tallest players from 1973 Topps, but today is an ode to the short guys, all of them less than 5'8". 

The Shortest Players of 1973 Topps

Joe Morgan (5'7")

Who knew this list would feature a Hall of Famer? And it would feature two more if I included manager cards (Yogi Berra and Earl Weaver were both 5'7").

Vic Davalillo (5'7")

After the 1973 season, Davalillo spent a few years playing in Mexico, returning to MLB with the Dodgers in 1977. He retired after the 1980 season, having spent his final years appearing primarily as a pinch hitter. Davalillo's older brother Pompeyo, who played just one MLB season (1953), was 5'3". 

Walt Williams (5'6")

Williams overall height was affected, according to his obituary, by a typhus injection he received as a young child that caused his neck to shrink. 

Walt 'No Neck' Williams dies (mlb.com)

Freddie Patek (5'4" or 5'5")

One of the great cards from the set and one that is very characteristic of 1973 Topps. It just happens to belong to the shortest player in the league at the time, too. The card lists Patek at 5'4", though official records now indicate he is 5'5".

Do you have any favorite "short" baseball players or other athletes? 

The John Hilton Rookie Card and a Catcher: The Conclusion of the 1973 Topps Pursuit

I think it was about a year ago that I decided to pursue the 1973 Topps complete set. I know for sure that it's been a year since I started trading on TCDB.com, which was a great source of cards for the set. The most credit I can give to one person, though, is Bo over at Baseball Cards Come to Life!, who helped me take a big chunk out of my want list last year. Of the final two cards I needed for the set, one came from eBay and the other from TCDB. For the past several months, I've had the following search saved in my eBay search list: "1973 Topps Mike Schmidt," with the hopes of finding an underpriced Buy It Now option. Recently, I found a match and was ready to pull the trigger. My second to last card for the set arrived Monday:

The card met my basic requirements for the high numbered short prints of the set: No major creases, little to no paper loss, and no writing (a requirement I waived for the high numbered checklist, because I'm not paying $40 for a checklist). A random thought I keep having about this card - I wonder if there are any John Hilton player collectors or Padres team collectors out there who have this card only because Hilton's on it. 

The day after I hit Buy It Now on eBay for the Schmidt rookie card, I finalized a trade on TCDB with Joe from Portland, OR for the final card I needed for the set. I had tried to track down this one on TCDB a few times before, but it never worked out. Needless to say, I was more than happy to send some 1965 Topps cards out west in exchange for this beauty:

This is one of my favorite cards from 1973 Topps, so it's especially sweet that it's the one that finishes off my set. 

I've featured some 1973 Topps-themed posts on my blog and plan to continue to do so, as a way to make myself continue to page through my first complete vintage set and appreciate it in its entirety. One that I've already promised is featuring the shortest players from the set. Look for that post coming soon.

1973 Topps Baseball Should've Had a Basketball Subset

When I was young, I especially enjoyed the backs of baseball cards. In a pre-internet age, this was my primary source for learning about the players and their wins, losses, hits, home runs, RBI, and so much more. But there's more! Date of birth, place of birth, bats/throws, weight, and of course, height. Harkening back to my youth, I recently paged through my nearly complete 1973 Topps set to seek out an answer to a question: who were the tallest and shortest players featured in the set? It's a question I recognize that no one might care about other than me, but today I'll test that theory here by giving you a rundown of the tallest players from 1973 Topps.

Seven players are tied for 2nd at 6'6":

Dave Kingman

Kingman also played high school basketball.

Ron Reed

As the card back states, Ron Reed was an NBA player before he began his baseball career. Though he was a serviceable basketball player, Reed decided to pursue baseball after two years with the Pistons. He said, “I felt like I was one step too slow and three inches too short to make a 10 to 12 year career in professional basketball,” Ron Reed explained. “So I decided to give baseball my best shot.” 

NPASHF | Ron Reed (polishsportshof.com)

Bill Parsons

As the card states, Parsons was an All-American high school basketball player.

Bob Veale

Steve Renko, Wayne Twitchell, and Cecil Upshaw are the other 6'6" players from 1973 Topps. Renko played baseball, basketball, and football at the University of Kansas. Twitchell played basketball in high school.

The Tallest of the Tallest:

Frank Howard (6'7")

Howard was a college baseball and basketball player at Ohio State. The Philadelphia Warriors selected him in the NBA draft, but Howard elected to play baseball instead. Check out his impressive college basketball stats courtesy of https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/:

Another great illustration of Frank Howard's height is this photo of him at the 1969 All-Star Game standing next to 6'4" Boog Powell:

Stay tuned for a list of the shortest players from the set, coming soon.

My First Frankenset: The Top Cards (#10 to #6)

With all of the pages from my first Frankenset finally uploaded (view them all here), I decided to do a recap of my 10 favorite cards from the set. I recently recapped the cards that just missed the top 10. Today, let's take a look at the bottom half of the favorites.

#10 - 1993 Stadium Club #257 - Oscar Azocar

This card appears on many "funny card" lists and for good reason. This classic sneaks in at #10 of my favorites from the Frankenset.

#9 - 1973 Topps #530 - Jim Kaat

An American League pitcher batting became a rare occurrence this season (1973), with the designated hitter coming to the AL. As of last season, the DH is now universal across MLB, a rule change that I dislike the most out of the Manfred Mess (and there's a lot of bad ones to choose from). The fact that this card features an all-time great, an AL pitcher, and an action shot secures its spot at #9.

#8 - 1976 Topps #564 - Kurt Bevacqua 

(Bubble Gum Blowing Champ)

Another notable "funny card". The back of this card is great, too, as it gives us the full championship bracket from the bubble blowing competition. Ralph Houk's Tigers and Danny Murtaugh's Pirates did not send a player to compete. Kurt Bevacqua beat out Johnny Oates for the title in a competition I wish would return.

#7 - 1994 Stadium Club #400 - Orel Hershiser

Someone unfamiliar with baseball would likely be surprised to learn that this card depicts one of the most dominant pitchers of the mid to late 80s. And that this man's nickname was Bulldog. 

I once knew what precisely was occurring in this photo, but couldn't track it down for this post. The only reference I found was behind an LA Times paywall. 

#6 - 1994 Topps #705 - Jose Rijo

One of several mid-90s cards showing Jose Rijo with a squirt gun (Super Soaker brand perhaps?), this one is great because it appears Rijo is taking aim at someone in the crowd. I have one or two other Rijo squirt gun cards in the Frankenset. 

Do you have a favorite from this group?

Coming soon: the top 5 cards!

My First Frankenset: The Top Cards - Honorable Mentions

I never had a clear plan for how to reveal my long-ago finished Frankenset. I've shown bits and pieces of it on the blog, and had some of the pages uploaded, but recently decided to finish it - in the sense of getting all the pages loaded to my Frankenset page. I suppose part of the reason it has taken me so long is that the set is 800 cards. So that's pretty big. But also, I've had other card projects that have pulled me away. 

Feel free to check out the link above to see all the cards in the set (89 pages!). I plan to reveal my top 10 favorite cards from my Frankenset. But first, I will show the honorable mentions, cards that just missed the cut for the top 10. 

1993 Upper Deck #124 - Andy Van Slyke

Choosing this image for a card of a prominent All-Star player of the early 90s is a bit puzzling. But I'm can't say I'm displeased that they chose it.

1994 Topps #180 - George Brett

You may be aware that Nolan Ryan's last season was 1993, and he had some fantastic cards toward the end of his career. But so did George Brett, whose final season was also 1993. This one is my favorite of Brett's late-career cards. 

1996 Score #126 - Benito Santiago

If I'm not mistaken, I think Schottzie is the most famous (infamous?) dog in baseball history. You don't see very many dogs on baseball cards, though there are some. Marge Schott was the Reds owner, and she often had Schottzie on the field. When he would do his business, she did not pick up after him. Obviously, this irked a lot of people. Also, incidentally, I believe this card features Schottzie 2. 

1970 Topps #252 - Lowell Palmer

Lowell Palmer had a 5-18 win/loss record over five MLB seasons. This legendary card ensures Mr. Palmer has not been forgotten, at least by the card collecting community.

1973 Topps #273 - Chris Speier

This card was voted the best of Dime Boxes second Frankenset. And for good reason. It's just a great card.

1992 Score #311 - Jeff Reed

I don't typically find joy in other people's pain but for some reason, this card makes me chuckle pretty much every time I see it.

1973 Topps #542 - Pat Corrales

Another legendary card from 1973 Topps. A painful collision with Fergie Jenkins. Written about many times, this card was a Cardboard Appreciation selection by Night Owl.

I plan to feature a countdown of cards 10 to 6 in my next post, then finish up with the top 5. Do you have any favorites among today's group? Thanks for stopping by.

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.