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? 

A Vintage Set Build - 1973

I'm not sure what specifically sparked the idea, but I decided within the last couple of months to try to build the 1973 Topps set. This despite the high number beast that is the Mike Schmidt/Ron Cey rookie card. My chase has been aided significantly by my decision to trade on TCDB.com. I've been able to jettison some of my unwanted vintage and turn it into some 1973 needs. But it was good old reliable Bo over at Baseball Cards Come to Life that came through and put me over the halfway mark for the set. Bo has helped me with many different collections over the past couple of years with his fantastic want list and trade list, which make it really easy to match up for each side. He's also super easy to work with, unlike a few of the folks over on TCDB (though most are fairly reasonable). 

So, let's cut to the chase. What did Bo send? Over 150 cards - just from 1973 Topps! He included a bunch of high numbers and some star players, too. Here's the glorious spread:

Here are some of the more notable names of the group:

And some of my favorite cards from this trade. First up are some great posed shots. 

And one of my favorite features of the set, some memorable action shots. 

Thanks Bo!