This is a Steve Garvey card yet his face is completely in the shadows and Wes Parker stands taller and closer. Yes Garvey probably just hit a homerun (he only hit nine in 1972) and as he approaches home plate is being congratulated but Steve Garvey deserves better. Ok, he did not really come into his own until 1974, winning the NL MVP and 8 straight gold gloves at first base from 1974-1981 but still . . . couldn't Topps come up with a better picture ?
and then there is Jim Kaat
. . . a twenty-five year major league career as a left handed pitcher, winning 283 games and earning 16 (yes sixteen) consecutive gold glove awards from 1962 - 1977. Here is Jim Kaat . . . hitting ? Probably watching one of his 2 HR's he hit in 1972. Kaat was a "great" hitting pitcher and did hit 16 career round-trippers so I guess in 1973 Topps decided it was time to showcase his "power" not his pitching or fielding.
Just my question of the day: What was Topps thinking ?
The Garvey card is ridiculous, but I actually like Kaat's. It's different, yet still a great shot of him. And he was a great hitter for a pitcher.
ReplyDeleteI love seeing cards of pitchers at bat. It breaks the monotony of seeing them on the mound.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the Garvey card, I think you can find a number of cards that makes people wonder...WHAT WERE THEY THINKING!!!
Sincerely,
JayBee Anama
bdj610
Steve,
ReplyDeleteIronically, I am a blog writer over at Freudian Slips. I was writing a short story about a childhood incident involving my passion for collecting baseball cards. I came across your blog in my research. What i am writing about is that when i was 12 my friend said he found a cardboard refrigerator box at a dumpsite half filled with early 1970's baseball cards. i made arrangements to meet him despite being grounded on punishment by my stepfather. my stepfather followed my fast pedal biking to the site of the cards in his cadillac. while swishing my hands through thousands of discarded cards and talking low ball price, my father swooped me off the street. now my father was signed by the Phillies, loved baseball, but had no empathy for me ignoring my punishment. he swooped me off the street and I never saw those cards again. i left card collecting for decades. at the age of 45, i used the internet to complete a 1973 set, with my luck paying mega dollars for the same pennywise cards I had been seperated from. the last card I needed was Steve Garvey and yes, i thought the same damn thing...I waited thrity two years to see the back of Wes Parker's uniform.......lol -Joseph Tornatore