Three different views from 1979

the decade of the seventies made several strides in card photography; from the stand, squat, swing, throw or just pose from the 1970's set (note the framed Cubs team set on the top right of my blog or my card by card chronicling of the 1970's set) to the emergence of "action" shots (real game photos) in the mid-late seventies.

Here are the three different views I found from the 1979 Cubs:

the typical pose for the camera during spring training; Bobby Murcer #135

to an "action" shot of the day, as 6'6" Dave "Kong" Kingman # 370, approaches the plate ready to either strikeout or blast the ball into orbit (in 1979 Kingman led the league in both, striking out 131 times and hitting 48 HR's).
or a very interesting angle that produces a "solid blue background" of Steve Ontiveros # 299

There you go . . . three different camera views from 1979 . . . we certainly have come a long way . . .

Twice a Rookie Star then a ROY

Yes that is exactly what happened to Stan Bahnsen. In this 1967 card Bahnsen is featured as a "Rookie Star" along side Bobby Murcer (who deserves his own post another day) though Bahnsen played in only four games going 1 - 1 in 1966.

Somehow that was a "jinx" since Bahnsen saw no action in the major leagues in '67 so the genius' at Topps decided to give him one more chance and allowed him to appear as a "Rookie Star" on his 1968 card as well. That seemed to be the kick start Bahnsen needed as his 1968 campaign earned him that gold trophy as a Topps All-Star Rookie and more importantly AL Rookie of the Year honors in 1968. He went 17-12 in '68, throwing 10 complete games, had a career high of 162 strikeouts and the second most innings pitched of his career with 267 1/3.

(a card I do not own but it is on my "will find soon" list; thanks to google images for this pic)

Bahnsen was eventually traded from the Yankees to the White Sox in 1971, where he and Wilbur Wood shared the majority of the mound work for three years on the southside of Chicago. Bahnsen did win 21 and 18 games in 1972 and '73 respectively and ended his career as a Philadelphia Phillie in 1982 with a 146-149 record.

Topps was persistent with Bahnsen giving him "Rookie Star" status for two years in a row before he got the message and lived up to that "fame". Somehow I still think it was more of a "curse" than a blessing but Topps eventually got it right, at least one year.