Say hey!

I was recently digging thru my 'stuff' and came across my stack of 1970 Topps booklets. I'd built the set from junk boxes at card shows and a sweep of COMC a couple of years ago. They are a cheap, fun item.

The problem was, while I had a bunch of dupes, I didn't have the Willie Mays folder in the stack. It's the #24th, and last, in the set which appears to be just a coincidence. Now I wasn't about to spend hours digging through boxes trying to find one folder so I went to SportsLots and tacked it on to my box order. It came last week.

The first panels have tidbits that some fans may not have known, even if Mays was among the most well-known players of the time (and, obviously, all-time). For example...while I knew about his Army service time and that he was on deck for the Thomson homer, I didn't know he was only 15 when he began playing in the Negro Leagues or that his first hit was off Spahn. or that he hit .477 in the minors his second year.

I kind of like that they reference the Wertz catch in the '54 Series with fans conversation rather than showing the catch itself. I don't think the artist made Willie look all that perturbed that the 'Dodgers still ran away with the pennant'! I bet he was pissed.

Wille was indeed 114 shy of The Babe at the end of the 1969 season. He had 28 in 1970 but his incredible five-tool skills were betraying him at 39 and he finished his career with 660. Hank Aaron passed Mays (he was 46 behind him at the time of these comics) and we all know the rest ofthe  story. Mays remains third on the list of untainted homer run hitters in history. YMMV of course.

The checklist contains a player from each of the 24 teams from 1970. They are numbered in alphabetical order according to the city with the AL coming first. That's what puts Willie in the #24 spot. As with all insert sets issued back then that 'covered the majors', it leads to an up-and-down checklist with some superstars and some lesser players. And you have to figure that Topps probably wanted to share the wealth and bypassed some of the games biggest names in favor of some solid support players. Brooks or Frank Robinson, Hank Aaron, and Roberto Clemente make way for Mike Cuellar, Orlando Cepeda, and Bob Moose as their team's rep in the set.


But each of the comics has some informative nuggets and many have some cringe-worthy, cornball comic panels. Here are some examples featuring Walt Williams and Tommy Harper.

The full stack is now sitting on my desk so maybe I should scan a few of my favorites and post them.

Random Vintage Being Random Pt 3

Last installment of card show vintage. I brought home about 35 cards but some are headed out in a PWE and others were not really worth scanning.

A couple more 71's here. I didn't realize I had nabbed as many as I did. Maybe something in my subconscious is urging me to collect it. I doubt that's going to happen though.

First up is Lindy McDaniel out there all by his lonesome on the Yankee Stadium mound. No way to prove it but I'd like to think this shot was taken on the same day as the photo for the '71 Vada Pinson card. I've determined that one was taken on a day I was in the stands. If so I might be pictured somewhere in that crowd beyond McDaniel over near the third base dugout. That's where I was seated that afternoon. 

This is not the most 'action-filled' of the on-field photos in the '71 set. But I like how it gives a sense of the solitude pitchers must feel out there on a big league mound with the game in their hand. 

I believe it is an impossibility to pass up a thirty three cent card showing Walt 'No Neck' Williams and those great 70's 'burns. The fact that Topps did such a lousy and obvious airbrush job on Walt's cap while ignoring his White Sox' uni is just gravy.

Tony Cloninger in that Braves cap. I have a mental block against the guy's correct name. I have always seen/spelled/said it as 'CloLinger'. Tony Clolinger. When I typed it right there it looks so obviously wrong but when I look at the card I see CloLinger. Next you'll tell me that the scan is crooked. Harumph.

John 'Blue Moon' Odom poses with a couple of water towers in the background. This is Spring Training but I'm reminded of the trips my wife and I took along Route 66 this summer through Illinois, Missouri and Kansas and over the winter in Arizona. Those small towns along the way all spout water towers although the old fashioned ones like the ones on this card are rare.

It also just struck me as to how many of the players on the cards I bought have memorable nicknames.....

...like Harry 'The Hat' Walker. Walker was fired as manager of the Pirates about the time I first arrived in Houston in the summer of 1967. He was hired by the Astros about the time we moved back to New Jersey the following June. He was still managing when I returned to attend college here in 1970. He was a major leaguer for 11 seasons but a regular for about half that. He spent two prime years in the service and survived a harrowing stint in WWII with Patton's Third Army in France and Germany.

I bought this card because it shows off the Astros' classic 'shooting star' jersey. They've worn this a few times as a throwback but I wish they had gone to it fulltime when they switched back to the orange and blue color scheme.

And finally there is this nice '61 Topps Jack Sanford. They reused this photo the next year (lightening the sky in the background) but I like the '61 a lot more. This was the best card I bought as far as condition is concerned. A bit off-center but the corners are nice. That, plus Jack Sanford was a badass. He's one of the guys who I've profiled three times over my three vintage Topps set blogs, 1958, 1959 and 1960. With guys like that I feel I 'know' them.

I was pretty happy with what I picked up at the show. I spent less than I usually do and still came away with these and cards to send off to another blogger. I can't wait for the next hotel show.

1970 Topps Booklets from COMC

When I found the Topps 1970 Mike Cuellar Comic/Booklet in my binders of 'old, forgotten things' not long ago I checked into the set and found that like many of the Topps 'inserts' of the day, they could be had cheaply. So with just 23 to track down, not many of the big name stars, I used my COMC credit to grab a bunch of them.

They were all in nice shape with varying amounts of browning. Some were close to perfect. And they came out to less than a dollar apiece even figuring in the $3 shipping cost.

I scanned a few of the pages from my favorites:

The Bob Moose booklet mentions no-hitters and references the one I saw in September of 1969 against the Mets. But I didn't scan that page because of how the booklet is glued. I didn't want to force it open on my scanner.

Maybe it's my 'Oriole-centric' imagination but I think that Wally Bunker alternately resembles Steve Barber, Brooks Robinson and Jim Palmer in different panels of his booklet.

You just knew that the Walt Williams booklet would reference his 'No Neck' nickname. 

I like how the crowd in the Bobby Murcer booklet is checking out his his cheerleader-soon-to-be-wife rather than Murcer playing ball in the background. (that's an odd infield layout btw).

Here is the checklist. I am lacking the ones in bold/italics. My plan is to finish the set at minimal cost.

• 1 Mike Cuellar
• 2 Rico Petrocelli
• 3 Jay Johnstone
• 4 Walt Williams
• 5 Vada Pinson
• 6 Bill Freehan
• 7 Wally Bunker
• 8 Tony Oliva
• 9 Bobby Murcer
• 10 Reggie Jackson
• 11 Tommy Harper
• 12 Mike Epstein
• 13 Orlando Cepeda
• 14 Ernie Banks
• 15 Pete Rose
• 16 Denis Menke
• 17 Bill Singer
• 18 Rusty Staub
• 19 Cleon Jones
• 20 Deron Johnson
• 21 Bob Moose
• 22 Bob Gibson
• 23 Al Ferrara
• 24 Willie Mays