1976 Topps Traded #464T - Ken Henderson

• The 1976 season would be the only one that Ken Henderson would spend with the Atlanta Braves.
• Henderson's last season as a regular was also in 1976.
• Ken batted .262 with 13 HR in 133 games in 1976.
• Henderson was traded to the Texas Rangers after the 1976 season in the big trade that sent Jeff Burroughs to the Braves.
• Ken played for four teams in the next four seasons. He retired after his release from the Chicago Cubs on July 20, 1980.

1976 Topps Traded #434T - Morris Nettles

• Morris Nettles never made it back to the  majors leagues after being traded from the California Angels.
• Nettles spent the 1976 season with Chicago's AAA Iowa Oaks (.190 in 48 games) and with Cleveland's AAA Toledo Mud Hens (.254 in 65 games).
• Morris called it quits after the 1976 season.

1976 Topps Traded #428T - Jim Crawford

• Jim Crawford spent three seasons (1976-1978) after his trade from the Houston Astros.
• Crawford had a 1-8 record with a 4.53 ERA in 32 games (5 starts) in 1976.
• Jim retired after the 1978 season at the age of 27.

1976 Topps Traded #411T - Bill Singer

• Bill Singer didn't spend very  much time with the Rangers in 1976. He started ten games and went 4-1 with a 3.48 ERA.
• Singer was included in the big Bert Blyleven trade on June 1, 1976.
• Bill went 9-9 with a 3.77 ERA in 26 starts for the Minnesota Twins in 1976.
• Singer was taken by the Toronto Blue Jays in the expansion draft. He was injured in mid-July and missed the rest of the 1977 season.
• Bill was unable to come back from his injury and was released after the 1978 season.

Vintage Sportscards Blog Contest

In celebration of his 50th follower, Chris is doing a vintage card contest. The prizes are a 1973 Roberto Clemente, a 1955 Bowman George Kell, and a 1978 Burger King Jim Hunter. Get over there and enter! :)

1976 Topps Traded #410T - Ralph Garr

• Ralph Garr was part of a large trade with the Atlanta Braves.
• Garr started in right field and batted .300 in 136 games in 1976
• In 1977 Garr also batted .300 in 134 games.
• Ralph started to have a drop-off in production in 1978 (.275 in 118 games) and was sold to the California Angels in September 1979.
• Garr was released by the Angels in 1980 after batting .190 in 21 games.
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1976 Topps Traded #401T - Ken Brett

• Ken Brett was one of the players (along with Willie Randolph and Dock Ellis) who were traded to the New York Yankees in exchange for Doc Medich.
• Brett didn't spent very much time as a Yankee -- he pitched in two games before being traded to the Chicago White Sox on May 18.
• Ken pitched for a total of ten teams in his 14-year career (1967-1981).

1976 Topps Traded #385T - Mickey Lolich

• Mickey Lolich went to the Mets in a deal that sent Rusty Staub to the Detroit Tigers
• Lolich pitched for the Mets for one season (1976) and went 8-13 with a 3.22 ERA in 30 starts.
• Mickey retired after the 1976 season because he didn't want to be away from his family in Detroit.
• Lolich came back and pitched for two seasons (1978-1979) for the San Diego Padres.

1976 Topps Traded #383T - John Ellis

• John Ellis was acquired by the Texas Rangers after the 1975 season in exchange for two players.
• Ellis wasn't going to get much playing time since the Rangers had Jim Sundberg as their starting catcher.
• John played in 11 games and batted .419 in 31 at bats before he suffered a broken bone in his left leg and a dislocated ankle in a sliding play at second base on May 9.
• Ellis continued to be a backup catcher for the Rangers through the 1980 season and was a 1B/DH in 1981.
• John was released during spring training in 1982.

1976 Topps Traded #380T - Bobby Bonds

• Bobby Bonds was in the nomadic phase of his career in the  mid-to-late 1970s. After spending one year in New York, Bonds was traded to the California Angels in a deal that netted the Yankees Mickey Rivers and Ed Figueroa.
• Bonds had a tough season in 1976. He played in only 99 games and batted .265 with 10 HR. Bobby had injured his hand in spring training. He was out for the first few weeks of the year and then played with the injury until early August. Bonds had surgery on the hand on August 9 and was out for the rest of the year.
• Bobby bounced back with a good year in 1977 (.264, 37 HR, 115 RBI), but was traded after the season.
• Bonds played for five teams in the last four years (1978-1981) of his career.

1976 Topps Traded #338T - Bob Bailey

• Bob Bailey was traded to the Cincinnati Reds for Clay Kirby after the 1975 season.
• Bailey had a good year as a pinch hitter and occasional OF/3B in 1976 -- he batted .298 with 6 HR in 124 AB
• Bob wasn't used much in 1977 and was traded to Boston in September for a minor leaguer and cash.
• Bailey retired after the 1978 season and became a minor league manager.

1976 Topps Traded #309T - Bill Melton

• After the 1975 season Bill Melton was sent to the California Angels with Steve Dunning in exchange for Jim Spencer and Morris Nettles.
• Bill was expected to provide some power for the Angels, but he batted only .208 with 6 HR in 118 games.
• Melton was traded to the Cleveland Indians for Stan Perzanowski and cash after the 1976 season.
• Bill played 50 games for the Indians in 1977 before calling it quits. 

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1976 Topps Traded #296T - Pat Dobson

• Pat Dobson was traded to the Cleveland Indians for Oscar Gamble after the 1975 season.
• Dobson had one good year with the Indians in 1976. He went 16-12 with a 3.48 ERA in 35 starts.
• Pat didn't do so well in 1977 (3-12, 6.14 ERA).
• Dobson had a lower back injury and was assigned to AAA Portland during spring training in 1978. Pat never pitched in spring training or during the season and was released on April 14, 1978.

1976 Topps Traded #292T - Leon Roberts

• Leon Roberts was sent from Detroit to Houston in a multi-player trade after the 1975 season.
• Roberts was used as a backup outfielder by the Astros in 1976 and batted .289 in 87 games.
• Leon didn't have much success with Houston in 1977 and was sent to the minors in early June. He came back to Houston for a few September at bats and then was traded to the Seattle Mariners after the 1977 season.

1976 Topps Traded #259T - Darrel Chaney

• After spending seven seasons as a backup infielder for the Cincinnati Reds, Darrel Chaney was traded to the Atlanta Braves for pinch hitter Mike Lum.
• Chaney became the starting shortstop for the Braves in 1976 and batted .252 in 153 games.
• Darrel spent three more seasons (1977-1979) as a backup infielder for Atlanta before he was released after the 1979 season.

1976 Topps Traded #250T - Fergie Jenkins

• After the 1975 season Fergie Jenkins was traded to the Boston Red Sox for Juan Beniquez, Steve Barr, and Craig Skok.
• In 1976 Fergie was 12-11 with a 3.27 ERA in 29 starts for the Red Sox in 1976.
• Jenkins pitched for the Red Sox in 1977 (10-10, 3.68 ERA in 28 starts). 
• Fergie was traded back to the Rangers after the 1977 season for John Poloni and $25,000. The Rangers planned to use him as a long reliever, but after making four April relief appearances Jenkins was back in the starting rotation.

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1976 Topps Traded #231T - Tom House

• After pitching in Atlanta for five seasons, Tom House began the nomadic phase of his career by being traded to the Boston Red Sox after the 1975 season.
• House didn't fare very well in the American League. In 1976 Tom was 4-3 with four saves and had a 4.33 ERA in 36 games.
• After eight games with the Red Sox in 1977, Tom was sold to the Seattle Mariners.
• House spent the rest of the 1977 season and the 1978 season with Seattle before being released during spring training in 1979.

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1976 Topps Traded #211T - Clay Carroll

• After the 1975 season the Reds figured they had enough bullpen depth, so they traded Clay Carroll to the White Sox for Rich Hinton and a minor leaguer.
• Carroll was 4-4 with six saves and had a 2.56 ERA in 29 games for the White Sox in 1976.
• In 1976 Clay missed the entire month of July after he fractured his right hand in an accident at home.
• Carroll was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for Lerrin LaGrow during spring training in 1977, a move that saved the club some money. Carroll's salary was $100,000 at the time.
• The White Sox unexpectedly contended for the AL West crown in 1977 so they reacquired Carroll in September.

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1976 Topps Traded #208T - Mike Lum

• The Reds wanted a left-handed pinch hitter so they traded utilityman Darrel Chaney for Mike Lum.
• Lum batted .228 in 136 at bats for the Reds in 1976.
• Mike was 0 for 1 in the 1976 NLCS.
• Lum spent three seasons (1976-1978) with the Reds before becoming a free agent and going back to the Braves.

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1976 Topps Traded #158T - Ken Reitz

• Ken Reitz won a Gold Glove at third base in 1975. The Giants were looking to shore up their defense, so they traded pitcher Pete Falcone to the Cardinals for Reitz.
• Ken played only one season (1976) in San Francisco. He batted .269 in 155 games but  hit only five homers and had a .293 on base percentage.
• After the 1976 season the Giants traded Reitz back to St. Louis for pitcher Lynn McGlothen.

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1976 Topps Traded #146T - George Medich

• The Pirates gave up Willie Randolph (along with Ken Brett and Dock Ellis) to get Doc Medich
• Medich spent only one season with the Pirates - in 1976 he was 8-11 with a 3.52 ERA in 26 starts.
• Doc was traded to the Oakland A's after the 1976 season in a large trade that sent Phil Garner to the Pirates.

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1976 Topps Traded #127T - Larvell Blanks

• Larvell Blanks was the starting shortstop with the Atlanta Braves in 1975
• Blanks was traded twice in one day. The Braves traded him to the Chicago White Sox on December 12, 1975. Later that same day Blanks was traded to the Cleveland Indians.
• Larvell was used as a utilityman by the Indians from 1976-1978.
• Blanks had his best season in 1976, batting .280 in 104 games.

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1976 Topps Traded #120T - Rusty Staub

• It's hard to associate Rusty Staub with any one ballclub. He played well for four different teams (Astros, Expos, Mets, and Tigers).
• Staub was the Tigers' starting RF in 1976 and made the AL All Star team. He batted .299 with 15 HR and 96 RBI in 1976.
• Rusty was exclusively a DH for the rest of  his time with the Tigers (1977-1979).

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1976 Topps Traded #99T - Lee Lacy

• Lee Lacy was one of the players sent to the Atlanta Braves in the Dusty  Baker deal.
• Lacy was coming off of a .314 season in 1975.
• Lee played in 50 games for the Braves (.272 in 180 AB) in 1976 before being traded back to the Dodgers on June 23.
• Lacy played for the Dodgers through the 1978 season before signing a six-year contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates for more than double what he was previously making.
• Lacy played just about everywhere during his career, but he was mostly an outfielder from 1979 until the end of his career in 1987.

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1976 Topps Traded #85T - Mickey Rivers

• Contrary to the speculation on the back of this card, Rivers stole "only" 43 bases for the Yankees in 1976. But he also batted .312, scored 95 runs, made the AL All Star team, and finished third in MVP voting. 
• Mickey had good years in 1977 and in 1978 before being traded to the Texas Rangers during the 1979 season.

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1976 Topps Traded #83T - Jim Spencer

• As the card says, Spencer was traded twice between the 1975 and 1976 seasons.
• Jim was the big power guy for the offensively-challenged White Sox in 1976. He batted .253 with 14 HR and 70  RBI. Spencer led the AL with 19 intentional walks in 1976.
• Spencer spent one more season in Chicago before being traded to the New York Yankees after the 1977 season.

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