1976 Topps Card of the Year (Round 1, Group 5)

• The top four vote-getters from group 4 were Hank Aaron Record Breaker, Jerry Reuss, Jim Palmer, and Johnny Bench. Those cards will move on to the next round.

• Here are the competitors in group 5. Please vote for your four favorites from this group. The top four cards will move on to the next round.

Ken Henderson #464

Kurt Bevacqua Bazooka Bubble Blowing Championship #564

Lou Brock #10

Luis Tiant #130

Manny Sanguillen #220

Mickey Lolich #385

Mike Cuellar #285

Mike Marshall #465

1976 Topps Card of the Year (Round 1, Group 4)

• The top four cards in group 3 are Hank Aaron, Greg Luzinski, George Hendrick, and Gene Tenace. 
• Here are the cards in group 4. Please vote for your top four favorites from this group. The top four vote-getters will advance to the next round.

Hank Aaron RB #1

Jerry Koosman #64

Jerry Remy #229

Jerry Reuss #60

Jim Palmer #450

Joe Morgan #420

Johnny Bench #300

Ken Griffey #128

1976 Topps Card of the Year (round 1, group 3)

• The winners of round 1 group 2 were Dave Concepcion, Dave Lopes Record Breaker, Dave Parker, and Fred Lynn.
• Here are the cards in group 3. Please vote for your four favorites. The top four from this group will advance to round 2.

Fritz Peterson #255

Gene Tenace #165

George Brett #19

George Hendrick #570

Greg Gross #171

Greg Luzinski #610

Gus / Buddy Bell Father and Son #66

Hank Aaron #500

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1976 Topps Card of the year - Round 1, Group 2

• The four cards from Group 1 that will advance are: Carl Yastrzemski, Al Oliver, Bill Plummer, and Brian Downing. 

• There was no love shown for the checklist card. It was the only one that received no votes.

• Here is the next group of eight cards. Please vote for your four favorites from this group. The top four from this group will advance to round 2.

#477 Cleveland Indians

#48 Dave Concepcion

#213 Dave Heaverlo

#4 Dave Lopes Record Breaker

#185 Dave Parker

#512 Ellie Rodriguez

#50 Fred Lynn

#103 Biff Pocoroba

1976 Topps Card of the Year - Round 1, Group 1

• It's time to choose a card of the year. I chose 64 cards to be included in the voting. About 45 of them were chosen by readers and I chose the other ones to fill out the field.

• We'll do this eight cards at a time. Choose your four favorite cards from each group. The top half of each group will advance to the next round.

• Here are the cards:

#620 Al Oliver

#278 Bernie Carbo

#627 Bill Plummer

#525 Billy Williams

#23 Brian Downing

#230 Carl Yastrzemski

#262 Checklist

#277 Chicago Cubs

• The poll will be open for three days and then the next set of cards will appear for your vote.

1976 Topps Traded - Trades Checklist

• I wonder what a 1976 traded set would look like if it were increased to 132 cards and sold in boxes like in the 1980s. Here is my crack at what the checklist would look like:
• The 44 players on this checklist card would be an obvious start
• Next would be regular cards of the guys on the 4-player "rookie cards" (39 in all - Willie Randolph already got a traded card)
• Rob Dressler - San Francisco Giants
• Ron Guidry - New York Yankees
• Bob McClure - Kansas City Royals
• Pat Zachry - Cincinnati Reds
• Hector Cruz - St. Louis Cardinals
• Jamie Quirk - Kansas City Royals
• Jerry Turner - San Diego Padres
• Joe Wallis - Chicago Cubs
• Don Aase - Boston Red Sox
• Jack Kucek - Chicago White Sox
• Frank LaCorte - Atlanta Braves
• Mike Pazik - Minnesota Twins
• Art DeFillipis - Texas Rangers
• Randy Lerch - Philadelphia Phillies
• Sid Monge - Cleveland Indians
• Steve Barr - Texas Rangers
• Andy Merchant - Boston Red Sox
• Ed Ott - Pittsburgh Pirates
• Royle Stillman - Baltimore Orioles
• Jerry White - Montreal Expos
• Larry Anderson - Milwaukee Brewers
• Ken Crosby - Chicago Cubs
• Mark Littell - Kansas City Royals
• Butch Metzger - San Diego Padres
• Dave McKay - Minnesota Twins
• Jerry Royster - Atlanta Braves
• Roy Staiger - New York Mets
• Steve Grilli - Detroit Tigers
• Craig Mitchell - Oakland A's 
• Jose Sosa - Houston Astros
• George Throop - Kansas City Royals
• Henry Cruz - Los Angeles Dodgers
• Chet Lemon - Chicago White Sox
• Ellis Valentine - Montreal Expos
• Terry Whitfield - New York Yankees
• Santo Alcala - Cincinnati Reds
• Mike Flanagan - Baltimore Orioles
• Joe Pactwa - California Angels 
• Pablo Torrealba - Atlanta Braves
• Then would be players who made their debut sometime in early 1976 but who didn't get a card (13 players):
• Butch Wynegar - Minnesota Twins
• Paul Hartzell - California Angels
• Bob Randall - Minnesota Twins
• Mark Fidrych - Detroit Tigers
• Jason Thompson - Detroit Tigers
• Pete Redfern -  Minnesota Twins
• John Wathan - Kansas City Royals
• Joaquin Andujar - Houston Astros
• Glenn Burke - Los Angeles Dodgers
• Mike Proly - St. Louis Cardinals
• Gil Rondon - Houston Astros
• Joel Youngblood - Cincinnati Reds
• Bruce Sutter - Chicago Cubs

• Here are some guys who were traded/signed sometime between December 1975 and July 1976 (72 players):
• Vic Harris - St. Louis Cardinals
• Mick Kelleher - Chicago Cubs
• Rodney Scott - Montreal Expos
• Roger Freed - Montreal Expos
• Tom Walker - St. Louis Cardinals
• Willie Crawford - St. Louis Cardinals
• Ted Sizemore - Los Angeles Dodgers
• Dick Drago - California Angels
• Roger Nelson - Kansas City Royals
• Ellie Rodriguez - Los Angeles Dodgers
• Bobby Tolan - Philadelphia Phillies
• Reggie Jackson - Baltimore Orioles
• Ken Holtzman - Baltimore Orioles (or New York Yankees if set is printed after June 15)
• Don Baylor - Oakland A's
• Mike Torrez - Oakland A's
• Paul Mitchell - Oakland A's
• Lerrin LaGrow - St. Louis Cardinals
• Cleon Jones - Chicago White Sox
• Don Kessinger - St. Louis Cardinals
• Mike Garman - Chicago Cubs
• Ken McMullen - Oakland A's
• Merv Rettenmund - San Diego Padres
• Roric Harrison - St. Louis Cardinals
• Harry Parker - Cleveland Indians
• Terry  Crowley - Baltimore Orioles
• Danny Frisella - St. Louis Cardinals (or Milwaukee Brewers if printed after June 7)
• Ken Reynolds - San Diego Padres
• Ray Sadecki - Milwaukee Brewers
• Andre Thornton - Montreal Expos
• Larry Biittner - Chicago Cubs
• Steve Renko - Chicago Cubs
• Bill Greif - St. Louis Cardinals
• Carlos May - New York Yankees
• Ken Brett - Chicago White Sox
• Rich Coggins - Chicago White Sox
• Stan Perzanowski - Cleveland Indians
• Fritz Peterson - Texas Rangers
• Von Joshua - Milwaukee Brewers
• Tommy Davis - California Angels
• Bernie Carbo - Milwaukee Brewers
• Bobby Darwin - Boston Red Sox
• Tom Murphy - Boston Red Sox
• Joe Coleman - Chicago Cubs
• Nate Colbert - Oakland A's
• Milt Wilcox - Detroit Tigers
• Gary Sutherland -  Milwaukee Brewers
• Pedro Garcia - Detroit Tigers
• Darrell Evans - San Francisco Giants
• Marty Perez - San Francisco Giants
• Willie Montanez - Atlanta Braves
• Craig Robinson - Atlanta Braves
• Reggie Smith - Los Angeles Dodgers
• Joe Ferguson - St. Louis Cardinals
• Doyle Alexander - New York Yankees
• Ellie Hendricks - New York Yankees
• Grant Jackson - New York Yankees
• Rick Dempsey - Baltimore Orioles
• Tippy Martinez - Baltimore Orioles
• Rudy May - Baltimore Orioles
• Scott McGregor - Baltimore Orioles
• Dave Pagan - Baltimore Orioles
• Joe Lahoud - Texas Rangers
• Blue Moon Odom - Chicago White Sox
• Pete Varney - Atlanta Braves
• Mike Marshall - Atlanta Braves
• Lee Lacy - Los Angeles Dodgers
• Elias Sosa - Los Angeles Dodgers
• Andy Hassler - Kansas City Royals
• Jim Dwyer - New York Mets
• Del Unser - Montreal Expos
• Pepe Mangual - New York Mets
• Earl Williams - Montreal Expos
• It would be interesting to have some "error" cards. Perhaps the guys in the Charlie Finley fire sale can be printed with a notation that the sales were voided by Commissioner Bowie Kuhn (3 players)
• Joe Rudi - Boston Red Sox
• Rollie Fingers - Boston Red Sox
• Vida Blue - New York Yankees
• New managers could get their own cards (4 cards):
• Chuck Tanner - Oakland A's
• Bill Rigney - San Francisco Giants
• Paul Richards - Chicago White Sox
• Norm Sherry - California Angels (if the set is printed after July 23)
• Frank Robinson deserved his own player card (1 card)

• Perhaps we could throw in cards of players who retired after the 1975 season (2 cards):
• Bob Gibson - St. Louis Cardinals
• Harmon Killebrew - Kansas City Royals
• This would be a total of 178 cards. We would have to cut 46 cards to get to 132.
• This would have been an interesting set. Collectors would have gone nuts over a Mark Fidrych rookie card.

1976 Topps Traded #649T - Dave Roberts

• Dave Roberts started 36 games for the Detroit Tigers in 1976 and went 16-17 with a 4.00 ERA.
• Roberts started 22 games for the Tigers in 1977 (4-10, 4.59 ERA) before being sold to the Chicago Cubs on July 30.
• Dave was used as a reliever and a spot starter from the end of the 1977 season through his last season in 1981.

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1976 Topps Traded #632T - Rogelio Moret

• Rogelio Moret pitched for the Braves for one season (1976). He went 3-5 with a 5.00 ERA.
• After the 1976 season Moret was included in the big trade with the Texas Rangers that brought Jeff Burroughs to Atlanta.
• Rogelio spent two seasons (1977 and 1978) with the Rangers.
• Moret didn't make the Texas ballclub in 1979 and was released during spring training. This was mostly due to Moret's psychological problems.
• Rogelio tried to come back with the Cleveland Indians in 1980 but was released during spring training.

1976 Topps Traded #618T - Jack Brohamer

• Jack Brohamer started at second base for the Chicago White Sox for most of the 1976 season.
• Brohamer batted .251 in 119 games in 1976.
• Jack spent two seasons (1976-1977) with Chicago. He became a free agent and signed with the Boston Red Sox.
• Brohamer played for Boston from 1978-1980. 
• Jack was sold to the Cleveland Indians in June 1980 and finished the season with the Indians.
• Brohamer left the Indians and retired during spring training in 1981.

1976 Topps Traded #592T - Willie Randolph

• Willie Randolph had a long career after his 1975 trade. Willie stayed in the majors through the 1992 season.
• Willie was caught in a numbers game in Pittsburgh and was traded to the New York Yankees for some pitching.
• Randolph batted .267 with 37 stolen bases for the Yankees in 1976 and was an AL All Star.
• Willie was a 5-time all star for the Yankees and played with them through the 1988 season.