1976 Topps #550 - Hank Aaron

• This was Mr. Aaron's final card. It would have been cool if Topps would have made special "farewell cards" for great players the year after their careers ended that would have had their final stats.
• The game in which Hank broke the all-time home run record (April 8, 1974) was the first game I remember watching on TV (I was 7 years old). My dad and I went down the street and watched it at my friend Jimmy's house. Aaron was  my first "favorite player" because of this.
• I started collecting baseball cards in 1974. The first card I have any memories of was one of the Hank Aaron Special cards (I think it was card #5).
• How could anyone leave Hank off of a Hall of Fame ballot? Nine writers left Aaron off of their ballots in 1982 -- he was named on 406 of 415 ballots.
• Who was the most consistent player in major league history? My vote would go to Aaron, but a strong case could also be made for Stan Musial.
• HOFers who Aaron had success against: Don Drysdale (17 HR); Sandy Koufax (.362 in 116 AB); Steve Carlton (.342 in 73 AB); Hoyt Wilhelm (.348 in 23 AB)
• HOFers that Hank had a harder time with: Tom Seaver (.205 in 78 AB); Bob Gibson (.215 in 163 AB)
• Baseball Digest articles:
• If Anyone Belongs in the Hall of Fame, It's Hank Aaron - June 1969
• Hank Aaron Headed for Cooperstown - May 1970
• Hank Aaron Tells a Secret - November 1971
• Hank Aaron in Countdown on Ruth Mark - January 1972
• Countdown to 714 - special 32-page issue in 1973
• ... And Who Will Catch Hank Aaron? - December 1973
• The Pursuit Resumes - April 1974
• Nobody Will Catch Aaron - July 1974
• Hank Aaron Talks about Hitting - July 1975
• Hank Aaron: Will His Last Hurrah Be An Embarrassment? - February 1976
• How Hank Aaron Almost Became a Giant or Pirate - December 1998
• Hank Aaron Recalls '74 Game When He Broke Ruth's Record - April 1999
• Hank Aaron - May 2002

1976 Topps #400 - Rod Carew

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  Rod Carew was one of my favorite players when I was growing up. I had three big posters of baseball players in my room: Pete Rose, Tom Seaver, and Rod Carew. Rod was born on a train in the Panama Canal Zone. When his mother went in to labor a doctor who was on board delievered the baby. The doctor's name was Rodney Cline, so Rod was named after the doctor in appreciation. Rod's family emigrated to New York City when Rod was 14, but he never played high school baseball. Rod was discovered by a Minnesota Twins scout while playing semi-pro baseball. Carew was signed by the Minnesota Twins in 1964. He spent three seasons in the minors and then was brought up to the Twins in 1967.

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  Rod was the American League Rookie of the Year in 1967. He batted .292 in 137 games, which was his lowest average except for the pitching-dominated 1968 season and his final season in 1985. Rod was the starting second baseman for the American League in the All Star Game. He went 0 for 3 in the game. This was the first of 18 straight seasons in which he would make the AL All Star team, which was every season except for 1985.

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  Carew batted .273 in 1968, which was his version of a sophomore jinx. From 1969-1983 Rod batted over .300 every year. In 1969 Carew batted .332 and won his first AL batting title. He batted .071 (1 for 14) in the 1969 ALCS. Rod missed three months of the 1970 season with a knee injury. He played in 51 games and batted .366. Carew was limited to two pinch hitting appearances in the 1970 ALCS and was 0 for 2.

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  Rod wasn't quite 100% in 1971 and batted "only" .307. He batted .318 in 1972, .350 in 1973, .364 in 1974, and .359 in 1975. Rod won the AL batting title all four of those seasons. The 1972 season was the only one in which a player would win a batting title without hitting a home run. Carew batted .331 in 1976 and barely missed winning the batting title. He was in a four-player battle with teammate Lyman Bostock and Kansas City Royals George Brett and Hal McRae. Brett won the title with a .333 average. During the 1976 season Rod moved from second base to first base.

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  Rod had his best season in 1977 and won the AL MVP award. He batted .388 and also led the AL in runs (128), hits (239), triples (16), on base percentage (.449), and intentional walks (15). Carew won the AL batting title in 1978 with a .333 average. It was his seventh (and last) batting title. After the 1978 season Rod announced his intention to leave the Twins because of frustration with the Twins being unable to keep young talent and because of conficts with Twins owner Calvin Griffith. Rather than lose Rod to free agency the Twins traded him to the California Angels for Ken Landreaux, Dave Engle, Paul Hartzell, and Brad Havens.

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  Carew missed about seven weeks (early June-late July) of the 1979 season with an injury. He batted .318 in 110 games and batted .412 in the 1979 ALCS. Rod played in 144 games in 1980 and batted .331. He batted .305 in 1981 and .319 in 1982. He batted .176 in the 1982 ALCS.

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  Rod's last big season was 1983. He batted .339 and was spending more time at DH. Carew missed three weeks of the 1984 season and batted .295. It was the first time he failed to hit .300 or better since 1968. Rod was batting .300 in the last week of the season but went hitless in his last two games that season to drop below .300.

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  Carew batted .280 in 1985. Rod got his 3000th hit off of Frank Viola on August 4, 1985. It was the same day that Tom Seaver got his 300th win. He became a free agent after the 1985 season but didn't receive any offers. He felt that he was one of the players frozen out by owners during the collusion era. Rod later was awarded damages equal to what he probably would have made ($782,036). Carew was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1991.

Baseball Digest articles about Rod Carew:

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  How Martin Helped Reform Rod Carew - June 1969
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  Rod Carew: 'Homers Don't Interest Me' - August 1973
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  Rod Carew: The Majors' Complete Ballplayer - December 1973
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  A Fourth Batting Title for Rod Carew? - August 1974
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  Rod Carew: He's in a Class by Himself - December 1975
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  Rod Carew: The Best Hitter in the Majors - July 1977
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  How the Twins First Signed Rod Carew - December 1977
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  When Billy Martin 'Went to Bat' for Rod Carew - March 1978
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  Rod Carew-The Game I'll Never Forget - October 1986
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  Rod Carew Fell Short of .400 But Not the Hall of Fame - November 1991
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  Young Angel Hitters Thrive Under Rod Carew's Guidance- November 1995

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  After his playing career Rod opened up the Rod Carew Baseball School in Placentia, California. He later became a hitting coach and coached for the Angels (1992-1999) and the Milwaukee Brewers (2000-2001). Carew is now on the executive staff of the Minnesota Twins and is a Special Advisor for International Player Development for major league baseball. He does a lot of charitable work.

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  Here is an article about Rod Carew from about a month ago (2/23/2010) when he was raising money for pediatric cancer research.

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  Rod's official web site.

A 1977 profile of Rod Carew

1976 Topps #316 - Robin Yount

• Robin Yount was a first round (3rd overall) draft pick of the Milwaukee Brewers in 1973. The two players taken before Yount were David Clyde and John Stearns. Dave Winfield was drafted immediately after Robin. Yount spent the last part of the 1973 season playing A ball for Newark and batted .285 in 64 games as a 17-year-old.

• Robin was brought up to the Brewers in 1974. He played in 107 games (102 of them starts) and batted .250 in 344 at bats. Robin's defensive stats weren't very impressive in his first few seasons. From 1974-1980 his fielding percentage was at or below league average every year except one. Over time he became an average to above-average fielding shortstop and in 1982 won a Gold Glove at the position.

• In 1975 Yount batted .267 in 147 games. He became the Brewers' regular shortstop that year and would remain so until he was moved to center field in 1985. Robin led the AL in games played (161) in 1976 and batted .252. Yount had his first good offensive season in 1977. He batted .288 with 34 doubles in 605 at bats. He batted .293 with 9 homers and 71 RBI in 1978 and was starting to develop some power. Yount stirred up some controversy in the spring of '78 when he said that he would retire and play professional golf rather than be underpaid by the Brewers. The Brewers met his salary demands and he remained with them for his entire 20-year career. In 1979 Robin took a step back, batting .267 with 26 doubles in 149 games.

• The 1980s were Robin Yount's decade. He was MVP twice (1982 and 1988) and was an All Star three times (1980, 1982, 1983). The weight training Robin was doing finally paid off as he became a power hitter.

• In 1980 Robin led the AL with 49 doubles and batted .293 with 23 HR and 87 RBI. Yount had his weakest season of the 80s in 1981 when he batted .273 with 15 doubles and 10 homers in 96 games. He batted .316 in five games in the ALDS.

• Yount's best year was 1982. He led the AL with 210 hits, 46 doubles, and a .578 slugging percentage. Robin batted .331 and had 12 triples, 29 homers, 114 RBI, and 129 runs scored. He batted .250 in the ALCS and batted .414 in the World Series.

• Robin led the AL with 10 triples in 1983 and batted .308 with 17 HR and 80 RBI. He was selected to his third and final All Star Game. Oddly, he wasn't an All Star in 1989, his second MVP season.

• Yount continued to have consistenly good seasons throughout the rest of the 1980s. Except for a .277 season in 1985, he batted .298 or better every year from 1984-1989. He was generally in the teens in home runs (except for 1986 when he hit nine). In 1988 Robin led the AL with 11 triples and 162 games played. Yount narrowly beat out Ruben Sierra to win his second MVP award in 1989. He batted .318 with 21 HR and 103 RBI that year. Due to a shoulder injury Robin was moved from shortstop to center field in 1985.

• Robin continued to play as the regular center fielder through the 1993 season. He got his 3000th hit on September 9, 1992. Robin retired after the 1993 season holding many Milwaukee team records. He was the last Brewer to have been a teammate of Hank Aaron, who played for the Brewers in 1975 and 1976.

• Yount was elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 1999. He did some coaching after his playing career, serving as first base coach and bench coach for Bob Brenly of the Arizona Diamondbacks from 2002-2004. Yount was Ned Yost's bench coach in Milwaukee in 2006 and helped Dale Sveum in 2008 by being his bench coach at the end of the season.

• Baseball Digest articles:

Robin Yount: In Milwaukee They Call Him 'Super Kid' - November 1974

Robin Yount Joined Elite Group of Fielders in '86! - April 1987

Robin Yount: Next Player to Reach 3000 Hits? - September 1989

Memories of 1982 Season Enrich Robin Yount - August 1991

Robin Yount Sets his Sights on 3000 Hits in '92 - September 1991

Robin Yount: He Has A Hall of Fame Approach to Baseball - September 1992

Robin Yount: A Future Hall of Famer Bows Out Quietly - May 1994

Robin Yount Looks Back on His Hall of Fame Career - May 2007

• Liked to face: Dave Lemanczyk (.526 in 38 AB); Mike Flanagan (.443 in 79 AB); Danny Darwin (.439 in 41 AB)
• Hated to face: Don Hood (.111 in 27 AB); Roger Erickson (.121 in 33 AB); Greg Swindell (.138 in 29 AB)
  

1976 Topps #240 - Pete Rose

• I'm not even going to try to do a synopsis of Pete's career. It would take many, many paragraphs and I wouldn't be able to do it justice anyway.

• Pete Rose was my favorite player when I was growing up. I liked his aggressive style. Pete's love for the game showed through every time he played. I was too young for Pete's weaknesses to register in my mind. I just saw what he did on the field.

• When I was growing up there were posters, cards, and magazine clippings of various ballplayers on my bedroom wall. A good number of them were of Pete. I got mad at the Reds and stopped rooting for them when Pete left after the 1978 season. I did the same thing when the Phillies benched Pete for a game in the 1983 World Series and let Pete leave after the series was over.

• When the gambling scandal hit, my first reaction was, "it can't be true." I didn't think Pete would be that stupid. I didn't think he would sacrifice the thing he loved the most just for some instant gratification from betting. I learned a lot about how much pride and addiction can bring people down. A while before his banishment from baseball (I forget exactly when) I had an inkling that something bad would happen. He was due to come to Phoenix for a card/autograph show. I bought a ball and a case and was in line ready to have Pete sign. A guy came out and said that Pete missed his flight and wouldn't be there. Our admission fees were refunded but I was still disappointed. That was the last time that I even considered going to an autograph show and paying for an autograph.

• Does Pete Rose belong in the Hall of Fame? If the Hall is a museum of baseball history, then Pete should be in there somehow. His banishment should be noted on his plaque. Future baseball fans should be able to see both the triumphs and tragedies of Pete's life and career. Should he be allowed to work as a manager or a coach? No way.
• Liked to face: Don Sutton (.339 in 177 AB); Juan Marichal (.341 in 123 AB); Larry Dierker (.343 in 102 AB); Ron Reed (.376 in 101 AB)
• Hated to face: Jerry Reuss (.244 in 119 AB); Bob Forsch (.198 in 101 AB); Don Wilson (.234 in 107 AB); Randy Jones (.183 in 93 AB)

1976 Topps #230 - Carl Yastrzemski

• Mr. Yastrzemski had a long and distinguished career with the Boston Red Sox. Carl has a lot of black ink on his baseball reference stat page:

• batting (1963, 1967, 1968)

• home runs (1967)

• RBI (1967)

• hits (1963, 1967)

• runs (1967, 1970)

• doubles (1963, 1965, 1966)

• walks (1963, 1969)

• on base percentage (1963, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1970)

• slugging (1965, 1967, 1970)

• Lifetime:

• 18 All Star Games

• 1 MVP (1967) - 5 top-ten finishes

• 1 Triple Crown (1967)

• 7 Gold Gloves

• 2nd in games played (3,308)

• 3rd in at bats (11,988)

• 6th in hits (3,419)

• 8th in doubles (646)

• 6th in walks (1,845)

• Carl also had a lot of success in the post season. He batted .400 with three home runs in the 1967 World Series, .455 with one HR in the 1975 ALCS, and .310 in the 1975 World Series.

• The first time Carl came on my "radar" was in the 1975 World Series. My father had bought a scorebook and was teaching me how to keep score. I didn't know why he wrote in "Yaz" until I saw the full name on the TV screen. I was really proud of myself later when I learned how to spell his last name.

• Yaz was signed by the Red Sox in 1958. He batted .377 as an infielder for Class B Raleigh in 1959 and .339 for AAA Minneapolis in 1960. Carl had the unenviable task of succeeding Ted Williams as the Boston left fielder in 1961.
• Listed below are articles that were written throughout (and after) Carl's career. They can probably tell his story better than I can.

• Here is a May 20, 1963 Sports Illustrated article about Carl

• Here is a December 25, 1967 Sports Illustrated article announcing that Yaz was Sportsman of the Year for 1967.

• Here is a March 16, 1970 Sports Illustrated article about "The Team that Eats Managers."

• Here is a July 10, 1972 Sports Illustrated article about Yaz that wonders whether or not he has lost his power after some injuries.

• Here is a September 24, 1979 Sports Illustrated article about Carl's 3000th hit.

• Here is a September 1981 Baseball Digest article recalling Carl's most memorable games.

• Here is a November 1989 Baseball Digest about how tough of an opponent Yaz was.
• Here is a November 2000 Baseball Digest article about Yastrzemski.

• Carl's identity was stolen by his late son Mike late in his life. Carl was stuck with quite a few of his son's debts.
  

• Carl is now a roving instructor with the Red Sox. Here is his webpage.

• Liked to face: Jim Perry (.300, 5 HR in 140 AB); Jim Slaton (.409, 4 HR in 88 AB); Wilbur Wood (.324, 4 HR in 74 AB); Blue Moon Odom (.447, 5 HR in 47 AB)

• Hated to face: Gaylord Perry (.161 in 87 AB); Jim Hunter (.219 in 114 AB); Sam McDowell (.190 in 63 AB)
  

1976 Topps #160 - Dave Winfield

• Dave Winfield had a lot of accomplishements in his career: twelve straight All-Star games (1977-1988); seven Gold Gloves; six Silver Sluggers; 3110 career hits; 465 career home runs; elected to the Hall of Fame in 2001.

• Winfield was the fourth pick in the 1973 draft by the San Diego Padres. The players taken ahead of him were David Clyde, John Stearns, and Robin Yount. Dave immediately started with the Padres and never played in the minor leagues. He batted .277 in 56 games in 1973. Winfield was also drafted by the NFL's Minnesota Vikings, the NBA's Atlanta Hawks, and the ABA's Utah Stars.

• Dave steadily improved his skills from 1974-1976. He batted in the .265-.285 range with double-figure home run and stolen base totals. Winfield's first All-Star year was 1977, when he batted .275 with 25 homers and 92 RBI. He improved to .308 with 24 homers and 97 RBI in 1978. Winfield's biggest year with San Diego was 1979 -- he batted .308 with 34 HR and a league-leading 118 RBI. He finished third in MVP balloting in '79. Dave had a bit of a drop-off in 1980 (.276, 20 HR, 87 RBI) but that didn't diminsh his value in the free-agent market.

• Before the 1981 season Winfield signed a 10-year, $23 million contract with the New York Yankees. George Steinbrenner mistakenly thought he was signing Dave for $16 million, which helped lead to a bitter feud between the two. Winfield batted .294 with 13 homers and 68 RBI in the strike-shortened 1981 season. He did well in the divisional series against Milwaukee (.350 in 20 AB), but struggled in the ALCS against Oakland (.154 in 13 AB). He also had a poor World Series against the LA Dodgers (.045 with one RBI in 22 AB).

• Dave had nice years in 1982 (.280, 37 HR, 106 RBI) and in 1983 (.283, 32 HR, 116 RBI). The 1983 season was marred by an incident on August 4in which Winfield unintentionally killed a seagull when he threw a ball at it during pregame warmups in Toronto. He was arrested for cruelty to animals after the game. He was released after posting bond and the charges were dropped the next day. Dave donated two paintings to be auctioned off for Easter Seals in Toronto after the season, but fans still stood and flapped their arms every time Winfield appeared in Toronto.

• In 1984 Winfield and teammate Don Mattingly battled for the American League batting title. Mattingly won the title by batting .343 to Winfield's .340. Dave also hit 19 homers and had 100 RBI. In 1985 the Yankees were battling the Toronto Blue Jays for the AL East title. Mr. Steinbrenner derisively said about Winfield that the Yankees needed an "Mr. October" and not a "Mr. May." Winfield was consistent from 1985-1987, batting between .262 and .275 and hitting 24-27 homers each year.

• The 1988 season was Dave's last full season with the Yankees. He batted .322 with 25 homers and 107 RBI and appeared in his last All Star game. Winfield sat out the entire 1989 season with a knee injury.

• By 1990 the feud between Winfield and Steinbrenner got so nasty that Steinbrenner was actually banned from baseball for a couple of years for his connections with a mobster that he had paid to try to dig up embarassing information about Winfield. Dave started the 1990 season by batting only .213 in 20 games. He was traded to the California Angels for Mike Witt on May 11 and finished the season with a total of 20 homers and a .267 average, which was good enough for Winfield to win the AL Comeback Player of the Year award.

• In 1991 Dave batted .262 with 28 homers and 86 RBI. After the season he left the Angels and signed with the Blue Jays as a free agent. Winfield won his last Silver Slugger award (as a DH) in 1992 as he batted ..290 with 26 HR and 108 RBI. He finished 5th in AL MVP consideration as he helped the Blue Jays to the World Championship.

• In 1993 Dave signed with the Hometown Minnesota Twins. He batted .271 with 21 HR and 76 RBI in 1993 and got his 3000th hit off of Dennis Eckersley on September 16. Here is a link to a Sports Illustrated article written right after the milestone was reached.

• In the strike-shortened 1994 season he played in 76 games and batted .252 with 10 HR and 43 RBI. During the strike Dave was traded to the Cleveland Indians on August 31 for a player to be named later. The season was later cancelled and there was no "player to be named later," so Cleveland executives took Minnesota executives out to dinner to settle the trade.

• Dave signed with the Indians in 1995 but didn't play much. He retired after playing in 46 games and batting .191.

• Dave was the first player to enter the Hall of Fame as a San Diego Padre in 2001. He is now an executive vice-president with the Padres and an analyst on ESPN's Baseball Tonight. Dave has also done a large amount of charitable work with his Winfield Foundation.

• Here is a link to Dave Winfield's official site.

• Here is a link to his Hall of Fame page.
• Gellman at Sports Cards Uncensored ran into Dave at the airport a few days ago. Story at the end of this blog entry.

1976 Topps #19 - George Brett

George Brett had a great season in 1976. He won the AL batting title with a .333 average and appeared in the first of his 13 straight All-Star games. He was second in MVP voting. He played a big part in the Royals' first division title.

I noticed that although he finished his career with 3154 hits, he had over 200 hits in a season only twice (215 in 1976 and 212 in 1979). I thought that was a little strange, so I checked all of the 3000-hit men to see how many 200-hit seasons they had.

Out of the 27 players who had 3000 or more hits, 14 of them had two or fewer seasons of 200+ hits. I guess it isn't as strange as I thought. (I made a nice table with the player, # of hits, and # of 200-hit seasons, but I couldn't get it to format properly in here) :(

1976 Topps #10 - Lou Brock

This story has to do with 1975, but I'll mention it anyway.

It was September and I was very close to completing my 1975 Topps set. It was my first year of trying to complete a set. I had spend many allowances at the nearby Circle K on baseball cards and Wacky Packages stickers. For some reason, Lou Brock was really hard to get. Early one Saturday morning I went across the street to Jimmy's house. In the window screen I saw two Lou Brock cards. Jimmy was a real wheeler-dealer, and itt cost me a lot of football cards to get one of those Lou Brocks. I didn't care -- it was only football. :)

I still have that card. I've since upgraded, but I'll always remember how hard it was to get my '75 Lou Brock.