1976 Topps #232 - Frank Duffy

• Frank Duffy was an infielder for several teams from 1970-1979. He had his most successful seasons with the Cleveland Indians. Duffy was a first round (6th overall) pick of the Cincinnati Reds in the 1967 draft. He played in the minors from 1968-1970 and then was called up to the Reds in September 1970. Frank played in six games and batted .182.

• In 1971 Frank started the season with the Reds. He didn't get much playing time (.188 in 16 at bats) and was traded with Vern Geishert to the San Francisco Giants for George Foster. Ouch. Duffy didn't get much more playing time for the NL West-winning Giants -- he batted .179 in 28 at bats. After the season he was traded with Gaylord Perry to the Cleveland Indians for Sam McDowell (ouch again).

• The Indians made Duffy their starting shortstop in 1972. He would start for Cleveland for the next six years. His seasons are virtually interchangeable -- he batted in the mid-.200s without much power. His batting average tailed off in his last two season with Cleveland. He batted .212 in 1976 and .201 in 1977. After the 1977 season Frank was traded to the Boston Red Sox for Rick Kreuger.

• Duffy was a backup infielder for the Red Sox in 1978. He played in 64 games and batted .260 in 104 at bats. In 1979 he was 0 for 3 when he was released on May 22.
  

1976 Topps #231 - Tom House

• Tom House pitched for three teams from 1971-1978. He was famous for catching Hank Aaron's 715th home run in the Atlanta bullpen. Tom was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in 1967. He pitched in the minors (mostly for AAA Richmond) from 1967-1972. Tom had late season call-ups in 1971 (1-0, 3.05 ERA in 11 games) and in 1972 (0-0, 2 saves, 2.89 ERA in 8 games).

• In 1973 House appeared in 52 games and was 4-2 with a 4.68 ERA. He had his best season in 1974. Tom made 56 appearances and had 11 saves, a 6-2 record, and an ERA of 1.93. Tom also had a good year in 1975 -- he was 7-7 with 11 saves and a 3.18 ERA in 58 games. After the season House was traded to the Boston Red Sox for Rogelio Moret.

• House had some injuries in 1976 -- he missed a month from late July-late August and had a couple of other shorter interruptions. Tom was 1-3 with a 4.33 ERA and four saves in 36 games in 1976. He had a slow start in 1977 (1-0, 12.91 ERA in 8 games) and was sold to the Seattle Mariners on May 28. The Mariners tried Tom as a starter and he made 11 of his 22 career starts. He was injured again, this time from early August - early September. All together House was 5-5 with a 4.64 ERA in 1977.

• The 1978 season would be Tom's last one in the major leagues. He had more injury problems -- he pitched only once in a 5-week period late in the season. He was 5-4 with a 4.66 ERA in 34 games (9 starts). House didn't make the club in 1979 and was released toward the end of spring training. He appeared in two games in 1983 for AAA Las Vegas, but that was probably a case of a coach being used for emergencies.

• After his playing career Tom earned a PhD in Psychology and became a pitching coach. During his Hall of Fame induction speech, Nolan Ryan credited Tom with having a positive influence on his career. House was the pitching coach for the Texas Rangers in the mid-late 1980s and later coached for the Houston Astros and the San Diego Padres. He is an advisor with the American Sports Medicine Institute and is the co-founder of the National Pitching Association. Tom has written or co-written 19 instructional books on baseball. Tom has his own website
  
  House admitted to using steroids for "a couple of seasons" in the 1970s. He said that it was a failed experiment that didn't add anything to his fastball but did cause some knee injuries due to the extra bulk.

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 #229 - Jerry Remy

• Jerry Remy played mostly at second base for the California Angels (1975-1977) and the Boston Red Sox (1978-1984). He made one All Star team. His career was shortened by injuries.

• Remy was drafted by the California Angels in 1971 and played in the Angels' system from 1971-1974. After batting .323 for El Paso and Salt Lake City in 1974 Jerry earned a promotion to the Angels in 1975. He batted .258 with 34 stolen bases in 147 games. Remy led the AL in times caught stealing with 21.

• In 1976 Remy improved his battnig average to .263 in 143 games. He stole 35 bases and was caught 16 times. Jerry batted .252 in 154 games and stole 41 bases in 1977 for the Angels. After the 1977 season the Angels signed Bobby Grich so they traded Jerry to the Red Sox for Don Aase and cash.

• Remy made his only AL All Star team in 1978, but he didn't get into the game. Jerry batted .278 in 148 games. On July 1, 1979 Jerry suffered an injury and played only twice from July 1-September 7. He batted .297 in 80 games. Remy was hurt again in 1980 and missed the last 2 1/2 months of the season. He batted .313 in 63 games.

• Jerry returned to health in 1981 and batted .307 in 88 games in the strike-shortened season. In 1982 Remy played in a career-high 155 games and batted .280. He also stole 16 bases, which was the most he stole while with the Red Sox. Jerry's last full season was in 1983. He batted .275 in 146 games.

• In 1984 Jerry was hurt again and didn't play after May 18. He batted .250 in 30 games. Remy was charged with a balk while playing second base on May 1, 1984. Marty Castillo of the Detroit Tigers had doubled. The Red Sox claimed he missed first base. Before pitcher Bruce Hurst threw the ball to 1B Mike Easler for the appeal, Remy had run behind first to back up the throw. Umpire Rocky Roe denied the appeal and called a balk on Remy. He cited rule 4.03 which states, "When the ball is put in play at the start of or during the game, all fielders other than the catcher shall be in fair territory."
• Jerry was unable to get back on the field and was released by the Red Sox after the 1985 season.
  

• Jerry has been a broadcaster with the Red Sox since 1988. He had a "very small, low-grade cancerous area" removed from his lung in 2008. He had some post-operative difficulties (an infection and pneumonia) and also suffered from a bout of depression after the operation. He took a leave of absence from the Red Sox but is now back broadcasting some ballgames.

• He owns a hot dog stand (RemDawg's) and has a sports bar in Logan airport. He also runs a website (The Remy Report) and has written a few books.

• Liked to face: Dennis Leonard (.350 in 60 AB); Jesse Jefferson (.405 in 37 AB); Jim Clancy (.410 in 39 AB)


• Hated to face: Jim Palmer (.169 in 71 AB); Dennis Martinez (.176 in 51 AB); Vida Blue (.158 in 38 AB)
  

1976 Topps #228 - John Hale

• John Hale played for the LA Dodgers and the Seattle Mariners from 1974-1979. I remember him because Street and Smith's Baseball had a picture of him and a blurb saying that he was a guy to watch. Unfortunately for him, the Dodgers were pretty solid in the outfield and he couldn't break into the lineup.

• Hale signed with the Dodgers in 1971 and climbed the ladder in their minor league system. He was a September call up in 1974 but didn't play much. He did bat 1.000 (4 for 4). In 1975 John split the season between AAA Albuquerque and the Dodgers. He batted .211 in 204 at bats for the Dodgers in '75.

• John started the 1976 season with the Dodgers but was sent back to Albuquerque in late May. He had a good season in Albuquerque, batting .321 with 12 homers. Hale came back to the Dodgers in September but ended up batting only .154 in 91 at bats for the year.

• In 1977 Hale was with the Dodgers as a pinch hitter and defensive replacement for most of the season. He batted .241 in 108 at bats, spent August in Albuquerque, then was waived to the Toronto Blue Jays. He then was purchased by the Seattle Mariners but didn't see any more action during the 1977 season.

• Hale played in 107 games with the Mariners in 1978 and batted .171 in 211 at bats. In 1979 he stayed with the Mariners for the season but played in only 54 games and batted 63 times. He was batting .222 when Seattle released him on August 9.

• John was signed by the Cincinnati Reds and played for AAA Indianapolis in 1980, where he had a nice year (.274 with 27 HR). The Reds traded him to the Baltimore Orioles before the 1981 season. John split the 1981 season between Baltimore's Rochester club and Denver (in the Montreal Expos' organization). John called it quits after the 1981 season. He played in the longest baseball game ever on April 18-19, 1981 (Rochester vs. Pawtucket) and was thrown out trying to score in the 32nd inning. The game lasted over eight hours and ended in a tie. The game was finished on June 23 and Pawtucket won in the 33rd inning.

• John currently runs a real estate brokerage in Bakersfield, CA.

A couple of new vintage Topps baseball blogs

1967 Topps Baseball Cards
1968 Topps Baseball Cards

Jim from Downingtown blogs about his memories of collecting those sets and about oddities/interesting things about the sets. Both blogs are cool -- it's always nice to see blogs about the older cards. :)

1976 Topps #227 - Oscar Zamora

• At first glance, it looks like Mr. Zamora had a long and distinguished career. But most of those years were spent in the minors. Oscar pitched in the majors from 1974-1978. He was originally signed by the Cleveland Indians in 1965. He pitched in the Cleveland organization until his release in April 1969. Zamora was signed by the Houston Astros and spent several more years in the Astro system.

• In June of 1974 Zamora was purchased by the Chicago Cubs. At the age of 29, he got a chance to be a late-inning reliever and did pretty well. Oscar was 3-9 with a 3.12 ERA and 10 saves in 56 games. In 1975 he was 5-2 with 10 saves in 52 games, but his ERA went up to 5.07. Cubs fans made up a song (sung to Dean Martin's "That's Amore"):

When the pitch is so fat
That the ball meets the bat
That's Zamora

• In 1976 Zamora was mostly used as a middle reliever and spot starter. He went 5-3 with a 5.24 ERA and three saves in 40 games (2 starts). Zamora also spent some time in AAA Wichita. Oscar spent the entire 1977 season with Wichita and was granted free agency after the season.

• Zamora signed with the Astros and was assigned to AAA Charleston . He had two stints with Houston during the 1978 season and pitched in 10 games (0-0, 7.20 ERA). There is no record of him pitching again until 1982, when he pitched in 16 games (6 starts) for the independent Miami club.

• Loved to face: Tim Foli (.071 in 14 at bats); Ken Reitz (.133 in 15 AB)
• Hated to face: Chris Speier (.417 in 12 AB); Pete Rose (.444 in 9 AB)