1976 Topps #138 - Lerrin LaGrow

• Lerrin LaGrow pitched for several teams from 1970-1980. He was born in Phoenix, AZ and attended Arizona State Univeristy. I never noticed this before, but he lived in Glendale, AZ in the offseason. I grew up in Glendale---I wonder what part of Glendale he lived in. At the time Glendale had only about 40,000 people. Now it has a population of about 300,000.

• LaGrow started in the Detroit Tigers system in 1969. He put up some good stats in 1970 (11-4, 2.10 ERA) for AA Montgomery and was brought up to Detroit in mid-July. He pitched 10 games for the Tigers and was 0-1 with a 7.30 ERA. Lerrin spent the 1971 season at AAA Toledo but didn't have a good year (2-6, 6.00 ERA). LaGrow did much better for the Mud Hens in 1972 (8-6, 2.43) and was brought back to the Tigers in early August. He was used as a reliever by the Tigers and was 0-1 with two saves in 16 games.

• Lerrin was involved in a famous incident during game 2 of the 1972 American League Championship Series. Bert Campaneris of the Oakland A's came up to bat in the 7th inning. Campaneris already had three hits and two runs scored. The first pitch from LaGrow hit Bert in the ankle. Campaneris flung his bat at LaGrow. The bat was about 5 feet off of the ground. Lerrin ducked and the bat landed behind him. A benches-clearing brawl ensued and Tiger manager Billy Martin had to be restrained from going after Campaneris. Both Campaneris and LaGrow were suspended for the remainder of the LCS. LaGrow was 6'5" and weighed 220 lb. It would have been interesting to see a mano y mano fight between him and the smaller Campaneris.

• LaGrow started the 1973 season with the Tigers but was sent back to Toledo in mid-June. He came back to Detroit in September. Altogether, Lerrin was 1-5 with a 4.33 ERA for the Tigers in 1973.

• Lerrin was used by the Tigers as a starter in 1974 and 1975. The Tigers were pretty bad during that time, and the W-L records reflected that. He was 8-19 in 1974 and 7-14 in 1975. The Tigers sold LaGrow to the St. Louis Cardinals just before the 1976 season.

• The Cardinals assigned Lerrin to AA Tulsa and brought him back as a September call-up. LaGrow was 0-1 with a 1.48 ERA for the Cards in '76. St. Louis traded Lerrin to the Chicago White Sox for Clay Carroll during spring training of 1977.

• LaGrow spent two seasons as a closer for the White Sox. In 1977 he was 7-3 with a 2.46 ERA and 25 saves in 66 games. Lerrin was 6-5 with a 4.40 ERA and 16 saves in 1978. He pitched in 11 games (0-3, 9.17) for the White Sox in 1979 before he was sold to the LA Dodgers on May 11. Lerrin pitched pretty well for the injury-racked Dodgers in 1979 (5-1, 3.41, 4 saves).

• Lerrin became a free agent after the 1979 season and signed with the Philadelphia Phillies. He pitched in 25 games and was 0-2 with 3 saves and an ERA of 4.15. LaGrow was released on July 17 and that was it. I wonder what kind of World Series share he got.

• Since 1976 Lerrin LaGrow has had a business (The Ler'rin Company) in the Phoenix area that is involved in facilitating the transfer of ownership of businesses.
  

1976 Topps #137 - Bill Robinson

• Bill Robinson played for four teams from 1966-1982. He started in 1961 at Class D Wellsville in the Milwaukee Braves organization. Bill remained in the minors through the 1966 season. The Braves brought him up for six games at the end of the 1966 season. After the season Robinson was traded to the New York Yankees as part of a deal that sent Clete Boyer to the Braves.

• Robinson came to the Yankees as a highly-touted (even hyped) prospect, but he didn't really pan out in New York. In 1967 he batted .196 with 7 homers in 116 games. Bill's best season with the Yankees was 1968 when he batted .240 with 6 homers in 107 games. Robinson had another tough year in 1969 (.171 in 89 games).

• Bill spent the 1970 season in the minors, then was traded to the Chicago White Sox. Robinson never played for the White Sox. Bill was assigned to the Sox' AAA club in 1971 and was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies after the season. Robinson started the 1972 season in AAA Eugene and was brought up to the Phillies in late June. Bill batted .239 in 82 games for the Phillies in 1972.

• The 1973 season was a good one for Robinson. He was the Phillies' starting right fielder and batted .288 with 25 homers in 124 games. He didn't do as well in 1974 (.236 with 5 home runs in 100 games) and was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates after the season.

• Bill spent the next 7 1/2 seasons with the Pirates and became part of the "Lumber Company." He batted .280 in 92 games in 1975, then had a nice season in 1976 (.303 with 21 homers in 122 games. Robinson followed up that season with a .304 average with 26 homers and 104 RBI in 1977. He was 11th in NL MVP balloting in '77.

• Robinson slipped to .246 with 14 homers in 1978, then batted .264 with 24 homers for the 1979 World Champion Pirates. Bill was more of a bench player in 1980 (100 games but 272 at bats) but still batted .287. He didn't play much in 1981 (.216 in 88 at bats). Bill played in 31 games for the Pirates in 1982 and then was traded back to the Phillies for Wayne Nordhagen on June 15. Bill batted .261 in 35 games for the Phillies. After appearing in 10 games in 1983, Robinson was released by the Phillies.

• He was the hitting coach for the New York Mets from 1984-1989. Bill was an analyst for ESPN's Baseball tonight in 1990 and 1991. He was later a batting coach in the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies systems and then was a coach for the Florida Marlins for four years, including the World Champion 2003 team.

• Bill was found dead in a hotel room in Las Vegas on July 29, 2007. He was in his second year as the LA Dodgers' minor league hitting coordinator and was visiting the AAA club at the time. The cause of death still isn't known, but Robinson was suffering from diabetes.
  
  

1976 Topps #136 - Dave Goltz

• Dave Goltz pitched for the Minnesota Twins, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the California Angels from 1972-1983. The thing I remember the most about him was him signing with the Dodgers as a big money free agent and not panning out.

• Goltz pitched for various A league teams in the Twins organization from 1967-1971. He didn't pitch at all in the 1969 season (perhaps he was in the military). Dave pitched for AAA Tacoma in 1972 and was 8-8 with a 3.89 ERA.

• Dave was promoted to the Twins on July 18, 1972 and pitched well for them. He was 3-3 with a 2.67 ERA in 15 games (11 starts) and got one of those "3-inning saves" in the last game of the season in a 14-2 laugher against the Chicago White Sox.

• Goltz didn't do as well in 1973. He was 6-4 with a 5.25 ERA in 32 games (10 starts). Dave started the 1974 season in the minors but came back in mid-May and had a 10-10 record with a 3.25 ERA. He was now used almost exclusively as a starter and it would continue to be that way until Dave went to Los Angeles.

• Dave went 14-14 with a 3.67 ERA in 1975 and was 14-14 with a 3.36 ERA in 1976. Goltz had his best year in 1977 when he was 20-11 with an ERA of 3.36. He led the American League in wins (tied with Jim Palmer and Dennis Leonard), starts (39), and innings pitched. Dave was sixth in Cy Young Award voting that year.

• Goltz followed up his 1977 season with a 15-10, 2.49 season in 1978. He went 14-13 with a 4.16 ERA in 1979 and then signed with the Dodgers ($3 million for six years) after the season.

• Dave was a disappointment in Los Angeles in 1980. He was 7-11 with a 4.31 ERA in 35 games (27 starts). Goltz made only eight starts in 1981 and was 2-7 with a 4.09 ERA. After pitching only 3.2 innings, Dave was released by the Dodgers in late April of 1982. The California Angels picked him up in late May and Goltz had an 8-5 record for the Angels. Dave had a torn rotator cuff and struggled in 1983 (0-6, 6.22 in 15 games) and he was released on July 6, 1983.

• Dave lives in Minnesota and does card shows, speaking appearances, and even umpires some high school games. One of our fellow bloggers (Garvey Cey Russel Lopes) narrowly missed him at a Twins autograph party in June. Dave's SABR biography will be posted later in 2009.

1976 Topps #135 - Bake McBride

• Arnold Ray "Bake" McBride (where did that nickname come from?) was an outfielder from 1973-1983. He was in the minor leagues in the St. Louis Cardinals organization from 1971-1973 and never batted below .289. Bake was given a look-see in 1973 and batted .302 in 63 at bats.

• McBride became the regular center fielder for the Cardinals in 1974 and won the NL Rookie of the Year award. He batted .309 and stole 30 bases in 150 games. Bake played fewer games in 1975 but still produced (116 games, 26 stolen bases, .300 batting average).

• In 1976 McBride was selected to the NL All Star team. He batted .335 but must have had a season-ending injury. He didn't play after August 3. Bake was able to come back in 1977 but his batting average was down. He was batting .262 when he was traded on June 15 by the Cardinals with Steve Waterbury to the Philadelphia Phillies for Rick Bosetti, Dane Iorg and Tom Underwood. He hit much better with the Phillies (.339 in 85 games) and ended up with a .316 average with 15 home runs for the season.

• McBride became the starting right fielder for the Phillies in 1978. He had his lowest batting average of his career (.269) but stole 28 bases in 31 attempts . Bake bounced back in 1979 and batted .280 with 12 triples and 12 homers.

• In 1980 McBride was 10th in MVP voting as he batted .309 in 137 games for the Phillies. He only played in 58 games in 1981 and batted .271. After the season Bake was traded to the Cleveland Indians for Sid Monge.

• McBride was off to a great start with the Indians in 1982. He was batting .365 in 27 games but didn't play after May 21. He had virulent conjunctivitis because of the contact lens cleaning solution he was using.

• Bake's last season was 1983. He batted .291 in 230 at bats for the Indians. He became a free agent after the season. McBride tried to come back in 1984 as a DH with the Rangers' Olkahoma City AAA club but hung 'em up after batting .296 in 32 games. His troublesome knees may have contributed to his early retirement. Bake retired with a lifetime batting average of .299.
• I couldn't find anything about what Bake McBride has been up to since his playing career. A 2008 "Where Are They Now" page about the 1980 Phillies on Philly.com lists just about everyone else on the team, but next to Bake's name it just shows his age. Another "where are they now" entry asks a question about Bake. Someone replied that he prefers privacy.
  

1976 Topps #134 - Mike Ivie

• Mike Ivie was signed to be a catcher, but he didn't like the position (he had developed a phobia about throwing the ball back to the pitcher) and switched to first base. He played for several teams from 1971-1983.

• Ivie was drafted by the San Diego Padres as the first overall selection in the 1970 draft. He was 17 years old when he played for Class A Tri-City. Mike batted .258 in 56 games and was assigned to Class A Lodi in 1971. He batted .305 with 15 HR and was given a September look by the Padres. Mike caught in 6 games and went 8 for 17 (.471 average). He spent the next three seasons in the minors (.291 with 24 homers in 1972, .270 in 1973 for AAA Hawaii, and .292 with 18 homers for AA Alexandria in 1974). He came back to the Padres in September 1974 and batted .088 in limited duty.

• In 1975 Mike played 1B and occasionally played some 3B and catcher. He batted .249 with 8 homers in 111 games. Ivie had his first good year in 1976, batting .291 with 7 homers in 405 at bats. Mike didn't quite do as well in 1977 (.272, 9 HR in 489 at bats). He was traded to the San Francisco Giants after the season for Darrell Thomas.

• Ivie played 76 games at 1B and 22 games in LF in 1978. He was to eventually replace the aging Willie McCovey at first base. Mike is remembered for hitting a big grand slam at Candlestick Park against the rival LA Dodgers that helped the Giants win the game. It was a tight race that the Dodgers eventually won, and Ivie contributed to the Giants' cause by hitting .308 with 11 homers.

• Before the 1979 season Ivie was the subject of a rumor that he would be involved in a trade with the Minnesota Twins for Rod Carew. The talks fell through and Carew ended up with the California Angels (alas--what might have been!).

• McCovey was really slowing down by 1979 and Ivie was starting more and more at first base. Mike had his best season, batting .286 with 27 home runs. Ivie was set to have a big year with the Giants in 1980, but before the season he accidentally sliced off part of his pinky finger with a hunting knife. He actually walked away from the team for a brief time during the season, but was convinced to come back after a phone call from McCovey (who had retired that year). Mike played only once between May 28 and July 17. Ivie batted .241 with only four home runs in 1980.

• In 1981 Ivie came to spring training in good shape and with a good attitude, but he lost his starting job to free agent acquisition Enos Cabell. Ivie was traded to the Houston Astros in late April for Jeffrey Leonard and Dave Bergman. It was pretty much a lost season for Mike -- he only batted a total of 63 times and hit .254 with no home runs.

• Ivie only played in 7 games with the Astros in 1982 before the Astros honored his request to be released on April 30. He called Detroit Tiger manager Sparky Anderson, and the Tigers signed him to be a first baseman and designated hitter. Mike only batted .232 for the Tigers in 1982, but he hit 14 home runs in 259 at bats.

• In 1983 Mike played in only 12 games (.214 in 42 at bats) and was released on May 16. He retired at the age of 30.

Rick Monday once said, "Mike Ivie is a forty-million-dollar airport with a thirty-dollar control tower."

1976 Topps #133 - Gary Matthews

Gary Matthews was an outfielder for five teams from 1972-1987. He was the San Francisco Giants' first round draft pick in 1968. Gary spent two years in AA ('69 and '70), one year in AA ('71) and a year in AAA. His .313 batting average and 21 home runs in Phoenix in 1972 showed that he was ready for the big leagues. Gary had a September look-see and batted .290 in 62 at bats.

• Matthews was the NL Rookie of the Year in 1973. He batted .300 with 12 homers and 17 stolen bases in 148 games for the Giants. Gary batted .287 but with a bit more power (16 homers) in 151 games in 1974. Matthews settled into a pattern of batting around .280 with about 15-20 homers for the next several years.

• Gary was granted free agency after the 1976 season and signed with the Atlanta Braves. He had two more of his typical .280, 20 HR years in 1977 and 1978. Matthews had one of his best seasons in 1979. Gary batted .304 with 27 HR and 90 RBI and made the NL All Star Team. Matthews followed that up with one of his typical years (.278, 19 HR, 75 RBI) in 1980, then was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for Bob Walk.

• Matthews spent three years in Philadelphia. He batted .301 in the strike-shortened 1981 season, then hit .281 with 19 homers in 1982. It looked like he was tailing off in 1983 when he had his lowest batting average to that point (.258) and hit only 10 homers.

• Before the 1984 season Gary was traded by the Phillies with Porfi Altamirano and Bob Dernier to the Chicago Cubs for Bill Campbell and Mike Diaz. That ended up being quite a trade for the Cubs. Matthews batted .291 with 14 homers, 82 RBI, 101 runs, and a league-leading 104 walks for the NL East champions. Gary finished 5th in MVP voting that year.

• That was Gary's last really good season. He started to slow down, batting .235 in 1985 and .259 in 1986. After starting the 1987 season batting .262 in 42 at bats, Gary was traded to the Seattle Mariners. Matthews batted .235 for the Mariners and retired after the season.

• After his career Gary was in private industry until 1995. He then did some coaching and broadcasting for various teams. Matthews is now the color commentator on Philadelpha Phillies broadcasts.

• His son, Gary Matthews Jr., is an outfielder for the California Angels.
  

Happy 4th of July

On July 4, 1976 the United States celebrated its bicentennial. Here are a few pictures from that time:

Happy 4th of July everyone!