Topps Rookie AS Project: 1970-73

Somehow I seem to have skipped 65-69, but I'll fix that soon. In the meantime, enjoy the early-70s!

1970 Mike Nagy

 1971 Bernie Carbo (post here)

 1972 Bill Buckner

 1973 Jack Brohamer (post here)

Have a good one everybody and goodnight Pumpsie Green, wherever you are!

What's Up, Bro?: Jack Brohamer TTM

Some ttm love on a Monday.

I'm still working on the Topps Rookie Cups project, and recently heard back from 1973's entrant, Jack Brohamer. What's NOT to love about this card?

Where to begin? In classic 1973-style, you have to think for a second before you can identify the subject of the card as both men are given equal space in the shot. Oddly, Brohamer is recognizable only by the vague lettering of his jersey and the colors of his uni. As cards go, he's more anonymous that the other guy, whom I'm assuming to be Bobby Grich from the 1972 O's roster at Baseball Almanac. Comparatively, Grich is making a great play to nab Brohamer who looks caught out in "Rookie Screwed Up No Man's Land" near 2B, almost like he is an intruding presence on his own baseball card. As portraits go it's a strange and awkwardly painful askance view of a subject.

Not that this kept Brohamer from going on to rock some of the more outrageous chops from the era. In all he had a nine-year career with the Indians, White Sox, and Red Sox. When you look up Brohamer's name you'll find the words "light hitting" over and over (see, for example, Cardboard Gods), and a career slash of .245/.306/.327 (79 OPS+) would seem to back that up. However, it belies the fact that Brohamer owned HOFers Bert Blyleven (.295/.340/.568 w/ 4 HR) and Catfish Hunter (.275/.396/.550 w/ 3HR). Like they say: against some guys you just see the ball WELL.

The above '76 came courtesy of the Night Owl and finished off my set. I sent it to Mr. Brohamer without realizing I left him almost nothing to work will all told, I think it turned out well. Thanks, Mr. Brohamer!

Have a good one everybody and goodnight Pumpsie Green, wherever you are!

Hope: Bernie Carbo TTM

Given the well-publicized substance abuse struggles of a number of ballplayers (from Hamilton to Bush to Jenks) recently, I thought this tom would be appropriate.

Bernie Carbo was a 1st round pick (16th overall) in the 1965 draft. Playing for the Reds, he made the Bigs for good in 1970 and finished second in the ROY voting to Carl Morton.

And like the badass portrait on the card suggests. it was an awesome year. Carbo had a slash line of .310/.454/.551 with an OPS+ of 164. The sophomore slump hit hard, and he was moved to St. Louis in 1972, who then traded him to Boston not too long after. 

He had a solid 12-year career, but what happened?

Despite his All-American appearance here, Carbo would go on to be guy who introduced Keith Hernandez to cocaine (see this article). That makes him, basically, the 1970s cocaine version of what José Canseco was to steroids in the 1990s. How bad was it? Carbo says he was high during the 1975 WS. I'd say that's pretty bad.

That said, Carbo eventually got clean and, apparently, has remained clean for almost 20 years. He even started his own ministry in 1993. Here's hoping some of the guys currently struggling with similar issues manage to get things turned around, if not for their careers then for themselves and their loved ones. 

Have a good one everybody and goodnight Pumpsie Green, wherever you are!

But does he make house calls: TTM from Paul Schaal

What do Wally Pipp and Paul Schaal have in common? Although solid players, they both lost their jobs to future HOFers at their positions. It happens.

Schaal had an 11-year career during which he posted a league-average OPS+ of 99. He eschewed Sharpies and ballpoint pins for this auto and went with what looks to be a large permanent marker. I love the odd angle of the player/stadium on the card, as if Schall were the only stable entity in a world that was sliding to the right. 

Schaal was also kind enough to send in one of the cooler player memories I've received. When asked about his best moment on the diamond, he said that one batter before him, Freddie Patek had homered. The pitcher, an infamous headhunter (do some research, he'd be easy to finger) tried to hit Schaal when he came up and knocked him down. Schaal put the next pitch in the seats for back-to-back HRs!

The best part: after "retiring" Schaal went back to school to become a chiropractor. Cool stuff.

Have a good one everybody and goodnight Pumpsie Green, wherever you are!

Old School Dominance: Gary Peters TTM

One of the cooler things about TTM autos is they make you start investigating the careers of players you otherwise might not have known about. In short it gives you a deeper appreciation of the game and how good some of the non-famous players really were. For me, Gary Peters is one of those guys.

Peters was ROY in 1963 although he was already 26 and had failed to stick in brief stints with the big club from '59-'62. And oddly enough, from '63-'67 he put together one of the more dominant 5-year periods you'll ever see out of a pitcher. Just for context, in 4 of those 5 years he posted an ERA+ of 132 or above. That's pretty $%#% dominant.

While this isn't the RC (that's a 1960 Topps card) it's a sweet card with a dour Peters on the front. I guess you'd be pretty dour, too, if in '63 you finally stuck in the Majors after 7 years in the minors. 

Speaking of, the Rays are now at 0-4 after a loss to the Angels tonight. Ugh. Gotta gettem tomorrow, boys!

Have a good one everybody and good night Pumpsie Green, wherever you are!

Talking Baseball: TTM from Ed "The Poet" Charles

Like the rest of you I've been swimming in an orgy of long-awaited baseball games since Thursday. The older I get it seems the time between the WS and Spring Training gets longer and longer. Anyway, on to the cards!

I picked this card up as a part of my Topps Rookie AS Team effort. Ed "The Poet" Charles had an 8-season career from 1962-9, with a lifetime BA of .263 and a respectable OPS+ of 103. Now, if an 8-year career sounds pretty short, consider that Mr. Charles broke in to the Majors at 29 after 10 years in the Braves organization. That's pretty remarkable.

And the nickname? That was given to him by Joe McGuff of the KC Star after McGuff read some poems Charles had written.

As for the card, I like how the trophy takes the place of the inset photo in the card design. It does look kind of out of place, though, with the other '63s. The picture itself is an odd closeup of a posed action shot, but I really like that Charles is tilted back slightly. The tilt gives a strange dynamism to to the card and naturally leads your eyes to the cavernous stadium in the background. All together, it makes you believe this is a fresh face now in the BIG TIME.

The minor league stats on the back are great. Makes you wonder how some guys get promoted while others fall through the cracks.

So here's to perseverance! Here's to a new season!

Have a good one everybody and good night Pumpsie Green, wherever you are!

Topps All-Star Rookie Project

I'm trying to collect one on-card auto from a member of each Topps Rookie All-Star team from 1960 to the present. I'm excluding years when Topps did not include the trophy on the card. This will be the homepage  for the project, and I will add years in increments of five.

Enjoy!

1960-64

1964-69

1970-74

1975-79

Topps Rookie AS Project: 1960-64

Links from when these cards were originally posted accompany that cards. Cards without a link will have one soon!

1960 Jim Perry (post)

1961 Dick Stigman (post 1; post 2)

1962 Don Schwall

1963 Ed Charles

1964 Gary Peters

Well, there are the first 5 years! Have a good one everybody and good night Pumpsie Green, wherever you are!