1979 topps

A few weeks ago, my brother bought a pack of 1979 Topps. Well, let's see what we have here, shall we.

#378 Rob Picciolo

Picciolo played 148 games for the 1977 Oakland As, all at shortstop. He made 21 errors and had and OPS+ of 31. He played 8 more years and finished with a .234 career batting average. Not a good start.

#129 Marty Pattin

Decent pitcher, the one thing I remember most about him is that Jim Bouton wrote in "Ball Four" that Pattin has a great Donald Duck impression.

#247 Tucker Ashford

Nothing like a career .218 hitter to get the juices flowing. The back of Ashford's card mentions that he set career highs in many offensive categories at Amarillo in 1976. Wee Doggies!



#303 Lary Sorenson

Lary Sorenson doesn't need two R's in Lary, No Sir. Perhaps I should spell my name with one M. How does Jimy look. Actually, Jimy Williams, the former Red Sox manager, already does that, so never mind. Anways, Sorenson was a control pitcher who didn't strike out much people, so he had to rely on his defense to make plays. Normally, those types of pitchers rarely have a string of All-Star seasons, and Sorenson is no exception. He was good in 1978, however (18-12, 3.20 ERA, 281 IP)

#511 Paul Reuschel

Paul Reuschel does not look like a major league player. Neither did his brother Rick. However, at least Rick was a successful pitcher whereas Paul, well, wasn't (4.51 career ERA)



#167 Roger Metzger

Metzger once won a Gold Glove, in 1973. He also cut the tips off of four fingers in a chainsaw accident in the 1979 offseason, basically ending his career. So, Metzger's interesting, if anything else.

#683 Dan Meyer

Dan Meyer somehow managed to reach base on catcher's interference twice in one game, on May 3, 1977. He had a couple of years with 20+ homers, but other than that he was an ordinary player.

#645 George Scott

"Boomer" is listed at 210 lbs. on the back of this card, which is very generous of Topps. He was a hell of a player, multiple-time Gold Glove winner at first base, led the AL in homers with 36 in 1975. Scott's probably the best player in this pack, which is truly damning with faint praise.



#327 Art Howe

Howe was a better manager than a player. In retrospect, the Mets probably shouldn't have spent all that money for Howe to manage the team to a 137-186 record, but it wasn't all Howe's fault.



#405 Butch Wynegar

Wynegar was an All-Star in 1976 and 1977. He turned 22 in 1978, but he would never play in an All-Star Game again. I guess Wynegar decided he wanted to be a league-average catcher or something.



#686 Ron Schueler

I don't remember Schueler as a player. Of course, I wasn't born yet when he played. I do remember him as the General Manager of the White Sox, where he had an interesting term. The highlight must have been trading Wilson Alveraz, Roberto Hernandez, and Danny Darwin to the Giants for six prospects not ready to play in the big leagues yet despite the Sox being like five games behind Cleveland in the A.L. Central. Sure, one of those six was Keith Foulke, but if ever a trade disheartened a team, that was it. Oh yeah, Schueler traded Sammy Sosa for George Bell

#196 Steve Kemp

Speaking of disheartining, Kemp had a few big years in Detroit and Chicago, signed a huge free-agent deal with the New York Yankees. Kemp couldn't handle the pressure, and, to make matters worse, Kemp got hit by a pitch and developed vision problems. Needless to say, he never fulfilled the Yankees' expectations, and is seen as one of the worse free-agent signings ever.

Overview

Well, that was weird, the best cards are probably George Scott and Art Howe. That doesn't really make for a good pack price wise, but it's still kind of cool looking through these older cards.

Posted by Jimmy at 12:55 AM

Labels: 1979 topps, baseball, george scott, old cards, pack, vintage