1974 Topps Rookie Cup All-Star Team

This is an index to our postings related to Topps 1974 All-Star Rookie Cup team. The subset ran in 1974 honoring the Rookies of 1973.  

1974 is the first year of the series, which began in 1960, where the cards contain no cup icon. 

The Phillies are represented by 1980 WSC catcher Bob Boone, who moved to the position from 3rd base to accommodate some guy named Mike Schmidt. 1983 Phillies NL Pennant Winner Gary Matthews and 2008 WSC coach Davey Lopes are also on the squad. 

18	Gary Thomasson, 1B, San Francisco Giants	Giants	1B
112	Dave Lopes, 2B, Los Angeles Dodgers	Dodgers	2B
341	Dan Driessen, 3B, Cincinnati Reds	Reds	3B
481	Jerry Terrell, SS, Minnesota Twins	Twins	SS
32	Johnny Grubb, OF, San Diego Padres	Padres	OF
353	Rich Coggins, OF, Baltimore Orioles	Orioles	OF
386	Gary Matthews, OF, San Francisco Giants	Giants	OF
131	Bob Boone, C, Philadelphia Phillies	Phillies	C
169	Steve Rogers, RHP, Montreal Expos	Expos	RHP
173	Randy Jones, LHP, San Diego Padres	Padres	LHP

Topps All-Star Rookie Cup Master Index

1974 Topps #80 Tom Seaver (1944-2020)

I learned a lot about Tom Seaver while researching “The Andy Warhol Triple Play”. My focus was Warhol but I learned a lot about his subjects, one of which was Tom Seaver.

The more you learn about Seaver the more interesting he becomes. He was more than a ballplayer, He was a devoted family man, a vintner, and a connoisseur of the arts.

One of his many interests popped up recently when I saw the cartoon on the back of Tom Seaver’s 1974 Topps card. 

1974 Topps #80 Tom Seaver (b-side)

Tom Enjoys Playing Bridge. Mildly interesting… Then last night while re-reading my notes from the Warhol Project I came across an enjoyable blog posting written by Phillip Richter, a schoolmate of Tom and Nancy’s daughter Sarah. An excerpt from the column read:

While walking and talking and tending to the vineyards, Tom made the comment that pitching is like playing bridge. To be a really successful pitcher you have to get inside the mind of the batter. Is he having a good day? Will he wait for a fat pitch or just aggressively strike at anything served to him? What are his goals? How consistent a player is he? Your goal as a pitcher is to control the outcome. Tom said that it was his job to control where the ball was going to go should the batter connect with the ball and make a hit.  I know next to nothing about baseball but Tom’s complex and astute thesis was logical and so well articulated. It made all the sense in the world. I would never have seen parallels between the game of bridge and the art of throwing a baseball at high speed. Tom knows that I’m not a crazed baseball fanatic but I have always had huge admiration and respect for his many incredible accomplishments. Back in the day I was around for a lot of his career highlights–like when he got his 300th win in 1985. 

Tom Seaver just doesn’t play bridge, he plays bridge the way he pitches or pitches the way he plays cards. The article was written in 2016, Seaver would have been 71 years of age – 30 years removed from his final pitch, yet here he is making parallels between two games he loves. 

1974 Topps

1974 Topps #80 Tom Seaver

I have always loved this card, great action shot of an absolute legend - good use of the landscape format in the mainly portrait style 1974T set. 

The card re-drew my attention earlier this summer as part of a Project2020 inspired activity spearheaded by @_gritz_ of Project 62.  Gritz posted a randomish page of 9 noteworthy trading cards. Similar to Project2020 the assignment to the world of amateur artists was to redesign the card – Project2020 for the common folks.

One of the cards posted was the 1974T Seaver. 1974 has the best -toons and I had to flip the card over. That is where I spotted the comic. Once I saw it I knew that was the route I was going:

 Phungo Original: 1974T Tom Seaver

In creating my own Tom Seaver card I kept the 1974T design – in a simplified format. The original comic is more portrait – I have changed it to Landscape format which necessitated moving the copy. I added a touch of color to the lines – keeping the Mets 1974T flavors. My biggest remaining modification was identifying the card being pitched by Seaver as the Ace of Diamonds – which he truly is.   

It was a fun card to do and I think of Tom Seaver as a happy individual who was able to pass that joy on to those around him, I hope this Phungo Original captures that vibe.

In Memoriam

Links to other folks that have Tom Seaver Memorial Postings:

1960s Baseball (1968T)

Cards that Never Were (1968T Seaver LHP w/ Bob Gibson LHP)

Starting Nine (41 Scans for #41)

Sources and Links

Andy Warhol: Tom Seaver

Phungo Tom Seaver HOF Index

Turtle Garage

@_Gritz_

Project 62

 

 

1974 Topps #47 Dick Ruthven

Dick Ruthven was drafted three times: 1969 (20th round Orioles) 1972 (Twins 1st rd / 8th pick) and finally by the Phillies (1973 Winter #1 overall)

1974 Topps #47 Dick Ruthven

As a highly touted prospect Dick Ruthven made his pro debut at the Major League level. This means no multiplayer RC - Ruthven's first card is the above 1974T and it's a solo. 

It was not a straight line for Ruthven and the Phillies to the World Series. There were a series of trades involving Ruthven which are worthy of their own discussion but the important result was that Ruthven ended up in the rotation for the 1980 Phillies. 

1980 Phillies 
Yes Dick Ruthven was an important member of the 1980 Phillies pitching staff - he was 2nd on the staff (behind Steve Carlton of course) in Wins, Starts, Complete Games, and Innings, however..... I will always remember him for a relief appearance.

Game 5 of the 1980 NLCS

The deciding game of the series saw Phillies closer Tug McGraw blow a save. Dallas Green had already gone through four other pitchers. The staff was shot when Dick Ruthven was called into the 9th inning of the Winner Take All game.  And what does Ruthven do in his only relief appearance of 1980?

Six up Six Down, Phillies Win 8-7.

Ruthven did that on 18 pitches - 2 innings on 18 pitches, including a six pitch inning.

Phungo Original

Phungo Original :1974T Dick Ruthven

I chose this card for our 1980 WSC Phillies sketch for two reasons. 1) it is significant to Dick Ruthven as it is his RC 2) We are clearly focuses on his NLCS Game 5 relief appearance and this shot clearly shows the bullpen in the background. 

 

To further illustrate Ruthven's 1980 NLCS contributions we have made a few minor modifications. The first is adding "RELIEF" to Ruthven's "PITCHER" position. The other change is a fun one, we have added a Bullpen Cart to the image.  The cart is also a nod to a different 1974T card - of a very prominent Phillies Player, Mike Schmidt. 

Dick Ruthven Index

1975 Topps (2008 Game 5 prep)

1975 Topps Mini (2010 Philly Show Swag: mini w/ 1959T Robin Roberts)

Sources and links
1980 Phillies
baseball-ref

Phungo Originals

1974 Topps #5 Hank Aaron

Today we are noting Hank Aaron's 82nd Birthday by delving into our 1967 Topps/2016 Heritage series. 

This year is not the first time that Topps has elected to look back at the 1967 design. I believe the 1974 Hank Aaron Special Subset was Topps original Selfie.

1974 Topps #5 Hank Aaron Special (1966-1969)

This is actually the fourth Topps Selfie. The first was Card #2 of the 1974 set which featured the Hank Aaron 1954 Rookie card as well as cards from 1955-57, Card #3 contained the next four cards 1958-1961 while Card #4 covered 1962-1965.

I do like the idea of re-running Aaron's cards at this juncture of his career. Although it is a disappointment to clearly see Topps reuse of the same image for both the 1968 and 1969 cards. This is an total failure when creating a card for a star of Hank Aaron's stature.

Flip

1974 Topps #5 Hank Aaron Special (b-side Timeline 1964-1973)

Each of the four cards that make up the Hank Aaron Special Subset has a special back. Cards #4 is the second half of a timeline of Hank Aaron's milestones that started on Card #4

The events on #5 run from 1964-1973. Nice summary of the 2nd half of Aaron's career here, 1971 is an interesting milestone here. Hammerin' Hank was the 3rd player to reach the 600 Homer plateau, now that club has eight players including Sammy Sosa and an active Alex Rodriguez with Albert Pujols knocking on the door.

I wasn't on the ball or I would have posted this card as part of our 2015 Heritage/1966 Topps retrospective. I am lazy so we will link to it.

Sources and Links
1967 Topps/2016 Heritage Index
1966 Topps/2016 Heritage Index
Hank Aaron HoF Index
Baseball-ref

Philly Show 2014 12 06: 1974 Topps #283 Mike Schmidt

This is a card I picked up at the Philly Show on December 6th. It went for $4.

1974 Topps #283 Mike Schmidt

I have balked at picking up this card a few times, because I am fairly sure it was part of my childhood collection. On Saturday I finally broke down and brought the card back into the fold.

The card is noteworthy and should be in the hands of any good Phillies collector. It is the first solo Topps card of the Hall of Famer. The previous Mike Schmidt Card is a shared Rookie card which we featured a few months ago.

In addition to all this Hall of Fame goodness, the card has one other fun detail in the photo

A BULLPEN CAR

One of the great relics of 70s baseball. PHUNGO CHALLENGE - find other cards with Bullpen cars. This may be the only HoF card that features a Bullpen Car.

There is a bit of a mystery in this card though. At first I assumed by the colors that it was a Phillies Bullpen car. But Schmidt is wearing the Phillies powder blue road unis of the era, which leads us to this being an away game. Perhaps the Phils were at the Reds or Cardinals.

It also looks like a spring training or minor league facility. Did either the Reds or Cards host spring training in Florida during the 70s?
 
And finally, did they have Bullpen cars in the minors, or at spring training? seems odd.

sources & Links
Mike Schmidt HoF Index 
2014 12 06 Valley Forge Card Show Swag Index

Tom Seaver Celebrates 70th Birthday

Tomorrow one of the greatest pitchers of my youth, Tom Seaver, turns 70.

1974 Topps #80 Tom Seaver

I am  not sure when and where I became a Tom Seaver fan. When I was younger, I grew up outside the Philadelphia area, so I wasn't real clued into the Mets being a Phillies rival. This allowed me to root for Tom Terrific without thinking about he uniform he wore.

I think I started to follow Seaver after reading one of those Scholastic Books that was offered through our school. Each book covered four players and had a quad photo on the cover. I can remember reading about Seaver playing a high school tournament in a Alaska where they played all night because the sun never set at the height of the summer. I also remember the chapter mentioning Seaver coming an out short of a no-hitter.

Hall of Fame and Pitcher MVPs
Last week we saw Clayton Kershaw win both the MVP and Cy Young awards. Any time a pitcher has an exceptional season it is debated whether or not they can win the MVP award.

There is a perceived school of thought that believes that the MVP award should be dedicated to position players.

This appears more myth than reality - at least in the 2014 vote it was. Kershaw was listed on all 30 ballots and 27 of the 30 listed him as either first or 2nd. To mean that does not indicate a bias against pitchers. Kershaw did have to dip to 4th place to garner his 30 ballots, while Giancarlo Stanton was top 3 on all 30 ballots. That is a tiny margin of two fourth place votes.

This brings me back to Tom Seaver. He is the current record holder for HoF vote percentage - he received 425 of 430 votes - that is 98.8%. Pretty close to perfect, yet he was a pitcher, and 2nd is Nolan Ryan 491/497 (Also 98.8%) The first batter shows up at #3 Cal Ripken 537/545 or 98.5%.

My question is, if pitchers command the #1 and #2 spots on the Hall of Fame vote percentage list, why is there a stigma toward giving them MVP votes.

1974 Topps
Action shots were sill pretty new to Topps in 1974. Yes 1972T did have the "In Action" subset, but while some were ok, many were questionable to refer to as "In Action". 1974T has a couple of simlar looking Mets pitcher cards - the Jon Matlack base card is a landscape action shot as is a NLCS card featuring pitcher Jerrr Koosman. Most of 1974T is portrait style which helps these pitcher cards seem unique. 

Tom Seaver HoF Index
1970 Topps Scratch Off 

1974 Topps #80 (memorial)
1977 Andy Warhol Portrait
1984 Topps #706  Active Career Victory Leaders - With HOFs Steve Carlton and Fergie Jenkins

Sources & Links 
Phungo Hall of Fame Index
baseball-ref
BBWAA
Newsday - Anthony Rieber
Baseball Almanac

Hall of Fame Thursday - Hank Aaron

1974 Topps #1 Hank Aaron

Today is Hammerin Hank's 75th birthday. I am not sure but I think 75 is the Diamond Anniversary, which is appropriate, because it is upon the Baseball Diamond where Hank Aaron made his name.

Hank Aaron: 755 Career Homers, 2297 RBI ,1477 XBH all still tops among Right Handed batters. He also scored 2174 Runs (4th overall, 2nd RH). Aaron played in 24 All-Star games during a 23 year career, try and top that! For a couple of years in the late 50s and early 60s they played two all-star games, which made this All-Star feat possible.

Aaron was also a member of the 1957 World Champion Milwaukee Braves who bested the Yankees in seven games. He homered 3 times in that series, but the big star was Lew Burdette who won three World Series games - including shutouts in games 5 and 7.

This is kind of cool - archive.org has audio of three different Home Run calls for Hank Aarons 715th Home Run.

1974 Topps
This is a card from the Phungo 1.0 collection which means it's from when I was a kid. Somehow it made it all the way through to 2009. My first pack of cards was 1974 Topps. I don't remember much about it, other than I picked it up at a 7-11. I doubt the Aaron card was in that pack.

and I will leave you with this tidbit from baseball-reference:

6,858 people saw Hank Aaron's final game.

Hank Aaron HoF Index
1959 Topps #467 Baseball Thrills (1957 WS Home Run)

1964 Topps #11 NL LL RBI Aaron, Ken Boyer, Bill White

1967 Topps #242 LL RBI Aaron Clemente Dick Allen (2016 Heritage Preview)

1973 Topps #1 LL All Time HR Ruth Aaron Mays

1974 Topps #5 (Retro of 1966-1969 Topps)

1975 Topps #1 (40th anniversary of record HR) 

1976 Topps #660 (1st Brewers card) 

1976 Topps #1 Hank Aaron (Record Breaker Career RBI)

Aaron Statue Miller Stadium Visit

Sources and Links

Topps #1 Club

Baseball-reference