1976 Topps #251 Rick Monday

It happened on April 25 1976.

During the Bicentennial 44 years ago Rick Monday became a Patriotic Hero by saving an American Flag from being set afire at Dodger stadium. 

1976 Topps #251 Rick Monday

This is the card that Topps issued of Monday in 1976. Couple of things I like about this card - first off collectors recall the simple design of 1976T which features a team related color with a complimentary color on the name plate. The photo appears to be taken at Spring Training - notice that Monday is wearing a Home Uni yet there is a palm tree in the background beyond his left elbow.

I am always a fan of identifying bat knobs on cards. Here we can sort of see Monday's #7 which he wore most of his career.

The Position Icon

The final item I want to point out is the position icon. It is a point of interest in that becomes the focus on a 1976T design. Each position has a different icon including unique artwork for Left and Right handed pitchers.  For outfielders like Monday the player is show flagging down a fly ball.

Baseball iconography is actually pretty rare in Topps designs. This is really sad and it is getting rarer as Topps moves to using generic formats that can be used for multiple sports, films and other media.

The Photo

Rick Monday Rescues American Flag (Vice/James Roark)

Photographer James Roark caught the above iconic image of Rick Monday saving the flag.  The picture was nominated for the 1976 Photographic Pulitzer which ended up awarded to a different photo taken in April of 1976 that also involved a flag.

Phungo Originals  

For me the Outfielder icon used on 1976 Topps echoed the James Roark photo - it easy to see the fielder running with a Flag rather than Flagging down a baseball. 

This similarity inspired me to create a Phungo Original...

1976T 0425 Rick Monday

For the most part I tried to keep the everything about the card the same as the Topps. I enhanced the Cubs logo a tad and kept the palm tree because I liked how it balanced the image. The 7 on the bat knob is enlarged as well.

The most significant change is adding the American Flag and making it prominent in the frame.

I have always liked when a trading card can tell a story and I am happy that 1) this idea came to me and 2) I was able to execute it to my satisfaction. 

Sources and Links
Rick Monday Index

Vice.com (David Davis / James Roark)
NPR

Gary Carter HOF Index

This is an index to our postings related to Hall of Fame Catcher Gary Carter.

1976 Topps #441 Gary Carter

1976 Topps #441 (SABR BB Cards)

1976 Topps All-Star Rookie Cup Index (1975 Award 1976 Card)

This is an Index to our postings related to the 1975 Topps Rookie All-Star Team. The award is for the 1976 season with the cards issued in the 1976 set. 

1976 Topps #406 Tom Underwood 

#	Pos	Player	Team
441	C	Gary Carter	Montreal Expos
	1B	Mike Ivie	San Diego Padres
	2B	Jerry Remy	California Angels
	3B	Larry Parrish	Montreal Expos
	SS	Tom Veryzer	Detroit Tigers
	OF	Dan Ford	Minnesota Twins
		Fred Lynn	Boston Red Sox
		Jim Rice	Boston Red Sox
	RHP	John Montefusco	San Francisco Giants
407	LHP	Tom Underwood	Philadelphia Phillies

Sources and Links

Topps All-Star Rookie Master Index

B-R Bullpen

Fathers Day - 1976 Topps #67 Father & Son Ray and Bob Boone

 For Father's Day the Philies have a number of things going on including a book signing with Bret Boone promoting his new book "Home Game". Bret is of course the son of former Phillies catcher Bob Boone.

Bob is also the son of a Major Leaguer, their relationship is recognized on a 1976 Topps card - which is a perfect one for us to feature as part of our 1976 All-Star Game coverage. 

1976 Topps #67 Father & Son Ray and Bob Boone

Bob Boone is the middle member of three generations of Boone's. His Father Ray played for 13 seasons mostly with the Tigers and Indians while Sons Aaron and Brett spent 12 and 14 years in the league respectively.

Pretty impressive careers for each but Bob is by far the MLB tenure leader, he spent 19 seasons in the league including a decade with the Phillies

All-Star
Bob Boone made the first of four All-Star teams in 1976. He entered the game in the fourth inning as a defensive replacement for Hall of Famer Johnny Bench. Boone remained in for the balance of the game. He went 0-2 facing Luis Tiant and Frank Tanana. Among the four NL pitchers he caught that day was another future HoF, Tom Seaver.

In 1979 Boone got to start the All-Star game and got to catch teammate Steve Carlton. However that Battery is a bit of an oddity, For the bulk of Lefty's games in that era his receiver was Tim McCarver.

Boone appeared in two other All-Star Games 1978 and 1983 (as an Angel).

1976 Topps Father & Son

1976 Topps #67 Father & Son Ray and Bob Boone

Interesting part of the text here is Bob mentioning that he started his career at third base. In 1972 Boone moved from Third Base to Catcher to make room for Mike Schmidt.

The Father-Son subset is five cards running from #66-#70 the other four pairs are Gus & Buddy Bell, Jim & Mike Hegan, Joe Coleman Sr & Jr, and Roy Smalley Sr & Jr. 

1980 Topps 
Despite appearing in four All-Star Games Boone was never issued a Topps card with an All-Star flair. As noted above he started the 1979 game, however Topps tagged the All-Star ballot winner Ted Simmons with the designation - Simmons had to skip the game due to injury.

Don Sutton Win #300
A just a quick toss back to our posting earlier in the week if you want to read about Don Sutton's 300th victory, a game that was caught by Bob Boone.

Sources and Links
1976 ASG Index
Baseball-ref
Amazon

1976 ASG +40: Joe Morgan 1976 Topps #420

This weekend the Phillies open a nine game homestand with a three game set against the Reds. Forty years ago when the All-Star game was held in Philadelphia the Reds sent an entourage of seven players plus manager Sparky Anderson.

1976 Topps #420 Joe Morgan AS

Among the seven was the teams entire infield including future Hall of Famer Joe Morgan. At the time of the 76 All-Star game Morgan may have been at the height of his 22 year career. He was in the middle of his 2nd consecutive MVP season. The Reds won the World Series during both of Morgan's MVP campaigns. The only folks that separated Joe Morgan from winning both of those MVP awards unanimously were his Reds teammates (Pete Rose 2 Votes in 1976 & George Foster 5, 1976).

And from an advanced stats perspective, the Voters were correct, Joe Morgan was a monster. 1976 was the 5th of  six consecutive seasons in which the second baseman would lead the league in Offensive WAR. Four of those years he would lead all Position Players in WAR, during both MVP years he led all players in WAR.

1976 All-Star Game
Morgan started the game along with the rest of the Reds Infield, He went 1 for 3 including a single off of HoF Pitcher Cafish Hunter in the 3rd. Later in the inning he would score on a Home Run by teammate George Foster.

The 1976 All-Star Game was the 7th of 10 trips to the Mid-Summer Classic including 1972 when he was the Games MVP. Morgan started and played all nine innings of that game, He only picked up one hit, but it was an important one. With one out and Nate Colbert at second base Morgan punched a single off of Dave McNally to drive in the game winning run.

1976 Topps #420 Joe Morgan AS (b-side)

Just posting the b-side so you can see Morgan's 1975 MVP Stat line.

For more on this card and a lot of info on his playing career plus a couple of videos check out Project Baseball 1976.


Sources and Links
1976 ASG 40th Anniversary Index
Joe Morgan HoF Index
Project Baseball 1976
Baseball-Ref

Joe Morgan HoF Index

This is an Index of Cards and Postings related to Joe Morgan

1976 Topps #420 Joe Morgan AS

Joe Morgan HoF Index
1976 Topps #420 (1976 ASG 40th Anniversary)
1984 Topps #705 (NL Active SB Leaders / 1983 NL Champ Series)

1976 ASG +40: Luis Tiant 1976 Topps #130

The Yankees are at Fenway for a weekend Series which means that they are once again on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball....even if Curt Schilling won't be part of the festivities.

We tie into the evening by featuring Red Sox alum Luis Tiant as part of our 1976 All-Star Game 40th Anniversary coverage.

1976 Topps #130 Luis Tiant 

1976 was the 3rd and final All-Star game for Luis Tiant. He entered the game in the fifth inning and immediately gave up a Triple to Pete Rose. However El Tiante was able to get out of the inning unscathed. Steve Garvey hit a sharp grounder to third which may have gotten down the line had George Brett not been holding Rose on the bag. Rose's Reds Teammates Joe Morgan and George Foster than followed with a Pop Out and Ground Out. Tiant set down the NL in order in the sixth separating pop out of Phillies Greg Luzinski and Bob Boone with a strikeout of Astros Outfielder Cesar Cedeno.

Luis Tiant's other All-Star games were in 1968 and 1974 he took the loss in both games.

 1976 All-Star Game Luis Tiant vs Cesar Cedeno

We scanned the video of the 1976 ASG to check out Tiant's distinct delivery. Above he is facing Cesar Cedeno, even in this blurry image you can tell that Tiant has his back to the plate.  The catcher in the shot is Tiant's Red Sox teammate Carlton Fisk.

Tiant spent all but two months of his career in the AL, consequently the 76 All-Star Game is the only tie he pitched at the Vet. Yes in those pre-interleague days Luis Tiant pitched 19 seasons and 573 games but the only way you got to see him inside the Philadelphia city limits was to got to the 1976 All-Star game. Similarly his only appearance in the Astrodome was the 1968 All-Star Game.
 
Phungo Luis Tiant Index
I have created Indices for many Hall of Fame players, to these I have been adding a few for noteworthy non-hallers. Tiant is now part of this group.
1975 Topps #430 (This is a great card)

Sources and Links
1976 ASG 40th Anniversary Index 
YouTube - 1976 ASG
Baseball Almanac
Baseball-ref

40th Anniversary: Rennie Stennett 7 Hit Game

Rennie Stennett recorded 176 Hits during the 1975 season. He collected SEVEN of those hits in a single game, a 22-0 Pirates rout of the Cubs at Wrigley

1976 Topps #6 Record Breaker Rennie Stennett 7 Hits in one game

Topps noted the accomplishment with card #6 in their 1976 Record Breaker Set.

Rennie is one of only two players to pick up 7 hits in a nine inning game, the other is Hall of Fame manager Wilbert Robinson.

Flip

1976 Topps #6 Record Breaker Rennie Stennett 7 Hits in one game (b-side)

Interesting graphic on the RB card. All of Stennet's ABs are listed along with his scoring result. Notice he had not one but TWO multi-hit innings, the first and the 8th. Stennet's 7 hits got him the first 3 hits of a cycle. He scored five of the 7 times he reached - Rookie Willie Randolph pinch ran for Stennett in the 8th. The first and last hits were off of different Reuschel brothers, Starter Rick first and Finisher Paul Last.

As a team the Pirates collected 24 hits that day. Every starter including pitcher John Candelaria picked up a hit AND scored a run. In addition to Stennett six other Pirates had multi-hit games.

Sources and Links
1976 Topps Record Breakers Index
2015 Playoff Contenders Index 
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Dejan Kovacevic
Cup o Joe - Joe Klimchak
Baseball-ref

40 Years Ago: Lolich Sets Lefty Strikeout Mark - 1976 Topps #3

On June 6th 1975 Mickey Lolich set the strikeout mark for Lefthanded Pitchers

1976 Topps #3 Mickey Lolich Most Strikeouts, Lifetime, Lefthander

Topps honored the accomplishment with the #3 card in their 1976 set.

The Tigers Southpaw accomplished the feat during an 11-2 victory over the Oakland A's. The record tying and breaking strikeouts were both recorded versus Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson. Of course it should be noted that Reggie is the all-time leader in Ks among batters.  Lolich logged a total of four Ks on the day including one other Hall Of Famer, Billy Williams.

Mickey Lolich finished his career in 1979 at 2832 strikeouts. He would hold the Lefthanded K record for five seasons prior to being eclipsed by the Phillies Steve Carlton in 1980.

Career Ks by Lefthaders in 1976

1976 Topps #3 Mickey Lolich Most Strikeouts, Lifetime, Lefthander (b-side)

After passing Warren Spahn Lolich struck out just a shade under 100 additional batters during the remaining portion of the 1975 season. As you can see Steve Carlton ranked 11th at the time.

Carlton was eventually surpassed by Randy Johnson who is the current all-time MLB Record for career Ks among southpaws with 4875. The Big Unit was 12 when the Lolich Record Breaker card was issued.

Today Mickey Lolich still ranks #3 behind Carlton and Johnson. All 2832 of Lolich's Ks were in the AL which ranks first in the history of the junior circuit.

Lolich ranks 18th among All Pitchers for career Ks. The only pitchers in front of Lolich not in the Hall are Roger Clemens and Curt Schilling.

Sources and Links
1976 Topps Record Breakers Index
Topps Cards
Baseball Alamanc
Baseball-ref

40 Years Ago: Hank Aaron Sets new RBI Mark - 1976 Topps #1 Record Breaker

May 1st marks the 40th anniversary of the day that Hank Aaron passed Babe Ruth on the All-Time RBI List. 1976 Topps commemorated the event by awarding card #1 in their 1976 to Aaron

1976 Topps #1 Hank Aaron Record Breaker Lifetime RBI (image swiped from baseball simulator)

The record breaking RBI occurred during a Brewers 17-3 thrashing of the Detroit Tigers. Hank Aaron drove in Sixto Lezcano on a third inning single off of Verne Ruhle. 

Of course history sometimes changes. Apparently since 1975 Babe Ruth, who died in 1948, has collected five RBIs.

SABR researcher Herm Krabbenhoft has gone through SIGNIFICANT research and established that Babe Ruth had 2214 RBI, or five more than was thought in 1975.

This means that Hank Aaron did not pass Ruth until a May 15th game versus the Texas Rangers. Aaron drove in Bill Sharp with a Sacrifice Fly. If you want a more thrilling story, later in the day Aaron hit a 3 Run homer, all four RBIs came off of Rangers starting pitcher Steve Hargan 

1976 Topps #1 Hank Aaron Record Breaker Lifetime RBI (b-side)

It is interesting to note that despite the inflation of run scoring in the 1990s-20002 Hank Aaron remains the leader in career RBI. Not so much for Mickey Mantle, his 1509 RBI now places him 53rd overall.

Hank Aaron played one more season after the 1976T #1 card was produced and finished his career with 2297 RBI. 

Today the RBI leaders appear as follows (2015 April 21) 

Mickey Mantle's 33 spot fall is not all due to PED era players, 19th century players such as Cap Anson are now on the list. Lou Gehrig and Ty Cobb both lost RBIs. The Most significant Phillis player on the list is Jim Thome.

1976 Topps Record Breaker Subset
The 1976 Topps Record Breaker subber honors baseball events that happened the previous year. I wasn't planning on formally reviewing this set, but it is a small (6 cards) and I may post on these as the Anniversaries pop in 2015.

I did have this card when I was a kid, but it is gone now. It is the only one of the six  cards that is not in the present Phungo Collection.

#3 Mickey Lolich (Most Lifetime Ks Southpaw)
#4 Davey Lopes (38 Consecutive Successful Steals)
#6 Rennie Stennett (7 Hit Game)


Sources and Links
Topps #1 Club
Phungo Hank Aaron HoF Index
Topps Baseball Card Database
SABR - Herm Krabbenhoft
Baseball-ref

1964 Phillies @ 50: Tony Taylor 1976 Topps #624

Tonight we move on to our second installment on the 1964 Phillies with a look at second baseman Tony Taylor.

1976 Topps #624 Tony Taylor 

For Tony Taylor 1964 was a perfectly average season in what one would have to consider a very average (albeit lengthy career). In ‘64 He batted .251 (career .261) with 4 Home Runs and 64 RBIs. He’s lack  of power was evident in his final numbers that reflected a higher OBP (.320) than SLG (.316) His 81 OPS+ was a tad below his career number of 88. Clearly Tony Taylor got to play everyday because of his glovework in the middle infield. Throughout  the early 1960s Taylor was a steady defensively and finished near the top of the league in a myriad of different statistical categories. For the 1964 season Taylor finished 3rd in the league in Assists, Putouts and Double Plays. 

That defensive play would be what would keep Taylor in the big leagues for 19 years (15 with the Phillies) – He never batted above .284 in a qualifying season, his career High in RBI was 55 in 1970.  The most home runs he hit in a season was 9, yet he stuck around long enough to hit 72 of them. He did play long enough to accumulate enough Putouts, Assists, and Double Plays at second to rank him in among the top 60 players all-time for each category. 

Tony Taylor retired in 1976 and 27 years later he remains the Phillies franchise leader in games played by a player who primarily played second base. Taylor was inducted into the Phillies Wall of Fame in 2002. The 78 year old Taylor still regularly makes his return to the Phillies Alumni weekend.   


1976 Topps 
Tony Taylor was 28 when he played for the 1964 Phillies, which made him the 2nd oldest everyday player on the team, Yet he was still around in 1976. According to my limited research Taylor and DIck Allen were the last two players from the 1964 team to be issued a Topps Card  in a Phillies uniform.   

One other note on 1976 Topps - It would only take a dime or maybe even a nickel to upgrade this card.


1964 Philies Series 
Johnny Callison

Sources
Baseball-ref
Baseball Card Database
Phillies.com

Sunday Night Baseball: 1976 Topps #62 Johnny Oates

The Texas Rangers have three retired numbers: #42 - Jackie Robinson of course, #34 Nolan Ryan Of Course, and #26 Johnny Oates.

1976 Topps #26 Johnny Oates

Oates, Of Course, having never played as a Ranger had his number retired as a manager. He led the Rangers to 3 division titles in the middle 90s. Unfortunately those Rangers teams all ran into the New York Yankees dynasty - losing 3 separate NLDS series.

The Rangers were Johnny Oates 2nd managerial assignment.  He also led the Orioles for the 4 seasons preceding his Texas tenure. Between the two clubs Oates tallied 797 wins v 746 losses.  

Like many managers Johnny Oates spent his playing career as a catcher, most of those years were as a backup - He only played in 100 games once (1974 - Braves).  He played two seasons with the Phillies which included the 1976 season when the they reached the post season for the first time in 26 years.    

For the Collector
1976 Topps commons can be found in dime boxes, and sometimes nickle bins. Like the shot of Oates in the card above. He has all the catcher gear but with the maks off you get a shot of his profile complete with eye black. Couple of bonuses as well, the reverse cap and the old school powder blue travel unis for the Phils.  

The Johnny Oates rookie card is 1972 Topps #474 which is shared with Don Baylor. As a player Oates showed up in 9 Topps issues through 1981 (#303 Yankees). His appearances with the Phillies included 1976 (above) and 1977 #619

ReWind - Past Sunday Nite Baseball Postings
Chicago White Sox / Kansas City A's - Ken "Hawk" #TWTW Harrelson
Detroit Tigers - Bill Freehan

The Rangers current manager Ron Washington was profiled in here as part of our Moneyball 2011 series.

Sources

Baseball-Ref.com
Baseball Card Database