1975 Topps Set Card 316/660 – #519 – Jim Todd, Cubs

1975 Topps Set Card 316/660 – #519 – Jim Todd, Cubs

Progress: 316/660

Card Number:  519

Player Name:  Jim Todd

Team:  Chicago Cubs

Position:  Pitcher

Image Style:  Posed Pitching

Years In The Major Leagues: 6 seasons, 1974-79

Notes From His 1975 Season:  Jim Todd pitched in 58 games for the Oakland Athletics in 1975.  By the end of the season, he sported a record of 8-13 with 12 saves.  Todd worked 122 innings in ’75, allowing 104 hits and 40 runs en route to an ERA of 2.29.  In that span, he struck out 50 batters while walking 33.

Notes From Career:  Jim Todd pitched for three different teams during his 6-year major league career.  Primarily used as a relief pitcher, Todd appeared in 270 games over that time.  He has a career record of 25-23 with 24 saves.  In 511 innings, Todd allowed 541 hits and 283 runs.

1976 Headline: Williams Released By The Oakland A’s, Opts For Retirement

1976 Headline: Williams Released By The Oakland A’s, Opts For Retirement

On this day in 1976, Billy Williams was released by the Oakland Athletics, ending his 18-season major league career.

During his 18 years in the big leagues, Williams spent 16 with the Cubs, and his final two with the A’s.  Most known for his incredible left-handed swing, Williams collected 2,711 hits, alongside 434 doubles and 426 home runs.  He was a catalyst to the Cubs’ offense, and finished in 2nd place for the MVP award on two occasions.

Williams was a 6-time All-Star, Rookie of the Year winner, batting champion, and member of the 1987 Hall of Fame class.

Congratulations to Billy Williams on a fantastic career!!!

Reggie Jackson 1976 SSPC Baseball Card

Reggie Jackson 1976 SSPC Baseball Card

I don’t have a lot of cards from these SSPC baseball card sets, but the ones that I have been able to grab are pretty neat.  And perfect for my most favorite player collections, too.

This card of Reggie Jackson comes courtesy of the 1976 SSPC set.

Take a look:

 

These cards are very basic in nature offering no graphic elements on the front while also missing team names, player names, player positions, and brand logo.  Instead, the card showcases a large image.

These cards remind of a the more current Topps Glossy All-Star Send-In cards.  But since those did not debut until the mid-80’s, I will say that this is one of the earlier ‘blank’ front cards that I know of…

You like?

1975 Topps Set Card 315/660 – #561 – Oakland Athletics Team Card

1975 Topps Set Card 315/660 – #561 – Oakland Athletics Team Card

Progress: 315/660

Card Number:  561

Team:  Oakland Athletics

Manager: Alvin Dark

Notes From The 1975 Season:  The 1975 Oakland A’s finished the season with a 98-64 record, good for first place in the American League West.  The team was paced by offensive leaders like Reggie Jackson, Billy Williams, Claudel Washington, and Bert Campaneris.  And the pitching staff was supported by Vida Blue and Ken Holtzman while Rollie Fingers kept the bullpen in check with his 24 saves.  The A’s lost in the ALCS to the Boston Red Sox.

Happy Birthday Johnny Damon!!!

Happy Birthday Johnny Damon!!!

Johnny Damon turns 41 years old today.

While Johnny Damon is not named with the sport’s greatest players, he has certainly put himself into the category of ‘Winner’.  And some of the sport’s biggest stars cannot make that claim.

Relatively unknown until he joined the Red Sox, Damon was a quiet player that toiled around in both Kansas City and Oakland for the first 7 years of his career.  During that time, her perfected his craft as a solid hitter with a knack for collecting doubles and stolen bases.

When Damon arrived in Boston in 2002, his ability on the field as well as personality shined and he soon became a fan favorite.  Damon helped the Sox win the World Series title in 2004 and his new-found fame garnered him 2 All-Star team selections and MVP consideration.

Damon moved on to the Yankees in 2006, and again he helped them reach the pinnacle of the sport in 2009 as the Yankees collected another World Series title.

Johnny Damon has proven to be a very skilled baseball player.  His consistency on offense is remarkable, and his time in the major leagues has been relatively injury free – a true credit to a player that played as hard as he did!

Here’s to Johnny Damon!!  Happy Birthday!!!

1975 Topps Set Card 307/660 – #64 – Dave Chalk, Angels

1975 Topps Set Card 307/660 – #64 – Dave Chalk, Angels

Progress: 307/660

Card Number:  64

Player Name:  Dave Chalk

Team:  California Angels

Position:  Shortstop

Image Style:  Posed Portrait

Years In The Major Leagues: 9 seasons, 1973-81

Notes From His 1975 Season:  Dave Chalk played in a career high 149 games for the California Angels in 1975.  H hit .273 for the club, collecting 140 hits in 513 at-bats.  Chalk had 56 RBI and scored 59 runs in those 149 games while also striking out just 49 times.

Notes From Career:  Dave Chalk is a 2-time All-Star that played for 4 teams during his 9-year major league career.  He has 733 career hits in 903 games played with those four teams.  Chalk is a lifetime .252 hitter with 107 doubles, 9 triples, and 15 home runs to his credit.

Reggie Jackson 1984 Drake’s Big Hitters

Reggie Jackson 1984 Drake’s Big Hitters

Ah, Drake’s!

One of my all-time favorite oddball baseball cards from the 1980’s has to be the ‘Drake’s Big Hitters’ cards.

The cards, offered inside boxes of Drake’s snack cakes, were such a fun set to go after as a kid.  And the designs were pretty nice too.

Here is the card of Reggie Jackson from the 1984 set:

 

The Drake’s set became a staple set during the mid-80’s and the ‘limited edition’ feel that the set offered led to collector’s gobbling them up (and the snack cakes, too).

Reggie Jackson 2001 Upper Deck UD Decades ‘Decade Dateline’

Reggie Jackson 2001 Upper Deck UD Decades ‘Decade Dateline’

Yeah baby, another sweet 1970’s themed baseball card that features Mr. October – Reggie Jackson.

 

This card comes courtesy of the 2001 Upper Deck UD Decades set and is part of the subset tagged as ‘Decade Dateline’.  I like that the card appears to be showing a picture of Reggie from the 1978 World Series in which he starred and single-handedly captured the win in the series clinching game.

As I slowly wind down my tribute to Reggie for the month of October, I would say that this is my favorite new addition that specifically comes from the game in which he earned the moniker, ‘Mr. October’.

Reggie Jackson 1986 Fleer Star Stickers

Reggie Jackson 1986 Fleer Star Stickers

During a recent shopping spree on Sportlots.com, I snagged a small stack of 1980’s Fleer stickers.

Last week, I showed you the Dave Winfield sticker from the 1986 set.  And now, I have the Reggie Jackson sticker from the same issue for you to enjoy.

Have a look:

 

Again, since these were treated as ‘special’ or ‘limited’, I wish that the companies creating them gave us something more special with the images that they selected for the product.

Overall, the sticker design is nice, but if it had been capped off with a better image of #44, it could have gone from good to great rather quickly…

Just sayin’

Reggie Jackson 2011 Topps ’60 Years Of Topps’ – 1970 Topps Reprint

Reggie Jackson 2011 Topps ’60 Years Of Topps’ – 1970 Topps Reprint

Here is another fun reprint card that I have added to my Reggie Jackson collection.

 

This card comes from the 2011 Topps ’60 Years Of Topps’ set and as you can see, it features Reggie’s 1970 Topps baseball card.

I really like this young shot of Mr. October from this set.  It is cool to see him sans mustache and in those great 2-piece Athletics jerseys.  And if you look at the size of his arms and shoulders from this shot, you can truly see how big Reggie’s upper body is.  I’m sure that helped him connect for some of the 23 home runs that he hit in 1970.