1975 Kellogg's Baseball Card Backs - #46 - 48

Time to check out three more 1975 Kellogg's baseball card backs.

#48 - Dave Cash

In his first full season, 1974, he recorded 206 hits.  

Not on the card - why didn't Pittsburgh get him a full season during his five years there?  He was traded to the Phillies for Ken Brett after the 1973 season.  

He was a top basketball prospect as a high school athlete in Utica, New York.  Most of his minor league seasons were interrupted by time in the Marine Reserves.  

#47 - Sparky Lyle

It is mentioned that all of his 436 pitching appearances have come in relief.  He had a stellar ERA of 1.66 in 1974.  

Not on the card - he ended his career with 899 games, none of which he started.  

His 15 saves from 1974 are mentioned in the text since they are not listed on the stats lines.  

Not on the card - he had more than 15 saves seven times in a season including a career-high 35 in 1972.  

#46 - George Hendrick

I didn't remember at all that he got to the majors with Oakland.  Injuries slowed the end of his 1973 and 1974 seasons.

He "refrained from playing baseball while attending high school in Los Angeles" and "he had some problems with Indians management" in 1974.  It is expected that those problems will disappear now that Frank Robinson has been named manager.  

None of that sounds like good news.  

1975 Kellogg's Baseball Card Backs - #49 - 51

Back for three more.  I'm not working on pictures until at least after coaching on Saturday.

#51 - Carl Yastrzemski

There isn't much room on the card back since every year of stats is shown.  Yaz isn't letting age slow him down.  In 1974 he led the Red Sox in batting, RBIs, doubles and run.  

Not on the card - Yaz played until 1983, surpassing 100 RBIs twice more.  He led the team in RBIs in 1976 with 102.  I would have thought that Jim Rice or someone else would have led the team.

#50 - Cesar Geronimo

The Reds expect big things from him in 1975 after an injury slowed him in past seasons.  

Not on the card - like Yaz, Geronimo played until 1983.  His stats in 1975 and beyond didn't seem to change much from previous years.

#49 - Luis Tiant

I didn't know that Tiant was released by the Twins in 1971.  Kellogg's said that the Twins thought that his bad back was a chronic condition.  He won 58 games for Boston in the last 3 1/2 years including at least 20 during 1973 and 1974. 

Not on the card - Tiant ruined my 1983 theme by playing his last game in 1982.

Not on the card - he finished in the top six in the Cy Young voting in 1972, 1974 and 1976.  He received MVP votes in all three seasons.

Not on the card - he won 147 games after being released by Minnesota.

Still Having Issues with Pictures for the 1975 Kellogg's Card Backs - #52 - 54

The look at 1975 Kellogg's baseball is being delayed by my problems with getting pictures.  Ugh!  Maybe I'm also less motivated because I really dislike the 1975 set? 


#54 - Reggie Jackson


The card mentions that Reggie finished second in the AL in homers to "Rich Allen".  I don't remember him being called Rich Allen much. 

Among the things that make Jackson one of best players - power hitting, stolen bases, RBIs and great outfield play. 

Not on the card - he stole 226 bases in 21 seasons.  Only 40 of those steals came in his last 10 years. 


#53 - Hal McRae


McRae was "never really satisfied with his assignments in Cincinnati".  What does that mean?  Maybe he just wanted to be a DH. 

He finished third in batting average to Rod Carew and Jorge Orta. 

He was signed as a shortstop. 

Not on the card - he played no games at shortstop even though he played in 1,837 career games.  He played a few games at 2B and 3B, but most of those games were played in the outfield or as a DH.  In fact he played the field in only 17 games in his last 10 years.  In his last five years he didn't ever play in the field.


#52 - Ken Brett


He was born in Brooklyn.  Brother George was born in West Virginia. 

He has nine career homers including homering in a record four consecutive starts.  He batted .310 in 1974 to lead all NL pitchers.

Not on the card - he hit .262 for his career.  He was mostly a relief pitcher so he didn't bat much.  In two seasons as a starter he had 15 and 16 RBIs.

Nice Card Gallery For Whatever You Collect

http://www.footballcardgallery.com/set/1970_Kelloggs/

I like this site even if it is trying to sell cards.  It not only shows a picture of the card, it includes the card number, player name, position, college attended, honors won and other notes.

I also like their set descriptions.  I was surprised to find their note that only five players appeared in both the 1970 and 1971 Kellogg's football card sets.

PSA Details on 1975 Kellogg's Cards # 55 - 57

I think that the Ken Brett card that I've shown previously might be the only 1975 PSA card I have from Kellogg's.  Wait, I might have a few proof cards too.  I don't really track the few PSA cards I have so I'm not sure.  Maybe I have 15 proof cards and 15 other PSA-graded cards.

#57 Richie Hebner -- the last card in the set

number of cards graded by PSA - 51
10s - 3
09s - 10
08s - 17
07s- - 11
4-6 - 10

#57 Mike Schmidt

number of cards graded by PSA - 122
10s - 8
09s - 29
08s - 54
07s- - 14
4-6 - 17

#55 Rollie Fingers

number of cards graded by PSA - 55
10s - 9
09s - 15
08s - 17
07s- - 7
4-6 - 7

Even though people bought factory sets in 1975, the last card still got some abuse - Only three Hebners graded as 10s.

I Finally Have Pictures - and 1975 Kellogg's Card Backs - #55 - 57

I've got a PC working now and I can easily move pictures from my iPad to the PC.  Back to work on some Kellogg's card backs.  It's time to start looking at the 1975 Kellogg's baseball card backs.

 #57 - Richie Hebner

I like the drawings of the players that appear on the top left of the card.  They included the birthday, which I always liked to see.  

His stats weren't all better, but he fared better than most NL third basemen.  

He chose baseball over his hometown Boston Bruins after being a high school all-american in hockey.  He has worked in Pittsburgh as a skating instructor in the off-seasons.

Not on the card - no mention of his nickname "Grave Digger".  

#56 - Mike Schmidt

He led the league with 36 homers.  Yes, youngsters that was close to leading the league for a number of years.  Not a big deal to hit 36 homers in 2017.  10 guys have already done that this season and a total of 30 guys have hit at least 30 homers with a week and a half remaining in the season. 

He became the first Phillie since Cliff Cravath in 1915 to lead the majors in homers.  It was odd for me to see this card and find a name that I didn't know.  Cliff Cravath isn't a familiar name to fans but i recognize the name Gavvy Cravath, probably from some of those Strat-o-matic games.  

Cravath led the league in homers five times with his highest total being 24.  

Not on the card - Schmidt led the NL in homers eight times.  

#55 Rollie Fingers

Fingers won the World Series MVP in 1974.  His "elegantly twirled" mustache seemed to be as well-known as his success on the mound.

His career W-L record at this point was 44-44.

Not on the card - he ended up 114-118 with 341 career saves.  He started 37 games early in his career, but none after 1973.  He played until 1985.

Welcome to 1978 - I Guess

I rarely bid on individual cards on ebay.  I did end up purchasing a 1970 Dick Butkus card.  It arrived today.  Nothing much to say about the card - it was fine.  I did like the wrapping.

The card was in a top loader, so it was secured quite well in the plain, white envelope.  Like many of these items, the card was wrapped in paper so that it wouldn't move around so much.  When I unfolded the paper I found out that the paper was a Chapter One Geometry test.

After dinner I decided that I'd check out the test.  Did I mention that I took Geometry in 1978?  Since it didn't look too difficult I tried to complete it.  Now, I've decided to send it back to the seller for grading or a nice surprise.  I hope he doesn't read this blog but it is going in the mail tomorrow.

I will let you know if I pass.

Here's A Great New Kellogg's Item That I'd Bet You Don't Own

I was surprised to receive this Kellogg's pillow case from my daughter today.  To make things better, she made it for me.  Yeah for kids taking time away from their devices to learn some real-world skills.

Getting pictures onto this computer is slow, but I'm back in business.  Back to the 1975 card backs this week.

1971 Kellogg's Baseball Variations

Over the years I've picked up a bunch of lots of 1971 Kellogg's baseball cards in off condition.  Tonight I just found a stack of them that haven't been sorted to check for variations yet.  Maybe I'll find a few more that I need when I get this done.

No time for checking them until at least Sunday since I'm busy with school projects and coaching.  But, I did find a variation that Mark, a regular commenter, needs.  I'm glad to send that along to him.

These fine print variations are getting tougher on my eyes all of the time.

After going to the National and see everything graded, I thought it might cloud my opinion on all of my damaged, well-loved 1971s.  Not a chance!  It was great to look at them tonight.  I was not phased by the faded colors, the cracks, the edges that were probably in pockets, etc.  Would other years look like that if there were no factory sets or mail-in offers?

In fourth grade we brought our cards to school for a long time for trading and showing off our best cards.  Lukily, Mrs. Delaughty wasn't one to take away our beloved cards from the early 1970s.

Rold Gold vs. Kellogg's All-Time Greats - Any Preference?

Does anyone have a preference between the Rold Gold cards from 1970 and the 1972 Kellogg's All-Time Greats?  I keep the Rold Gold cards as if they were Kellogg's cards in my collection.

I've always heard that the Rold Gold cards were more valuable.  I've seen lots of sets that were hand made that contain cards from both sets.

PSA has graded 2,570 Rold Gold cards and 6.061 Kellogg's All-Time Greats.  There are 339 10s that are Rold Gold cards and  1,016 10s that are Kellogg's.  The Rold Gold breakdown of 10s is quite surprising.

Player   # submitted    #10s

Cobb           221            28
Wagner       220            49
Ruth (#14)  214              7
Gehrig        213              9
Ruth (#6)    210             11
Young         196             34
Hornsby      174             31
Collins        171             49
Grove          156             34
Traynor       144             26
Sisler           137             20
Speaker       135             14
Johnson       134             14
McGraw      134               7
Cochrane     111               6

A big portion of the 10s come from just a few of the cards.  I'll need to look at an uncut sheet to see if that caused these numbers.

The 1972 Kellogg's All-Time Greats don't show the same pattern of 10s.  Card #01 of Walter Johnson has the lowest number of 10s with 23.  Cochrane has 37 and all others have at least 49 10s.

I guess the 1970 cards are worth looking for in top condition.  I have lots of nice cards, but I assume that they are all 1972s

What Else I Collect

I am trying to get everything Kellogg's from 1970 - 1983 at least.  I'm still looking for variations, upgrades for some older cards and lots of unopened packs, factory sets, etc.  I'm also always looking for one-of-a-kind items, advertising pieces and anything else unique.

I've decided that with Hostess cards I want the entire box and maybe just the three-card panel.  I'm not as interested in the cards that are cut from the box.  

I'm trying to complete the Sportscaster set and I don't have the three expensive ones - Bird, Magic Johnson and Gretzky.  On top of that, I'd like to work on the foreign editions, but I can't even find complete checklists of those cards.

I'm working on a 1961 Topps set but that and a 1968 Topps set will probably sit idle until the kids go to college.  

I don't expect to attempt any newer sets, but I might try to get all of the 3-D inserts that look like the 1968 Topps 3-D cards.  They've been done a few different times and I like them all.  I'm just not going to buy packs to find them.

I like golf and track and field cards, but I don't see them around much and I'm not really familiar with the values of older ones.

Does anyone else collect any of this stuff?

Shut Out Again

No, I'm not referring to the Cubs being shut out (0-3) against the Brewers this weekend.  I went to a local card show today and it was disappointing in many ways.

There were probably 15 less tables than usual.  On top of that, I think some of the other dealers put some of their junk on other tables that also would have been empty.

There was a nice variety of oddball stuff from the 1970s and 1980s, but I was disappointed that I didn't find any Kellogg's or Hostess cards.

I doubt that I will be heading back to that location regularly.  Is the flea market season over?  I will need to check on that.

Nice To Get a 1971 Variation That I Needed

Thanks to Lee for sending along a 1971 Kellogg's variation that I didn't have in my collection.  I also didn't realize that we live near each other.

I also picked up a few more 1971 Kellogg's baseball cards. 0-for-7 on those ones.  I've got a lot of variations in off conditions that I'm willing to trade for variations that I need.  Let me know if we can make a deal.

What Other Items Did You Get From Cereal Boxes

I didn't go grocery shopping with my parents much, so I didn't have a lot of input into the cereal selections.  Getting Kellogg's cards was great, but I doubt that my mother or sisters looked to see if the box had 3-D cards.  Instead, they'd just grab the nearest one.  That explains why we were constantly getting things that glowed in the dark, stickers, license plates, temporary tattoos and wacky wallwalkers.

I clearly remember getting a lot of the vinyl/cardboard records that were on cereal boxes - maybe Alphabits or Sugar Smacks?  I bet my sisters could have snagged some 3-D cards if they selected my cereals.

I will end this rant with one of my favorite quotes from an athlete - "I'm not complaining; I'm just explaining."  No, I need to continue since my sisters probably did the same thing when buying Twinkies.  Why not check the bottom so that I get the best three possible players?  I would check every box on the shelf before deciding which one to buy.

If you couldn't get a baseball card, what were your favorite cereal box prizes?  Please estimate the years so that the rest of us can follow along.  I wasn't a fan of most of the 1970s cars that were inserted because they couldn't match the Hot Wheels cars that we played with a lot in the winter.

Check This One Off My List - Are There Others?

I am still trying to find an easy way to get quality pictures here, but I couldn't wait to post even a pathetic picture of this advertising card.  It shows four 1971 Kellogg's football cards and it resembles a ruler.  I've been looking for this for a long time.

 I have a few questions for those of you who probably know more about this than I do.

1.  Where did this item originate?

2.  Has anyone seen any similar items to this one, maybe depicting 1970 football or baseball cards?

3.  Do you any Kellogg's experts?

Who Collects Kellogg's PSA Cards?

I've got a few PSA cards from buying some Kellogg's card lots a few years ago.  Does anyone focus on PSA-graded Kellogg's cards?

I hear stories that these cards can be graded and later crack.  Has anyone seen that happen?

I haven't seen it with the 10 - 15 graded Kellogg's cards that I own.  I guess time will tell.  In time I also hope to get back to pictures on this blog.  That should happen by the weekend.

Where Are the 3-D Golf Cards?

Next week I am fortunate enough to be caddying in the BMW Pro-Am on Wednesday.  The golf tournament begins on Thursday but the Pro-Am is a big fundraiser for the Western Golf Association / Evans Scholar Foundation.

I've got the Peter Jacobsen card that I showed a while back, but how about some other players?

Will Kellogg's ever produce any cards again?

What other sports should they consider and which players?

Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards Anyone?

When we were kids in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s we didn't have any internet to find checklists.  We actually purchased books like the Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards so that we had some idea of what type of cards were out there.

We learned about older card sets and regional issues by checking out books like this and checklist books.  At one point I thought I would complete all sets from 1948 to today so I started marking off who I had in the checklist book.

Do any of you use these books today?  Is there anything new about Kellogg's cards in any of these books?  If so, please send along any informatoin.


Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards

Kellogg's Hockey Card Commercial

I found this on YouTube today.  I think these hockey cards are the same as a regular-issue with the only difference being a Kellogg's logo.  Since I don't really collect hockey cards I am not 100% certain about that.

I'm not a fan of small sets that differ only from regular issues by the addition of a logo.  I liked Starting Lineup cards since they were unique.  Somewhere along the line they got lazy and starting using regular cards and just stuck their logo on them.  Some years they didn't even change the card numbers on the back so the set wasn't sequential.  I don't like that either.

Enjoy the commercial.  It is short.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EijSXv0pa4E

Time to Look at the 1975 Kellogg's Card Backs

I'm going to start reading the backs of the 1975 Kellogg's cards.  I hope that they are better than the fronts.  I say that because, just like the 1971 and 1979 sets, there are two completely different looks to the 1975 set.  I've seen 1975s graded as 10s that have great, bright colors but most of the cards that I see don't resemble that at all.  They haven't seemed to hold up as well over time as some of the other sets.


There have been 4,943 1975 Kellogg's cards graded by PSA.  Only 977 (19.8%) have gotten a grade of 10.  That's an average of only 17 per player.  Some players must have very few since some of the stars will certainly have more 10s since everyone is more likely to get them graded.


I was certainly wrong on some of my assumptions.  I knew that card number 01, Roy White, was difficult to find in great condition but I see that there are only three (3) of them graded as a 10.


The final card in the set, Richie Hebner, also has only three (3) cards graded as a 10.  Leroy Stanton only has two cards that got a grade of 10. 


Nolan Ryan leads the way with 55 cards graded as 10s. 


Sorry for the lack of pictures.  I switched to a different computer and I've got nothing on it yet. 

Lots of Going - Too Many Computer Issues

I've been having lots of computer problems besides the usual busy times with work and coaching.  I've got a few new packages in the mail to talk about and something else on the way - I hope.

It took me way to long to get these three lines done so I give up for today.