#55 - Pete Rose
I was surprised to see that Rose is listed as "Bats Right and Left". Have other cards done this? Isn't more common to list "both"?
He's had 10 .300+ averages in the previous 11 seasons. He was the World Series MVP. I like that his nickname, Charlie Hustle, is on the card.
#56 - Greg Gross
Gross was a surprise to see in this set. He had a career .302 average after two seasons. There is lots of text since he hadn't played much up until this point.
He finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting to Bake McBride in 1974.
His switch in outfield positions is considered as a possibility in this decreased stats in 1975. One of my favorite comments in this set follows.
"it's a cinch that it didn't affect Greg's long ball production. It's a fact that the line-drive hitting lefty is still waiting to celebrate his first major league home run."
Not on the card - he hit only seven homers in 17 seasons. In only three of those seasons did he reach 400 at-bats and in 10 seasons he had less than 200 at-bats.
Not on the card - six of those homers occurred in his two seasons with the Cubs.
#57 - Ted Simmons
Simmons listed his hobby as motorcycles. Did that impact contract negotiations?
He was second in the NL in batting in 1975.
He was a football and basketball star in high school, even though only 5-11.
He led the team in RBIs the last four years. I forgot how good he was.
Not on the card - he was an all-star eight times and he hit at least .300 seven times.
I thought the card backs on the 3-D cards were far superior to what Topps was putting out during that period. They were sharp.
ReplyDeleteI agree. But the writing style between 1976 and 1980 is amazing. I look forward to checking out the other years in detail.
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