1978 Kellogg's Baseball Card Backs #07 - 09

I've finally gotten to the first page of the binder for this set. 

09 - Tom Johnson

My first thought on getting this card was - "who?".  He had 16 wins and 15 saves in 1977.   The St. Paul native also stayed nearby by playing for the University of Minnesota.

His 16 wins all came in relief last year, which is probably why he was not well known.  Johnson's success allowed the Twins to give up Bill Campbell in the re-entry draft.  Here is some information -- Baseball-Reference - Re-Entry Draft

Not on the card - in 1976 Campbell had 17 wins, all in relief, to go along with 20 saves.  The "re-entry draft" was really free agency.   The Twins certainly took a chance letting Campbell go after 1976 since Johnson had four career saves at that point.  The plan seemed to be good since Johnson had a great season in 1977.  

A shoulder injury ended his MLB career after the 1978 though he did pitch in the minors until 1980.

Campbell had a great season with Boston in 1977, leading the league with 31 saves.  He pitched another 10 years in relief, but he never got more than nine saves in a season.  

08 - Rich Gossage

It was surprising to read that Gossage led the Pirates in strikeouts in 1977 since he only pitched 133 innings.   151 K's is impressive in 133 innings.  John Candelaria won 20 games but only managed 133 K's in 230+ innings.

Gossage played out his option after the 1977 season and he was in the re-entry draft.  The Yankees signed him after the 1977 season.  The Yankee logo appears on the back of this card. 

Not on the card - Gossage's 1977 Topps card shows him on the White Sox and his 1978 card depicts him as a Yankee.  Does he have other Pirate cards?  I found that he has at least one Hostess card, even if it has a poorly airbrushed hat.

07 - Lou Brock

I like how they decided to write on the side of the card since Brock had played so many seasons.  Brock has now passed Ty Cobb in career stolen bases, and Kellogg's mentioned that Brock is destined for the Hall of Fame.  

Not on the card - stolen bases at all in the stats.  I've mentioned this before.  

Not on the card - Brock finished with 938 stolen bases.  Cobb is now credited with 897 steals.  Stat updates from the earlier days of baseball have been fairly common.  Baseball-reference.com shows Billy Hamilton with 914 steals - this is Hamilton who played from 1888 - 1901.