A Tour Through the 1979 Topps Set: Ten Cards from 301-400

Today I'm continuing my look at about 10% of the 1979 Topps set, picking out ten cards between #301 and #400.

Previously in this series:

1. My Ill-Fated 1979 Topps Project, and My Acquisition of a 1979 Topps Set.
2. A Tour Through the 1979 Topps Set: Ten Cards from 1-100.
3. A Tour Through the 1979 Topps Set: Ten Cards from 101-200.
4. A Tour Through the 1979 Topps Set: Ten Cards from 201-300.

#309.  Ralph Garr.

#333.  Chet Lemon.

Ralph Garr and Chet Lemon look skeptical of something, perhaps it's the idea of having their collared uniforms captured for posterity on cardboard.  Garr was near the end of his career here; during the 1979 season, the former batting champ's contract was sold to the Angels, and he retired after being released by the Halos in 1980.  Chet Lemon was a two-time All-Star with the White Sox, in 1978 and 1979, batting .300 and .318.  Lemon also led the AL in doubles with 44 in 1979; he went on to many years with the Tigers as well, becoming an All-Star for the third time in their 1984 championship year.

#335.  Chris Chambliss.

#348.  Andre Dawson.

Here are two more cards of players looking to the left, Chris Chambliss and Andre Dawson.  Chambliss, the 1971 AL Rookie of the Year with the Indians, was with the Yankees from 1974 to 1979; I remember his cards in the 80s with the Braves.  He retired after a very brief return to the Yankees in 1988, with 2109 career hits.  Andre Dawson has been featured many times on this blog, and was near the start of his career here, his rookie card having been in 1977.  Following up his 1977 NL Rookie of the Year season, Dawson hit more home runs in 1978, with 25, but had a lower batting average at .253.  In 1979 he again hit 25 home runs, and his batting average rebounded to .275.

#317.  Jose Cardenal.

In my previous versions of my tour through the 1979 set posts, I've shown the cards in order.  I've broken with that here to group the above cards together, but we'll show the rest in order.  Here we have card #317, Jose Cardenal, who played for many major league teams between 1963 and 1980, and whom I think of as a Cub.  He had a stint with the Phillies for 1978 and part of 1979, as the Phillies were chasing their first World Series.

#364.  Gene Richards.

Gene Richards played with the Padres from 1977 through 1983, and with the Giants in 1984.  His career totals are 1028 hits with a .290 average, 247 stolen bases, and he led the NL in triples with 12 in 1981.  Gene Richards is also on the 1977 Rookie Outfielders card which features Andre Dawson.

#370.  Dave Kingman.

Reading about Dave Kingman, one gets the picture that he was a jerk.  But, I was always fond of the sub-Hall-of-Fame power hitters, guys like Kingman who would either hit a home run or strike out just about every at-bat.  I featured a bunch of Kingman cards once before.

#380.  John Mayberry.

I featured a John Mayberry card once before, a 1982 Drake's card.  That card his been in my collection so long that I suspect I pulled it from a box of Drake's when I was 6 years old.

#381.  Houston Astros, Bill Virdon, Manager.

I usually can't make out any of the players in the team-photo cards, but this is ridiculous.  They just wanted a shot of the Astrodome.  I've featured Bill Virdon before, as a player on the Pirates.

#395.  Dave Cash.

I featured a couple of cards of Dave Cash once before, too.  Cash retired after the 1980 season, so I wouldn't have been aware of him (I was 4 years old when the 1980 season ended, and he played far away, for the Padres that season).  I've gained an appreciation for him, though, because Mike Schmidt speaks so highly of him.  He was an All-Star infielder for the Phillies when Schmidt came up to the majors, and they played together until Cash signed with the Expos after the 1976 season. 

That's it for this time -- in a couple of weeks, we'll take a look at ten cards between #401 and #500.  Thanks for reading!