Sunday, November 24, 2019

13 more 1977 Topps pickups

I posted once before that I was considering getting a 1977 Topps set, but decided against it.  But when I was browsing eBay for such things, I saw a bunch of the cards in the binder, mainly of minor stars, and thought they looked great.  So I decided to pick up a bunch of the cards, mainly of minor stars, or at least players that I have a mild interest in.  That previous post showed the first round of this effort.  Here are 13 more; some of these are for my main binder and some will go in a box.  There will be a handful more which are still to arrive.
Bake McBride.
Greg Luzinski.
These two guys were 2/3 of the starting outfield in the 1980 Phillies.  McBride was a former Rookie of the Year with the Cardinals, and was injury-prone but did well with the Phillies for a few years.  Luzinski was the Phils' number two slugger behind Mike Schmidt, although Luzinski did even lead the majors in RBI in 1975 and had more RBI than Schmidt for several years.
Rich Gossage.
Davey Lopes.
I said these are mostly minor stars; Gossage, of course, was a premier reliever and made the Hall of Fame.  Lopes feels to me also a bit more notable than most of the players here.  My first memory of Lopes was his 1987 Topps record breaker cards, for bases stolen at the age of 40.
Tommy Harper.
Alex Johnson.
Tommy Harper was a member of the Seattle Pilots, and was a two-time stolen base champ.  He's in the Red Sox Hall of Fame, despite only playing three seasons with them.  Alex Johnson was the 1970 AL batting champion.  He had some trouble in California, involving run-ins with teammates and management, multiple fines, and grievances filed by the players' union.  Johnson and Harper were actually almost traded for each other, but for those problems.
Willie Davis.
Jerry Mumphrey.
Willie Davis was near the end of his career here; after 1976 with the Padres, he played a bit in Japan, and then finished out his career in 1979 with the Angels.  Davis was part of the 1963 and 1965 Dodgers championship teams, and was a two-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove winner with them.  For some reason I have Jerry Mumphrey's 1980 Topps card burned into my memory; here he is a couple of years earlier.  Mumphrey played with the Cardinals, Padres, Yankees, Astros, and Cubs from 1974 through 1988, making the 1984 NL All-Star team with the Astros.
Jerry Royster.
Lee Lacy.
Jerry Royster played with the Dodgers, Braves, Padres, White Sox, Yankees, and Braves again from 1973 through 1988.  He appeared in the top 10 of several categories (runs, triples, stolen bases) in the late 70s.  Lee Lacy was on the Pirates' 1979 championship team.  He set a record with the Dodgers by hitting home runs in three consecutive pinch hit appearances; Del Unser later tied the record and got a record breaker card in the 1980 Topps set.
George Hendrick.
Garry Templeton.
I've posted about George Hendrick a number of times, and what I always say is that I don't think I ever noticed him until Night Owl's excellent post about him.  Hendrick was a four-time All-Star, a two-time World Series champ, and a two-time Silver Slugger winner.  Like Jerry Royster, Garry Templeton here is sporting the Topps All-Star Rookie trophy.  Templeton was a three-time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger winner, and is in the Padres Hall of Fame.
Maury Wills.
Finally, as in the 1987 set ten years later, we have a Turn Back the Clock card to when Maury Wills stole 104 bases in 1962.  Unlike the 1987 version, they didn't attempt to show an old card, so they didn't have to mock up a Topps Maury Wills card.

Like I said, there are a few more 1977 cards coming, but I think I've got just about all the ones I'm interested in.  Thanks for reading!

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