October 12, 2007

Goudey Trade-away #43: Santana and Smoltz for Rudi and Brown

This trade comes in from Stewart in Rancho Cucamonga, California.

Giving: Johan Santana, #63 (red back); John Smoltz, #64 (red back)
Getting: Joe Rudi, 1973 Topps; Kevin Brown, 2001 Fleer Game Time Lumber

Stewart writes, "Rudi was always one of my favorites growing up. This card represents what most of my '73 Topps looked like – Off-center with worn corners from me bringing them with me everywhere ... This card [of Kevin Brown] represents my feeling of him perfectly – I hate pitcher cards that show the pitcher batting, but best of all it has a piece of his personality on it – a slice of wood."

I don't know how to follow that up, except that I agree about Rudi. I like to remind myself from time to time that he was on the Red Sox at the height of his career, even if it was only for a day.

I guess I would also add that this card of Santana is probably one of my favorite from this set.

1 comment:

Rob said...

I love the 1973 set. It was the first set I bought when I was a kid. I can remember going to my friend Mario's older brother's Little League games and buying packs at the concession stand -- er -- table. I still have my old cards, but don't have anywhere near the whole set. I hadn't seen the Joe Rudi card before. Something about seeing the name in Helvetica and the position icons on the card hit my nostalgia center hard.