Joy of The Completed Page: 1976 Topps

A couple years ago I made a custom set of 43 "missing" 1976 Topps Traded cards. Scans of their fronts and backs can be viewed on the separate "1976 Topps Traded Missing Cards" page on our blog. Here are two of them, added into my set. They look great in pages!

1976 Topps Traded: The Missing Cards - #115T Ken Holtzman (part 2)

I'm calling this Missing Card "part two" because Holtzman was traded twice in 1976: in April from the A's to the Orioles as part of the Reggie Jackson trade, and then at the June trade deadline to the Yankees. To see the front of "part one," check out our Facebook page.

(And yes, I plan on creating backs and pairing them with fronts in a permanent gallery page when the "Missing Cards" project is complete.)

1976 Topps Traded: The Missing Cards - #319T Pedro Garcia

Pedro Garcia was an unremarkable player. After a nice rookie year in 1973 (if hitting .245 can be considered "nice") his production dropped off the map. He was shipped to Motor City for Gary Sutherland near the trading deadline in 1976. He mopped up his career in 1977 with the new Toronto Blue Jays.

I chose this headline because it seems like this is what Topps would've done: say something nice rather than say nothing at all.

1976 Topps Traded: The Missing Cards - #255T Fritz Peterson

 

Everybody (except me) noticed that I mistakenly included Larry Biittner instead of Fritz Peterson on Fritz Peterson's "Missing Cards" Traded card. So we'll call the Biittner version an "error" and the Peterson version "correct." (If this was 1991 and we were at a card show, fathers would knowingly pull the Biittner error version from the stack and quiz their kids on who was pictured, a la Aurelio Rodriguez's 1969 rookie... Here's to you, Leonard Garcia, card nerds love you more than you will know... wo wo wo...)

Peterson was on his last baseball legs by the time 1976 rolled around. With his best years behind him, Fritz suffered six no-decisions and three losses before Cleveland unloaded him to Texas in exchange for Stan Perzanowski, a young, decent pitcher on the 1975 Texas staff whose career fizzled in Cleveland and ended after the 1977 season with the White Sox.

Fritz didn't fare much better in Texas, appearing in just four games, ending his career on June 19th with a no-decision.

1976 Topps Traded: The Missing Cards - #149T Tommy Davis

Did you know? Tommy Davis played for 10 different teams in less than a 10-season span, despite spending 3 of those seasons with the Baltimore Orioles.

But does that matter? Having proven early in his career that he was a steady, effective hitter, his was a valuable bat to have in pinch-hit situations. If you have a few moments, check out the Wikipedia entry about Davis.

Davis ended the 1976 season with the Kansas City Royals. His 1977 Topps card pictures him in a Kansas City uniform. He was never pictured in an Angels uniform.

NEW Missing Cards up on Facebook

Have you seen the "Missing Card" for Reggie Smith? How about Joe Rudi? They're up now on Facebook, with many others that won't be posted on The Baseball Card Blog until the series is complete.

Check them out!

1976 Topps Traded: The Missing Cards - #405T Rollie Fingers

Like Vida Blue and Joe Rudi, the league voided Charlie Finley's sale of Rollie Fingers to the Boston Red Sox at the June 15th trade deadline in 1976. Fingers was granted free agency at the conclusion of the 1976 season. The All-Star and leading fireman signed with San Diego.

1976 Topps Traded: The Missing Cards - #26T Andy Thornton

Let's talk about lopsided trades: Andre Thornton was traded straight up to the Cleveland Indians prior to the 1977 season for Jackie Brown. While not exactly Milt Pappas for Frank Robinson, with 20-20 hindsight it was an incredible deal for Cleveland.

1976 Topps Traded: The Missing Cards - #48T Joe Ferguson

Ferguson was famous for a few things: his home-run heroics in the 1974 World Series while a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers; his record-setting 1973 season when he made only three errors behind the plate; he had a bazooka for an arm, which helped gun down runners as an outfielder; and there was another athletic Joe Ferguson who was famous at the exact same time. I can think only one other occurrence of this off the top of my head: Eddie Murray, the great slugger for the Baltimore Orioles and Eddie Murray the kicker for the Detroit Lions.

1976 Topps Traded: The Missing Cards - #235T Bert Blyleven

Seems like a lot of guys in this custom set were big stars, doesn't it? I count at least four future Hall of Famers and lots of guys at the tops of their respective careers.

1976 Topps Traded: The Missing Cards - #495T Nate Colbert

While the baseball-speaking world currently fawns over Josh Hamilton and his four home runs in one game, remember that Nate Colbert hit five home runs in one double-header.

1976 Topps Traded: The Missing Cards - #481T Rudy May

For a team destined to finish 10.5 games behind the first-place Yankees, the Baltimore Orioles were busy in 1976. All told, 10 players joined the team that year, including the Dude, Rudy May. May was part of a great acquisition for the O's—netting them an everyday catcher and rainout-entertainment extraordinaire in Rick Dempsey, a young Scott MacGregor, and reliever Tippy Martinez—even though the team sent Doyle Alexander, Ken Holtzman, three sacks of rice, and 20 head of cattle to New York to get it done.

1976 Topps Traded: The Missing Cards - #25T Mike Torrez

While Torrez will forever be remembered by Red Sox fans as the guy who gave up Bucky Dent's home run in the one-game play-off in 1978, he really should be remembered as a 20-game winner and sturdy, top-of-the-rotation-type pitcher. With 185 career wins to his credit, not including a pair of victories in the 1977 World Series, the Bear was great. As a sidebar, it's crazy to think about the talent that changed teams in the Reggie Jackson trade to Baltimore: Reggie and Ken Holtzman to the O's and Baylor, Torrez, and Paul Mitchell to the A's. And none of these players ended the 1977 season on either of these teams! Amazing!

1976 Topps Traded: The Missing Cards - #90T Sal Bando

As part of the Great Fire Sale That Wasn't, Charlie Finley let the White Sox kick the tires on Sal Bando. Bando was granted free agency after the 1976 season and signed with the Milwaukee Brewers.

1976 Topps Traded: The Missing Cards - #268T Del Unser

Here's something: Baseball Reference lists Unser one place in front of Ozark Ike, Gus Zernial, on its All-Time Rank (among Batters) list.

Here's something else: If you're not following The Baseball Card Blog on Facebook, you're missing some great stuff, including a few of these "Missing Cards" that won't be posted on the Blog until the series is complete.

1976 Topps Traded: The Missing Cards - #319T Larry Gura

Though he'd been in the league for a handful of years prior to joining the Royals in May 1976, Larry Gura never found sustained success until he donned the Kansas City blue and white.

1976 Topps Traded: The Missing Cards - #500T Reggie Jackson

Charlie Finley's decision to dismantle his championship-winning A's still stings the heart of the baseball fan. No team should be blown up in so public a way: first Reggie was dealt to the Orioles, then the fire sale at the trade deadline in June... it's enough to make an Oakland fan root for the team across the bay. And then, to add insult to injury, the team actually competed in spite of its owner's wrangling, so the added spare parts towards the end of the season hurt all the more when they didn't work out (Nate Colbert, Willie McCovey, Ron Fairly). Painful stuff.

Had Jackson been traded sometime before Christmas 1975, this "Missing Card" would've been an amazing inclusion in the Traded series of 1976.

1976 Topps Traded: The Missing Cards - #520T Willie McCovey

After the A's aborted fire sale at the June 15th trade deadline, Oakland made a push for the division title. Part of that push was the purchase of Willie McCovey's contract at the end of August. It didn't end up working out for either party. Big Mac hit just .208 in just 11 games. 1977 found him back in a Giants uniform, where he returned to form, smacking 28 home runs and finishing in the top 20 most valuable players in the league.

1976 Topps Traded: The Missing Cards - #125T Don Baylor

The seminal Oakland/Baltimore trade of April 1976 is often remembered as Reggie Jackson's departure from Oakland. But what about Baylor? Here was a slugger entering his prime, two years away from being named American League MVP (1979). And while Baltimore essentially leased Jackson for the 1976 season, it was really that both teams were lessees: by the start of the 1977 season, of all the players involved in the trade only one player remained with his team: Paul Mitchell with the A's, and even Mitchell was gone midway through 1977 in a trade with Seattle. Baylor signed with the Angels and Ken Holtzman, Reggie Jackson, and Mike Torrez all joined the Yankees.

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