1971 topps - with some almost dodgers and an edgar allan poe reference - from the phillies room

jim at the phillies room recently sent some fantastic 1971 cards that i needed in exchange for some phillies and other cards he needed. 

first up, fred norman

pretty sure that's the tip of the capital 'd' in dodgers barely showing on the front of norman's jersey.  he was picked up on waivers by the cardinals in september of 1970 after spending the season with the dodgers.  norman would eventually wind up in cincinnati where he would win two rings with the reds.

del unser

unser finished 2nd in the 1968 al roy voting (stan bahnsen won).  1971 was the last year for the senators cards.  in 1972 they became the rangers, but unser was traded during the offseason to cleveland, so he never appeared as a ranger. he was a member of the phillies 1980 world championship team.

jim perry

one of the best things about this card is the sleeve patch with the old 'minnie and paul' logo.  the twins have brought it back and are featuring it prominently at target field and in their commercials.  although their pants are kinda low.

dick schofield

here's the other near dodger.  not quite as close as fred norman, though.  schofield played for the dodgers in 1966 and 1967.  after that, he was with the cardinals and the red sox before returning to the cardinals for a third stint in 1971, so this may well be a cardinals jersey from his first (or second) go around.  interestingly enough, three generations of the schofield family have worn dodger blue - schofield, his son (dick schofield), and his grandson (jayson werth).

twins rookie stars (steve brye and cotton nash)

steve brye had a decent 8 year career, mostly with the twins.  he hit his first career home run on september 3, 1971 off of vida blue.  he hit his second the next day against jim hunter.  cotton nash, on the other hand, never did hit a big league home run, even though he hit over 30 in the minor leagues in 1970 and 1971.  in fact, he had only 3 career hits and didn't play in the majors after 1970.  nash, of course, is likely better known as the university of kentucky all american basketball player.  he played in the nba for the lakers and warriors prior to playing in the majors. 

ed kirkpatrick

the yankees, a's and royals have some of the best cards in the 1971 set. 

danny murtaugh

you'd be smiling too if you were a two-time world series winning manager (although murtaugh only had one when this photo was taken).

bobby wine

a former phillie, wine was an original expo.  seeing his last name, along with this next guy, made me think of edgar allan poe.

aurelio monteagudo

it's a stretch, but i can't help but think of 'the cask of amontillado'. 

thanks jim!