back in the day, the angels and dodgers would end the preseason with a 'freeway series' featuring games played at the big a and at dodger stadium. before interleague play, this was the best way for the fans to see the southern california rivals face each other. i never went to any of the games, but i looked forward to them since it meant that the season was right around the corner. i don't think the series exists anymore as there are ample opportunities during the regular season now to see the dodgers against the angels.
anyway, topps wasn't fooling anybody back in 1973 to think that the bobby valentine
and frank robinson cards
(both obviously sporting photos taken in dodger stadium) were created using pictures taken during one of the freeway series games. valentine and robinson were traded to the angels during the offseason in the andy messersmith deal, and while they may have played as angels at dodger stadium prior to the 1973 season, the obvious airbrushing of valentine's card tells the tale that bobby v was a dodger at the time the picture was taken. at least robinson was spared the embarrassment of a poor airbrushing job, although being stripped of the team name on the front of the jersey is even more ridiculous.
at least the stadium looks nice.
Just from those two pictures we can tell that they were taken either July 21, 22 or 23 of 1972. Valentine did not bat in the previous series in the season when the Phillies visited. That means the catcher in the Robinson photo was John Bateman...Mike Ryan caught the games in the earlier series.
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