filling in the blanks with the gcrl cards that should have been - 1971 topps ron cey

both steve garvey (rookie!) and bill russell appeared in the 1971 topps set.  davey lopes wouldn't debut until 1972, but ron cey made his first big league appearances in 1971.  while the penguin would be featured in the 1972 set, i am filling in the blanks, so here is the 1971 topps ron cey card that should have been:

with a back:

quite a september call up.  cey made 2 pinch hit appearances (both against the reds) and struck out both times.  in his major league debut, he pinch hit for jose pena on september 3 in the bottom of the 9th with nobody out, the bases loaded, and the dodgers down by 3.  this is the stuff kids' dreams are made of - the bottom of the 9th grand slam will win the game!  alas, the penguin struck out against joe gibbon.  no worries, though, since maury wills followed with a single and manny mota won it with a bases clearing triple.

two days later, cey was called upon again.  this time, he hit for joe moeller in the bottom of the 4th with the dodgers down 5-0 and two runners on with one out.  the reds' ross grimsley struck cey out but then gave up a three-run homer to wills.  still, the dodgers wound up losing 7-5.  mike strahler replaced cey in the lineup, so the penguin never made it on to the field.

based on those two appearances, i suppose one should be thankful topps included cey in the 1972 set at all.  maybe so, but i wish there had also been a 1971 card.

the one thing missing from this card is the facsimilie autograph.  i figure i'll print it out and send it to cey and let him add the auto himself.  stay tuned.

here's to you, 1971 topps ron cey card that should have been!