more 1978 topps autograph lovin'

a couple months ago, i showed off a bunch of 1978 topps ttm successes and otherwise signed cards that i had accumulated over the past couple of years.  here's a bunch more, all but one of which were ttm successes.  i think i am close to having about 200 cards from the set signed.  with my ttm days winding down, i am hoping to reach that number soon.  still looking for that ed goodson...

here's the nolan ryan record breaker.

i thought about sending a brooks robinson rb card to a signing, but decided instead to pick up this ryan in an auction.  while it would be nice to have more than one of the record breakers signed, i doubt i will get there.

here's ryan's teammate dave chalk lounging in the dugout

i think the angels have the most number of players in this set with dugout shots.  jerry remy and gil flores are two others i can think of off the top of my head.

here's bud harrelson

and mr. met ed kranepool

this was a popular pose in the 1978 set - the dugout as a background shot.  also used by mike torrez

like ed halicki before him, giants pitcher jim barr gets a nice action shot from candlestick park

while teammate gary lavelle settles for the dreamer pose.

although lavelle's card does feature the marlboro billboard.  from cigarettes we move on to booze, as in pbr, as in tom burgmeier

spring training (or is it town ball?) awesomeness.

more advertising, this time cologne, courtesy of yankee stadium, brut, and backup twins catcher glenn borgmann

who stands near the spot where steve brye stood for his 1978 card

as did tom grieve

here's mick (mickey) kelleher who actually still suits up at yankee stadium these days as a coach

and former white sox shortstop alan bannister with a similar pose and his shirt untucked

we will leave that part of the post behind and move on to some head shots.  here's braves pitcher buzz capra who gave himself a ballpoint neck tattoo

capra's career was cut short by arm trouble, and he had pitched in his last big league game by the time the 1978 cards came out.

bernie carbo was in his second tour of duty with the red sox when this card hit the streets

but he would be on his way to cleveland shortly thereafter.

this jose cardenal card is awesome

one has to truly appreciate the airbrushing of the phillies hat (cardenal spent the 1977 season with the cubs) around his afro.  and the autograph isn't bad either.

from a jose with an airbrushed cap to a jose with a trucker's cap, here's jose cruz sr.

even though he wasn't a giant, cruz was one of my least favorite players back in my youth.  i have bad memories of him against the dodgers' pitchers - hooton, sutton, rau, etc.  not good times.  these days i can appreciate his talent and his autograph and not base my fandom on what he did against my favorite team.  at least i think i can.

to cleanse the palette, here's frank duffy

the lee walls of his day.

tom house shows off his spectacles as well

as do fred kendall

and joe nolan

i really wish topps would get back to giving backup catchers their due.  i need a dioner navarro card, dammit!

here's the phillies' barry foote

who was the backstop backup to bob boone

the phillies also had tim mccarver on their team back then to make sure steve carlton was appeased.

dave rader was ted simmons' backup in saint louis

until 1978 when he went to the cubs and became their primary receiver.  after the 1978 season, he was traded to the phillies, where he was behind boone in the depth chart.  in exchange, the cubs got a new starting catcher from the phils - none other than barry foote.  ah, the circle of life.

doug rader (no relation to dave) was not a catcher

he was, however, a gold glove third baseman for the astros in the early 70's.  he finished his playing career with the blue jays in 1977 making this card, like capra's above, a final tribute.  he later managed the rangers, white sox, and angels.

we're hitting the home stretch of this post with kirk gibson's brother-in-law dave rozema and his topps rookie cup

rozema's 1977 season was also his best, although he pitched in the big leagues for 10 years.  he was on the '84 tigers world championship team but was apparently left off the postseason roster.

lou whitaker wasn't.  unfortunately for me, whitaker doesn't sign ttm.  sam perlozzod does.

perlozzo played in 10 games for the twins in 1977 and 2 more for the padres in 1979.  he managed the orioles a few years ago for a couple of seasons.  this card is currently in the hands of garth iorg.  i hope he sends it back.

the last card of this post is tommy lasorda's favorite player and manager, bobby valentine

bobby v signed a couple cards for me before, but i had to get his 78 card signed too.  it must be noted that valentine succeeded the aforementioned doug rader as manager of the rangers in 1985.

finally, we have this - an index card signed by fred lynn in lieu of the 1978 topps card i sent his way

the last post i did like this resulted in ryan from the great orioles autograph project sending me a signed 78 opc lynn card.  shortly thereafter, i received this index card from the man himself.  it's not a 1978 topps card, but it's a good success nonetheless. 

thanks to all the guys who signed, it is appreciated.