catching up on some cards that should have been - 1977 topps style

i hadn't produced any cards that should have been for quite a while, and i felt like i was falling behind.  my hope had been to keep up with the evolution of the 1978 topps dodgers series and fill in cards from the respective years shortly after posting the actual topps cards.  however, i hadn't posted any cards that should have been since 1975, and the most recent evolutionary post was for the 1979 cards.  i sat down last week and whipped a few cards up. i feel better now.

i decided to skip 1976, having previously made a 1976 topps traded reggie smith card, and went to 1977.  the biggest miss as far as i am concerned regarding the 1977 topps set is boog powell.  maybe the miss goes to o-pee-chee instead, since boog didn't sign with the dodgers until april 5 so topps can be forgiven for featuring him as an indian.  anyway, here's the 1977 topps card that should have been for john 'boog' powell.

if i had owned this image sooner, it would have been used for his 1978 topps card that should have been that i created as part of my 1978 topps burger king dodgers/update set.  what i like the best about it is that it has the facsimile auto that fits perfectly with the 1977 set.
i pulled the image from the dodgers' 1977 photo album

that features reggie smith on the cover with the third base umpire doing some adjusting.  this album was a treasure trove for images of players missed in the 1977 set, like al downing

downing was left out of the set completely having appeared in only 17 games during the 1976 season.  he wound up earning the final win of his career that year although he did return to the club for the 1977 season.  this is another image that i likely would have used for the 1978 topps burger king dodgers/update project since it is more 'of the period' than the picture i wound up using for downing's card.
here's mike garman, who was featured as a cub in the 1977 topps set

as he was part of the rick monday deal.
here's utility infielder ted martinez

who, like downing, didn't get a card in the 1977 topps set.  martinez had spent the entire 1976 season in the reds' minor league system and was selected by the dodgers in the december 1976 rule v draft.  he appeared in 67 games and hit .299 for the dodgers in 1977.

rick monday is a special case, because he does have a 1977 o-pee-chee card that features him as a dodger.  sort of.  it's up there in the header at oh my o-pee-chee! although i haven't yet featured it on that site.  it's really bad, so i was happy to get this card done

yes, that's much better.
johnny oates was a phillie in the 1977 topps set. here he is as a dodger

oates joined the club in december of 1976, so there was time for o-pee-chee to make the change, but oates didn't make their checklist and the opportunity was lost.

seeing that oates card, i am reminded of the other dodger catcher that joined the team in 1977 - jerry grote.  he wasn't featured in the 1977 photo album since he didn't join the team until late in the season.  instead, i used his 1978 sspc card and copied in his 1975 topps facsimile auto to make a 1977 card that should have been.

not too bad.  the image is almost certainly from 1978 during spring training, but that's ok.
i also picked up a couple of versions of the dodgers 1976  photo album

i am guessing one was from the stadium, and one was a promotional item at unocal station stores, hence the stylized '76.  one of them is incomplete with some of the photos removed, but it is also the one that denny lewallyn signed, so i'm keeping it.  anyway, i used one of the photos to make a card for danny walton

walton appeared in 18 games for the dodgers in 1976 - all as a pinch-hitter.  he had two hits and two rbi, and was traded to houston after the season ended.  he only played in 15 games for the astros in 1977, but topps still gave him a card in 1978.  why then, didn't 18 games warrant a card in 1977?  i blame the blue jays and mariners.  maybe i should have done a 1976 topps traded card  of walton instead, but hopefully these guys will get to that eventually.
finally, i just had to share a photo that was in the 1977 yearbook.  apparently the dodgers' opening day lineup had a photo shoot on the grounds of dodger stadium in their street clothes.  awesome.

between reggie's pants, sutton's glasses, and dusty's three-piece i almost didn't notice what appears to be a denim suit that bill russell is wearing.  

yep, this was the team of my youth.