more 1978 topps through the mail successes!

i have a hard time passing up an opportunity to get a 1978 topps card signed by a former player.  i'll get to that in a minute, right after i show these 1978 topps update/burger king dodger cards that should have been of former dodger prospect ron washington, who is currently the manager of the texas rangers.  he was kind enough to sign each one

including the two newer versions i had made after finding some good dodger photos online

this one is my favorite because of the dodger stadium background and the in-game action

the dodgers didn't get many in-game action shots on cards in the 1970's.

on to the actual 1978 topps cards that have been signed and returned in the past few weeks.  here's jackie brown.

brown's playing career came to an end with the 1977 season, but he stayed with the game as a coach with the rangers, and later the white sox and devil rays.  he was part of the trade package that texas sent to the indians for hall of famer gaylord perry and was later traded to the expos for a young andre thornton.

dave garcia

i saw that garcia had signed a card for tom at angels, in order earlier this spring, so i took a chance.  the 93-year old former manager came through for me, which is fantastic.  i don't recall garcia as the angels' manager - he was replaced by jim fregosi during the 1978 season - but i do recall him managing the indians in the early 1980's.

gary nolan

nolan pitched for garcia at the tail end of the 1977 season, but was 0-3 in his few starts as an angel.  he had previously enjoyed some great success with the reds, going 15-5 with a 1.99 era in 1972 and starting the first game of the world series that year.  he lost almost two seasons to injury (most of 1973 and all of 1974), but returned to help the big red machine win the world series in 1975 and 1976.  in the latter series, nolan started and won the decisive game 4 over the yankees.  i appreciate that.

skip lockwood

like nolan, lockwood debuted as a major leaguer when he was 18 years old.  he was a third baseman for the kansas city a's in 1965 when he first showed up in the big leagues, but after a .121 batting average in 42 games, he was sent back to the minors and eventually converted to a pitcher.  after a few seasons with the pilots/brewers, the angels converted him to a reliever in 1974, and the mets then used him exclusively out of the bullpen after they acquired him during the 1975 season.  in his five years with the mets, lockwood saved 65 games (including 20 in 1977) and had a 2.80 era.

bill campbell

campbell had previously signed his league leader card for me, so i felt safe in sending another copy of his base card.  the former twin led the league in saves in 1977, his first season with the bosox.  he later pitched effectively against the dodgers in the 1985 nlcs, although the dodgers won two of the three games in which campbell appeared.

buddy schultz

unlike skip lockwood, whose given name is claude edward, schultz's middle name really is budd.  he wasa acquired by the cardinals in a trade with the cubs prior to the 1977 season, so the bad airbrushing here really was easily avoidable.  schultz pitched in a career high 62 games in 1978, earning 6 saves which was also a personal best.

bruce bochte

when this card came out, bochte was a member of the seattle mariners, which is how i remember him.  he was their best bet to make the all-star team, which he did in 1979 when the mariners were the game's host.  he was the hero for a short time, too, after driving in the go-ahead run with a pinch-hit single off of gaylord perry.  unfortunately, jim kern gave up a game tying home run to lee mazzilli, dave parker threw out the al's go-ahead run at the plate, and then kern walked the bases loaded to set up the eventual game losing bases loaded walk issued by ron guidry in relief.  that was 35 years ago today!

willie norwood

norwood's name was mentioned the other day on one of the local sports talk shows.  they were discussing the defensive prowess of twins' outfielders, lamenting the current status of the statuary they employ, when one of the old-timer hosts referenced norwood as one of the worst defensive outfielders in the team's history.  he made 14 errors to lead all american league outfielders in 1978, but also stole 25 bases and signed my card.  i'm on his side.

joe zdeb

i don't recall joe zdeb, although i am curious as to how announcers might have butchered his last name. baseball-reference notes that the 'd' is silent.  i wouldn't have guessed that.  zdeb hit .297 in 105 games as a rookie in 1977, but was 0 for 9 in the alcs against the yankees that year.  with al cowens, amos otis, and the arrival of willie wilson, zdeb played in only 60 games in 1978 and then just 15 in 1979.  

paul moskau

i've always liked this card of moskau's - you can feel the wind blowing in it.  i grew up in a windy climate and could relate to moskau playing baseball in that sort of environment.  i overthought my connections to baseball cards.  anyway, moskau's first season in the majors was 1977, so he missed out on the big red machine glory years but arrived in time for the dodgers to dominate the nl west (for a couple of years, anyway).  moskau also included a business card with his return - he is working with former pitcher mike lacoss and his "ibaseball channel" project.  you can check it out here.

this last one was actually a purchase.  it's bill russell's 1978 topps card

in all the times that russell has signed cards for me, i only sent him a copy of his 1978 topps card once.  that one is with my (thankfully complete) signed dodger team set, but i wanted another one for my partially signed set.  russell isn't signing through the mail anymore, so i put down a few bucks for this copy.

as always, thanks for signing my (and other people's) cards!