once again, i'm thankful for some 1978 topps through the mail successes (and other signed 1978 cards)!

well, happy thanksgiving to everybody out there.  i am thankful for a lot of things unrelated to this hobby, but i would be remiss if i didn't thank the players who sign cards through the mail in this forum. over the past 3 years i have sent out around 1000 requests, with about 700 coming back.  a large number of the requests have involved cards from my favorite set, 1978 topps.  here are some that i have received in the past year, including a couple that were part of a private signing.

1978 topps pete rose

the hit king signed for me through the mail a while back free of charge, but i paid for this one through hall of fame sports about a year ago.  same with this next card, a 1978 topps bill madlock

i like the 1978 topps set so much, i sent a giants card to be signed by the mad dog instead of a dodgers card featuring the multi-year batting champ.  i also turn a blind eye to the uniform when sending out good ol' freebie ttm requests.  here's giant marc hill

and another giant backstop, mike sadek

marc hill appears on steve garvey's 1979 topps card, but i didn't bother to include one of those.  these cards remind me of the days when we would get 3, maybe 4 catchers in a team set.  in 2012, i didn't get a card of the dodgers' starting catcher until update came out.

moving on, here's jerry mumphrey.

who played against the dodgers in the 1981 world series, and enos cabell

who played for the dodgers in the 1985 nlcs.  i have had the cabell card for a while.  it was one of two cards that he signed for me with the other being a 1986 topps card that i finally showed on the blog as an entry in the topps dodger autograph project.

clay carroll used a red pen on his card

vic correll used a blue pen

and greg gross used a black pen.

they are all signed and appreciated.

cliff johnson got the rare three position designation on his 1978 topps card

but he may be best remembered as a pinch hitter.

rance mulliniks

wound up playing third base for the blue jays during their run in the mid to late 1980's.  he was still with the club in 1992, but didn't play in the postseason.

craig swan

led the league in era in 1978 but was just 9-6 with 13 no-decisions for the last place mets.

andre thornton

and the indians finished in sixth place in the old al east in 1978, ahead of only the blue jays.  thornton hit 33 homer for the tribe, however, which was fourth best in the league.

here's bill nahorodny

who unfortunately had to share space with three other guys, so his signature is cramped.  i am left to wonder whether he would have dotted the 'i' in 'bill' with a baseball if he had more room to write.

rodney scott

is shown in yankee stadium on his card, while his manager bobby winkles

is at home in oakland's alameda county stadium.  winkles took over the club from jack mckeon during the 1977 season.  then, in 1978, winkles was replaced after 39 games by jack mckeon.  such were the ways of charlie finley.

this next one is actually a 1978 o-pee-chee card.  jim barr was nice enough to sign it.

i'll finish this post with some signed cards that i have straight out purchased.  first up is a 1978 topps dave lopes

i was lucky enough to have had a ttm success with lopes when i first started pursuing the 1978 topps dodgers.  since then, he has rebuffed my requests but i wanted another '78 to put into the binder featuring my other signed cards.  i also picked up a lot of four signed '78s, including ray knight

(the second signed copy of his 1978 topps card that i own), paul reuschel,

dan spillner,

and the whole reason i bought the lot - glenn burke

as with the lopes, this is my second burke card, but i couldn't resist.  i had long thought that a signed card from the former dodger and a's outfielder would be the white whale of my autographed card pursuit.  who knew that ed goodson would turn out to fill that role instead.

thanks to all the former (and current) players who sign through the mail, in person, and wherever else they may find themselves!  it is appreciated.

hey topps, you missed a couple back in 1980

if you've been following along with the evolution of the 1978 topps dodgers, you know that in 1980, topps produced cards for 21 of the 27 subjects featured in the 1978 set.  ed goodson had retired, as had mike garman, and jerry grote didn't play in 1979.  that still leaves three players unaccounted for.  so, i made some cards that should have been.

vic davalillo was still with the dodgers in 1979, and continued playing into 1980.  his 1980 card that should have been

didn't get a back because it would not have been a 'final tribute' and i didn't feel like messing around with 15 years of stats.  i used a photo from one of the dodgers' photo albums from the late 1970's and moved his autograph around.  it came out pretty well, i think.  davalillo was 1 for 3 as an outfielder for the dodgers in 1979, and 6 for 24 with two walks as a pinch hitter.  he did not strike out in any of his plate appearances.

glenn burke finished his big league career in 1979 as an oakland athletic

although he returned to the club in 1980 after 'retiring' during the 1979 campaign.  by all accounts, billy martin did not take kindly to burke in spring training, and the outfielder wound up spending the season at aaa ogden, never getting a call-up.  burke retired for good after the 1980 season.  so, 1980 would have been burke's final tribute and that is worthy of a card back.

it's card 728 since the davalillo would have been 727.  the cartoon was kind of tough - a fair amount of manipulating the hands.  still, i thought it appropriate that the card reference the unorthodox greeting burke gave to dusty baker after johnnie b hit his 30th home run of the 1977 season.  burke, it should be noted, followed up with a homer of his own.

the third player missing from the 1980 set is lance rautzhan.  rautzhan started the 1979 season with the dodgers, but had his contract purchased by the brewers in may.

he had a tough season, and appeared in only 3 games for the brew crew at the big league level.  he also gets a card back, as 1979 was the last year that rautzhan pitched in the big leagues

that was a pretty standard cartoon in 1980 - a pitcher who pitched in the postseason.  i reversed the image of someone's cartoon (rawly eastwick, i think) to make it a southpaw pitcher, when i could have just used bill lee's cartoon.  there is one falsehood on the card, and that is the title of 'complete major and minor league pitching record.'  rautzhan pitched in the minors during the 1980 season, but never made it back to the majors, so at least the big league totals are final career stats.  in hindsight, i wouldn't have bothered with the minor league stats if i had thought about how painstaking it was going to be.  in case you're wondering, i took the photo from the 1978 dodger photo album and photoshopped in the brewers' hat.

so, there you have it.  all 27 dodgers featured by topps in 1978 have been accounted for in terms of 1980.  coming soon, the 1981 posts.  i think there are only two cards that i will need to make to complete that story.  unfortunately, they both had long careers which means pain in the ass card backs.

one man down, four more to follow - the 1978 topps dodgers in 1979

we lost ed goodson before the 1979 topps set was released, as his 1978 topps card was a 'final tribute'.  in 1979, there are five more players who received their final hurrah from topps, one who received a final tribute of their own, one who almost did, and three who actually played during the season, but were not featured in the 1980 set.

first up is mike garman

garman had spent the latter part of the 1978 season with the expos thanks to a may trade that netted the dodgers gerry hannahs and another player.  garman returned to the expos for spring training in 1979, but was unfortunately released at the end of march.  that means that this card is a final tribute - here are his full career stats:

congrats on your career, mike.

now we have the curious case of jerry grote

after the 1978 postseason, grote retired. which is to say he became a free agent and didn't sign with anyone.  so, at the time i figured that the stats on the back of his 1979 card were his total career stats and that this was a final tribute.  i was wrong, as grote resurfaced with the royals (and later the dodgers) in 1981.

here's glenn burke

who, like garman, spent most of 1978 with a team other than the dodgers.  he was traded in may for bill north.  unlike garman, burke played in the big leagues in 1979.  he appeared in 23 games for the a's, hitting .213 with 4 runs scored, 4 rbi and 3 stolen bases.  the final hit of his career came off of jack morris, and his final big league appearance was a 14-inning affair on june 4th in which he played the entire game.  shortly after, burke walked out on the team and didn't return until 1980 when he spent a short time with their aaa team.  the remainder of burke's life is fairly well documented - hopefully you caught the documentary 'out' that was aired last year on most sports networks.

vic davalillo

was 42 in 1979, and made 29 appearances for the dodgers, and all but three came as a pinch-hitter.  davalillo was 6 for 25 in that role with a double and two rbi.  he even stole a couple of bases.  unfortunately, topps didn't think his role with the club warranted any more cards after this one.

lance rautzhan got a card of his own in 1979, and it looks a lot like davalillo's

he lasted 12 appearances before the brewers purchased his contract from the dodgers in may.  he was 0-2 with a save and a 7.45 era at the time of the deal.  in milwaukee, he pitched in 3 games, totaling 3 innings of work but walked 10 men.  somehow he gave up only 3 runs.  in his last appearance (which came on june 3), rautzhan's final two-thirds of an inning consisted of a strikeout (hal mcrae), a single (ul washington), two wild pitches, another strikeout (todd cruz), and a walk (willie wilson).  rautzhan spent the rest of the season in the minors, and never did get back to the big leagues.

another member of the 1978 topps dodgers who had jumped ship was featured out of dodger blue for the first time.  that was elias sosa, whose final pitch as a dodger had resulted in one of reggie jackson's three game 6 home runs in the 1977 world series.

by the time he was featured as a member of the a's in the 1979 topps set, sosa was a member of the expos.  he continued the success he had enjoyed during his one year in oakland, saving a career high 18 games for montreal while posting a 1.96 era in his 62 games. he also tallied his only career extra base hit in 1979 - an rbi double off of ron reed of the phillies.

three more members of the 1978 topps dodgers spent the 1979 season out of dodger blue.  the first of these three is tommy john

tj signed a free agent deal with the yankees, of all teams.  i guess if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.  it didn't work out too well for john in terms of postseason success, but he did win 20 games for the second time in his career.  for the 1979 season, he was 21-9 in 36 starts (plus one relief appearance).  his era was 2.96 and he had 17 complete games and 3 shutouts.  the yankees won 89 games that year, but finished 4th in the nl east. john's highlight of the season was his two-hit shutout against the red sox and dennis eckersley on may 20.  he allowed a single to the first batter, jerry remy, but promptly picked him off of first base.  john then retired 26 of the remaining 27 batters he faced (fred lynn was stranded on second after his fourth inning double) to finish with the shutout win.

lee lacy went to the pirates as a free agent for the 1979 season

and rick rhoden joined him in pittsburgh thanks to an early season trade for jerry reuss.

lacy played mostly left field for the bucs, appearing in 84 games and batting .247.  as a pirate, lacy made it to the world series for the third year in a row, although this time he won a ring.  he appeared in 4 games during the 1979 fall classic, all as a pinch-hitter, and was 1 for 4 in those appearances.  rhoden, on the other hand, was supposed to be a fixture in the starting rotation for chuck tanner's team.  unfortunately, he made only one start for pittsburgh before being lost for the season due to injury.  he did go 1 for 1 at the plate in that start, so at least he had a 1.000 batting average that year.

for the rest of the team, it was business as usual.  dusty baker

played 151 games in left and hit 23 homers with 88 rbi.  his first homer of the season came off of joe niekro, and the last bomb he hit in 1979 came courtesy of joe's brother phil.

ron cey

was still at third, where he played in 150 games, swatting 28 homers and driving in 81 while batting .281.  the penguin made the all-star team for the sixth straight year and also for the last time in his career, going 0 for 1 with a walk after replacing starter mike schmidt.  this was the year that dave parker showed off his arm, nailing jim rice trying to stretch a 7th inning double into a triple with cey making the tag. parker threw brian downing out at the plate in the following inning, but that has nothing to do with ron cey.  cey hit the 150th home run of his career in 1979 - it came against hall of famer gaylord perry.  in fact, it was the second home run cey hit off of perry that day, and the third time he had taken him deep that season.

terry forster

looks like he was pitching at boise state on his 1979 topps card.  after his stellar 1978 season, forster had some arm troubles in 1979 and appeared in only 17 games.  he was 1-2 with 2 saves and had only one plate appearance on the year - just like rhoden.  and, like rhoden, his obp for the year was 1.000, although forster managed a walk rather than a base hit.

steve garvey had another 'garvey' season in 1979

he played in every game, got his 200 hits (204, actually), hit over .300 (.315), and was voted to start the all-star game for the sixth straight year.  he hit 28 homers and drove in 110 runs, but didn't walk much.  he also hit into a bunch of double plays - 25 to be exact; the most in the national league.  as an all-star, garvey was 0 for 2 with a run and a walk.  like his fellow infielder ron cey, garvey hit his 150th career homer in 1979, although his was just a solo shot off of john denny - nothing spectacular.

the rest of the 1978 topps dodgers in 1979 will be up tomorrow.

and for one brief moment, they were all together. the 1978 topps dodgers in 1978

although i am splitting them into two posts.  go figure.

two new players were featured for the first time in 1978 - glenn burke and lance rautzhan.  let's start with them.

glenn burke

burke debuted for the dodgers in 1976, but didn't show up on a card until 1978.  by that time, he had appeared in 108 games for the blue and was hitting about .250.  he also had greeted dusty baker at home plate after a home run with what many consider to be the first 'high-five'.  not too far into the 1978 season, burke found himself in tommy lasorda's doghouse (quite possibly due to a friendship that burke, a gay man, had formed with tommy's son, also gay (although tommy doesn't admit it)) and was traded to the a's for billy north.  in oakland, burke played in 78 games and had 15 stolen bases.  he finished the season hitting .233.
lance rautzhan

rautzhan had first appeared for the dodgers in the middle of the 1977 season.  he wound up winning 4 games and saving 2 others before the year was done, and then picked up a win in the nlcs against the phillies.  in 1978, rautzhan lowered his era to 2.93 and went 2-1 with 4 saves.  he made three appearances in the postseason, including two in the world series against the yankees, but did not figure in any decisions.
a few other players returned to the topps set after their absences - vic davalillo, jerry grote, and ted martinez.

vic davalillo

davalillo was plucked from the roster of the aquascaliente team in the mexican league late in the 1977 season.  the 40-year old wound up appearing in 24 games for the dodgers, hitting .313 overall and .286 (4 for 14) as a pinch-hitter.  his biggest hit of the season, of course, was his bunt against the phillies in the 'black friday' game.  down by two runs with two outs and nobody on base in the 9th inning of game 3, davalillo bunted for a hit to start the winning rally.  he then went 1 for 3 in the world series, appearing in three of the six games against the yankees.  in 1978, davalillo was back for the whole season.  he hit .312 overall and .255 (12 for 47) as a pinch-hitter.  his lone home run of the season, and the final one of his career, came as a pinch-hitter against the mets in august.  davalillo did not match his postseason highlights from the previous season, as he appeared in only two games of the world series, going 1 for 3.
jerry grote

grote had been acquired by the dodgers from the mets at the end of august in 1977.  he hit .259 in 18 games for the blue, and then was 0 for 1 with a walk in the postseason.  in 1978, grote hit .271 in 41 games and appeared in three postseason games, including two in the world series, but did not get an at bat.  i do recall that grote was on deck when bill russell singled in the run that clinched the pennant for the dodgers in game 4 of the nlcs.  grote became a free agent after the season ended, and essentially retired.  sort of.
ted martinez

martinez spent the entire 1976 season in the minors, after which he was selected by the dodgers in the rule 5 draft.  he then appeared in 67 games for the dodgers in 1977, batting .299 along the way.  he did not appear in the postseason, however, nor did he do so in 1978.  during the '78 regular season, martinez saw action again at third, short, and second, and hit .255.  he also hit the final home run of his career, a three-run shot off of mario soto in late september.

there were also some other veterans who appeared as dodgers for the first time in 1978 - terry forster, mike garman, rick monday, and johnny oates.

terry forster

this card of forster, with the horrific airbrushing, means that we were denied a terry forster pirates card by topps.  remember, forster was still shown as a member of the white sox in 1977.  forster joined the dodgers as a free agent after the 1977 season ended, and went on to have a great season in 1978.  he was 5-4 with 22 saves and a 1.93 era in 47 games for the dodgers.  he also went 4 for 8 at the plate, raising his lifetime batting average to .424 (24 for 59).  he pitched 5 scoreless innings in the postseason, including 4 (with 6 strikeouts) against the yankees in the world series, but he did not get an at bat in either the nlcs or the fall classic.

mike garman

garman was 0-1 in 10 appearances to start the 1978 season for the dodgers, and then was traded to the expos for gerry hannahs and another player.  in montreal, garman appeared in 47 games, and was 4-6 with 13 saves and a 4.40 era.  he made the final appearance of his career on september 29th against the phillies, when he blew a save opportunity by allowing an rbi single to dane iorg.  the final batter garman faced in his career was ted simmons, who followed iorg with a walk.  the expos released garman towards the end of spring training the following year.
rick monday

mo got some mustard from a dodger dog on his chin apparently.  man, how we laughed at this card when we first saw it after an afternoon 7-11 run back in the old neighborhood.  anyway, monday played in 119 games in 1978, one more than he had in 1977 and more than he would in any following season.  he hit 19 homers (including the 200th of his career off of atlanta's jim bouton) and was voted to start in the all-star game, even though bill north had kind of taken over in center field.  in the game, monday started in right field, with greg luzinski in left and george foster in center, and he went 0 for 2.  in the postseason, monday had two hits in each series, appearing in all but one game in each the nlcs and the world series.  
johnny oates

even with three other catchers on the roster, oates managed to get into 40 games (18 of which were starts behind the plate) for the dodgers in 1978.  he even threw out 32% of the runners who tried to steal against him. oates hit .307 with 6 rbi in 70 at bats, and then was 1 for 1 with a walk in the world series.
finally, one of the 1978 topps dodgers got a final tribute in 1978, having played his last game in 1977.  that would be ed goodson.

let's have a look at those career stats.

godspeed, mr. goodson.

i'll cover the rest of the team in the next post.