Things are really coming together for this Topps set. If you are ever curious about where I stand with the whole Operation Topps project, you can click on the top button on my banner marked Operation Topps. In it I will summarize which sets have been completed and when, what set I’m working on, percent complete, cards in set, cards I have, cards I need (a comprehensive list will begin when I get the list down to about 200 cards). So if you just want a snapshot of how things are going check that page out. I have come to the conclusion that after every set is complete, I am going to have way more information about every player than my brain could possibly handle. With that in hand let’s take a look at pack 6.
Note – I screwed up my master scan file, so the other pictures will be inserted later. I wanted to get the post out though.
1. Rick Sutcliffe – P – Cubs – 330 – Rick’s career is completely up and down. He had some 17-10, 14-8, 17-11,16-1 seasons mixed in with a few 3-9, 2-2, 4-5, 8-8. He’s remembered as a very good pitcher, but the best person to compare him to is Tim Wakefield. An up and down guy, who in any given year could win 17 or lose 15. It was just the kind of pitcher he was. In a side note, do you think he went through a lot of cans of Aquanet hairspray?
2. Gene Mauch – Manager – Angels – 81 – Gene coached for 27 years and retired at the age of 61 in this picture he looks like he’s in his 80s. This was the 2nd to last year he coached. He actually won the division this year and took on the Red Sox. Where Donnie Moore imploded with only one out needed, to finish the Red Sox off, he gave up a 2 run homer to Dave Henderson which tied the game. The Sox won that game and finished off the Angels in 7 games. Moore became so depressed he took his own life years later. Gene walked awayf from the game after the next season in 1987, probably for the best.
3. Luis Salazar – 3B/OF – White Sox – 103 – Luis is gloriously listed in the Hall of Scubs, a fantastic website I found while looking up his stats. Like I was going to say, he was a utility guy that averaged about 300 at bats a year, had 10+ homer power, combined with 10+ steal speed, I guess that gets you a 12 year career in baseball.
4. Terry Pendleton – 3B – Cardinals – 528 – Terry went from being good, to being legendary when he joined the Braves. I had heard of him as a Cardinal, he played on some very good teams there. But once he got to the Braves he won an MVP and was 2nd the next year. He took that Braves team to a new level offensively. I know at one point he was on the HOF ballot, never really with any chance to make the Hall, but someone rewarded him for an outstanding 4 years. FYI – He played on four teams after the Braves in four years.
5. Jim Sundberg – C – Royals – 245 – I’m not sure why but for some reason when I hear his name, I have always associated him with the Royals. The truth is he only played for the Royals for 2 years and they were his worst years. The majority of his career was spent with the Rangers. From 1977 to 1982 (his peak years) he was an everyday catcher who put up some respectable numbers. Not middle of the order material, somewhere in the 8th or 9th slot. No real power or speed, he had a knack for driving in runs and keeping his batting average north of the 0.275 line.
6. Ernie Camacho – P – Indians – 509 – I scanned in his picture because he looks so goofy with tose glasses. I guess those were the Oakleys of the 80′s because I’ve seen lots of players wearing that style. Ernie was a closer and a damn good one for 2 years. The rest of the time he was a set up guy. The best way to think of him (since they had identical stats) is Mike MacDougal (closed for KC for 2 years). In 1984 he had 23 saves and that was good for 6th place in the AL. In today’s day and age he would have been 14th (worst in the AL for primary closers).
7. Time Corcoran – 1B/OF – Phillies – 664 – No relation to the Tim Corcoran in the Rays farm system. This Tim Corcoran was a backup his whole career (9 years). I guess when you are a good catcher it doesn’t matter what you do offensively and trust me his numbers were offensive. As long as you can call a good game you can last a while.
8. Steve Henderson – OF – A’s – 748 – I didn’t remember this Henderson on the A’s at that time. Dave yep, Rickey, sure, but Steve, ummm, I’m drawing a blank. For good reason too, he wasn’t the best of players, know more as a backup throughout his career. Another one of those 10/10 guys who could hit 0.290. I guess that’s the golden ticket in the 80s.
9. RJ Reynolds – OF – Pirates – 417 – Were his parents big smokers? Or just fans of the Keebler elves? Not sure why in the world they would they would give their son the initials RJ. Kind of a cruel joke if you ask me. But you aren’t so let’s find out what he did. Turns out he was king of the squeeze play. Has more runs scored from 3rd baseby squeeze plays than any other player. That’s kind of significant. I loved using the squeeze play in video games, got me that run I always needed in the later innings.
10. Scot Thompson – 1B Expos – 93 – Another career back-up that somehow whittled an eight year career. He is another guy who retired after the 1985 season who is inexplicably in this set. I guesss they just needed to get to 792 and they were running out of names.
11. Al Holland – P – Angels – 369 – He had 2 very nice seasons in Philly as their closer in 1983 and 1984 and midway through 1985 he was traded to Pittsburgh for their workhorse, Kent Tekluve (featured in pack 4). He was actually not a terrible pitcher, even made the All Star game (and not as the sole representitive of the Phillies).
12. Dave LaPoint – P – Giants – 551 – Broke into the majors at 20 years old. I guess the Cardinals were expecting big things from him. He didn’t dominate hitters like they thought he would so they sent him off the the Giants. In San Francisco, he put up one stick ball year of 7-17 and the Giants traded him (along with Matt Nokes) to the Tigers. He ended up playing for 7 more teams in the next 6 years, never really finding a home anywhere. FYI – he was trade in October of 1985 to the Tigers, plenty of time to get a picture of him as a Tiger.
13. Chris Codiroli – A’s – P – 433 – Just how mediocre was Chris? In his first 4 seasons he was 33-32. He hovered around the 0.500 mark for the rest of his career, which after the A’s wasn’t much.
14. Carlton Fisk – AL All Star – 719 – On the back of the card is the AL RBI leaders of which Carlton is a part of. I am guessing the Ozzie Smith card from pack one is an anomaly. SO far almost every All star card I;ve seen now has the person in the list. Carlton was 8th, behind Cal Ripken and in front of Cecil Cooper.
15. Andy Van Slyke – OF – Cardinals – 683 – I was a big AVS fan! I remember always trying to get him in my fantasy leagues because he could hit the homers, steal the bases and wasn’t going to crush you with a bad batting average. He was another one of my late round steals. By the way I used to do horrible in Fasntasy Baseball so take all this with a grain of salt.
Overall I’d have to give this one a 1.5 star rating. The sars were Sutcliffe, Pendleton, Fisk (AS card), and Van Slyke. Very slim pickings if you ask me. I am having a lot of fun doing this, as I learn about all the players. Many of these guys I could never remember. I didn’t start really getting into baseball until 1988, where I learned almost every player’s name and stats. This is kind of that generation that linked the 70s and 80s. Where as by 1988 you were mainly looking at players from the 80s who I was familiar with. So as the years progress I think I’ll have more to say about each person, so just bear with me until then. Hope you enjoyed.
