let's "play ball" to see what might have been in game 3 of the 1978 world series

in the 1978 world series, the dodgers won the first two games against the yankees, and this young fan was certain that they would complete their revenge against the team that had denied them a championship the year before.  i've mentioned many times that the 1977 world series is really my first baseball watching memory, and i was all-in for the 1978 season.  game 1 of the series was a bit of a blowout, and game 2 had ended with the dramatic bob welch strikeout of mr. october, and as the series shifted to new york i was confident.

the yankees took an early lead on a roy white solo home run off of don sutton, and extended their lead to 2-0 on a groundout by bucky dent.  the dodgers cut the lead in half in the top of the third thanks to a bill russell rbi single.  the score stayed that way until the bottom of the 7th when the yankees scored three times, and that was pretty much the game. the next day, reggie jackson stuck his hip out and the dodgers lost in 10 innings.  after that, the series was over, and the yankees closed it out by winning games 5 and 6.

i'd like to see what would have happened if the bottom of the 7th and top of the 8th innings of game 3 had played out the way topps intended.  i have not done this before, so i don't know how it will turn out.

1978 topps was the first set that i collected and completed. i opened a ton of packs that year, my first as a collector.  it just so happened that that was the year that topps eschewed the cartoons on the backs of their cards and instead printed different plays from a game, with the idea that you could play a game using the card backs. robin yount

will present the rules:

i remember playing games using cards with my neighborhood friends a few times, and my yankee collecting friend seemed to have paul blair batting first for a leadoff home run

each time.  i was suspicious. anyway, let's find out what happens.

don sutton

was pitching for the dodgers.

the aforementioned dent

led off the bottom of the 7th.  here's the back of his card:

ground out - one away.  in the actual game, dent singled to left. next up was mickey rivers,

who also singled in real life.

he singles here, too.  one on, one away, and that brings up roy white, who happens to have a fantastic 1978 topps card.

i should note that paul blair

will not bat in this inning, as he replaces rivers on the base paths just as he did in the actual game.  turns out, it doesn't matter.

ding dong. two-run jack.  white hits a dramatic home run here, too. white had grounded in to a force out against sutton in the actual game, but here gets his second homer of the game.  so now it's 4-1, yankees. still just one out, with thurman munson

coming up.

he walks (he had singled to drive in the first run of the inning in real life) to bring up reggie jackson.

i don't like where this is heading.  this is where i take sutton out, just as lasorda did, and replace him with lance rautzhan.

here's the pitch:

yes, i recall reggie's back is a single. my neighbor friend was disappointed at the time that it wasn't a home run.  anyway, reggie also singled in the actual game (driving in a run, too).  now there are two on and still only one out. next up is lou piniella.

i once ran in to piniella in the minneapolis skyway when the devil rays were in town. he was getting his shoes shined. seemed like a nice guy, but i was not a fan when i was a kid thanks to his yankee status.

uncle lou doubles. i'll say that munson scores and it's second and third with one out, and the score is 5-1 yankees. sound familiar?  piniella had an rbi groundout in the real game, by the way.  graig nettles

is up now.

ground out. i'm going to say the dodgers had the infield in and so no run scored.  nettles flew out to end the 7th in the real game, but here we have only two out, two on with chris chambliss

(who did not bat in the 7th inning of the real game 3) coming up.

rautzhan records the strikeout to end the inning.  three runs on four hits. 5-1, yankees. just like the actual game.

ron guidry

pitched a complete game for the yankees, so he was obviously still pitching. the dodgers' lead-off batter in the top of the 8th was dusty baker

who had singled that night.

not today. one up, one down.

lee lacy was up next.

back in 1978, he erased baker by grounding in to a double play. let's see if he can start a rally.

nope. two outs.

that brings up bill north,

who was an athletic in the 1978 topps set.  let's see if he can do better than the groundout that he hit in the real game.

well, at least he's consistent.

for the record, the dodgers had joe ferguson,

davey lopes,

and bill russell

batting in the 9th. i'm not going to check to see what the yankees would have done in the bottom of the 8th, but that part of the dodger lineup would have

doubled (he struck out in real life)

doubled (he grounded out)

walked (just as it was in the real game 3). that would bring up reggie smith

who struck out to end the game back then, but

grounds out here.  now, in my simulation, it's one out with one run in (lopes' double drove in ferguson) and runners on second and third, as i believe reggie's ground out was actually a hot smash that nettles dove to stop and only had a play at first.  hey, that's fairly close to reality!

next up for the dodgers would have been steve garvey.

don't get excited, i know what the back of his card is.

at least i'll say it was an rbi ground out.  5-3 yankees, two outs, bill russell is on third and ron cey

coming up.

i'll pretend that he took guidry to the warning track, at least.

so, it appears that the dodgers were destined to lose game 3 and the series.  i have a theory that they will beat the yankees this year, though.  that's because the teams that the dodgers have beat in the fall classic are:

yankees (1955)
white sox (1959)
yankees (1963)
twins (1965)
yankees (1981)
a's (1988)

notice a pattern? they can't beat any other team until they beat the bronx bombers.  we'll see.

by the way, this post will be my entry in to it's like having my own card shop's contest, under the 'put together an entire inning of a baseball game just using baseball cards' category.

next year ray fosse?

i think most collectors agree that stadium club brings the best photos to the hobby, from a full set perspective, at least.  this year, there are many great photos featured, even before you get to the short printed photo variations.  one card that has stood out to many is harmon killebrew's.

it's an odd photo, but that is part of stadium club's charm.  it is so unusual, however, that i decided i would try to figure out the circumstances of the photo.  i'm sure many others have done the same, but if you don't know the story behind the photo, read on.

i figured that it wasn't a case of clubhouse cart races, and that was true. the big clue was the person to killebrew's right that is wearing an astros jacket.  

more specifically, it is an astros jacket with their old astrodome logo.

a quick search of baseball reference shows that the 1968 all-star game was played in houston in the "eighth wonder of the world", and killebrew was the starting first baseman.  he popped out in his at bat in the second inning against don drysdale and then was removed from the game during the bottom of the third after recording the putout on a curt flood groundout.  it turns out that killebrew was replaced in the game by boog powell because he had been injured on the previous play. more specifically he heard his right hamstring "snap like a rubber band" while stretching for the throw from jim fregosi to retire flood.

i did not know about this injury, but apparently it was pretty severe and many blamed the field for the injury (killebrew's leg slipped on the dirt in the cutout of the astroturf).  here's a better writeup, with video! 

weird to see an injury related photo on a baseball card, but at least topps didn't use a photo of killebrew being taken off the field on the stretcher!

warren spahn is in my hall of famer collection

i had seen warren spahn's 1965 topps p-coach card at card shows a few times, but i had never owned a warren spahn card until 1999 when i found this card in a pack of 1999 upper deck century legends:

here's the back:

i loved that set, and still do. as a fan of baseball and its history, it is a fantastic set marred only by the licensing issues that kept joe dimaggio, sandy koufax, and pete rose out of it.  if i were to do another set specific blog, that would likely be the set that i would choose. i completed the master set, minus the autographs and relics.

spahn checked in at number 21 in the set which was numbered according to the sporting news' countdown of the 50 greatest players of the 20th century. he was the sixth pitcher listed, following walter johnson, christy mathewson, grover alexander, cy young, and satchel paige.  that tells a pretty good story of how spahn fit in amongst his peers. i realize that wins are today considered to be a 'junk' stat (and i agree to a large extent), but i was impressed as a teenager to find out that spahn's 363 career wins were 63 more than early wynn's (who had pitched at the same time as spahn), and that no pitcher had reached 300 wins since 1941 when lefty grove won his 300th (and final) game. when spahn retired in 1965, robin roberts (who would retire the following year) became the active wins leader with just over 280 victories.

spahn also pitched at the same time as bob feller, who was featured in the last hall of famer collection post. both pitchers lost 3 years to military service, although spahn was earlier in his career than feller was. spahn wound up with 2,583 strikeouts to feller's 2,581, so when he retired, only walter johnson and cy young were ahead of him on the all-time leader board.  like feller, spahn is in my hall of famer collection under my 'fan of the game' umbrella.

here's my hall of famer collection as its been documented so far:

babe ruth - 2003 topps tribute world series edition world series tribute relic 351/425:

bob feller - 2001 topps archives

jackie robinson - 2004 topps clubhouse collection clubhouse relics

warren spahn - 1999 upper deck century legends epic signatures

hank aaron - 2004 topps originals 1979 topps all-time record holders rbi 03/32:

pete rose* - 2018 panini flawless legendary signatures 15/25

you can find the full list of hall of famers (and some not - yet) that i aim to include in this collection at my want list site.

*not currently a member of the hall of fame

bob feller is in my hall of famer collection

it's not too often that you pull a card signed by a hall of famer from a pack of cards, but i've done so a few times now.  one of the earliest was in 2001 when i found this bob feller card in a pack of topps archives:

here's the back:

feller's career ended in 1956, so he was one that i only knew about from books and old footage.  he lost 3+ seasons in his mid-20's to service during world war ii, ultimately falling short of the two main pitching counting stats with 266 wins and 2,581 strikeouts. i think it is safe to say that he would have hit 300 wins and 3,000 strikeouts if not for the military service.  still, when feller retired, he was number 3 on the all-time strikeout list behind only walter johnson and cy young.

feller was a friend to collectors as he was a generous signer, and his museum in his hometown of van meter, iowa hosted many signing events. he even came up to twinsfest a time or two, and i was mightily disappointed when i decided not to attend in 2011 and later found out that his museum hosted none other than steve garvey at the event.

feller's presence in my hall of famer collection definitely falls under the umbrella of being a fan of the game. that and convenience, i suppose.

here's my hall of famer collection as its been documented so far:

babe ruth - 2003 topps tribute world series edition world series tribute relic 351/425:

bob feller - 2001 topps archives

jackie robinson - 2004 topps clubhouse collection clubhouse relics

hank aaron - 2004 topps originals 1979 topps all-time record holders rbi 03/32:

pete rose* - 2018 panini flawless legendary signatures 15/25

you can find the full list of hall of famers (and some not - yet) that i aim to include in this collection at my want list site.

*not currently a member of the hall of fame

pete rose* is in my hall of famer collection

as a baseball fan in the late 1970's, there was no escaping pete rose.  and, with the reds in the national league west, i had plenty of opportunities to witness his exploits on the field.  i was a fan, for sure.  rose also attended the hot stove banquet that took place in my hometown each offseason, and his may have been the first in person autograph i ever obtained.

obviously, pete is not in the hall of fame, but he is in my collection.  here's his 2018 panini flawless legendary signatures card, numbered 15/25:

here's the back:

as of right now, this is the only non-licensed card in my hall of famer collection. there will certainly be more, but i opt for licensed cards when there is a choice.

i saw pete rose play a few times in person, and i recently made it to a game in cincinnati for the first time. it was good to see his statue out in front of great american ballpark and his number 14 hanging among the other retired numbers.  i was very happy that he was allowed to be a member of the all-century team and take part in the on-field ceremony despite his permanent ban status, and maybe someday he will be allowed in to the hall of fame. he should not have bet on baseball, but he was a great player and one of my favorites to follow.

here's my hall of famer collection as its been documented so far:

babe ruth - 2003 topps tribute world series edition world series tribute relic 351/425:

jackie robinson - 2004 topps clubhouse collection clubhouse relics

hank aaron - 2004 topps originals 1979 topps all-time record holders rbi 03/32:

pete rose* - 2018 panini flawless legendary signatures 15/25

you can find the full list of hall of famers (and some not - yet) that i aim to include in this collection at my want list site.

*not currently a member of the hall of fame

jackie robinson is in my hall of famer collection

jackie robinson was never a los angeles dodger, but thankfully the dodger organization didn't leave him behind when they left brooklyn. one of my favorite things about baseball is its history and the easy links that today's game provides to the game of yesteryear, and the dodgers have a wealth of history that i devoured as a young fan. it didn't hurt to have vin scully telling dodger stories from the 1950's (and other decades) on broadcasts for the first forty-six years of my life. as you might expect, jackie robinson was a big part of the stories that i read and heard.

here is the card of jackie robinson that sits in my hall of famer collection:

great photo selection here with jackie's number 42 prominently on display.  here's the back:

it's a relic card from 2004 topps clubhouse collection as the back attests.  i received this card from wes as a result of selecting the dodgers in his final pack breaking hurrah.  it turned out to be a double, so it works nicely with this new mini-collection of mine (as a reminder, i "need" to have doubles of the dodgers (and vladimir guerrero) featured in this collection - one card for my team collection (or player collection, in the case of vladdy), and one for the hall of famer collection).

i can remember the first time i began to understand that before jackie there were no african-american ballplayers. i approached my dad and asked him if it were true that there was a time that dusty baker wouldn't have been able to play in the major leagues. i couldn't imagine the dodgers without dusty or reggie smith or bill north or any of the other players of color that were on the roster and in my card collection.  it was a bizarre concept that i frankly had trouble understanding, and it made me appreciate the accomplishments of jackie and his contemporaries even more.

obviously i never saw jackie play, having been born less than two years before he passed, but he has been one of my favorite players since i first learned about him breaking the color barrier. i consider one of the jewels of my collection to be his 1952 topps card, and i hope one day to add to it his 1948 leaf card as well as a cut auto card, but for this collection the card above will suffice.

here's my hall of famer collection as its been documented so far:

babe ruth - 2003 topps tribute world series edition world series tribute relic 351/425:

jackie robinson - 2004 topps clubhouse collection clubhouse relics

hank aaron - 2004 topps originals 1979 topps all-time record holders rbi 03/32: