So, here’s Graig Nettles – in action (’cause Topps really didn’t understand that action shots should be on every card anyway)

I remember being disappointed with this card after I found out from the other neighborhood kids that Graig was a really good fielder. I couldn’t help but wonder why the picture wasn’t showing him make a great play at third base.

I heard all about his great grabs in the ’78 World Series against the Dodgers. I heard all about a myriad of other fantastic plays he’d made too.

Year later, I found out he won only two gold gloves, which seemed like a lot less than he deserved when I think back to what I’d heard when I was eight.

Don’t get me wrong though, Graig wasn’t all glove, he led the American League in HR’s in ’76. That was six years before this card though, and to an eight year old, that was nearly a lifetime ago.

Topps probably showed him batting, ’cause he was the ALCS MVP in ’81, batting .500/.571/.917 against the Oakland A’s. Of course, without them noting anything recent on the back of this card, a new fan like myself had absolutely no clue about any of that.

He was also a very smart player, which is probably why he lasted 22 seasons in the major leagues. I mean you can have skills get you far but you need to be smart too, in order to be an All-Star at age 40.

Speaking of that, most people don’t realize that Nettles was a pivotal figure in the infamous pine tar incident with George Brett. Yep. Graig remembered a 1975 game where the Twins had used the rule to get Yankees catcher Thurman Munson called out.

Interestingly, Graig started his career in the Twins organization. They drafted him in ’65, and then he spent a year in each level of the minors before winding up pin 96 games for the Minnesota team that won the first AL West.

Right after that season he was traded to Cleveland, where he spent a couple seasons before finding his way to the Bronx to hold down third base as the Yankees came back from the dead.

He also had a reputation for being tough. Not only was he a part of the Yankees-Red Sox brawls in the 70′s, but he didn’t back down in the infamous ’84 Braves-Padres fight.

By the time his career was all said & done, he’d accumulated 2 gold gloves, was a 6 time All-Star, helped his team to the World Series 4 times, and held the record for most HR’s by a 3rd baseman in the AL with 390.

To this day, he holds that record. So in hindsight, the card I thought was stupid, turned out to be a good representation of Graig Nettles.

I always liked this card though, ’cause the name was unique and his look was different. A lot of cards in this set show guys with beards, mustache’s, and hair flying out from under their cap. This guy has none of that going on. He’s got his own look, and a concentrated stare.

After a brief cup of coffee in the majors with San Diego in the late 70′s, he had a hard time getting back. By ’81, he’d been traded to the Yankees and was one of the best starters in AAA Columbus, going 11-3 on the strength of a 3.09 ERA before the Yanks brought him back to the majors for his only stint in the Bronx. Last time Dave had thrown off a major league mound, was early 1978 when he pitched two scoreless innings against the Phillies powerhouse.

So you can imagine his nerves, as he took the mound against the Tigers on August 13th, probably hopin’ to make a good enough impression to keep himself in the majors this time. Unfortunately he faced three batters, getting one out, and was replaced by Ron Davis.

His next outing, he struggled worse, giving up 4 ER’s while facing 19 batters in 3 2/3. After that though, Dave didn’t give up another run in his next three appearances. In hindsight, he was probably was more than nervous — he was having a little trouble adjusting to a non-starting role. He finally gets it straight, but the Yankees had seen enough and sent him back down to Columbus after only eight days on the big league roster.

When ’82 rolled around, the Yankees invited him to camp and gave him another shot. He didn’t make the team though, and ended up spending the summer of ’82 pitching for the AAA Columbus Clippers.

Considering the Yankees troubles that season, Dave might’ve made it back to the major for another stint if he’d been pitching better than a 4.57 ERA. In all fairness, some of that was due to the Clippers defense allowing more hits off their pitchers than the previous season. Some of it was Dave’s fault though, ’cause he was walking an extra batter per 9 IP and giving up slightly more HR’s than he used to.

Eventually, he’d be traded to the Phillies and get back on a major league mound in ’84 and again in ’85 with the White Sox, before ending his career with the AAA Buffalo Bisons in ’86. After his playing days, he became part of the coaching staff at Prince William college.

Not only did he play third base for the Yankees like Alex Rodriguez, but he came up to the major leagues as an infielder for a west coast AL team, batted over .400 in a post-season series, and his rookie card is sought after by collectors. All of that, can describe the A-Rod of old or the A-Rod of new.

The differences come in the details to the details.

Aurelio’s rookie card is valuable simply ’cause he doesn’t actually appear on it. The Angels batboy posed for the picture and ended up in the 1969 Topps set instead.

This A-Rod floated around the majors, spending time in Washington, Detroit, and San Diego, before landing in New York in August of 1980. A combination of the Padres wanting to rebuild their team and the Yanks needing a replacement for regular third baseman Graig Nettles, who was going to be out for a month with hepatitis.

The Yankees would’ve been better off calling up a corner infielder from Columbus, ’cause Aurelio was worth -1.3 WAR (B-Ref) for the rest of the ’80 season. Not much of a help. Didn’t really matter though, as the Yankees won 103 games and went to the playoffs against the Royals years before they turned into the Keystone Cop Royals.

Surprisingly, the next season, Aurelio turned out to be an excellent part time player, batting .346/.370/.500 in 55 PA. As if that wasn’t enough, he capped off the season batting .417 in 13 PA’s (4 games) against the Dodgers in his only World Series plate appearance. This is all the more amazing when you consider the Dodger pitching shut down most of the Yankees hitters.

In December, the Bronx Bombers realized they’d bought low and it was time to sell high, trading A-Rod to the Blue Jays in December. Toronto only kept him ’til the season was about to start though, sending him to the ChiSox for Wayne Nordhagen.

That 1982 season on the Southside of Chicago was a pretty forgettable one. According to Baseball-Reference, he had a 0.0 WAR for the season, while Fangraphs version of the stat gives him only a tad better at 0.7 WAR. He had his moments though.

Ironically, one of those moments came on August 4 against the Yankees, exactly two years after he was traded to the Bronx. He went 2-for-3 against his old team, including 2 RBI’s and a solo homer.

Three days later, in Boston, A-Rod would smack another solo shot, going 2-for-4, driving in a pair of runs, helping the White Sox beat the Red Sox 7-3.

After 1982, Aurelio signed on with the Baltimore Orioles until August when he was cut, and then signed with the White Sox again. The birds went on to beat the White Sox in the playoffs and then win the World Series. Since Aurelio had played 45 games with Baltimore, he earned a championship ring even though he didn’t play in that series. Interesting way to end a career really. Overachieve in a World Series that your team loses, and then win a World Series you don’t even play in.

Random Facts & Stats—

• Was the 14th major leaguer to have been born in Mexico.
• Fielding percentage of .964
• Won the 1976 AL gold glove
• Best season was 1970. 5.2 bWAR/6.1 fWAR (That’s B-R & Fangraphs)
• Had a .342 OBP with runners on 2nd & 3rd
• Slugged .609 in the Kingdome

Yeah. At the break, Goose led all major league relievers by a few miles with a 0.56 ERA & 17 saves. His 10 K’s per 9 were second only to teammate Ron Davis. In fact, Goose only allowed 2 earned runs all season before the midsummer classic.

Yet, the same fans who voted in Bucky Dent and a Reggie Jackson with a .199 batting average, didn’t vote in the Goose. Very odd.

Fortunately, Royals manager Jim Frey was smart enough to select Gossage to fill out the All-Star pitching staff. Unfortunately, he was complaining of “throbbing pain” in his shoulder and couldn’t pitch that week.

So Ron Davis was chosen to replace Goose’s spot on the All-Star roster. Ron came in to pitch the seventh inning, with the American League up 4-2. After giving up a home run to the hot hitting Gary Carter, he gets the next three outs. He did his part, holding the lead for the AL.

Yet, Topps decided to make an All-Star card for Goose and not Ron, even though neither wasn’t voted in and Goose never even played in the game while Ron did a pretty good performance on that hot August night in Cleveland. Huh?

PS. I’m not sure (yet) who the guys in the background of the photo are. Since this was clearly taken during spring training, it’s possible they’re not even guys on the ’81 Yankees regular season roster.

Don’t get me wrong, Bucky had his moments, but he was hitting .241/.297/.410 at the break. He’d never won a gold glove or proven to be a big hitter, so it’s not like he gets in on reputation. It’s not like fans all over the country are thinking “let’s vote in Dent, ’cause he might provide some excitement like he often does”.

No disrespect to Bucky, but just keepin’ it real. As one newspaper put it, “is Bucky Dent really better than Robin Yount?“. Robin had been leading all shortstops in votes on June 9th, but by August 4th when new vote totals were announced, Robin was suddenly fourth. Didn’t make sense to Milwaukee and it don’t make sense to me either.

Bucky made the most of his All-Star appearance though, going 2-for-2, with a double.

His first time up, he slaps a single to right, then moves over to 3rd base on Tom Paciorek’s single. Seemed like a great position to be in with Rod Carew coming to the plate, but Carew grounded out.

With the American League down 1-0 in the 4th, Bucky smacks a one out double down the other side of the field, moving Dwight Evans over to 3rd base. Gorman Thomas then pops out to 2nd and Rod Carew strikes out.

You just never know how it’s going to play out.

A couple of things seemed to contribute to this long slump.

First, just before spring training started, the Yankees and Reggie started trying to work on a new contract. So that was on his mind, and like most things in the Bronx Zoo, it wasn’t going smoothly.

Second, he tore a tendon just as the regular season was beginning, and found himself on the 15 day disabled list. I don’t know much about torn tendons, but I don’t imagine they fully heal in two weeks. So he was probably playing sooner than he should’ve.

He wasn’t all bad though in the first half though. He’d only hit into 4 double plays, so he wasn’t turning into a rally killer. When he did got a hit, almost 20% of them went over the fence. He also drew a walk in 16.5% of his PA’s, which was his highest rate since 1969.

Still, he wasn’t playing like an All-Star. The fans knew though, that he is Reggie Jackson. At any moment, he could slam one. He might even strike out in dramatic fashion. Either way, they wanted to see if Reggie had anything in store for them.

Unfortunately, Reggie only came to the plate once, and bounced the ball back to Tom Seaver and was promptly thrown out. So, the fans got what they voted for—a slumping Reggie Jackson.

During a 9 game win streak that catapulted the Yanks into 1st place just before the player strike, Dave was crucial to this all important win streak, slugging .667 and drove in 11 runs in those 9 games.

It was even more than that though that earned Dave his first All-Star appearance in the American League.

He led the team in some important categories (minimum 50 PA’s) in the first half of the season.— BA (.324), RBI’s (40), and tying for the team lead in OBP (.395), & HR’s (7). He was also very close in runs (32) and slugging (.495), coming in 2nd.

With Reggie Jackson mired in a slump, hitting just .199 and slugging .379 during the first half, the team needed every ounce of Winfield in order to sniff a division title.

When the All-Star game was finally played, Dave went 0-for-4 with a walk, but he shined defensively. He played, not like a veteran assured of a job, but like a rookie playing his hardest to win a spot on the team. He just kept wanting to win, while everyone else was still wondering if he was worth the huge contract.

Angels second baseman Bobby Grich actually hit better than Willie leading up to the strike, but he broke a finger when a pitch struck his hand on June 6 against Baltimore. He probably could’ve played in the All-Star game, but I’m sure being on the DL made a lot of fans not bother voting for him.

There might’ve been some New York bias working it’s way into the vote too, but it’s hard to argue that’s the main reason he wound up starting the midsummer classic when you look at what he was doing.

Willie started off 1981 pretty slow, but was getting hot by the time June rolled around. Then, as the Yankees leadoff batter, he got busy posting a .407 OBP in front of future Hall of Famers Dave Winfield & Reggie Jackson. This enabled him to score 10 runs in those 11 games, helping the Yankees go from 4th place to 1st, ensuring a playoff spot.

That’s exactly what was asked of Randolph, and the fans noticed.

In 1968, his first full season and also the year of the pitcher, he finished in the AL top 10 in WAR, slugging percentage, total bases, runs batted in, and runs created. He also finished 4th in HR’s with 29, and 2nd in power-speed number with 18.9.

The next year, mostly to a very hot June & July, he was on pace to break the single season home run record but ended up with only 47. Amazingly that didn’t even lead the league, but he did lead the league in runs scored (123), slugging percentage (.608), WAR (9.7), and OPS+ (189).

In 1970, he began to show a knack for hitting better at the end of the season. From September 5 through October 1, he hit more HR’s & drove in more runs, than he did in any other month of the season. He also posted his best monthly hitting averages for the season during that period too.

In 1971, Reggie would hit his famous over-the-roof shot in the All-Star game, smack a rare inside-the-park walk-off homer in August, and the season finished with Reggie’s Swingin’ A’s bringing home a World Series trophy. This would mark the beginning of an interesting streak. From 1971-1982, every American League team to win the World Series, had Reggie Jackson on their team.

By early ’76, the concept of free agency started to take hold and it began to tear the A’s dynasty apart. The A’s, not wanting to negotiate to pay valuable players higher salaries or longer contracts, traded Reggie Jackson to Baltimore. He refused to go at first, but eventually joined the Orioles without signing a contract, effectively making him a free agent after the season.

In his first game for the O’s, he drove in the tying run against the A’s, as Baltimore won 4-3.

That was just the start of his “revenge against Oakland”. Throughout his career, in 114 games against the A’s, Reggie batted .283/.401/.547 while smacking 30 HR’s, 91 RBI’s. That’s an MVP caliber season and it wasn’t even a full season’s worth of games.

Anyway, 1977 is when “the straw that stirs the drink” joined the Yankees and the place turned into a zoo. It’s also when the Yankees became World Champions again, after a 15 year “drought”. They’d lost 3 Series in that period, but just couldn’t do better. The once great franchise that was mired for a decade in losing ways, was suddenly revitalized by Mr October.

After playing for the Bronx Bombers in 3 World Series, his contract was up and he didn’t want the continuing drama of Steinbrenner’s world. Reggie almost went to Atlanta, but then signed with the Angels.

His first year in southern California, he led the league in HR’s (39) and helped lead his team to the AL Championship series, but they lost in a hard fought 5 games to Harvey’s Wallbangers.

After that, Reggie was on the downhill slide of his career, earning 2 more All-Star appearances and never reaching the post-season again. His final season, 1987, he returned to the Oakland A’s and finished his career on October 4th going 2-for-3 with a walk, at Comiskey Park in a loss to the White Sox.

Ron Guidry looks like plastic man here, with his skinny long limbs stretched out just before he whips the ball towards home plate. The mustache and hat are all just part of disguise to make him look like an average Joe….or, average Ron.

This mutant was my favorite Yankee hurler when I was eight. The back of this card tells about his accomplishments in the World Series a few years earlier and the teenagers in the neighborhood were always eager to wow me with stories of Guidry in ’78.

It wasn’t ’til just a couple years ago though, that I actually got to see Ron Guidry’s 18 K shutout on June 17, 1978, when the YES Network showed it. I remember noticing the break he had on his slider that day was just incredible. I’m still not sure how the Angels managed to get 4 hits.

He followed up his historic ’78 with a great ’79, going 18-8 on the strength of a 2.78 ERA. He probably would’ve won 20 games for the 2nd straight year, but he didn’t get much run support in 5 of his starts, losing two games where he allowed just 1 run, and another three games where he allowed just 2 runs.

During ’80, Guidry struggled a bit in mid-season, but Guidry-Davis-Gossage was still a great recipe for success that helped the Yankees get back to the playoffs for the next couple seasons. Although, the presence of Goose Gossage and Ron Davis would lead to Ron Guidry being thought of as a seven inning pitcher (this was seen as a bad thing back then). It wasn’t just Steinbrenner who felt this, as it later came out that the Astros were interested in Guidry for their bullpen! Apparently folks felt he could finish what he started.

In late ’80, the Red Sox were interested in trading Fred Lynn for Guidry, and the teams talked about it for a few weeks, but the Yanks just didn’t want to pull the trigger on that trade.

Guidry rewarded the Bronx Bombers for that, by posting a 2.76 ERA and leading the AL in WHIP and SO/BB ratio in ’81, helpin’ the team reach a fourth World Series in just six seasons.

From 1975-1981, Guidry led the Yankees pitching staff in victories (87), strikeouts (922), WAR (25), shutouts (19), and was 2nd in ERA+ (180), OPS+ allowed (73), and K/9 (7.55)… 2nd only to Hall of Famer Goose Gossage.

More than half a decade of anchoring the New York starting staff earned him interest from most teams when he became a free agent, resulting in a big contract after the ’81 season.

And that’s where Ron’s 1982 season picks up…. (to be continued)