#638 - Cubs/Jim Marshall

Card fact: This is the final team card in the set. I'll commemorate it by noting which color combinations were used with each team:

1. Orange-yellow (8): Yankees, Braves, Reds, Rangers, Twins, Angels, Royals, Phillies
2. Brown-orange (6): Cubs, A's, Astros, Dodgers, Giants, Orioles
3. Tan-light blue (6): Mets, Pirates, White Sox, Cardinals, Red Sox, Padres
4. Brown-tan (4): Brewers, Indians, Expos, Tigers

What I thought about this card then: Zzzzzzzzzzz. Team card.

What I think about this card now: Well, first, it's probably the most out-of-focus, far-away team photo in the whole set, which might explain why the Cubs stuck with floating head team cards for most of the '70s and early '80s.

Secondly, I still don't know why the Cubs went with the team pose and the White Sox the floating heads in '75 when it was flip-flopped all the other years.

Other stuff: The Cubs finished dead last in 1974, their first last-place finish since 1966. Jim Marshall replaced Whitey Lockman as manager in the middle of the season. Marshall would last two more sub-.500 seasons before Herman Franks took over for the 1977 season.

(EDIT: Jim Marshall died Sept. 7, 2025 at age 95).

Back facts: Darold Knowles, Bob Locker and Manny Trillo are all listed on the Cubs checklist although none played for the team in '74. All are airbrushed into Cubs caps.

Other blog stuff: One last opportunity to see how well Topps represented a team from the 1974 season. Let's see how many Cubs from '74 were in the Topps set.

The Cubs used 38 players in 1974, including a bunch of guys I never knew (Herb Hutson? Ron Dunn?). Topps featured 26 of those players, including Billy Williams as an airbrushed Athletic, and Horacio Pina as an airbrushed Angel.

My quest to see if Topps left out anyone significant is rather pointless with the Cubs, because it's the Cubs! Come on! The guy with the most at-bats who didn't get a card is Dave Rosello. He hit .203 in 148 at-bats. Rob Sperring also didn't get a card. He hit .206 in 107 at-bats.

So Topps kindly represented 68.42% of the '74 Cubs in the '75 set.

This is where they rank with the other teams:

1. Twins 81.25% of players featured
2. Tigers 78.37%
3. Orioles 78.13%
4. Braves 77.78%
5. Reds 77.14%
6. A's 75.0%
7. Dodgers 74.29%
7. Astros 74.29%
9. Giants 71.43%
10. Indians 71.11%
11. Royals 70.59%
12. Yankees 70.45%
13. Red Sox 70.27%
14. Angels 68.89%

15. Cubs 68.42%

16. Expos 68.29%

17. Brewers 66.67%
18. Rangers 65.79%
19. Cardinals 65.12%
20. White Sox 65.0%
21. Phillies 62.5%
22. Mets 62.16%
23. Pirates 61.5%

24. Padres 55.8%

That's all of them! The Twins are better represented in the set than any other team. How about that?

And my real mission was to see if anyone major was left out of the set as has been the case in some other Topps sets. I wasn't able to find anyone significant, though, in the '75 set.

#611 - Yankees/Bill Virdon

Card fact: With this card, the orange-yellow border is officially the border color of choice for the team cards. Eight of the team cards have orange-yellow borders. The next closest is the tan-light blue combination with six cards, followed by brown-orange (five cards) and brown-tan (four cards). There is just one team card left.

What I thought about this card then: It's a team card. I had no thoughts.

What I think about this card now: This has to be the most disorganized team photo in the entire set. Look, I've circled the examples for you:

Most of the guys circled in red are not looking at the camera at all. They're all looking off to their right. Meanwhile, the guy circled in blue is in full guffaw after being told something funny by either Dick Tidrow or, um, some other guy in a mustache. And the guy circled in green -- who may or may not be Bobby Murcer -- has his head down and his hand on his cap like he doesn't want his photo taken.

Was the photographer that lousy or did he have a difficult time controlling the team and just said, "to hell with it."?

Other stuff: The Yankees finished in second place in 1974, which was their best finish in 10 years. But New York was barely above .500 two-thirds of the way through 1975 and that wasn't good enough for the new boss, George Steinbrenner. Virdon was dismissed and replaced by Billy Martin, and you know what happened after that.

Back facts: Scott McGregor is listed on the Yankees checklist and is featured on one of the upcoming 4-player rookie cards, but he never pitched a major league game for the Yankees. He was part of that huge trade with the Orioles in 1976.

Other blog stuff: Let's see how well Topps represented the 1974 Yankees in the set. New York sure made it difficult with a bunch of transactions.

The Yankees used 44 players in 1974, which is just one player short of the top number used by the Angels and Indians that season. Topps featured 31 of those N.Y. players in the '75 set, including several pictured with other teams -- Mike Hegan with the Brewers, Bobby Murcer with the Giants, and Steve Kline, Fred Beene, Fritz Peterson and Tom Buskey with the Indians. Topps also threw in McGregor and airbrushed Bobby Bonds into a Yankee cap.

The player with the most at-bats for the Yankees who wasn't featured on a card was infielder Fernando Gonzalez. He hit .215 in 121 at-bats in 1974, had a card in the '74 set and would play in the majors through 1979. But after '74, Gonzalez headed to the Mexican League and didn't return to the majors until 1978.

So, Topps featured just over 70 percent of the players who competed for the Yankees in '74, which puts New York in the middle of the pack:

1. Twins 81.25% of players featured
2. Tigers 78.37%
3. Orioles 78.13%
4. Braves 77.78%
5. Reds 77.14%
6. A's 75.0%
7. Dodgers 74.29%
7. Astros 74.29%
9. Giants 71.43%
10. Indians 71.11%
11. Royals 70.59%
12. Yankees 70.45%
13. Red Sox 70.27%
14. Angels 68.89%
15. Expos 68.29%
16. Brewers 66.67%
17. Rangers 65.79%
18. Cardinals 65.12%
19. White Sox 65.0%
20. Phillies 62.5%
21. Mets 62.16%
22. Pirates 61.5%
23. Padres 55.8%

#589 - Braves/Clyde King

Card fact: This is Clyde King's first-and-only appearance on a card with the Braves. He was hired to replace Eddie Mathews in the middle of the 1974 season.

What I thought about this card then: I associate it with that sheet of flimsy '75 team cards that we ordered from Topps. Perhaps the Braves card was positioned first (I don't remember if they were in alphabetical order).

What I think about this card now: Well aside from this being probably one of the last examples of someone wearing black-framed glasses until Joe Maddon came along, somebody, please, PLEASE tell me what the story is with the little dude in the three-piece suit just above King's head. That is some team card craziness.

Other stuff: The Braves finished 88-74 and in third place in the National League West. But King lasted only into the middle of the 1975 season before he was let go. It was the '70s and the Braves were about to get really awful. King was replaced by someone named Connie Ryan to finish out the '75 season. Dave Bristol took over for 1976.

Back facts: The checklist doesn't look right without Hank Aaron's name at the beginning. But Topps was on the ball after the offseason trade of Aaron to the Brewers. New acquisition Dave May's name is listed in the middle of the second column without any signs of distress.

Other blog stuff: Let's see if the '74 Braves were represented properly by Topps.

The Braves used 36 players in 1974. Topps featured 28 of those players, including Danny Frisella, who is listed as a Padre in the set, and, of course, Hank Aaron, who is listed as a Brewer.

Of the players not featured, there isn't much of note. Pitcher Jack Aker appeared in 17 games for the Braves, but didn't even finish the season with them, getting purchased by the Mets in June. Utility player Ivan Murrell had 133 at-bats for the Braves, but it was the last season of his career.

The Braves fair quite well in terms of the percentage of '74 roster players featured in the '75 set:

1. Twins 81.25% of players featured
2. Tigers 78.37%
3. Orioles 78.13%
4. Braves 77.78%
5. Reds 77.14%
6. A's 75.0%
7. Dodgers 74.29%
7. Astros 74.29%
9. Giants 71.43%
10. Indians 71.11%
11. Royals 70.59%
12. Red Sox 70.27%
13. Angels 68.89%
14. Expos 68.29%
15. Brewers 66.67%
16. Rangers 65.79%
17. Cardinals 65.12%
18. White Sox 65.0%
19. Phillies 62.5%
20. Mets 62.16%
21. Pirates 61.5%
22. Padres 55.8%

#561 - A's/Alvin Dark

Card fact: The A's had the best damn team cards in history. You cannot argue this point without showing your bias. Best. Damn. Team. Cards.

What I thought about this card then: As you know, I didn't think much of team cards as a kid, but I'm sure I thought this was slightly cool.

What I think about this card now: I wonder how much time it took the photographer to line up the players in alternating uniform colors? Or did they have it down to a science since they did it every year?

Other stuff: Alvin Dark makes his first appearance with the Oakland A's as he replaced Dick Williams as manager for the 1974 season. Dark would lead the A's to their third consecutive World Series title. He would last until the end of the '75 season, getting fired by Charlie Finley after the A's lost in the ALCS to the Red Sox.

Dark was in his fourth of five major league managing stints. He also managed the Giants (he was the third manager to lead teams from both leagues to the World Series), Kansas City A's, Indians and Padres. Dark is the oldest surviving manager of a World Series-winning team.

Back facts: Many familiar names there, but of course I get the biggest kick out of "Washington, H./PR"

Other blog stuff: Let's see how well Topps represented the World Champions of 1974 in the '75 set.

Oakland used 36 players in 1974. Topps featured 27 of those players in the set, including Darold Knowles airbrushed into a Cubs cap. It also featured Billy Williams as an Oakland A, even though he didn't play for them in 1974.

Topps didn't skip any major contributors to the A's team, but there is one player who played quite a bit in '74 who did not get a card in 1975.

Deron Johnson began with the A's and played in 110 games total in 1974. He was dealt from Oakland to Milwaukee in June of 1974 (for Bill Parsons, who did get a card). Then, in September, he was purchased by the Red Sox and finished the season in Boston.

Topps must have either thrown up its hands at Johnson's ever-changing team ways, or it was scared off by his .171 average in 351 at-bats. The thing that I find amusing is Topps did feature Johnson as a Red Sox player in the 1976 set. But the Red Sox released him in October of 1975 before the '76 set even came out. Johnson played for the White Sox for most of '75 before getting dealt back to the Red Sox at the end of September. Topps wisely chose not to feature him in the 1977 set.

Anyway, Topps featured 75 percent of the team in its 75 set. Here is where the A's rank:

1. Twins 81.25% of players featured
2. Tigers 78.37%
3. Orioles 78.13%
4. Reds 77.14%
5. A's 75.0%
6. Dodgers 74.29%
6. Astros 74.29%
8. Giants 71.43%
9. Indians 71.11%
10. Royals 70.59%
11. Red Sox 70.27%
12. Angels 68.89%
13. Expos 68.29%
14. Brewers 66.67%
15. Rangers 65.79%
16. Cardinals 65.12%
17. White Sox 65.0%
18. Phillies 62.5%
19. Mets 62.16%
20. Pirates 61.5%
21. Padres 55.8%

#531 - Reds/Sparky Anderson

Card fact: This is the sixth orange-yellow bordered team card. That ties it with the tan-light blue border combination as the color combo on the most team cards.

What I thought about this card then: Team card, shmeem card.

What I think about this card now: This is the one card in the entire set that I had the most trouble obtaining in respectable shape. For a long time, my complete collection featured a Reds team card with fully rounded corners because it was all I could find. Repeated trips to card shows and shops failed to yield anything any better. Fortunately, I now have one that is up to my not-so-exacting standards.

Other stuff: In 1974, Sparky Anderson and the Big Red Machine suffered through the one black mark in their five-year reign in the National League West. The Reds won the N.L. West in 1972, 73, 75 and 76, but finished second to the upstart Dodgers in '74.

Back facts: John Vukovich, listed last on the checklist, is the only player on that list who did not play for the Reds in 1974. He played for the Brewers and is airbrushed into a Reds cap on his card.

Other blog stuff: The Reds were a well-known team in 1974, so I doubt Topps left anyone notable off the team, but let's take a look.

Cincinnati used 35 players in 1974. Topps featured cards of 27 of them, plus one of airbrushed Vukovich, in the 1975 set. It also produced a card of Reds pitcher Roger Nelson, who is airbrushed into a Cardinals cap on his '75 card. So, 27 out of 35 is a 77.14 percentage, which is one of the higher ones yet.

All of the top players are present and accounted for. Utility player Andy Kosco (37 at-bats) and relief pitcher Dick Baney (22 games) had the most appearances among players without cards. Both were at the end of their careers (although Baney was only 27 at the time).

So, here is where the Reds rank with the other teams featured so far:

1. Twins 81.25% of players featured
2. Tigers 78.37%
3. Orioles 78.13%
4. Reds 77.14%
5. Dodgers 74.29%
5. Astros 74.29%
7. Giants 71.43%
8. Indians 71.11%
9. Royals 70.59%
10. Red Sox 70.27%
11. Angels 68.89%
12. Expos 68.29%
13. Brewers 66.67%
14. Rangers 65.79%
15. Cardinals 65.12%
16. White Sox 65.0%
17. Phillies 62.5%
18. Mets 62.16%
19. Pirates 61.5%
20. Padres 55.8%


Only four more chances for the Padres to get out of the basement.

#511 - Rangers/Billy Martin

Card fact: Let's see if I can convince myself that Billy Martin is wearing Rangers garb in the inset photo. He is airbrushed into a Rangers cap in the 1974 set. This cap looks more realistic, but the jersey almost looks like a road Twins jersey. Martin was manager of the Twins in 1969, but I don't believe he had facial hair at the time. And why would Topps drag out a five-year-old photo of Martin, especially when he managed the Tigers from 1971-73? So I'm saying Martin is definitely wearing a Rangers get-up.

What I thought about this card then: Just like the last team card featured, the Astros, I had this card in mini form. No thoughts other than it was itty-bitty.

What I think about this card now: The Lone Star scoreboard rules. Also, I believe Jim Bibby and Fergie Jenkins are book-ending the back row. They always grow pitchers bigger.

Other stuff: The Rangers had their first real encounter with contention in 1974, thanks to Martin's first full season with the team. Texas finished second in the A.L. West after being dead last in 1972 and 73. The Rangers were third in 1975, but Martin didn't make it to the end of the season. He was fired when the Rangers got off to a 44-51 start.

Back facts: There is not one thing out of place on this checklist. No misspellings, players out of order, unlisted players. Nothing. Probably not the first one in the set, but there's probably only been 5 or 6.

Other blog stuff: Here is where we see how well Topps represented the 1974 Texas Rangers.

The Rangers used 38 players to get out of the basement in 1974. Topps featured cards of 25 of those players. That includes Alex Johnson, who is airbrushed into a Yankees cap in the 1975 set. Nobody significant from the team was overlooked. Catcher Duke Sims, at the end of his career, had the most at-bats of players not featured with 118. There were an awful lot of fringe players on the team, though.

So that puts Texas at 65.8 percent, which is in the bottom third of the list so far:

1. Twins 81.25% of players featured
2. Tigers 78.37%
3. Orioles 78.13%
4. Dodgers 74.29%
4. Astros 74.29%
6. Giants 71.43%
7. Indians 71.11%
8. Royals 70.59%
9. Red Sox 70.27%
10. Angels 68.89%
11. Expos 68.29%
12. Brewers 66.67%
13. Rangers 65.79%
14. Cardinals 65.12%
15. White Sox 65.0%
16. Phillies 62.5%
17. Mets 62.16%
18. Pirates 61.5%
19. Padres 55.8%

#487 - Astros/Preston Gomez

Card fact: The 1974 season was Preston Gomez's first with the Astros, although he does have a card as an Astro in the '74 Topps set.

What I thought about this card then: I had the mini card. The people were so tiny!

What I think about this card now: Look at the man standing second from the left. Is he wearing a tuxedo?


Other stuff: Gomez lasted less than two years with Houston. After finishing fourth in the National League West in 1974, the Astros plunged to last in 1975 and Gomez was replaced by Bill Virdon.

Back facts: Both Ken Boswell and Jose Cruz are listed on the Astros checklist even though neither of them played for Houston in 1974. Both are airbrushed into their Astros uniforms (wait until you see the Cruz card).

Other blog stuff: Time to see where the Astros rank in terms of how well Topps represented the '74 Astros team in the '75 set.

The Astros used 35 players in 1974. Topps provided cards of 26 of them. That includes three players who were featured with their new teams, Bob Gallagher (Mets), Ollie Brown (Phillies) and Claude Osteen (Cardinals).

Topps didn't miss anyone significant from the '74 team. Johnny Edwards wasn't featured, but he caught in 50 games for Houston in the final season of his career.

So, 26 of the 35 players were featured for 74.29 percent, which is the same percentage as the Dodgers. Here is where the Astros rank:

1. Twins 81.25% of players featured
2. Tigers 78.37%
3. Orioles 78.13%
4. Dodgers 74.29%
4. Astros 74.29%
6. Giants 71.43%
7. Indians 71.11%
8. Royals 70.59%
9. Red Sox 70.27%
10. Angels 68.89%
11. Expos 68.29%
12. Brewers 66.67%
13. Cardinals 65.12%
14. White Sox 65.0%
15. Phillies 62.5%
16. Mets 62.16%
17. Pirates 61.5%
18. Padres 55.8%

#443 - Twins/Frank Quilici

Card fact: This is the third orange-yellow bordered team card in the set. The first two -- the Phillies and Angels -- were way back in the early days of the blog.

What I thought about this card then: Nada. It was a team card.

What I think about this card now: I often wonder why team photos back then could feature bat boys, such as this one did, but now Topps has to put a fence up to obscure the bat boys. Is everyone that litigious today?

Other stuff: Frank Quilici was in the middle of a three-year term with the Twins. A former player with Minnesota who stopped playing in the majors after the 1970 season, Quilici briefly boosted a team that was slowly sliding out of its success of the 1960s and early '70s. But it didn't last. After the 1975 season, Quilici was replaced by Gene Mauch.

Back facts: There is a typo with the last card. Juan Veintidos is not card No. 521. That belongs to Expos pitcher Dennis Blair. Veintidos was on rookie card No. 621.

Other blog stuff: Where do the Twins rank in terms of how successful Topps was in reflecting the '74 team in its 1975 set?

They rank very well.

The Twins used 32 players in 1974. That is tied -- so far -- with the Orioles for the lowest amount used by a team in 1974.

Topps featured cards of 26 of those players. That includes pitcher Bill Hands and infielder Joe Lis, airbrushed into Rangers and Indians uniforms, respectively. It also includes Jim Holt, who is disguised as an Athletic in this set. And it includes Pat Bourque, who is shown as an Athletic -- not airbrushed -- even though he played most recently for the Twins in 1974 (more on that in card #502).

The most "overlooked" player was utility infielder Luis Gomez, who had 168 at-bats for the Twins in his first major league year and batted .208. Topps would give him later cards, though.

So here is where the Twins stand with the other teams in terms of percentage of players represented:

1. Twins 81.25% of players featured
2. Tigers 78.37%
3. Orioles 78.13%
4. Dodgers 74.29%
5. Giants 71.43%
6. Indians 71.11%
7. Royals 70.59%
8. Red Sox 70.27%
9. Angels 68.89%
10. Expos 68.29%
11. Brewers 66.67%
12. Cardinals 65.12%
13. White Sox 65.0%
14. Phillies 62.5%
15. Mets 62.16%
16. Pirates 61.5%
17. Padres 55.8%


Yup. There is a new leader. The Tigers have led since the very first team card, but no more.

#421 - Mets/Yogi Berra

Card fact: This is not the most expensive checklist in the set, which surprised me when I was collecting it. I figured Yogi's face would boost the cost a tad.

What I thought about this card then: Not much. You know those team cards.

What I think about this card now: Lordy. How many players did the Mets have on their team? It looks like there's 70 people there. Also, the guy in the bottom right corner looks like he's wearing a Red Sox jacket.

Other stuff: Yogi Berra was in the third of his four years as Mets manager. It would not be a good one. The Mets had just come off a World Series appearance in 1973. But they went 71-91 in 1974, good for 5th in the N.L. East. Ace Tom Seaver dealt with hip issues and had an off-year. It would mark the beginning of the decline of the Mets, which would last until the mid-1980s. Berra would be replaced in 1975 and the Mets would finish dead last between 1977-79.

Back facts: There are three players on this checklist who did not play for the Mets in 1974. Gene Clines would come over in a trade for catcher Duffy Dyer. Bob Gallagher came to the Mets from the Astros in a deal for Ken Boswell. Joe Torre was dealt from the Cardinals to the Mets in the offseason for Ray Sadecki and Tommy Moore.

(EDIT: Yogi Berra died on Sept. 22, 2015).

Other blog stuff: How well did Topps represent the Mets of 1974 in its '75 set? Let's take a look.

New York put 37 players on the field in 1974. Topps featured 23 of them, including three players airbrushed into new non-Mets unforms -- Dyer, Sadecki and Boswell. Twenty-three players is not a lot. It's one of the smallest numbers for a team set so far.

But the only notable player left out of the set -- and I use "notable" very loosely -- is somebody named Dave Schneck, who had 254 at-bats as an outfielder for the '74 Mets. They would be the most at-bats in a three-year career for Schneck, and his final game would be on Oct. 1, 1974. A .205 batting average that year just didn't cut it with the Mets or with Topps.

Here is where the Mets rate with the other teams so far:

1. Tigers 78.37% of players featured
2. Orioles 78.13%
3. Dodgers 74.29%
4. Giants 71.43%
5. Indians 71.11%
6. Royals 70.59%
7. Red Sox 70.27%
8. Angels 68.89%
9. Expos 68.29%
10. Brewers 66.67%
11. Cardinals 65.12%
12. White Sox 65.0%
13. Phillies 62.5%
14. Mets 62.16%
15. Pirates 61.5%
16. Padres 55.8%

#384 - Brewers/Del Crandall

Card fact: This is the only team card in the set in which all of the players are standing instead of some standing and some sitting. It certainly stood out to me, as I always wondered why the Brewers took the all-standing approach.

What I thought about this card then: I just told you.

What I think about this card now: White jackets are not a good look. Why did they wear them?

Other stuff: Del Crandall, the former standout Milwaukee Braves catcher of the 1950s, was in his third year of trying to turn around a franchise that was only in its seventh season in 1975. Crandall was never able to get the Brewers higher than fifth in the six-team American League East. He was dismissed at the end of the 1975 season.

Back facts: It's good to see that Topps was able to get Hank Aaron on the checklist as a Brewer. A couple other players traded in the 1974 offseason didn't make their new team's checklist.

Even with the addition of Aaron and the new arrival of Robin Yount there wasn't much else to this team. A lot of names forgotten by time.

Other blog stuff: Let's see how well Topps did representing the 1974 Milwaukee Brewers team.

The Brewers used 36 players in 1974. Topps featured 24 of them, including Dave May, who was traded for Aaron and is featured as a Brave on his 1975 card.

Among the players Topps did not feature was Deron Johnson, who had 152 at-bats, mostly as a designated hitter. I suppose Topps was scared away by his .152 batting average. A year later, Johnson was in the 1976 Topps set with Boston.

Topps also didn't have a card of a young Sixto Lezcano, who batted 54 times, which was more than Gorman Thomas, who had a card in the '75 set.

So, here is where the Brewers rate with the other teams shown so far in terms of percentage of players featured by Topps:

1. Tigers 78.37% of players featured
2. Orioles 78.13%
3. Dodgers 74.29%
4. Giants 71.43%
5. Indians 71.11%
6. Royals 70.59%
7. Red Sox 70.27%
8. Angels 68.89%
9. Expos 68.29%
10. Brewers 66.67%
11. Cardinals 65.12%
12. White Sox 65.0%
13. Phillies 62.5%
14. Pirates 61.5%
15. Padres 55.8%

#361 - Dodgers/Walter Alston

Card fact: This is the 15th card in the set to feature the "brown-orange" color combination (not to be confused with the "orange-brown" combination). Out of those 15 cards, three have been Dodgers. So, the Dodgers represent one-fifth of the cards with this color combination, which suspiciously resembles the Giants' color combination. I am not putting it past Topps to pull something sneaky like this even way back in 1975.

What I thought about this card then: Naturally, I thought it was cool to see all of the Dodgers in one place. It was the one team card that meant something to me.

What I think about this card now: It is sad to see Walter Alston relegated to a tiny circle on the team card. Up until this point, Alston had received his own card in most of the sets since he became manager (his '62 Topps card is terrific, I have to feature it one day). I didn't know that when I was collecting in '75. Otherwise I would've been disappointed. Manager cards rule!

Other stuff: The Dodgers were coming off their first pennant victory and World Series appearance since 1966. After four straight seasons of finishing in second place in the N.L. West, L.A. had finally placed first and beaten Pittsburgh in the NLCS. They would go on to lose to Oakland in the World Series.

Alston was nearing the end of his 23 years as Dodger manager. The 1974 team would be his last World Series team, after taking the Dodgers to the Series in 1955, 56, 59, 63, 65 and 66. He retired in 1976 after signing 23-straight one-year contracts.

Back facts: This is a successful, veteran team so there wasn't a lot of trading or airbrushing going on with the Dodgers. But Jim Brewer, Willie Crawford and Don Sutton are the only connections (besides Alston) between the 1966 N.L. champs and the 1974 N.L. champs.

Other blog stuff: Time to figure out how well Topps represented the National League champs of 1974. Normally this gets a little tedious. But this one is going to be fun for me.

The Dodgers used just 35 players in 1974. That is tied for the second-least among the teams featured so far. Topps didn't leave out anyone big from the previous year. In fact, out of the players left out of the set, the one with the most at-bats had a whopping 18.

The player that didn't get a card who I found the most interesting is Charlie Manuel, the current Phillies manager. He played in four games for the 1974 Dodgers.

So, Topps featured 26 of the 35 players, which is pretty darn good. Here is where the Dodgers rank in comparison to other teams reviewed so far:

1. Tigers 78.37% of players featured
2. Orioles 78.13%
3. Dodgers 74.29%
4. Giants 71.43%
5. Indians 71.11%
6. Royals 70.59%
7. Red Sox 70.27%
8. Angels 68.89%
9. Expos 68.29%
10. Cardinals 65.12%
11. White Sox 65.0%
12. Phillies 62.5%
13. Pirates 61.5%
14. Padres 55.8%


Third place. I'm quite happy about that.