CLOSED...1971 Topps Progressive Auction - Day 10

[HercDriver]

Day two brings us three pitchers and an second sacker. For some reason, I thought Clyde Wright was one of the Angels that died tragically, which seemed to happen to them once a year, with regularity. But no, I had him mixed up with somebody else. Wright had one great year, and a couple pretty good ones, and then he was pretty much done. He's one of the few pitchers that have had a 20-win season, and a 20-loss season, and threw a no-hitter in there, just for fun. He lost the All-Star game in 1970, when Pete Rose crashed into Ray Fosse, then never made another one. In the crazy coincidence category, Wright's got his final out of his no-hitter when Felipe Alou grounded out to Sandy Alomar for a double play. The reason that it's sort of weird is that all three guys involved in the play had sons that would go on to play in the bigs. As a matter of fact, Jaret Wright, Sandy Alomar, Jr, and Moises Alou all appeared together in the 1997 World Series. Funny how the stars align sometimes...

[HercDriver]

Good morning, and welcome to Day Three! I have a couple of choices to expound upon today, starting with trying to figure out what Tillman has on his hand. I guess it's a batting glove, but it looks more like he was doing rectal exams during BP. Or Paul Splittorff starting and winning the first ever game at Kaufmann Stadium for the Royals. Or Jim Kaat, who after doing a game this year as a broadcaster, logged an eighth decade in MLB. That's just crazy. He debuted in 1959, played in four decades, then has been announcing games ever since. But with all of that, I'll go with Tony Taylor, and one of the weirder plays in baseball lore. I love crazy plays, like that Javy Baez one a couple weeks ago, where the Pirates first baseman chased him all the way to the plate, allowing a run to score. I hadn't ever seen a first base coach wave a guy back towards home. Anyway, this is a good one, so let me give you the cast of characters:

Cubs:
Bob Anderson, P
Sammy Taylor, C
Tony Taylor, 2B
Ernie Banks, SS
Al Dark, 3B

Cardinals:
Stan Musial, Hitter

Plate Ump:
Vic Delmore

Field Announcer:
Pat Pieper

OK, Musial has a 3-1 count on him. Anderson's next pitch gets by Sammy Taylor, and goes to the backstop. Delmore calls ball four, and Musial heads to 1B. In the meantime, Anderson and S. Taylor are arguing with Delmore that Musial tipped it. No one has called time, so Musial heads for 2B. Dark sees him headed that way, and goes to grab the ball, but Pieper is holding it now. Dark snags it out of his hands, and throws it to Banks. At the same time, Dlemore gives S. Taylor a new ball. S. Taylor sees Musial breaking for 2B, so he wings the ball to Tony Taylor, but it sails over his head into the outfield. Musial sees the errant throw, and turns the corner for 3B, where Banks tags him out with the original ball. Musial is declared out on the play. I'm guessing replay wouldn't have helped on that one...

[HercDriver]

Day four is upon us, so let's see what we can drum up. A lot of people remember Bob Robertson for famously missing a bunt sign in the World Series, and propelling them to a victory over the Orioles with a huge home run in Game 3. Robertson can probably be excused for that, seeing as how he'd never bunted, and was playing on Astroturf...not exactly bunt friendly. I'm guessing Danny Murtaugh got over that missed sign pretty quickly. Earl Weaver hated missed signs, it's been said, but I'm guessing that's the one he hated the most. Bill Sudakis's card says he was a catcher, which was a bad experiment for the Dodgers, with Sudakis only throwing out 2 of 32 runners. Maybe he gunned down the Reuschel brothers on a double steal in a game against the Cubs, or something. Chico Salmon was famous for having no hands, to which Jim Palmer named an award for him, honoring "the player with the fielding prowess that had the deftness of a rhinoceros knitting." But when I look at Chico Salmon on baseball cards, the only thing I ever think of is the great Met, Chico Escuela. I will always remember laughing at SNL when I was a kid, as Chico was giving excerpts about his tell-all book "Bad Stuff 'Bout the Mets," with quotes like "Ed Kranepool - he once borrow Chico's soap, and no give it back." And "Yogi Berra - berry berry bad card player." Classic stuff. Anyway, sorry Chico Salmon, but it's stuck in my noggin forever.

[1966CUDA]

I hope this goes on for a while....love the stories!!!

[ZenPop]

I concur... Great stuff!

[HercDriver]

Day five brings us a World Series record holder in Darold Knowles. Most of you probably know that Knowles appeared in all seven games of the 1973 World Series, against the Mets. It would lead you to believe that he was the stud out of the bullpen in that series, but far from it. Rollie Fingers was the true hero out of the pen that fall. Knowles, in seven trips to the mound, pitched 6 1/3 innings, mostly in relief of Fingers, after Rollie had thrown a couple innings to get them out of the jams. Fingers appeared in six games, and threw 13 2/3 innings. To put that in perspective, the three Oakland starters threw the following: Vida Blue (11 IP in 2 games started), Ken Holtzman (10.2 IP in 3 GS), and Catfish Hunter (13.1 IP in 2 GS). Fingers had a 0.66 ERA, while Knowles was perfect. Reggie Jackson was the MVP, with a .310 BA, and a homer. How Rollie Fingers didn't win it, with a win and two saves, is beyond me.

I was just a wee lad in 1973, and barely remember watching the Series, other than remembering I loved the A's mustaches and green/yellow uniforms. I never got to see them, as a seven year old Cubs fan, watching WGN. But a couple years later, Knowles ended up in Chicago, after being traded for Billy Williams, amongst other pieces. Knowles joined a fearsome Cubs pen of Oscar Zamora, Paul Reuschel, and Tom Dettore. Zamora gave up 17 homers in relief that year, 1975, and I think I remember every one of them. It seemed about ten of them came off the bats of Schmidt and Luzinski. Anyway, Knowles was good enough to be the closer on a Cubs team that rarely won, because Bruce Sutter was a year away. I really miss those days of the Cubs bullpens right there, next to the fans. It's just not the same behind the wall. I loved watching the relievers play foul ball chicken. If you don't know that is, it's trying to not move, as the ball comes whistling down the line. In later years, Travis Wood was the king. Watch this clip of Wood getting hit, and not flinching...classic!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjCVhJHGgfI

[jimmysuitcase]

...is the House of Wagner! So thrilled to see another progressive Geno auction in full anecdotal effect. Hopefully this one will go on and on for several rounds. (Sorry!)

Heck, I have 2 '71 sets already, but I vow to bid if we keep Geno rolling until he runs out of dupes or steam.

Finally, in case anyone else needs more anecdotes before Geno's next post, here's one from his "archives."

https://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=279359

Hope you are well, buddy. Keep up the fine work!

James