Spirit of '76

I cannot possibly begin a post about 1976 Topps cards without opening with the debut of the famed Astros rainbow uniforms on cardboard. This was the first year that these unis appeared on cards. What a glorious mess, eh?

All I can think of is "A Christmas Story" when Ralphie comes down in the bunny outfit and his father looks at him and says, "Are you happy in that?" That's what I want to ask the Astros of that era, "were you happy in that?"

Hey, I was around in the '70s, but you can't blame that on me. I was just a kid. I've already scolded my mom for some of the get-ups she put me in during the '70s.

Anyway, those 'Stros are part of a monster box of cards I received Thursday from Eric of the 1987 Donruss blog. It's a new blog with thoughtful posts on his favorite card set (personally, I prefer '84 or '85 Donruss). Eric's also a Dodger fan (that's right, we're multiplying). Eric recently bought some '76 Topps cards on eBay, and he had a mess of doubles he wanted to send me. Since this is the next vintage set that I want to finish, I was happy to accept. He sent me a whopping 278 cards from the set, plus 64 Dodgers, 22 Topps Heritage cards I need, and an '83 Topps card I also need.

Wow!

I'll kick it off with the '76 cards, and then go into the others. The 1976 set was the second set I ever collected as a kid. It is an incredible rush to see a card that I haven't seen since I was 10 years old. Let's head back to the year of the bicentennial, shall we?

Bill Lee. Otherwise known as "Spaceman." The first man to call Don Zimmer a "gerbil." Well, publicly anyway.

Al Hrabosky. Otherwise known as "The Mad Hungarian." He's shown wearing a batting helmet for some reason. It would've been great if they captured his antics on the mound on cardboard. He was something to see. Every single pitch he'd turn his back to the pitcher, walk to the back of the mound, psyche himself up, pound his glove, then stomp back to the rubber. Classic.

Ted Williams. Also known as "The Splendid Splinter" or "Teddy Ballgame." Williams was my dad's favorite ball player, and he always called him "Ted the Thumper." I've never heard that nickname from anyone other than my dad. But he said no one called him "The Splendid Splinter."

Walter Johnson. Also, "The Big Train." This card is great in so many ways. I love seeing stats of players who competed before the 1940s, just because the stats are so wild and I'm not as familiar with them. I'd show them here, but the '76 Topps backs are hard to read with the black type on the dark green background. But his won-loss records between 1909-1919 are crazy. So are his ERAs.

When I was a kid, a family moved into the neighborhood right around 1976. They were from Kansas, and they were the first Royals fans I ever came across. I don't remember the boy's name, but Mayberry was his favorite hitter.

But his favorite player was Steve Busby. Busby's numbers starting out were insane. If there were player collectors back then, they'd be collecting this guy like mad. My friend kept insisting he'd come back from his rotator cuff injury. Of course, he never did.

I think the equipment manager played a trick on Sundberg. That's a child's cap.

Back before they starting featuring cards of players who had no major league experience, this card of Norris was as close as you could come. His career stat line on the back of the card is: 4 games, 17 innings pitched, 1 win, 0 losses, 0 earned runs, 5 strike outs, eight walks, 0.00 ERA. Topps must've known something to give him a card after just four games in the league.

An upgraded Manny Sanguillen! Even in this improved condition, the white towel and the edge of the dugout seats in the background still looks like a fireball.

My brothers and I wondered if Stearns actually did bat like that, with his three fingers out, or if that was some sort of code. We watched Mets games all the time, I suppose we could've figured it out. But we didn't.

What an awful airbrushed cap. It looks like they let night owl go wild with MS paint (actually, I wish I could even do that).

Finally, we can't end a trip to 1976 without reviewing the hairstyles:

Wow. Just wow. And finally, a man who belongs in the hair hall of fame AND the name hall of fame:

As many know, La Cock's father was Peter Marshall, host of the original "Hollywood Squares." Marshall smartly changed his name from Ralph Pierre La Cock.

From one man's heritage to my Heritage. I'm happy to scratch these guys off my 2008 list, along with a few others Eric sent:

The last couple are short-prints (as well as cards of Manny Corpas and Kason Gabbard), which I appreciate receiving very much.

Lastly, the Dodgers. Eric completed two Dodgers team sets for me with a Franklin Stubbs card in each case.

1989 Score. Set complete!

1986 Topps Traded. Set complete! (Stubbs looks like he just struck out).

Jose Offerman, 1993 Donruss.

On the back, he's displaying that famous temper.

Jody Reed, 1994 Topps. What the? Is Reed calling his shot?

That's what happens when players with 27 career home runs call their shots.

Raul Mondesi, 1995 Topps. That's a nice photo of Mondesi taking off as the Reds player (I think it's a Red) misses the ball in the hole.

Finally, Eric sent me a couple of 1987 Donruss! Imagine that! I think that's a requirement if you have a blog dedicated to the set.

Eric, you were too kind. That's a lot of great cards. I've started a stack that should grow quickly in the next week. I'll be on vacation, so that'll help things along.