It is a real treat to receive cards like this in the mail. This came via a trade with Shane, who sent an entirely awesome package a week or so ago.I'll get to the contents of that package eventually, but right now I wanted to review one of the many night cards that he sent me. It is my favorite of the bunch.
First of all, it is a card from the SSPC set that was issued in 1976. I have so few of these cards, even though I had a chance as a teenager to order the entire set for very little money. My life is a patchwork quilt sewn from the threads of blown opportunities.
Secondly, it is a posed night card from the 1970s. Not a lot of those exist, and when I find one, it automatically becomes one of my all-time favorites. We're talking about sharing a tee time with the 1972 Topps Stan Williams card. That's how much I like it.
Thirdly, it's Willie Davis, who is one of the most famous Dodgers who is not in the Hall of Fame (by the way, that's a future post). Davis spent his entire career with the Dodgers until the very end when he pin-balled between teams for six years until retiring after the 1979 season. He played more games in center field than almost anyone in the history of major league ball.
Fourthly, Davis is pictured with the Cardinals, a team for which he only played 98 games during the 1975 season. In October of that year, he was traded to the Padres. It was enough time for Topps to airbrush Davis into a Padres uniform for its 1976 set.
That's a fairly good airbrushing job there. I often wondered what uniform Davis was actually wearing in this photo, since in a relatively short time before his arrival with San Diego, Davis played with the Expos, Rangers and Cardinals.Going through the '76 set, I've concluded he is wearing a Cardinals uniform. That's because the card following Davis' #265 card is another Padre, Alan Foster, #266. And you may be aware that the sets from the '70s had a general team pattern through much of the set. I looked at other Padres cards before and after Foster, and there is always a Cardinal somewhere close to the Padre card. So, Davis has got to be a Cardinal here.
Anyway, I find it very cool to get cards of players donning a uniform that they wore for only a brief period of time, especially if it is a player as well-known as Davis.
And all of the above makes this one super awesome night card.
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