Head count: the 1970s

 

Moving forward with picking out the most distinctive cards of cap-less baseball players in history, we're now in the 1970s.

While it's not the 1960s, there is no shortage of players without head gear in 1970s Topps sets. But the way of presenting naked heads had changed.

Except for 1970 and 1971, the old standby of head-and-shoulders shots of players' locks (what little of it they had in the '60s buzz-cut days) were replaced with candid shots of players sans cap. Think Don Hood in 1977 or Al Bumbry in 1978. Players were caught-in-the-act of missing their cap, rather than a profile shot where the missing hat may have actually been intentional.

Then there are the action shots that showed up in the '70s with players who have lost their caps due to the frantic action. I considered cards like the '73 Darrel Chaney card, the '74 and '75 Ralph Garr cards and any number of catcher cards, but then discounted most of them. They're interesting, but I don't know if they are in the spirit of this exercise.

So that's enough introduction. Here are a dozen of the best cap-less cards from the 1970s:

 

12. Fernando Gonzalez, 1974 Traded

I have featured this card before. It is the very last '74 Traded card in the set, not including the checklist, and Gonzalez looks really, really miffed. His former Pirates teammates have created a blockade behind him to ensure that the traitor, now with the Royals (TRADED!) does not get through.

 

11. Lou Piniella and Larry Hisle, 1970

Cheating a little bit with two picks for one place, but both of these guys are notable. This is about the last time you see an All-Star rookie without a hat, which was rather common in the 1960s. Also, as if you need more evidence that 1970 Topps is really a '60s set, I could fill this entire 12 spots with just 1970 cards.

10. Mike Torrez, 1977

I was actively collecting in 1977 and I believe this card actually made me stop and stare at it when it came out of the pack. What the heck is this? The man's in full uniform but there is absolutely nothing on his head! The Shadow Torrez is fantastic, but the only explanation for why Torrez isn't wearing a cap is that the tilting earth behind him shook it off.

9. Ron Herbel, 1971

Ron Herbel was operating as a common, ordinary, cap-wearing pitcher during the 1960s. Then, one day the training staff made everyone go to the optometrist and Herbel emerged with glasses in 1969. It wasn't long before he lost track of his hat and suddenly security guards at the stadium wouldn't believe he was with the team.

I don't know whether the light stand was airbrushed out of the 1970 card or pasted in to the 1971 card.

 

 

8. Ron Cey, 1976

In a perfect world, Ron Cey would be wearing a hat or a helmet on every single one of his cards. But if that can't be the case, a very upset-looking Cey with a bat makes up for his lack of a hat, which he probably knocked off his head with that very bat while in a rage over some stupid Giants pitcher.

7. Tommy Davis, 1975

This probably is the best example of the '70s afro on display on a baseball card. It makes you wish that Oscar Gamble could have appeared hatless just once on his baseball card during the 1970s. This card I knew well as a kid and unlike the other hatless dudes, this didn't bother me in the least.

6. Ross Grimsley, 1978

The '70s perm begins to make its appearance on baseball cards around 1976 or 1977 and by 1978 it's in full bloom so that we can make jokes about what we would be able to find living inside "Scuz's" hairdo.

 

5. Wayne Garland, 1977

The white man's afro at its most magnificent. I often feel sorry for Orioles fans who are unable to place this card in their team collection because Topps erased all significant evidence of Wayne Garland being in an Orioles uniform. But I wouldn't blame them for adding it to the binder anyway.

4. Bob Grich, 1976

You want to talk about magnificent hair ... and mustache ... and cheek bones ... it's all right here. This was my introduction to Bob Grich and I figured he had to be a terrific player. This is what I meant in the previous "Head Count" post where I wrote that some of the hatless photos revealed character about the player that would go missing if he was wearing a cap.

3. Dave Baldwin, 1971

 

One of the all-time classic "hairstyles" to appear on baseball cards. I'd take credit for calling it a "Howdy Doody look," but Baldwin himself called it that on my post about the card on my 1971 Topps blog. At least I think it was Dave Baldwin.

 

 

2. Randy Jones, 1977

Nothing but All-Stars from here on out, this card through me for a loop. Somewhere around this time I found out that Topps often took pictures of players with no hat because it had heard the player was about to be traded. Who in the world would be trading Randy Jones at this time? He was in the conversation as a 30-game winner just a year earlier! Once I calmed down from that, I could admire the terrific lion's mane blowing through the air.

1. George Brett, 1978

More than any other player to receive the All-Star badge treatment in the 1978 Topps set, this seemed to say, "there's a new sheriff in town." Brett was the young superstar of the time, the ladies considered him good-looking and, my gosh, look at that cheek full of chaw. If you put a hat on him, it would've ruined the whole thing.

There you go. Honorable mentions to Don Stanhouse (1979), Jim Hunter, Grant Jackson, Jeff Burroughs and Ted Simmons (1977), Tom Hilgendorf, Claude Raymond and Ron Stone (1970), Milt Pappas (1972), Bud Harrelson (1974), Bruce Ellingsen (1975), Frank Tanana (1978) and Roy White and Rusty Staub (1976).

I had a more difficult time trimming candidates here than I did for the 1960s cards. Throw in hat-less action shots like Ralph Garr (1974 and 1975), Enos Cabell (1977), Barry Foote and Ed Herrmann (1975) and Willie Montanez (1973) and there was even more to choose from.

What will the 1980s offer? Hang on to your hat, that's coming up next.