Perfect matches

 

This post was inspired by a night owl-specific prompt from one of the original card bloggers, Phungo, the other day:

If I'm correct in knowing what he means, I have mentioned this aspect of the 1975 Topps set in passing a number of times on this blog and especially when I was writing the 1975 Topps blog.

But I haven't written an entire post on it, covering every team included in the set.

As you know, the '75 set has wild two-tone borders with colors that clash crazily with the team featured -- what team wears purple-and-green that isn't the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks in the 1990s? But there are instances in which the colors match almost perfectly. Those are the times when you wondered if Topps specifically picked those borders to honor that player, and those were also the times when that card would often become a favorite of mine when I was collecting the set as a kid.

Here now is what I found as the perfect color match for each team in the '75 set:

 

ATLANTA BRAVES - Darrell Evans

The "best" color combo among the Braves cards in the light-blue/green combo (called the "day baseball color combo on my '75 blog) with the red letters. There are four Braves with this combo, including two others featuring the same uniform combo as Evans and with red stands in the background. But Evans' bat pose is the clincher for me.

BALTIMORE ORIOLES - Jim Palmer

It's a toss-up between Palmer and Bob Grich, also with the orange/brown combo. Palmer jumped out at me in 1975, so that's what I picked.

BOSTON RED SOX - Rick Burleson

One of the tougher teams to match up. The best border combo for the Red Sox (like a number of teams) would be the red-blue combo, but it's not used with any Red Sox player.

 

 

CALIFORNIA ANGELS - Frank Tanana

 

One of the cards where I wonder if Topps specifically selected this color combo for Tanana. The only yellow visible on Tanana's uniform is the halo on the logo on his left sleeve, but you know there's other halos on that uniform. The red and the blue work, too, even if the blue isn't perfect. 

 

 

CHICAGO CUBS - Rick Reuschel

 

One of my favorite under-the-radar perfect matches. The light blue matches with the blue shown in the photo and the peach border is a neutral color that accents the red team name that matches with the Cubs logo on the jersey and hat.

CHICAGO WHITE SOX - Wilbur Wood

The White Sox were wearing their baby blue jerseys at the time with the red lettering, so this matches pretty well.

 

 

CINCINNATI REDS - Will McEnaney

There are four Reds cards with the red-yellow border combo. Three of them are wearing Reds warm-up jackets for extra "redness." I went with McEnaney because of all the yellowish infield dirt behind him.

 

CLEVELAND INDIANS - George Hendrick

The Indians wore a darker blue than the border used but there are no navy blue borders in '75 Topps. This works great though. I've always liked this card.

DETROIT TIGERS - Woodie Fryman

The Tigers aren't the most vibrantly-colored team but the touches of orange in Fryman's uniform work well with this combo (aka, the HoJo color combo).

HOUSTON ASTROS - Larry Milbourne

A bit like the Frank Tanana card, although there is no yellow in the uniform. It just works a little bit better than some of the other candidates (Mike Cosgrove, JR Richard, Roger Metzger).

 

 

KANSAS CITY ROYALS - Frank White

No natural matches, so I narrowed in on the cards with the baby blue border on the bottom. Frank White works the best, again because of all the infield dirt.

LOS ANGELES DODGERS - Manny Mota

I've known for a long time that the color combos used with the Dodgers in '75 weren't matching. Two that would have been key candidates -- the red & blue used with Jim Brewer and Geoff Zahn pretty much hide the key aspect, the Dodgers' red number on the front. Mota doesn't hide his number, so it matches with the team name, and the blue works with the uniform and the top of the photo and the green with the bottom.

MILWAUKEE BREWERS - Ken Berry

The yellow/light blue combo is ideal for the Brewers of this time period. Berry isn't the only Brewer featured on this combo (Tom Murphy, Eduardo Rodriguez), but I like this one the best.

MINNESOTA TWINS - Bert Blyleven

Do you think the bubble gum and the dungeon-dugout setting are the only reasons why I like this card? The border combo with Blyleven's uniform is killer.

 

 

MONTREAL EXPOS - Ken Singleton

 

Tough not to choose the Chuck Taylor card, but the fact that Singleton is close-up and Taylor is not made me choose Singleton.

 

NEW YORK METS - Don Hahn

This combo is too perfect for someone named Don Hahn (no Seaver, no Koosman?) but that's the random wonderfulness of 1975 Topps.

OAKLAND ATHLETICS - Claudell Washington

So many options with the A's, who were not-so-coincidentally the defending World Series champions. You could go with yellow-green, like with Pat Bourque at the top of the post or Joe Rudi, you could go all green, like with Catfish Hunter or Ken Holtzman, or you could go with Sal Bando, who has the same color combo as Washington. But Bando didn't have the cup ...

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES - Greg Luzinski

Not a ton of matches with the Phillies but this works nicely.

 

 

PITTSBURGH PIRATES - Frank Taveras

Probably the toughest team to match. Topps did not want to put yellow with many of the Pirates cards. Half the players on the team have green borders! Taveras is one of the few featuring yellow.

SAN DIEGO PADRES - Fred Kendall

This works better than the Gene Locklear card, which uses the same color combo but Locklear's in airbrushed mode.

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS - John D'Acquisto

One of the cards that I noticed matching as a kid. This card and the Dave Kingman card are kind of a toss-up, but D'Acquisto is showing more orange on his jersey.

 

ST. LOUIS CARDINALS - Bob Gibson

I've said this before: don't tell me that this color combo was a coincidence. On Gibson's final card? No way.

TEXAS RANGERS - Steve Foucault

In 1975, I had little idea about the teams in MLB. I knew to root for the Dodgers. I couldn't tell you about the other teams, except maybe the Reds, or many of the players. All you needed at that time was facial hair and a matching color border to become a favorite.

 

So, there you are, the perfect matches for each team in 1975 Topps.

 

Yeah, I know, I didn't show the Yankees.

 

That's because the Yankees wear noncolors. They claim they wear navy blue, but it looks black and the rest of the jersey is white. The uniform actually allows it to work well with every color combo in the '75 set and why pink-and-yellow is jarring with any other team but not the Yankees. But I couldn't find a true match for them.

 

All right, now you know. And another 1975 Topps post down in the record books.