The 1975 Topps countdown, worst to best (No. 340-321)

 

I don't know about you other card bloggers, but my laptop desktop is jam-packed at this time of year.

 

Because I never think to compartmentalize with folders, I've got tiny images all over the place, most of which are for the end-of-the-year extravaganza post coming up. The rest are for the latest edition of the 1975 Topps worst-to-best countdown.

 

I debuted this countdown last April and with this episode I will have hit the halfway point of the countdown. At the rate I'm going, this will finish up sometime next summer. Normally I'd groan at that thought, but this is the 1975 Topps set! I'd be happy to write about it every day if I could come up with brand new topics each time.

 

So here is the last '75 countdown of the year, next year we'll start getting to the really good stuff.

 

 

340. Nelson Briles (card 495)

An enormously pleased Briles livens up a typical pitching pose. I also like the Royals in the distance and how the team name up top matches with the baby blue jerseys.

339. Al Cowens (card 437)

A pretty much forgotten key component of the late 1970s championship Royals teams, is he the least-remembered player to finish second in an MVP vote (1977)? Photo is a bit hazy.

 

338. Steve Braun (card 273)

Before Ryan Braun there was another Braun who could hit pretty well. Can't go wrong with the mid-swing bat pose and he's in the batting cage as an added bonus.

337. Leo Foster (card 418)

One of three (I believe) Braves cards in the set that use the matching blue-and-green border. The two other cards feature more well-known players but this is probably the best-looking of the three. Dig that signature, too. Look at that style on the first name, current major leaguers.

 

336. Milt May (card 279)

One of the few cards I can cite (1979 George Foster is another) that shows a player wearing a hat without a logo that's not airbrushed. I kind of liked the card for that reason as a kid. I didn't even notice the monstrous building in the back, which was used to house all the lockers for Houston's spring training players.

 

335. Bobby Darwin (card 346)

Bobby Darwin looking powerful -- and mildly irked -- in a spring training shot. I recall studying the back of his cards and noticing he played for the Dodgers very early in his career and wishing he still did.

334. Tom Bradley (card 179)

I love this particular pitching pose in 1970s cards, it's similar to the old 3-point stance football cards. Tom Bradley's glasses make the card, too. The stands look straight out of The Natural.

333. Carl Morton (card 237)

Here's another one of the blue-green Braves. Sharp-looking card. In 1975 it arrived out of a pack I pilfered.

332. Dave Chalk (card 64)

Dave Chalk is ready to field that grounder in outfield foul territory.

331. Enzo Hernandez (card 84)

Enzo seems happy to be playing in the major leagues in the 1970s where he could get away with coming to the plate more than 500 times in a season and driving in just 12 runs. Solid card though.

330. Don DeMola (card 391)

OK, we're on to the second half of the countdown!

 

Cool-looking card with double-signage and one of the best displays of the Coca-Cola sign in the set. The other sign is a message to fans to keep something in the stands but I don't know what it fully says.

 

329. Ernie McAnally (card 318)

More multiple signage, more Coca-Cola, more Expos!!! The sun and the palm trees boost this ranking past the DeMola card.

328. Tommy Helms (card 119)

Another '75 shot at Houston's Cocoa, Florida, spring training facility that seems like it's actually situated in the prairie midwest. Pretty casual shot in what looks like 100-degree heat.

 

327. Freddie Patek (card 48)

Patek surveying the scene on a card that matches like all get-out.

326. Tom House (card 525)

Tom House was a minor celebrity in 1974 for catching Hank Aaron's record-breaking 715th home run. It's mentioned on the back of House's card.

 

325. Rick Burleson (card 302)

Pretty classic shot in Fenway Park. As I've mentioned before I like the red-yellow borders with the Red Sox.

 

 

324. Steve Swisher (card 63)

There are a lot of catchers-crouching cards to come on the countdown. Swisher is handling his job well, it almost seems like he wants to give the sign to the non-existent pitcher.

 

323. Dick Sharon (card 293)

Dick Sharon didn't have many cards but he's one of the few who can say his card features a shadow showing the photographer shooting him.

 

322. Bill Russell (card 23)

Russell looks young in this photo, but he's got the fielding-a-grounder-in-the-hole-while-flashing-a-smile pose down.

 

321. Geoff Zahn (card 294)

The second 1975 Dodger card I owned after the Steve Yeager. I've always enjoyed the red-blue combo with the Dodgers, although Zahn's terrific blue glove is obscuring his red uniform number that would have tied the whole card together.

So, thus ends the last '75 countdown episode of 2023. I hope you've enjoyed the trip so far and I'm sure it will get only more interesting.

See you in 2024, but not before I kick 2023 to the curb with one last post.