Today’s card of the day is card #15 of
Tony Perez, shown here with the Montreal Expos. Tony looks like he is on the verge of tears in this picture. Perhaps this is because after 16 years, 7 All Star Appearances and 4 National League Pennants with the Cincinnati Reds, the Reds traded him to the Montreal Expos. The Reds picked up an iffy starter (Woodie Fryman) and a decent middle reliever (Dale Murray), but they ended an era of greatness by shipping Perez away, especially to the Montreal Expos. The Spos fielded a decent team in ’77, Tony Perez played first and hit 19 homers and another HOFer, Gary Carter was the catcher and team leader in homers with 31. They also had Ellis Valentine (25 HR), Andre Dawson (19 HR), Larry Parrish (11 HR) and Del Unser (12 HR). It wasn’t a bad team, they finished below .500 and in 5th place in the NL, but it wasn’t because of a lack of offense. In 1977, his first year in Montreal, he batted .283, hit 19 homers and also drove in 91 runs. It was the 11th straight season that Perez drove in 90 or more runs, his best year coming in 1970 when he brought 129 runners home. This is a pretty awful picture for such a great player… I don’t like seeing anyone without a hat on a baseball card, but seeing Perez at 35 years of age, wearing a uniform other than the Reds makes me want to cry to. Fortunately for Tony his sentence in Montreal wasn’t too long. In 1980 he would be a free agent and sign on with the Boston Red Sox and have career resurgence at age 38 playing on a team with 4 future Hall of Fame sluggers and leading that team in homeruns, RBI and hits.
Perez would continue on and play for the Phillies, and lead them to an NL pennant in '83, and then returned to the Reds again before retiring after the 1986 season at age 44 on the team that he began his career with. His career lasted a remarkable 23 seasons and over that career he belted 379 homeruns (60th All Time) and drove in 1,652 runs (27th All Time). He never led the league in any one offensive category, he was never an MVP award winner (except for the ’67 ALL STAR game), but he was a fantastic fielding first baseman, a team leader, a winner and one of the classiest people to play the game.
He was also one of the most feared hitters of the 70s. He averaged 23 homeruns and 90 runs batted in for the decade. He was also intentionally walked 150 times (including twice his final season), which is good for 42nd in baseball history. This is particularly impressive because Perez always played on strong offensive ball clubs with a lot of depth in the lineup. The “Big Doggy” hit a grand slam in 1985 (at age 43) becoming the oldest player to accomplish that feat, the 1986 Topps card #205 documented that. His 3 years in Montreal were just a part of his storied career. It’s over now Tony, you’re in the Hall of Fame (Class of 2000) and you don’t have to play for the Expos again, wipe away your tears… Now, it is time for the…
The Nitty Gritty
Name/Number:
Tony Perez, number 24.
Position: First base
Age-Now and Then: 67, he was 35.
Team’s 1977 Record: 75-87, 5th in NL West
Topps Rookie Card: 1965 Topps, card #581, with Kevin Collins and Dave Ricketts.
Number of Topps Base Cards: 23, last card was 1986 Topps #85 (with Eric Davis) - I always considered this a changing of the guard card.
Playball! Foul out.
1977 Stats Line: .283/19/91
Awards in 1977: Neither the Expos nor the Reds made the Playoffs in ’77.
Distinguishing Feature: Sad face.
Similar Modern Player: Carlos Pena.
What I said about this card then: Why so sad Tony?
What I think about this card now: Seriously, you are one of the best players in baseball history, quit your crying and put on a hat!
Back of the card memorable moment: There’s no room with his stats… He had 296 career homers at the start of the ’78 season.
Back of the card “fun fact”: Again, no room. He was born on 5-14-42 in Camaguey, Cuba.
The condition: Near mint.
Grooviness factor: It’s difficult to simultaneously cry and be groovy, but the baby-blue uniform with the red, white and blue M is pretty groovy…
Wow! Factor: Sparky Anderson called Perez the “heart and soul of the Big Red Machine”; I can’t believe that they would trade him. Is nothing sacred?
What’s weird about this card: Well first off there is no crying in baseball; second, seeing Perez in an Expos uniform is pure weird.
Career Accolades: Won two World Series with the Reds. 7-time All Star. Hall of Fame in 2000.
Best Season: In 1970 Perez batted .317 with 40 homers and 129 RBI, scoring 107 runs, posting a .589 slugging % and winning the NL Pennant.
Nitty Gritty Fun Facts:
Tony Perez won the Pacific Coast League MVP in 1964 while playing for the San Diego Padres. He batted .309 with 34 homers and 107 RBIs and earned a promotion to the Reds.
Where are they now?: Perez is currently a special assistant to the general manager of the Florida Marlins.
Well, after a long hiatus, the Nitty Gritty Train is moving right along again.
Tony Perez is one of my all time favorite players, but this is one ugly card. On deck is card #16 of Yankees outfielder Roy White. 31 years LATER!
Carl Yastremzki, Sandy Koufax and Maury Wills rookie card. These early Fleer sets are still very affordable and the short checklists make the sets possible to complete. 
My personal favorites are the ’61 and ’63 sets which have appealing designs. I will be posting these cards periodically here and as I get more cards I will put together a wantlist. For now, today’s card of the day is #20 in the 1960 Fleer set of Eddie Collins, Hall of Fame second baseman, shown as a Philadelphia Athletics. 
He was born Edward Trowbridge Collins May of 1887. He was better known as Eddie or sometimes just Cocky. He attended Columbia University and signed with the Philadelphia A’s after college and went directly to the Majors (he did play a few games of A ball the next year) and became the A’s full-time second baseman in 1908 and in 1909 he batted .347. He would hit over .300 in each of the next 8 seasons. In 1910 he stole 81 bases, setting a major league record which stood until 1962. Collins scored 100 or more runs in a season 7 times and led the league in that category in 3 straight seasons. He hit .300 or higher 20 times, his best being .372 in 1920. His superstition was legendary and he would only use a bat made half of white wood and half of red timber. He credited his bat with his .333 career batting average (27th All Time). 
He sits in the top-ten in several offensive categories including 10th in hits (3,315), 2nd in singles (2,643), 7th in steals (744) and 10th in times on base with 4,891. He is the all-time leader in sacrifice hits with 512. The current active leader in this category is Omar Vizquel with 244. In other words, that record will not be contested any time soon. He shares the record of most steals in a single game with Carl Crawford, Otis Nixon and Eric Young Sr. Collins did it twice. He was a World Champion 3-times with Philadelphia and won another with the Chicago White Sox in 1917. In 1919 he was still a member of the Sox and played in the infamous Black Sox series. He was never charged with any involvement in the scandal despite only batting .214. He finished in the top-10 in MVP balloting during his career, winning the honor in 1914. His son Eddie Collins Jr. was born 2 years after he won the award. Collins Jr. signed with the A’s after graduating from Yale in 1939. 
He lasted for parts of 3 years in the big leagues, but never shared the success that his father had. Collins Sr. was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939 with George Sisler and Wee Willie Keeler. Collins is regarded by some as the greatest second baseman of all time. For all of his success on the diamond, he is not the most photogenic man in the world. I have had this card for many years and his evil-imp look has prevented me from posting it. I think he would have benefited from a dual-flap batting helmet. Just saying. Stay tuned for more on these early Fleer sets, 1950s Bowman, 1965 Topps, 1964 Topps Giants and yes, someday 1978 Topps. I love this hobby! 50 years, LATER!!!
Bowman didn’t waste time with complete sentences, but they were right about him as classy and strong. He won the World Series with the Dodgers in 1955 and again in ’59 and he went into the Hall of Fame on his 11th try in 1980. I have about 15 cards from this set so far. Get in touch if you have any to trade. 68 years, LATER!
Topps has been pretty creative with their card titles in this set, but they fell flat with this one, “Frank gets a big hit”. They scored big time with the card celebrating this event in the regular set. The title on card #139 in the 1964 (regular sized) Topps set. The title on that card is “Sealing Yanks Doom”. Now that has a MUCH better ring to it. That card and Frank Howard were profiled on my brother blog, the 
For now, here are the cards I need to finish off the set. If you have any of these OR if you have sleeves or top-loaders that fit these cards, please get in touch.
After the Sox LaGrow spent ’79 with the Dodgers and had a pretty good year (5-1, 3/41 ERA) and then signed with the Phillies in 1980. After going 0-2 in 25 appearances the Phillies cut him in July and that ended his 10 year career. He finished with a 34-55 record, a 4.11 ERA in 309 games-he completed 19 of those games and saved 54 of them (250th All Time). LaGrow runs a very successful real estate based business in his home state of Arizona and has had no association with baseball since his retirement in 1980. Now, let’s get into…
Topps Rookie Card: 1971 Topps, Card #39, with Gene Lamont.
Back of the card memorable moment: Was Tigers top right-handed reliever of 1973 campaign.
LaGrow and Campaneris were both suspended from the remainder of the ALCS, Campaneris was replaced by Del Maxvill and the A’s went on to beat the Tigers in 5 games. Campaneris returned for the World Series, but his hot bat was cooled and he batted only .179, but he did win his 1st of 3 World Series rings. LaGrow would never return to the postseason, but he did remain a Tiger and became a starter for them in ’74 and ’75. I for one think it would have been interesting to see BC and LL go at it one on one. LaGrow was 6'5" and weighed about 220 giving him 75 pounds and 7 inches on the smaller shortstop. Campaneris may have been a lot smaller, but he was pissed and I think I would have put my money on Bert. I played in a charity softball game with BC about 10 years ago when he was around 60 years old. He played all 7 innings at shortstop and played the game like it was the World Series, they guy was INTENSE!
The Nitty Gritty
