1978 Topps Cards #67 through #72

THE PLAYERS

#67 Claudell Washington
#68 Steve Foucault
#69 Mike Vail
#70 Rich Gossage
#71 Terry Humphrey
#72 Andre Dawson All Star-Rookie



THE DESIGN

Good: There are a few interesting/funny comments on the backs of these cards. Firstly, apparently Goose Gossage "throws very hard." And Steve Foucault ranked 11th in the American League Fireman Derby...do they still track that these days? Has that morphed into the Rolaids Relief Award? Foucault's card also refers to the Tigers as the "Bengals", a nickname you don't hear much anymore. It's also interesting to note that Washington's card talks a lot about his stolen base totals since that stat isn't reported in this set.

Bad: You may have noticed that the font size used for the player's name on the front varies depending on the length of the player's name. Although I understand the need to use a small font to fit "CLAUDELL WASHINGTON" on there, they used an awfully small font needlessly.


THE PHOTOS

Firstly, I've just noticed that the same sign saying "375" is visible behind Rich Gossage as was visible behind Jim Barr in the previous card post. Who knows what stadium that is? I assume it's an NL park since Gossage's photo was certainly taken when he was playing for the Pirates. (See below for more on that.)

Good: I love how easily we can see the patch on Washington's shoulder. I love the posed Foucault shot. And, hot damn, The Hawk looks like he's about to swat that Topps All-Star Rookie cup. Nice to see Dawson pulling out his distinctive glare on such an early card.

Incidentally, Dawson appeared with 3 other players on a 1977 Topps card. The 1978 card is not his rookie card although it's the first card he has all to himself.

Bad: And so it begins. The Gossage card is the first of a whole bunch of wacky airbrush jobs in the 1978 Topps set. If you look carefully, you can see that his entire uniform is painted on, to reflect the fact that he was certainly wearing a Pirates uniform when the photo was taken but joined the Yankees as a free agent during the offseason.

The Humphrey photo is neither good nor bad, just odd. How often do you see a guy photographed without his cap, with with a cap sitting right next to him in the photo? At least we can see his awesome 70s hair. Oh and did you notice Humphrey's knee in full frame there? At least I hope that's his knee.



THE STATS

The back of Vail's card notes his team record-tying hit streak of 23 games. Here is a list of all-time hit streak for the Mets as of now. Vail has been tied with Cleon Jones and they were later tied by John Olerud. Four other guys, however, have since passed their streak of 23 games. The current record is 30, set by Moises Alou in 2007.

Steve Foucault gave up 41 homers in his career, including 3 to Larry Hisle. (Who can tell me how "Hisle" is pronounced?) Three of those were game-ending, including 1 to somebody named Henry Aaron.

Terry Humphrey had just one career game with more than 1 extra-base hit. At least the Angels won that game.

THE COUNTERS

Hall of Famers: 12
(+1 for Gossage)

Deceased: 3
(none)

Future managers: 7
(none)

Fathers and sons of major leaguers: 5
(none)

Loyalty counter: 8
(none)

Rookies of the Year: 8
(+1 for Dawson)

Total all-star appearances: 218
(+2 for Washington, +9 for Gossage, +8 for Dawson)

Total MVP awards: 9
(+1 for Dawson)

Total Cy Young awards: 4
(none)

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