541 - Bob Bolin

About This Player
Bobby Bolin pitched in 13 big league seasons and his final four with the Boston Red Sox.  Bolin made his Major League debut in 1961 with the San Francisco Giants and started his career in relief.  Eventually, Bolin would serve in a combined starter/relief role during his tenure with the Giants.  Bolin finished 1968 with the National League's second-best ERA with 1.99; Bob Gibson was first with a record 1.12 ERA. In 1970, Bolin was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers.  He was traded again that season to the Boston Red Sox and finished his career as a full-time reliever. In his final season in 1973, Bolin led the Red Sox bullpen with 15 saves.

About This Card
Comparing all of the Red Sox cards, I have covered so far, it looks like Bolin's photo was taken at the same time and location, most likely spring training, with Ken Tatum, John Curtis, Mike Garman, and John Kennedy.

Team Checklist - Boston Red Sox

About This Card
The 1973 and 1974 Topps sets are the only Topps sets in which the team checklists are separate from the main numbered set.

463 - Ken Tatum

About This Player
Ken Tatum enjoyed a brief six year career in the Major Leagues and three with the Boston Red Sox.  Tatum made his big league debut with the California Angels in 1969 and show himself as a top performer in his rookie season with a 7-2 record, 1.36 ERA, 22 saves and fourth place in Rookie of the Year voting.  In his sophomore season, Tatum pitched to a 7-4 record, 2.94 ERA and 17 saves.

Tatum joined the Red Sox prior to the 1973 season as the result of a trade.  The blog, Halos Haven, describes the trade as follows:

"[Ken Tatum] was traded along with Doug Griffin and Jarvis Tatum (no relation) to Boston for three players, one of them being Ray Jarvis, making it the only known MLB trade where two players with the same last name were traded for a player whose last name was the first name belonging to one of those two players." - Halos Haven

Since arriving in Boston, Tatum suffered a series of injuries and his performance declined.  After three seasons, a series of trades led to Tatum playing his final season with the White Sox in 1974.

About This Card
Ken Tatum, as the back of his Topps card states, was nicknamed after basketball star, "Goose" Tatum.  The nickname is not to be confused with Hall of Fame pitcher, Rich Gossage, also nicknamed "Goose."

317 - Danny Cater

About This Player
Danny Cater enjoyed 12 seasons in the Major Leagues and three of those seasons with the Boston Red Sox. Nicknamed "Carter" because of the newspaper's tendency to add the extra "r" to his name, Cater made his big league debut with the Phillies in 1964.  Cater had spent time with the Phillies, White Sox, Athletics, Yankees, Red Sox and Cardinals throughout his career playing at first base, left field and third base.

As a player, Cater had a reputation as an unassuming player.  From 1965 through 1971, Cater had over 500 plate appearances.  He was a good hitter at a time when batting averages were low finishing in the top ten in batting average three times and hitting a second-place .290 average in 1968 behind Carl Yastrzemski's league leading .301 average.  He was also known for his efficiency at the plate; manager Gene Mauch said of him during his rookie year, "he came up 10 times and saw 11 pitches."

For more information on Danny Cater:
"The Name is Carter-er, Cater" Sports Illustrated. May 19, 1969.

Cater played his final game in 1975.

"Cater, by the way, has the reputation of being able to figure out his batting average to four decimal places on his way down to first base." - Jim Bouton, Ball Four

About This Card
Danny Cater is shown wearing pinstripes, despite having been with Boston for the entire 1972 season.  Cater was traded to the Red Sox as part of a trade that sent pitcher Sparky Lyle to the Yankees.

143 - John Curtis

About This Player
John Curtis pitched in 15 Major League seasons.  After a phenomenal collegiate career at Clemson University, where he hurled three no-hitters and went undefeated as a freshman, Curtis was drafted as the 10th overall pick by the Red Sox in 1968.  Curtis made his big league debut in 1970 in a relief appearance, his only Major League appearance that year.  Curtis would become a journeyman pitcher playing four seasons with the Red Sox and three seasons each with the Cardinals, Giants, Padres and Angels.

After retiring as a player, Curtis worked as an editor and freelance writer with articles appearing in the Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle and Sports Illustrated.  In 2000, Curtis returned to the game as a minor league pitching coach.  He is currently the pitching coach for the Huntsville Stars in the A's organization.

About This Card
This particular card in my collection is covered with black speckles.  I don't know much about the printing process in 1973, but I guess it must have been in an overused black printing plate or on an overused roller.

616 - Rookie Pitchers (Norm Angelini / Steve Blateric / Mike Garman)

About These Players
Norm Angelini pitched just over 19 innings in relief in 28 games with the Kansas City Royals in 1972 and 1973.   Except for his brief stay in the big leagues, Angelini was a career minor leaguer with a 13 year career spread among the Royals, Braves and Expos minor league systems.

Steve Blateric had very brief call ups with the Reds in 1971, Yankees in 1972 and Angels in 1975.   Also a career minor leaguer, Blateric spent 13 seasons with six different organizations.

Mike Garman enjoyed nine Major League seasons.  Garman made his big league debut with the Red Sox in 1969 and had bounced in and out of the minors for a spot start early in his career.  In 1973, Garman was established as a Major League reliever and remained with the big league club the entire season.  Garman was traded to the Cardinals in 1974, traded to the Cubs in 1976, traded to the Dodgers in 1977 and traded to the Expos in the middle of the 1978 season.

About This Card
Steve Blateric appears in an airbrushed Yankees uniform (notice no "NEW YORK" on the chest as well as the funky "NY" logo on the cap) although he only appeared in one game for the Yankees and never played in the Yankees minor league system.  The Yankees acquired Blateric in a conditional deal with the Reds late in 1972.  Blateric was returned to the Reds in the spring of 1973.

Angelini and Blateric both appear for their only time in a Topps set in 1973.  Garman is seen for the third time in a Topps set with appearances in 1971 and 1972.

437 - John Kennedy

About This Player
John Kennedy enjoyed twelve Major League seasons with five different teams.  Kennedy made his big league debut with the Washington Senators in 1962 and played his first full season as the team's primary third baseman and 1964.  After he was traded to the Dodgers in 1965, Kennedy became a utility infielder playing third, shortstop and second base.  Kennedy joined the Red Sox in 1970 and played until his retirement in 1974.

John Kennedy also had a unique distinction of having his name and birthday shared with President John F. Kennedy, who was born 24 years before.

About This Card
Although Kennedy is show with 2nd BASE as his position, INFIELD would probably be more appropriate.  In 1972, Kennedy played 32 games at 2nd base, 27 games at shortstop and 11 games at third base.  In 1973, Kennedy played 31 at 2nd and 24 at 3rd.

365 - Rico Petrocelli

About This Player
Rico Petrocelli was known for his outstanding play in the field during his entire 13-year career for the Boston Red Sox.

Petrocelli played one Major League game in 1963.  Two years later, he returned to the big leagues and established himself as the team's starting shortstop.  As a shortstop, Petrocelli started in two All-Star games and led the American League twice in fielding percentage.  In 1969, Petrocelli hit 40 home runs, a record at the time for a shortstop and tied a record for fewest errors by a shortstop.  When the Red Sox acquired Luis Aparicio, Petrocelli moved to third base, where he also led the American League twice in fielding percentage.  Petrocelli retired in 1976 after suffering from a series of injuries.

Petrocelli would continue to remain involved in baseball after his playing career as a minor league coach and manager and as a broadcaster.

Petrocelli authored a book titled Rico Petrocelli's Tales from the Impossible Dream Red Sox, which chronicles his time with the 1967 Red Sox.

About This Card
It is hard to tell from the scan, but this card in particular is full of creases.  I wonder if this card had a lot of love from a Red Sox fan before arriving as part of my set or if it just got stuck at the bottom of a toy chest.

518 - Bob Veale

About This Player
Bob Veale played 13 seasons in the Major Leagues.  Veale was best known for his days with the Pittsburgh Pirates with which he was selected twice as an All-Star and pitched once in the 1971 World Series.  Veale came to Boston in 1972 when the Red Sox purchased his contract.  Veale would finish the last three seasons of his career as a member of the Red Sox.

About This Card
There's always something about posed pitching shots, but I'm not sure what it is.  Of course, the posed pitching shot is very common in vintage Topps sets, as well as today's sets.  I guess it is that the pose itself is never natural.  If you were to look at film of a pitcher's delivery and look at each frame, you would not find one shot that looks similar to this photo.  When you have a photographer asking you to pose like you're pitching, this is what you come up with.

UPDATE: Even though Bob Veale played in 1973 and 1974, this card would be his final regular issue card.