346 - Young Gaylord Perry

About This Player's Boyhood
The story on this card is just as much about Jim Perry as it is about Gaylord Perry.  In high school, Gaylord played third base while Jim pitched.  When Jim needed relief, Gaylord would pitch and Jim would play third.

In addition to high school, Gaylord and Jim played together with the Cleveland Indians in 1974 and 1975.

About This Card
If the 1972 Topps set was the 787-card full-featured baseball card set, then the 1973 Topps set was the basic 660-card minimalist alternative.  In addition to the basic design of the cards, the 1973 set cut down on some of the different subsets from the previous year.  Boyhood Photos of the Stars was one of the subsets that survived the cut.

297 - Walt Williams

About This Player
Walt Williams played 10 seasons in the Major Leagues and only one season with the Cleveland Indians.  Williams received the nickname "No Neck" for a combination of his short stature, muscular and compact torso and short neck.

Williams made his big league debut with the Houston Colt .45's in 1964.  After 10 plate appearances in 10 games, Williams was selected off of waivers by the St. Louis Cardinals and remained in the minors for almost three seasons.  

Williams was traded to the Chicago White Sox in 1967 and got his opportunity to play in the big leagues again.  Williams was known by his hustle and his drive to be great and became a fan favorite during his tenure in Chicago.  Williams, a starting outfielder for the White Sox, hit .304 in 1969; he was one of only six players to hit over .300 and the first White Sox player to do so in six years. 

Williams was traded to the Cleveland Indians for Eddie Leon in 1973 and become a backup outfielder and designated hitter for the Tribe.  After one season in Cleveland, he was part of a three-way trade that sent him to the New York Yankees.  The Yankees release Williams after two seasons.  Williams would go on to play two more seasons in Japan.

About This Card
Walt Williams was traded in 1973 and Topps attempted to show this change.  The Indians "C" logo was airbrushed onto the cap while the "S" in "SOX" is still visible on his uniform.

272 - Ed Farmer

About This Player
Ed Farmer enjoyed 11 seasons as a Major League reliever with eight different teams.  Farmer made his big league debut with the Cleveland Indians in 1971 with whom he spent parts of this first three seasons.  Farmers had his finest season with the Chicago White Sox in 1980 with whom he earned 30 saves, a 3.38 ERA and a selection to the All-Star team.

Farmer works currently as the play-by-play announcer for the White Sox' radio broadcasts and had been with the team's radio broadcasts since 1991.

About This Card
Ed Farmer is shown wearing the Indians' home uniforms that were new in 1972.  For their home uniforms, the Indians switched from a pinstriped uniform to plain white and used the block letter font for "INDIANS" on the front.  In addition, the Indians had worn blue caps with the red "C" and changed to red caps with the blue "C".

608 - Rookie Pitchers (Steve Busby / Dick Colpaert / George Medich)

About These Players
Steve Busby enjoyed eight seasons with the Kansas City Royals.  After his debut in 1972, Busby quickly became one of baseball's stars with two All-Star selections, a 20-win season in 1974 and two no-hitters.  However, Busby was diagnosed with a torn rotator cuff in 1976.  He subsequently became the first player to undergo rotator cuff surgery.  While Busby was able to pitch for three more seasons after the surgery, he never regained his previous form and was out of the Majors after 1980.

Dick Colpaert played only one season for the Pittsburgh Pirates.  In 1970, pitched a total of 10-1/3 innings over eight games.  Colpaert was selected by the Cleveland Indians in the 1972 Rule 5 Draft, but never pitched a game for the Tribe.

George Medich spent 11 seasons in the big leagues and four with the New York Yankees.  Better known as "Doc," Medich received his nickname early in his career and while he was a medical student at the University of Pittsburgh.  By the end of his career, Medich played for seven different teams.

About This Card
Busby, Colpaert and Medich all appear for their first times in the 1973 set.  Colpaert appears his only time in a Topps set and not with a team he played with in the Major Leagues.

181 - Jack Brohamer

About This Player
Jack Brohamer enjoyed eight seasons in the Major Leagues.  Brohamer made his big league debut with the Indians in 1972 and made an impact immediately and earning the starting job at second base.  Brohamer was even selected as the second baseman for the 1972 Topps All-Rookie Team.  However, his playing time would soon decline.  Brohamer eventually lost the starting job to Duane Kuiper in 1975 and was later traded to the White Sox after the season for Larvell Blanks.  Brohamer started the majority of his games in 1976 at second, but was used in a utility role the following year.  Brohamer later signed with the Red Sox and ended back up with the Indians before finishing his career.

About This Card
Brohamer appears to be tagged out by Orioles' second baseman, Bobby Grich.  (Of course, this is how a player would like to be immortalized on a Topps card.)  May 28, 1972, Brohamer hit 2-for-4 with a run scored.  In the third inning of that game, Indians' center fielder, Tommy McCraw, grounds to Grich, who tags out Brohamer and throws to Boog Powell at first to complete the double play.

66 - Victory Leaders

About These Players
Steve Carlton played 24 seasons in the Major Leagues and 15 seasons with the Phillies.  In his first season with the Phillies in 1972, Carlton lead the National League with 27 wins for his first time and earned his first Cy Young Award.  Gaylord Perry played 22 seasons in the Major Leagues and 4 seasons with the Indians.  In his first season with the Indians in 1972, Perry lead the American League with 24 wins for his second time and earned his first Cy Young Award.  Wilbur Wood played 17 seasons in the Major Leagues and 12 seasons with the White Sox.  Wood would also lead the American League with 24 wins for his first time and place second in Cy Young voting.

About This Card
Ten pitchers won 20 or more games in 1972.  In contrast, only three pitchers won 20 or more in 2010.

571 - Rusty Torres

About This Player
Rusty Torres enjoyed nine seasons in the Major Leagues with the Yankees, Indians, Angels, White Sox and Royals.

Torres also has the unique distinction of playing in three games that resulted in forfeits: the final Washington Senators game in 1971, Rangers' Ten-Cent Beer Night in 1974 and White Sox' Disco Demolition in 1975.  Torres describes his experience from the first forfeit on the Bronx Banter blog:

"It just so happens that I was supposed to hit [in the ninth inning]. Bobby Murcer hits a ground ball. He gets thrown at first. They thought it was three outs. It was only two outs. And they rushed us! They rushed the field. They took dirt. People were taking dirt, taking the bases. They were tearing up the seats. It was unbelievable. That was a real scary experience." - Rusty Torres

Currently, Torres is the president and a founder of Winning Beyond Winning, a charity organization that prepares athletes for their careers after their sports participation and provides outreach to school-aged children on the benefits of healthy living that can be achieved through participation in sports.

About This Card
On the front, another airbrushing job from Topps.  Just as with many of the photographs in the set, this one also takes place in Yankee Stadium.  The Indians hat is added even though the Yankee home pinstripes remain.

On the back, as the cartoon on the back of the card states, Torres did play on the same Brooklyn youth team that Sandy Koufax and Joe Torre has also played, though not at the same time.

157 - Denny Riddleberger

About This Player
Denny Riddleberger enjoyed a very brief three year career as a Major League reliever.  Riddleberger was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates, made his pro debut with the Washington Senators and was traded in 1972 to the Cleveland Indians.  A sidearm pitcher known for his curve, Riddleberger led all Indians relievers with a 2.50 ERA, but 1972 would be his final season in the Major Leagues at age 26.

Riddleberger had a career earned run average of 2.77 in his three seasons.  He pitched the 1973 season in the minors, but he would never return to the big leagues.  It is not clear to me why a player with modest numbers only played in the big show so briefly.

Former Washington Senators coach, Wayne Terwilliger recounts in his book a story on Ted Williams, Baseball Hall of Famer and Senators manager,and his thoughts regarding Riddleberger and Orioles slugger, Boog Powell.

"It always surprised Ted when players who had been around awhile didn’t think about hitting the way he did, when they didn’t learn to pay attention to what a pitcher was throwing and how the ball moved. He told a story about watching a game on television and seeing Boog Powell, Baltimore’s big left-handed-hitting first baseman, being fooled again and again by a slow looping curve ball. Powell had a big stride and a big swing; he’d swing himself almost into the ground. Ted said that as he watched the game, he thought for sure Powell would start looking for that curve ball but he never seemed to, and it had made Ted laugh to see Powell keep making that big swing of his and keep missing the ball. I don’t know who the pitcher was in the game that Ted saw on TV, but in ’70 and ’71 we have a young left-handed pitcher named Denny Riddleburger who also had a big slow curve ball. When we played Baltimore, Ted would bring Riddleburger in to pitch to Powell. Denny would serve up a big slow curve and Powell would stand there and cock and cock and cock the bat, and then swish, he’d swing and miss it entirely. Every time Denny pitched to Boog, Ted would be hiding in the corner of the dugout where the fans couldn’t see him, laughing, with tears running down his face. Riddleburger would throw another one and Ted would throw up his arms and his legs and laugh and laugh. Once in a while Powell would foul one off. I don’t know how many times Powell faced Riddleburger but I doubt he ever did hit a fair ball off of him." - Wayne Terwilliger, Terwilliger Bunts One

About This Card
While many collectors cite the 1973 Topps design as the most lackluster from the decade, I enjoy it because of its simplicity.  The thick black border around the photograph brings the focus of the card to the player and action.  The player name stands out, but does not distract.  The team name is subtle, but noticeable and the position icon in the bottom right enhances the card.

601 - Rookie Catchers (Sergio Robles / George Pena / Rick Stelmaszek)

About These Players
Sergio Robles played only 16 games over three seasons.  Robles came to the Orioles as part of a trade that sent Frank Robinson to the Dodgers in 1971.  Robles was called up briefly the Orioles in 1972 and 1973 and again in 1976 for the Dodgers.

George Pena was a career minor league catcher with seven different organizations, but never broke in with a Major League club

Rick Stelmaszek played in three seasons with three different teams starting with the Washington Senators who moved to the Texas Rangers.  Stelmaszek has most of his Major League success as a bullpen coach and is currently in his 30th year as a coach with the Minnesota Twins.

About This Card
Topps included a subset of rookie cards featuring three players.  The rookie cards featuring multiple players had been a regular feature in all of Topps sets to include players who had either appeared briefly in the Major Leagues or were expected to appear.  Add in that these cards only appear in the last series of the 1973 set and these rookie card experience an inflated demand.  Robles and Pena appear on a Topps card for the first time in 1973 while Stelmaszek had appeared in the 1970 Topps set.

247 - Del Unser

About This Player
Del Unser played 15 seasons in the Major Leagues.  Unser made his major league debut in 1968 for the Washington Senators.  In that year, he came in second place for Rookie of the Year.  Unser played only one year for the Indians in 1972 where he started in center field and right field.  Unser would later be traded to the Phillies before the 1973 season.

Del's father, Al Unser,  played four seasons from 1942 through 1945 with the Tigers and Reds.

About This Card
Whenever I look at any Cleveland Indians cards from the set, I always think of the Cincinnati Reds.  The "C" logo looks just like the Reds "C" except in blue.  The "INDIANS" font on the jersey looks very similar to the "CINCINNATI" font on the Reds' away jerseys.

I believe this card came in one of the two lots I bought to start the set.  Whenever I've built a set from the 70's, I have started off with a lot or two of cards from each set.