538 - Jim Hart

About This Player
Jim Hart, better known as "Jim Ray Hart", spent 12 seasons in the Major Leagues and 11 of them with the San Francisco Giants.  Hart's entry into the big leagues in 1963 started with a rough welcome. In his second game, Hart was hit with a Bob Gibson fastball and broke his left scapula. A few days after returning from injury, he was beaned by Curt Simmons and missed the rest of the year. 

Hart had his breakout season the following year as the team's starting third baseman and was one of three Giants to hit at least 30 home runs; Hart hit 31 home runs in 1964, while Orlando Cepeda hit 31 and Willie Mays hit 47. Hart was also one of three Giants with at least 30 home runs in 1966; Hart hit 36 home runs, while Willie McCovey hit 33 and Willie Mays hit 37. Hart finished 2nd in Rookie of the Year voting in 1964 to Dick Allen of the Philadelphia Phillies.  Hart had very strong seasons from 1964 through 1968 averaging 28 home runs a year in this span, receiving MVP votes in three of those seasons and earning an All-Star berth in 1966.  

A shoulder injury in 1969 led to a significant drop in playing time, although on July 8, 1970, Hart hit for the cycle and also earned a distinction of collecting six RBI in one inning.  The New York Yankees purchased Hart's contract early in 1973 and Hart received significantly increased playing time as a designated hitter. Hart played his final game in 1974 and was released.

About This Card
Hart was always better known as "Jim Ray" throughout his career, but his Topps cards are shown as JIM HART.  Only his final card in 1974 Topps is shown as JIM RAY HART.  In addition, Hart is specified in this card as an outfielder, although he played exclusively at third base the previous season.  Also add in that even though Hart started 1973 with the Giants, he was well established in the Yankees lineup by the time this card was released.

Team Checklist - San Francisco Giants

About This Card
Every team checklist in the 1973 Topps set features 12 different facsimile autographs on the front.  Considering what we know today from current stars, it is a nice throwback to see autographs that are legible.

584 - Chris Arnold

About This Player
Chris Arnold enjoyed six seasons with the San Francisco Giants from 1971 through 1976 as a utility infielder and pinch hitter.  Though he only hit four home runs during this career, half of them were off of current Hall of Famers: one came in his third major league at bat, against Phil Niekro on September 10, 1971 and the other came against Steve Carlton on May 1, 1974.  Still, one of the other two was a pinch-hit grand slam with two out in the bottom of the 9th inning during a comeback victory against the Pittsburgh Pirates on May 1, 1973.

After his career ended with the Giants in 1976, Arnold spent another three years in Japan with the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes.  Arnold currently runs a successful sports agency, Professional Sports International, out of his home in Denver.

About This Card
I picked up this card, along with a few other high-number cards, at a local card show.  Normally, the high-number cards would cost about $2-3 in Ex-NrMt condition, but, fortunately, I found a dealer who was very sympathetic to set builders and charged me $20 for 30 high-numbers.

197 - Ed Goodson

About This Player
Ed Goodson played in eight seasons in the Major Leagues and six of those with the San Francisco Giants.  Goodson was drafted by the Giants in 1968 and made his big league debut in 1970.  Used primarily as a bench hitter and a backup first baseman and third baseman throughout his career, Goodson had his finest season in 1973 in which he started 93 games at third base and hit .302 with 12 HR and 53 RBI.  Goodson was traded to the Braves in 1975 and later traded the following year to the Dodgers, with whom he would play his last two seasons.

About This Card
Despite having played in three seasons previously, Goodson was featured on a Topps card for the first time in 1973.

101 - Ken Henderson

About This Player
Ken Henderson enjoy 16 seasons in the Major Leagues and eight of them with the San Francisco Giants.  Henderson made his big league debut in 1965. Upon his arrival to the big leagues, Henderson had received comparisons from the media to Willie Mays, who was 34 at the time, with some looking to him as the heir apparent in center field.  However, Henderson spent the next few years bouncing up and down from Triple-A and Mays continued to produce and win MVPs.  Henderson became a Giants regular in 1969 with the starting left field spot with Mays and Bobby Bonds patrolling the rest of the outfield.

The press started to build me up pretty heavily, and the thing that they used to write quite often was that I was the next Willie Mays, which I don’t think was the right thing to do. I don’t care if a player is black or white, it doesn’t make any difference, there was nobody that could replace Willie Mays. He was just one player in our generation that nobody could replace. - Ken Henderson

Henderson was traded prior to the 1973 season, along with Steve Stone, to the White Sox for Tom Bradley.  Henderson would have his finest season in 1974 in which he played all 162 games in center field and hit .292 with 20 home runs and 95 RBI.  After three seasons in Chicago, Henderson would bounce around with the Braves, Rangers, Mets, Reds and Cubs before playing his final game in 1980.

After spending 30 years in sales and marketing, Henderson would return to the Giants in 2010 as a sales manager.

For more information on Ken Henderson:
Touring the Bases With... Ken Henderson - Seamheads.com

About This Card
Despite a broken thumb, as depicted in the cartoon, Henderson managed to play in 141 games, his third most, that season.

342 - Young Sam McDowell

About This Player's Boyhood
As the back of the card describes, Sam McDowell was quite an accomplished player in his childhood.  Sam started out as an outfielder, but his father converted him to a pitcher.  His high school accomplishments include the Pennsylvania State Championship and the Colt League World Series.

About This Card
1973 was the second year Topps had included, as part of the regular set, pictures from select players' childhoods.  This set would be the last set the photos appear as part of the set.  However, in 2010, Topps included an insert set, apart from the regular set, of childhood photos from some of today's players.

606 - Rookie Outfielders (Gary Matthews / Tom Paciorek / Jorge Roque)

About These Players
Gary Matthews enjoyed 16 seasons in the Major Leagues with the Giants, Braves, Phillies, Cubs and Mariners.  Matthews was named the National League Rookie of the Year in 1973 with the Giants and selected to the All-Star Game in 1979 with the Braves.  His son, Gary Jr., last played in the Major Leagues for the Mets in 2010.

Tom Paciorek enjoyed 18 seasons in the Major Leagues with the Dodgers, Braves, Mariners, White Sox, Mets and Rangers.  His finest season came in the strike-shortened season of 1981 with the Mariners in which he hit .326 with 14 home runs and 66 RBIs and was selected as an All-Star.  His brothers, John and Jim each saw playing time in the Majors very briefly.

Jorge Roque played in 65 games over four Major League seasons.  Roque played for the Cardinals from 1970 through 1972.  He was traded to the Expos prior to the 1973 season for veteran catcher, Tim McCarver.  Roque played his last game in the Majors in 1973.

About This Card
Matthews appears on a Topps first for the first time in the 1973 set.  Paciorek appears for the first time in the 1971 set while Roque appears for the first time in the 1972 set.

236 - Tito Fuentes

About This Player
Tito Fuentes enjoyed 13 season in the big leagues and nine of them with the San Francisco Giants.   The Giants signed Fuentes as an amateur free agent out of Cuba in 1962.  Fuentes was one of the last Cuban players signed before the United States embargo on Cuba.  Fuentes made his Major League debut in 1965 and spent his first few seasons as a utility infielder.  He established himself as the Giants' starting second baseman in 1971.

Fuentes was known for his defense although his fielding proficiency appears to have varied throughout his career.  In 1973, Fuentes led the National League with 478 assists and an NL record .993 fielding percentage, yet Joe Morgan was selected as the National League Gold Glove Award Winner at second base.  However for four seasons (1971, 1972, 1976 and 1977), Fuentes lead the league in errors.

Fuentes was traded in 1975 to the San Diego Padres where he played for two seasons.  Fuentes later finished his career with a season in Detroit and another in Oakland.

Tito Fuentes was inducted into the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum Hall of Fame on February 23, 2002 in San Francisco.

About This Card
Cards featuring in-game action are some of my favorites in the 1973 Topps set.  In this photograph, we have what appears to be Tito Fuentes after sliding into second base and taking out another player at Candlestick Park.  It is not clear to me if he is safe.

121 - Dave Rader

About This Player
Dave Rader enjoyed ten seasons in Major League Baseball with his first six as a member of the San Francisco Giants.  Rader was the Giants' first selection in the 1967 draft.  Rader came in second in National League Rookie of the Year voting in 1972.  Rader also caught Ed Halicki's no-hitter in 1975.  Rader finished his last four seasons playing one season each with the Cardinals, Cubs, Phillies and Red Sox.

About This Card
The card features an in-game shot at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.