321 - Rich Hinton

About This Player
Rich Hinton enjoyed a brief career in the Major Leagues pitching in parts of six seasons for five different teams from 1971 through 1979.

Hinton was drafted five different times, but did not sign until he was drafted in the 3rd round by the Chicago White Sox in 1969.  Hinton would spend his career bouncing from team to team (playing for the Yankess, Rangers, Reds and Mariners), but he was a part of the White Sox organization on three different occasions.

About This Card
The airbrushing jobs on this photograph might have been necessary.  Hinton was not with Texas Rangers long enough to have a photo taken.  His contract was purchased from the New York Yankees in September 1972 and he was later traded to the Cleveland Indians in March 1973.

603 - Rookie Third Basemen (Terry Hughes / Bill McNulty / Ken Reitz)

About These Players
Terry Hughes was only in the big leagues briefly in three seasons.  Hughes played in only two games with a total of three at bats for the Chicago Cubs in 1970.  He returned to the Majors in 1973 with the St. Louis Cardinals with whom he spent only 11 games and spent 1974 in 41 games with the Boston Red Sox.

Bill McNulty played in a total of nine games with the Oakland A's in 1969 and 1972.  Though he was traded to the Texas Rangers in 1973, he never played a game on the big league roster.

Out of the three players, Ken Reitz had the most successful career.  Reitz made his big league debut in 1972 and earned the starting third base spot immediately after being called up.  In his 11-year career, Reitz played with the St. Louis Cardinals in eight of them.  Known for his defense, Reitz won the Gold Glove in 1975 and led all National League third basemen in fielding percentage in six seasons.  Reitz earned his only All-Star selection in 1980.

About This Card
Hughes, McNulty and Reitz all appear for their first times in the 1973 set.  Hughes appears as a Cub, even though he was on the Cardinals roster and appeared in some games in 1973.  McNulty was in the Rangers organization in 1973, but never played a game for Texas.

378 - Lenny Randle

About This Player
Lenny Randle played in 12 big league seasons and six of them with the Washington Senators/Texas Rangers organization.  Randle made his Major League debut with the Washington Senators in 1971 and moved with the team to Texas the following year.  For his first three years, Randle had been called up/down from/to the minors. 

However, he had his breakthrough season in 1974 in which he played in 151 games and hit .302 for the season. In 1974 and 1975, Randle started at second base, third base and in the outfield.  In 1976, Randle was named the starting second baseman for the Rangers.

Spring Training of 1977 would mark one of the ugliest moments in Rangers history.  Rookie, Bump Wills, was given the starting job at second base from the start of spring training.  Randle complained to manager, Frank Lucchesi and demanded to start or be traded.  Lucchesi, incensed by the confrontation, complained to writers to whom he insisted publish his comments.  On March 28, the day the Sports Illustrated magazine with Wills on the cover hit stands, Randle confronted Lucchesi and punched him in the face.  Lucchesi was hospitalized for a week and need plastic surgery to repair his cheekbone that was broken in three places.  Randle was suspended by the team for 30 days and traded to the New York Mets before the end of his suspension.  Lucchesi would return to the team before the Opening Day, but later fired mid-season.

For more information:
Swapping Stories: The '77 Randle Trade


Randle ended up having his most productive season in 1977 with career highs in batting average (.304), on base percentage (.383), slugging percentage (.404), home runs (five) and stolen bases (33) with the last place Mets.  After a poor 1978 season, Randle was released.  He later spent time with the New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners.

In 1983, Randle became the first American Major League Baseball player to play in Italy where he won the Italian batting title with a .477 batting average.

About This Card
Nothing much for me to write about this card.  I have either attained it as part of an eBay lot or as a single from my local store or online.

549 - Whitey Herzog MGR

About This Manager
Whitey Herzog, who had an eight-year playing career, took his first managerial post in 1973, taking over the previously Ted Williams run Texas Rangers club that lost 100 games in the previous season. Although he was signed to a two-year contract, Herzog was fired during the season so that the Rangers' owner, Bob Short, could hire Billy Martin, who had just been fired by the Detroit Tigers.  Short told reporters, "If my mother were managing the Rangers and I had the opportunity to hire Billy Martin, I'd fire my mother."

Herzog's managerial career only got better from there.  After an interim stint with the California Angels in 1974, Herzog joined the Kansas City Royals in 1975. During his five seasons with the Royals, Herzog led his teams to three consecutive American League West Division championships.
Herzog joined the St. Louis Cardinals in 1980, with whom he led the club to three National League pennants and a World Series Championship in 1982.

Herzog employed a strategy that the media called "Whiteyball."  He concentrated on pitching, speed and defense to win games. His lineups typically started with one or two base stealers at the top of the order, a power threat batting third or fourth protected by one or two lesser power hitters and followed with more base stealers.

"They seemed to think there was something wrong with the way we played baseball, with speed and defense and line-drive hitters. They called it 'Whitey-ball' and said it couldn't last."
- Whitey Herzog, White Rat - A Life in Baseball

Herzog was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2010 and his number "24" was retired by the St. Louis Cardinals.

About This Card
This card is the only manager card in the 1973 Topps set to feature only three coaches.  (All other manager cards feature four.)  This card also features former All-Star pitcher, Chuck Estrada, former second baseball, Chuck Hiller and former catcher, Jackie Moore.

Team Checklist - Texas Rangers

About This Card
Another team checklist that I am making as part of my 1973 Topps set.  Many collectors do not include the team checklists as part of their set.  However, I feel like I am a completest.

216 - Toby Harrah

About This Player
Toby Harrah played 17 seasons in the big leagues with the Rangers, Indians and Yankees.  Harrah was signed as a minor league free agent by the Philadelphia Phillies, but later traded to the Washington Senators and made his Major League debut in 1969.  Harrah had established himself as the team's starting second baseman in 1971 and moved with the team when they became the Texas Rangers.  In 1972, Harrah earned his first All-Star selection, but could not play because of injury.  Harrah also earned an All-Star selection in 1975 and a start at shortstop in 1976.  In 1977, Harrah moved to third base after the Rangers acquired Bert Campaneris and had his finest season with a career-high 27 home runs and 27 stolen bases and an American League leading 109 walks.  Harrah was traded to the Cleveland Indians for Buddy Bell in 1979.  He would later be selected to the All-Star Game in 1982.  Harrah played briefly for the New York Yankees after he was traded.  Attempting to replace a popular Craig Nettles at third place, Harrah slumped at the plate and was later replaced by rookie Mike Pagliarulo.  Harrah returned to Texas in 1985 and played second baseman, alongside Buddy Bell.  Harrah played his final game in 1986.

Toby Harrah has the distinction of being the last active player to have played for the Washington Senators after Jeff Burroughs had retired in 1985. 

Harrah was also the last player to see a pitch in their final game on September 30, 1971. He was at-bat when Tommy McCraw was caught stealing for the final out in the bottom of the 8th inning.  Fans stormed the field with two outs in the top of the 9th and the Senators were forced to forfeit the game to the Yankees.

Harrah was also involved in three of the most unusual feats in Major League Baseball.

• On June 25, 1976, Harrah played an entire double-header without making a single fielding play and did so at shortstop.
• On August 27, 1977, Harrah and teammate, Bump Wills, hit back-to-back inside-the-park home runs at Yankee Stadium, the only time for this feat to occur.
• August 6, 1986, Harrah hit a grand slam in the second inning against the Baltimore Orioles.  Orioles hitters, Larry Sheets and Jim Dwyer hit grand slams in the nine-run fourth inning.  Altogether, they established a record for most grand slams hit in one game.

Harrah currently works as a hitter coordinator for the Detroit Tigers.

About This Card
Maybe it's just me, but the photograph appears a little surreal.  Harrah is standing straight, but the stadium background appears tilted left.  As if a picture of him was cut out and pasted on the stadium background.  The little patch of white between his right arm and chest also makes me wonder.  Again, maybe it's just me.

111- Dave Nelson

About This Player
Dave Nelson played ten seasons in the Major Leagues with three different teams.  Nelson made his big league debut with the Indians in 1968.  He spent two seasons in Cleveland before he was traded to the Washington Senators in 1970.  Nelson soon became the team's starting third baseman and moved with the team when they became the Texas Rangers.  Nelson's finest season came in 1973 in which he started at 2nd base, hit for a .286 batting average with 165 hits and earned his only All-Star selection.  Nelson was later traded to the Royals in 1976 and played his final two seasons in Kansas City.

Nelson is currently as pregame analyst for the Milwaukee Brewers on Fox Sports Wisconsin.

About This Card
This photograph shows Dave Nelson after sliding into second base, even if he only appears in the background of the shot.  With Dave Hamilton at the pitcher's mound and Ted Kubiak covering second, we can do some photo matching to trace this game back to July 30, 1972.  In the second game of a doubleheader, Nelson hit 3 for 5 with three singles, two runs and two RBIs.  Nelson also stole 2nd base twice off of Hamilton and catcher Gene Tenace and shown on the card is one of those two steals.  The Rangers won the game 4-2.

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.

489 - Jeff Burroughs

About This Player
Jeff Burroughs enjoyed 16 seasons in the Major Leagues and seven seasons with the Washington Senators/Texas Rangers organization.  Burroughs was the number one overall selection on the 1969 draft.  Burroughs enjoyed his best season in 1974 in which he hit .301 with 25 home runs a league-leading 118 RBI.  He was also selected at the starting left fielder in the All-Star Game that year and was named the American League Most Valuable Player.

Also in 1974, Burroughs would also become a key figure in Ten-Cent Beer Night.

For more information on Ten-Cent Beer Night:
The night beer and violence bubbled over in Cleveland

After his days in Texas, Burroughs would later play for the Braves (with whom he was also an All-Star), Mariners, A's and Blue Jays before retiring in 1985.

About This Card
The Jeff Burroughs card was a number of semi-star singles I needed for this set.  Prices for the semi-stars range widely, and, it seems like, depends on how many people are looking for singles in their 1973 Topps sets for that week.  This one I bought for $2 on eBay.

658 - Elliott Maddox

About This Player
Elliott Maddox, a first round draft pick for the Tigers, made his Major League debut in 1970. Maddox was later traded to the Senators along with Denny McLain, Norm McRae and Don Wert to the Washington Senators for Ed Brinkman, Joe Coleman, Jim Hannan and Aurelio Rodriguez. He arrived in Texas when the Senators moved to become the Rangers. During his time with the Texas Rangers, Maddox played all three outfield positions and third base.  However, Maddox would have better seasons with the Yankees, with whom he ranked 8th in the American League MVP vote in 1974.  Maddox would later play for the Orioles and Mets.

About This Card
Elliott Maddox is one of the high numbered cards in the 1973 Topps baseball set.  1973 was the last year that Topps distributed their flagship cards in separate series.  In the case of this set, 1973 Topps consisted of five series of 132 card each.  The high numbered cards are unique because they were printed in much lower productions numbers than the rest of the set.  With the 5th series being produced late in the season, interest in baseball wanes toward the end kids are less interested in baseball by the time this series is released.  As such, Topps produced them in lower number.

What this means for a collector looking to build the 1973 set today is that the high numbered cards demand a premium in price.  A high numbered common, such as Elliott Maddox, sells for about $1-3 dollars each with star cards demanding more.  Fortunately, I had acquired this card, along with about 40 other high numbered cards, at the Valley West card show earlier this month for $22.