#9 Steve Braun

Pinch-hitter Steve Braun is shown here at the old Comiskey Park on a dark looking day. Drafted by the Twins Braun was a 3B, 2B, OF and occasional SS. An average fielder he was a lefty with modest power but always with a good average. He suffered the fate of the good but not great player when he was taken in the Expansion Draft by the Seattle Mariners and in 78 was traded to the Royals. With Kansas City he was mostly a reserver but he made enough of an impression of manager Whitey Herzog that after a brief stay in Toronto he was signed by Herzog's new team the Cardinals in 1981. Spending the last five years of his career there he was again mostly a sub but in 1982 he did pick up a ring when the Cards beat the Brewers in the World Series. 

#8 Craig Swan

I could never figure out what kind of pitching motion someone could have that would leave them with such an awkward follow through. A big prospect with the Mets Swan was always injured but when he was healthy he could be brilliant. After four years of sporadic appearances he had his breakthrough in 78 when he went 9-6 with a league-leading 2.43 ERA and reached 200 innings (207.1), though 1979 would be the only other time he would reach those numbers. 

The rest of his career was spent bouncing up and down on the numbers until 1984 when the Mets released him in May and he signed on the Angels where he only made a couple of appearances one of which was the NBC Game of the Week where he was smacked about by the Baltimore Orioles. (Oddly enough I remembered the game being played in September and I was getting clothes for college, just another example of how memory plays tricks on you.) Speaking of memories I also remember Braves announcer Ernie Johnson (the father not the Emmy winning son who hosts TNT's NBA games) would always pronounce Swan as 'Shawan.' 

The card's pic was probably taken at Shea Stadium since there is the blue wall in the background and Swan is wearing his home pinstripes. 

#7-Mike Lum

The first regular card! MIke Lum was, like the card says, a backup outfielder and first baseman for the Braves. He was signed by the Braves but had what I call 'Charlie Spikes Syndrome' a bench player who has a breakout season then slumps the next season. In 1971 he hit .269 with 13 home runs and 55 RBI's while the next season he slumped to a .228. 73 he hit .294, 16 homers and 82 RBI's while in 74 it was back down to .233. From 76 to 78 he played for the Reds and picked up a ring with the Big Red Machine in 1976 after they swept the Yankees. 

Returning to the Braves as a free agent in 1979 he still road the bench and played for Atlanta until he was released in 1981 and signed with the Cubs. 

Watching the Braves in Lum's first season back Atlanta had a double header with the Pittsburgh Pirates on July 22 and throughout the game 1 all the Braves announcers talked about was Mike Lum would  do a magic show between games. That was the plan, however, both games were constantly delayed by rain and a game which began at 1 in the afternoon when until 10 PM that evening and his magic show wasn't show. I wasn't heartbroken I assure you but for some reason I always remembered that. 

The card looks like it was taken during Spring Training of 79 from the open seats and those awful mesh caps players wore during the spring. 

#6 Del Unser: 1979 Highlights

So Del Unser set the then Major League Record for consecutive pinch-hit homers. Only problems is Lee Lacy set the record the year before with the Dodgers when he hit three consecutive homers in pinch hitting appearances. On May 2, 6 and 17th Lacy homered. Unser's were on June 30, July 5 and July 10th. A very odd mistake on Topps part. 

The card itself looks like the photographer was a fan of German Expressionism or the bad Paul Newman movie The Silver Chalice. It appears its an empty dugout in the background with the seats above and the sky in the background. An unusual card to say the least. 

#5 Gary Templeton: 1979 Highlights

Speaking of Pete Rose here is Gary Templeton's Highlight card for being the first MLB player to get 100 hits from boths sides of the plate something Rose never did even with the 10 seasons of 200+ hits. 

Templeton was a great shortstop for the Cards in the late 70's but his personality was always a problem. One example: In 1979 he wasn't voted a starting spot on the National League All-Star team so he said the immortal words: "If I ain't startin', I ain't departin". Two years later he was in San Diego. He went from a .305 hitter with the Cards to a .252 with the Padres. 

#4-Pete Rose: 1979 Highlights

   Card #4 highlights Pete Rose's setting of the major league record for 10 seasons with 200 or more hits. 79 would be the last time he did that but he would eventually become the game's all time hits leader in 1985 when he surpassed Ty Cobb's 4189. 

In this card it looks like Rose is batting at Candlestick Park possibly the May 12 afternoon game or the 13th though he only had one at-bat as a lefty facing Giants' righty Randy Moffitt. 

#3-1979 Highlights-Manny Mota

    In a day game at Dodger Stadium Manny Mota-how different were rosters in the 70's? Some teams had 'pinch-hitters deluxe.' Many Mota, Del Unser and Rusty Staub would also serve exclusively as pinch-hitters and do nothing else. Since most teams back then only carried 10 pitchers you could afford to expend a spot on a player who did nothing but pinch-hit. 

In the game Mota pinch-hit for the late Ken Brett in the 8th inning facing the last Lynn McGlothen. Singling to right field Mota set the record then was pince-run for by Von Joshua. Bruce Sutter then came in and shut down the Dodger rally however in the bottom of the 9th Sutter surrendered a two-out grand-slam to Davy Lopes and the Dodgers won the game 6-2. 

     If you couldn't tell these pics were an experiment that failed. Back to the dreary way I copy the pics for the next ones.