1977 Topps Rookies: Page, Henderson, Rozema, Bannister

After switching to a single series in 1974, Topps did a poor job of  getting star rookies onto cards their rookie season. in 1977, eight players received Rookie of the Year consideration, only 3 made it into the Topps set for that year

In my last post I created a 1977 card that never was for the AL ROY, Eddie Murray who was conspicuously missing from the set. For this post I am creating a single rookie card for 4 others who received Rookie of the Year votes but were left out by Topps. The sad truth is, other than the Hall of Famers at the top of the ballot the rest were pretty forgettable. 

I don't want to give the wrong impression, all of these players had respectable baseball careers ranging from 6-15 years. They were just, well, forgettable. Bump Wills had the notoriety of being Maury Wills' son. Floyd Bannister was the only one to play in an All Star game. Just once and it was the same year he led the league in strike outs, then followed it up in 1983 as part of the "Winning Ugly" White Sox. 

Speed apparently played a big part in ROY voting. Four ROY candidates had double-digit steals. Dawson had 21, Wills had 28, Mitchell Page had 42 and Gene Richards had 56.

The 3 players who were included in the 1977 set appeared on 2 cards. Gene Richards shared a card with the NL Rookie of the Year Andre Dawson.

Bump Wills was also included on a multiplayer rookie card.

1975 Hostess Gary Carter

Montreal Expos CTNW Favorites #1

Although Gary Carter would have a Hall of Fame career behind the plate, most of his rookie season was spent in the outfield. The Expos primary backstop was Barry Foote. Foote was named to the Topps All-Star Rookie Team in 1974 and Expos manager Gene Mauch called him "the next Johnny Bench". Meanwhile "The Kid" was selected to the All Star team as an outfielder and finished second in Rookie of the Year voting. During his career he was selected to 10 more All Star teams (twice winning the All Star MVP) and won 3 Gold Gloves. All of them as a catcher.

On a side note, the 5 players I picked for my favorite Expos all had great nicknames. This wasn't deliberate, just a lucky coincidence.

"The Rock"

"The Big Unit"

"Rusty" and "Le Grand Orange"

"The Hawk"

"The Kid"

1976 Topps Andre Dawson

Montreal Expos CTNW Favorites #2

After blowing through the Expos AA and AAA affiliates with 28 homers and a batting average of .352 he was called up the the Big League in September of 1976. In 1977 he would win the NL Rookie of the Year award. He would continue to garner awards including 8 Gold Gloves, 4 Silver Sluggers and the 1987 NL MVP.

When I was looking up stats on Dawson I came across this article from The Chicago Tribune from the week he was inducted into the Hall of Fame. It is loaded with factoids about the source of his nickname, his multiple knee surgeries and why he is so beloved in Chicago. It captured so much of what I wish I could say about "The Hawk".

Ten Important Things About Dawson's Road To The Hall

Click the link above and read it for yourself.