Topps 1972 Final Page

Here are the last five cards from the 1972 Cubs team set



Ron Santo In Action: looks like he hit a pop up.



Hector Torres: The back of Hector's card proclaims "In 4 games vs. Mets, Hector hit .357 with 2 doubles." What is doesn't say is that against the rest of the league, Hector hit .182. He was traded to the Expos just before the start of the 1972 season.



Billy Williams: Sweet Swingin Billy is wearing a plastic jacket, too. Although 34 years old, Billy was at the peak of his career. He led the league in hitting in 1972, with a .333 mark. He also walloped 37 homers and knocked in 122 runs. He was in contention for the triple crown all season long, ending up third in home runs and second in RBI's to go along with his batting title. He was an All Star and finished second to Johnny Bench in the MVP balloting.



Billy Williams In Action: Ready to take a cut.



1972 Rookie Stars: As is the case with most rookie cards, only one of the players featured went on to a decent career. On this card it would be Burt Hooton. Hooton was drafted by the Cubs in the June 1971 draft and then went straight to the bigs. His signature pitch was the knucklecurve. He started three games and then was sent down to the minors. He made the team in 1972 and pitched a no hitter his first start of the season, on April 16, It was a sloppy no hitter, with him giving up 7 walks. Even though it was a Sunday, only 9,500 people turned out at Wrigley Field on a cold, rainy day. He ended the season with a record of 11-14, but a decent 2.80 ERA

Gene Hiser played on and off with the Cubs for five seasons. He never amounted to much, with a career average of .202

Earl Sephenson was traded by the Cubs in the Jose Cardenal trade. The rookie card was in the first series, so Topps had no time to change it.

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So there you have the complete Topps 1972 Cubs. The team ended the strike shortened season in second place with a record of 85-70. Leo Durocher was fired midway through the year and replaced by Whitey Lockman. While they did finish second, they never really challenged for the title, finishing 11 games back of the Pirates. The boys of '69 were aging and this was their last decent season. In 1973 the team only posted 77 wins and in 1974 most of the stars were gone.