196(9) At A Time - Page 12

The Airbrushes continue their rally and have their first lead, 25-23. We also have an error card and one of baseball's all time best.



#98 - Dave Giusti Poor Dave Giusti was going to be airbrushed no matter what. . He was a very hot commodity in the winter of 68-69 as he was first traded by the Astros (meaning he would have been airbrushed) to the Cardinals (new team - airbrushed), drafted by the Padres from the Cardinals and then traded by San Diego back to the Redbirds. He finished his career with the Cubs in 1977. When Bruce Sutter was hurt, Giusti was acquired for bullpen help. He didn't help much with an ERA of 6.04



#99 - Twins Rookies error card The error on this card is in the upper left hand corner, as you can see the black outline above the blue Twins circle. In the corrected card, the black line was removed. This card features the rookie card of one of the most misspelled names in baseball, Graig Nettle, not Craig Nettles.



#99 - Twins Rookies corrected card The black line in the upper left is gone.



#100 - Hank Aaron A really nice looking card of the home run king, non-steroid version. Hank's home run total after the 1968 season was 510 and I doubt that in 1969 anyone thought he would end up passing the Babe.



#101 - Darryl Patterson A Tiger pitcher without glasses! Note how ugly the grass looks at this spring training field. There's no way players would allow a field like that today.



#102 - Jim Davenport The Giant's third baseman takes a hack at Shea Stadium.



#103 - Roger Repoz Roger is shown here in Fenway Park with the Green Monster in the background.



104 - Steve Blass Blass looks like he is squinting, like he can't find home plate. Four years later, in 1973 he inexplicably lost his control, walking 84 hitters in 88 innings and that ended his big league career. He made one comeback appearance in 1974, a game against the Cubs in which he walked 7 in five innings. That was his last major league game. Today, when a pitcher loses his control, he has "Steve Blass disease."



105 - Rick Monday Another airbrushed KC Athletics hat. Monday came to the Cubs in 1972 for pitcher Ken Holtzman. He had some decent seasons in Chicago, though his most famous Cub moment didn't involve his bat or glove. It was his saving an American flag from protesters who had come onto the Dodger Stadium field to burn the flag that got Monday the most attention. I remember him being a guest on the Phil Donahue Show (which was recorded at the WGN studio in Chicago) and being the grand marshall at some 4th of July parades.


Overall Set Totals (player cards only)
Hall of Famers - 8
Hatless - 23
Airbrush - 25
Cubs (includes past, present, or future) - 18