All the circumstantial pieces lined up.
It made for a great post, one of my all time favorites.
It was four years ago that I had a name that game post on this card....
....Billy Williams 1974 Topps.
I pegged the date as August 18, 1973.
The evidence:
- an NBC camera in the background meant the game was a Saturday.
- The Cubs were a Game of the Week on August 18, 1973.
- The game was against the Dodgers and several Dodger cards from the '74 set are action shots from Wrigley, including one of the Cubs and Dodger starters from that date.
It was all circumstantial, but it all fit. And best of all, the Cubs won the game on a home run by Billy Williams. Was the picture on the card his home run swing? I assumed it was.
No.
When I was combing through the Tribune archives researching the Jewel post, I decided to check the paper for a story on the August 18 game. Look what I found:
This is the home run swing from that game.
Now look again at the card. Billy's wearing sleeves on the card, but has bare arm in the Trib picture.
I guess I never noticed the sleeves on the card before. If you think about it, it doesn't make any sense that he would have been wearing long sleeves in August. April, May, June (maybe), but not August.
So now it's back to the drawing board.
FWIW the Hi and Lo for 1973 08/18 are 86 and 66 - I suppose Billy could have wore an undershirt to start the game but doubt it http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KORD/1973/8/18/MonthlyHistory.html?req_city=&req_state=&req_statename=&reqdb.zip=&reqdb.magic=&reqdb.wmo=
ReplyDeleteHope you're able to figure out the date. In the meantime... I'll just sit back and stare at that awesome picture on Billy's 74 card.
ReplyDeleteI like your sleuthing.
ReplyDelete