1975 Topps Roric Harrison

Roric had a five season career, going 30-35 with 10 saves and a 4.24 ERA.

The Braves acquired Harrison, along with Davey Johnson, Johnny Oates, and Pat Dobson for Earl Williams and Taylor Duncan.

The Braves then swapped Harrison to Cleveland for Blue Moon Odom. Where are all the nicknames in baseball today? We need more nicknames...

Probably what Roric is best known for is while playing for Baltimore on October 3rd, 1972, in the second game of a double header against Cleveland, hit a home run in the bottom of the 6th inning. That made him the last American League pitcher to hit a home run before the introduction of the DH. (BOOO!)
I'm sure some AL pitcher has hit one in interleague, I'm just too lazy to look it up.

1975 Topps Rowland Office - The Man, The Myth, The Legend

awesome.

That's all I was going to write. That's all I need to. But maybe, just maybe, there's someone out there unfamiliar with Rowland. Doubtful, but possible.
First of all, there is a great blog out there called Rowland's Office. The latest incarnation can be found here.
Rowland played 899 career games, hitting 32 HR 242 RBI's with a .259 avg. He was 19 y/o when he broke into the big leagues in 1972.
But he's famous (or is that infamous?) for his baseball cards. My favourite is his '76 Topps. I'm not going to post it yet. That will come soon enough. You can look for it yourselves. It's worth it.
Rowland ended his career by palying 2 games for the Yankees. Not even that will stop our love for his cards.

1975 Topps Carl Morton

Carl signed with Milwaukee in 1964 as an outfielder. After watching the way Carl hit, they converted him to pitcher.
Montreal was so impressed that they drafted him in the expansion draft.
Carl won rookie of the year honours in 1970 going 18-11 for the last place Expos.
Atlanta acquired him back in 1973, and watched Carl win 15,16,and 17 games over the next three seasons.
Morton was traded after the '76 season, along with four other players and cash, to Texas for Jeff Burroughs.
Carl never played another major league game.
After retirement, Carl suffered a heart attack and died while jogging near his home in 1983.

1975 Topps Vic Correll

The man Ernie Johnson referred to as "the Mayor of Statesboro Georgia." I suppose Ernie had to say something nice about Vic. There wasn't much else to say.
Vic played one game for the Red Sox in 1972, going 2-4 with an RBI. He should've quit then. Not playing again until 1974 with the Braves, then lasting 4 seasons, before being released by the Braves in 1978.
How bad do you have to be to be released by the '78 Braves??? They were horrible.
I guess 13 errors in only 97 games while batting .215 will do it. Although Cincinnati thought enough of him to pick him up for 3 more years. I guess with Bench, you just want a guy who's happy to be there and not whine about lack of playing time.

Sadly, just another in a long, long list of horrible Braves catchers.....

1975 Topps Mike Lum

In his 9th season with the Braves, Mike was traded after this 1975 season to the Cincinnati Reds. Just in time to win a World Series with the '76 Big Red Machine.
Mike only hit 90 homers in 16 seasons, but managed to hit 3 in one game for the Braves in 1970.
After the Reds, Mike signed on with the Braves again, finishing his career with one season in Chicago in 1981.
Mike was the second player of Asain descent to play in the majors.

And finally, quiz your friends on this one.... Mike Lum, he of the .247 Avg in 1517 games, is the ONLY player to EVER pinch hit for Hank Aaron. It only happened once. And he was the one.

1975 Topps Buzz Capra

Buzz spent three rather pedestrian seasons with the Mets before being purchased for the '74 season by the Braves.
Then it all fell into place. One of those magical story book seasons all kids dream about.

16-6, a league leading 2.28 ERA and an All Star berth.

Buzz didn't appear in the All Star game. Three N.L. pitchers didn't. Buzz, Steve Rogers, and Steve Carlton. Sound like they left the best ones on the bench to me...

An injury in '76 and Buzz was done after the '77 season. But what a memorable 1974 for Buzz and the Braves.

1975 Topps Ron Reed

Ron was traded part way through the 1975 season to St. Louis. Then Philly from '76 to '83 before finishing his career with the White Sox in '84.

Ron appeared in two World Series ('80,'83) and one All Star game ('68)

Reed is one of 8 pitchers with at least 100 wins and 100 saves. (I came up with four of them, the others, not so much.)

1975 Topps Davey Johnson

Davey Johnson played with Baltimore before coming to Atlanta. He then left to play in Japan, coming back two years later to stints with Philly and the Cubs.

Johnson is another Brave who went on to manage. Stops with the Mets, Cincy, Baltimore and the Dodgers.

A 12 year career in the majors. 136 Homers 609 RBI's With 43 homers in 1973, he tied Rogers Hornsby for the all time record of homers by a second baseman in one season. How can you average 8 1/2 homers a year for your entire career and then hit 43 in one season?

4 time All Star ('68,'69, '70 and '73)
3 time Gold Glove winner ('69,'70,'71)

1997 A.L. Manager of the Year. (Baltimore fired him the day the award was announced)

1975 Topps Johnnie B. Baker

Dusty Baker, one of several future managers appearing for the Braves in this set.

Drafted by Atlanta in 1967, Dusty played until 1986, retiring as an Oakland A, with stops in Dodgertown and San Fran along the way.

242 Homers, 1013 RBI's, two Silver Sluggers ('80/81)and a Gold Glove('81)

Baker is best known as a manager though. the Giants, Cubs, and currently the Reds have fallen victim to his "talents"
Among his specialties are completely ruining pitchers, and a rather unique viewpoint of looking for leadoff hitters with low on base percentage.

Why is he still employed again?

1975 Topps Frank Tepedino

-Frank played 8 games in 1975, his last, before retiring.
-Frank came to the Bravesfrom the Yankees, along with 3 other players for Pat Dobson in 1973
-After retiring from baseball, Tepedino became a New York fireman, and was one of the responders during the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center.
That kind of puts a lackluster baseball career in perspective, doesn't it?
-Elected to the Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame in 1984
-What is up with that unibrow? Dude.

What is wrong with people?

It's time to bring it back.... I've tried to be nice lately, I know from the emails I receive that a lot of kids read this little blog, but no more. I can no longer be silent...... It's time again for;
What Really Grinds My Gears.

What state is the hobby in these days? A shambles. An absolute shambles. People are spending $65,000 on a fake card, commons are actually selling on ebay for $1, patches and autos are being counterfeited faster than the real manufacturers can produce them.... what the hell???
How many people have fought long and hard against Beckett and their "imaginative" price guide, instead turning to places like ebay for "realtime" values?
Now, with ebay's greed and stupidity, you can't buy a card for less than a dollar. Yes, I know you can via auction format, but really, who's going to auction a 1987 Topps Len Matuszek?
What does this do to a value of a card??? You can't honestly expect me to believe that commons are now worth a dollar? So now, Beckett is closer to reality?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Let me ask you another question... all of you know what a Braves nut I am, so naturally it's centered around a Braves card.
At your local shop, or at a card show near you, what would a 1975 Phil Niekro in really nice shape go for? How about a Braves team set from that year? (29 cards) Honestly, I want to know. $4 for Phil? $10 for the set? More? Less?
Here's what I got on ebay...

a 1975 Topps Braves team set for .99 cents. (Auction link)

Does this mean that a '75 Niekro is worth .04 cents? An entire team for less than a dollar? Again, is Beckett closer to reality here? No. I don't think so either.... but where do we draw the line? Where do we find honest, true values for our cards? Does anyone have an answer?

and by the way people... shame on you for letting beautiful cards like this go for .99 cents. Forget this year's Goudey and Bowman... it'll still be there later. Promise.