1976 Phoenix Giants #17 - Bruce Christensen

• Bruce Christensen had a long minor league career. He played from 1966 through 1976 (except for 1969 and 1970)
• Christensen retired after batting .240 for Phoenix in 1976.
• Bruce was called up to the California Angels in mid-July 1971 and stayed with the club for the rest of the year. It was the only stint he had in the majors
• In July 1973 Christensen was traded with pitcher Don Rose to the Giants for Ed Figueroa. 
• This is from the March 1973 issue of Baseball Digest:

Father's Day Contest Prize from Number 5 Type Collection

• Here is a picture of the goodies I won from the Number 5 Type Collection blog
• Gotta love the old cards. I'm especially excited about the Phoenix Giants cards since I went to a lot of their games when I was young
• People who entered the contest had to make a comment about what his/her favorite team was and what his/her father's favorite team was. My comment is below:
• My father's favorite team is the Giants. After a bit of an odyssey on my part, my favorite team ended up being the Giants as well.
  
  I think my dad rooted/roots for the Giants because they have trained here in Arizona. Their AAA team was the Phoenix Giants for many years.
  
  I started out as a Reds fan. This was the era of the Big Red Machine. I got mad at the Reds for trading Tony Perez and letting Pete Rose go. I switched to the Phillies when Rose went there. The Giants were always my secondary team because of going to so many Phoenix Giants games.
  
  After Pete retired I ended up rooting for the Giants full time. This was the Roger Craig "humm-baby" era. This continued until the Barry Bonds era. I pulled for the Giants for his first few years, but when Arizona got the Diamondbacks I started rooting for them. This was mainly because it was getting much tougher to root for Bonds (grouchiness, roids).
  
  After Bonds left I went back to the Giants and have been there ever since.
• Thanks for the cards!!!!!

Card Tribute: Gaylord Perry

• Gaylord Perry spent ten years with the Giants and had a record of 134-109 with an ERA of 2.96

1962 Topps #199

• Perry started the season with the Giants, but spend a good portion of the year in AAA Tacoma
• He was 3-1 with a 5.23 ERA in 13 games (7 starts)

1963 Topps #169

• Gaylord was mostly a bullpen guy in 1963
• He was 1-6 with 2 saves and had a 4.03 ERA in 31 games (4 starts)

1964 Topps #468

• Perry started the 1964 season in the bullpen but became a permanent part of the rotation by August.
• Gaylord went 12-11 with 5 saves and had an ERA of 2.75 in 44 games (19 starts)
• Perry pitched 10 innings in the 23 inning game against the Mets on May 31 and earned the win.

1965 Topps #193

• 1965 was Perry's last year as a starter/reliever. 
• Gaylord went 8-12 with a 4.19 ERA in 47 games (26 starts)

1966 Topps #598

• Perry had his first big year in 1966
• He went 21-8 with a 2.99 ERA
• Was the NL Player of the Month in June
• Pitched two scoreless innings (the 9th and 10th) and earned the win in the All Star Game
• Giants manager Herman Franks was upset about how Perry and Juan Marichal were used in the game

1967 Topps #320

• Had a 15-17 record with a 2.61 ERA

1968 Topps #85

• Was 16-15 with an ERA of 2.45

1969 Topps #485

• Led the NL in innings pitched (325.1)
• Went 19-14 with a 2.49 ERA

1970 Topps #560

• Led the NL in wins (23), starts (41), innings (328.2), and hits allowed (292)
• Went 23-13 with a 3.20 ERA
• Allowed two runs in two innings pitched in the All Star Game
• Finished second to Bob Gibson in NL Cy Young Award voting

1971 Topps #140

• In his last year with the Giants, Gaylord was 16-12 with a 2.76 ERA
• Had a complete game 5-4 victory in game 1 of the NL Championship series
• Was the losing pitcher in game 4 of the NLCS
• Perry was traded to the Cleveland Indians with Frank Duffy for Sam McDowell after the season

Card Tribute: Mike Krukow

• Grab some pine, meat! I love that phrase! 
• Mike Krukow is more famous for his announcing of Giants games (along with Duane Kuiper), but he was a pretty good pitcher as well
• The Giants acquired Mike in a trade with the Philadelphia Phillies after the 1982 season. Joe  Morgan and Al Holland were traded to the Phillies for Krukow, Mark Davis, and a minor leaguer.
• Before the Giants got him, Krukow had a career record of 58-61 in seven seasons with the Chicago Cubs (6 years) and the Phillies (1 year)
• Mike made his  major league debut on September 6, 1976 (my 10th birthday)

1983 Topps Traded #58T

• In 1983 Krukow was 11-11 with a 3.95 ERA in 31 starts

1984 Topps #633

• Krukow was 11-12 with one save and a 4.56 ERA in 35 games (33 starts)
• Mike led the NL with 234 hits allowed

1985 Topps #74

• Mike had a 3.38 ERA in 1985 but slipped to an 8-11 record in 28 starts
• Won the Willie Mac Award

1986 Topps #752

• Mike's best season was in 1986
• Krukow had a 20-9 record with an ERA of 3.05 in 34 starts
• Mike finished 3rd in NL Cy Young Award voting in 1986
• Krukow pitched a scoreless 9th inning in the 1986 All Star Game
• Beat the Dodgers 11-2 for his 20th win on the last day of the season.
• Won the Willie Mac Award for the second straight year

1987 Topps #580

• Slipped to a 5-7 record with a 4.80 ERA in 30 games (28 starts)
• Allowed 2 runs on 9 hits in a complete-game 4-2 win in game 4 of the NL Championship series

1988 Topps #445

• Went 7-4 with a 3.54 ERA in 20 starts in 1988
• Did not pitch from late June to mid August.
• Pitched his last game of the 1988 season on August 28
• Underwent rotator cuff surgery on September 13

1989 Topps #125

• Started eight games and was 4-3 with a 3.98 ERA
• His last major league game was June 4, 1989
• Underwent surgery on June 30 to repair a torn rotator cuff

1990 Topps #241

• Retired in March 1990 -- he wasn't able to come back from the rotator cuff injury

A contest!

The Number 5 Type Collection blog is running a Father's Day giveaway contest. Click this link for more details. :)

Card Tribute: Bob Brenly

• It's been a while since I've done one of these. 
• Bob Brenly was always a favorite of mine. 
• Brenly was a 27-year-old rookie in 1981 and batted .333 (15 for 45) in 19 games

1982 Topps #171

• Bob batted .283 in 65 games as a catcher and third baseman

1983 Topps #494

• Spent  most of his 1983 season behind the plate and also had some playing time at 1B and in the outfield
• Batted .224 in 104 games

1984 Topps #378

• 1984 was Bob's best season
• Batted .291 with 20 HR and 80 RBI
• Made the NL All Star team and struck out as a pinch hitter
• Won the 1984 Willie  Mac award for his spirit and leadership

1985 Topps #215

• Batted .220 with 19 HR and 56 RBI

1986 Topps #625

• Played in 101 games as a catcher but also saw significant time at 3B (45 games) and at 1B
• Batted .246 with 16 HR and 62 RBI
• Led NL catchers with a .995 fielding percentage
• Committed four errors in the same game (all in the fourth inning) as a third baseman on September 14. Bob later hit the game-winning HR in the bottom of the 9th

1987 Topps #125

• Bob's final season as a full-time player
• Batted .267 with 18 HR and 51 RBI

1988 Topps #703

• Batted .189 in 73 games
• Released after the 1988 season

1989 Topps #52

• Started the 1989 season with the Toronto Blue Jays and batted .170 in 48 games
• Released by the Blue Jays on July 18
• Signed with the Giants on August 2
• Played in 27 games (.255 in 98 AB) for the AAA Phoenix Firebirds
• Batted .182 in 12 games for the Giants

1975 Kellogg's #37 - Garry Maddox

• The write-ups on these Kellogg's cards are great!
• I wonder why Kellogg's never did a card of Gary Matthews while he was with the Giants
• This is the first time I have  noticed a first initial on the front of the card. I guess they also did a card of Elliott Maddox that year

1975 Hostess #43 - Garry Maddox - and I found a good shop in Albuquerque

• The Giants had SO  many good young outfield prospects in the 1970s: Garry Maddox, Gary Matthews, Dave Kingman, George Foster, and later Jack Clark. How could they have let so many of them go?
• On May 4, 1975 the Giants traded Maddox to the Philadelphia Phillies even-up for Willie Montanez. Yuck!
• Garry won the first of eight straight Gold Gloves in 1975.
• We just got back from a short visit to Albuquerque. One thing I'll say is: Google Maps for the Android phone is great when traveling! I got a lot of use out of it during this time in Albuquerque.
• One of the cool things is that I was able to do a search for "sports cards" and it came up with several stores. I think Albuquerque has more card shops than Phoenix.
• The shop I visited is called Bubba's Baseball Bullpen. The store is located at 8206 Menaul Blvd. NE. It has a pretty good selection of newer stuff, lots of supplies, and some good vintage cards as well. It was nice to see that the owner didn't need to look at a price guide before giving me prices for 1970s common cards. I picked up this 1975 Hostess card of Garry Maddox and several vg-ex 1973 commons and semi stars. His singles are half price for the rest of 2011.
• Here is a video someone made a couple of years ago: