1973 Topps Giants - Part 1

• Record: 88-74 (3rd in NL West, 11 games behind Cincinnati)
• Attendance: 834,193 (10th of 12)
• Team batting: .262 (3rd in NL)
• Team home runs: 161 (2nd in NL)
• Team ERA: 3.80 (9th in NL)
• Team fielding: .974 (9th in NL)
• League Leaders: Bobby Bonds (runs, 131; strikeouts, 148); Willie McCovey (intentional walks, 25); Ron Bryant (wins, 24)
• Gold Glove awards: Bobby Bonds (OF)
• Rookie of the Year: Gary Matthews
• TSN Pitcher of the Year: Ron Bryant
• NL All Stars: Chris Speier (starting SS); Bobby Bonds (OF)
  
  

• This was Charlie Fox's (# 252) last full season as a manager. The Giants won 88 games with below average pitching and fielding. This was the last year that several players from the 60s (such as McCovey and Marichal) would be with the Giants. The revamping begun in earnest in 1974. Here is an April 30 Sports Illustrated article about the Giants' great start early in the season. They weren't able to keep it up for the entire season.
  
  
  

• Fran Healy (# 361) didn't play for the Giants in 1973. He was traded during spring training for Greg Minton.
  
  
  
  

• Dave Rader (# 121) was the starting catcher in 1973. His batting average was .229 in 148 games. Dave walked 63 times, which helped him to have an on base percentage almost 100 points (.326) above his batting average. Dave was intentionally walked 23 times -- he usually batted 8th and the opposing managers wanted to get to the pitcher's spot in the order. He almost led the NL in that category.

Others who caught for the Giants but didn't get a 1973 Topps Giants' card:

• Mike Sadek (.167 in 66 AB)
  
  
  
  

1970 Topps Giants - Part 6 (more pitchers)

• Bob Garibaldi didn't pitch for the Giants in 1970. His last major league appearance was October 1, 1969. Bob was the player-manager for AAA Phoenix, where he was 15-10 with a 2.87 ERA. The Phoenix Giants were 85-61 under Garibaldi's management. He was traded to the Kansas City Royals after the season.
  
  

• Gaylord Perry was the Giants' ace in 1970. He was 23-12 with an ERA of 3.20 in 41 starts.
  
  
  

• Don McMahon was the bullpen ace in 1970. He appeared in 61 games, had 19 saves, and was 9-5 with a 2.96 ERA.
  
  

• Juan Marichal was an NL All Star from 1962-1969 and again in 1971.

• Others who pitched for the Giants but didn't get a 1970 Giants' card:

• Skip Pitlock (5-5, 4.66 ERA, 18 appearances, 15 starts)
• Frank Reberger (7-8, 5.57 ERA, 45 appearances, 18 starts, 2 saves)
• Jerry Johnson (3-4, 4.27 ERA, 33 appearances, 1 start, 3 saves)
• Mike Davison (3-5, 6.50 ERA, 31 appearances)
• Don Carrithers (2-1, 7.36 ERA, 11 appearances, 2 starts)
• Miguel Puente (1-3, 8.20 ERA, 6 appearances, 4 starts)
• John Cumberland (2-0, 0.82 ERA, 7 appearances)
• Bill Faul (0-0, 7.45 ERA, 7 appearances)
• Jim Johnson (1-0, 8.10 ERA, 3 appearances)
  
  
  
  
  

1970 Topps Giants - Part 5 (pitchers)

Ron Bryant (# 433) was a 22-year-old swingman for the Giants in 1970. He was 5-8 with a 4.78 ERA in 34 games (11 starts).

Mike McCormick (# 337) appeared in 23 games (11 starts) in 1970. He was 3-4 with an ERA of 6.20. He was traded to the New York Yankees on July 20.

Rich Robertson (# 229) was the Giants' #3 starter in 1970. He appeared in 41 games (26 starts) and was 8-9 with a 4.85 ERA. Robertson had six base hits in 1970 -- two of them were home runs and two others were doubles.

Juan Marichal (# 210) started to show signs of slippage in 1970. He started 33 games, but was only 12-10 with a 4.12 ERA. It was the only year between 1962 and 1971 in which Juan wouldn't be selected to the All Star game.

Frank Linzy (# 77) appeared in 20 games and was 2-1 with one save and an ERA of 7.01. He was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for Jerry Johnson on May 19.

1970 Topps Giants - Part 4 (more outfielders)

• Bobby Bonds (# 425)had a great all-around season in 1970. The 24-year-old outfielder played in 157 games and batted .302 with 200 hits. He homered 26 times and scored 134 runs. He also had 36 doubles, 10 triples, and 48 stolen bases. Bobby struck out 189 times, but also had 77 walks. It's hard to believe he didn't make the NL All-Star team that year.

• Steve Whitaker (# 496) batted .111 in 27 at bats for the Giants in 1970. His last major league game was May 9, 1970. Steve was sent down to AAA Phoenix, where he spent the rest of the season. He played for AAA Hawaii (San Diego Padres) for two more seasons before calling it a day.

• Willie Mays (# 600) was still productive at the age of 39. He batted .291, scored 94 runs, and hit 28 homers.
  
  

• Jim Gosger (# 651) didn't play for the Giants in 1970. He started the season in AAA Phoenix and was purchased by the Montreal Expos on April 20.
  
  
  
• Others who played OF for the Giants in 1970 but didn't get a Giants' card:

• Frank Johnson (.273 in 161 AB)
• Bob Taylor (.190 in 84 AB)
• George Foster (.316 in 19 AB)

1970 Topps Giants - Part 3 (outfielders)

• Bernie Williams (# 401) spent most of the 1970 season at AAA Phoenix, where he batted .309 in 113 games. He made his major league debut on September 7, 1970 and batted .313 in 16 AB. He was caught up in the logjam of young Giant outfielders in the early 70s and never made it in the bigs.

Bob Burda (# 357) batted .261 in 23 at bats for the Giants in 1970. He was sold to the Milwaukee Brewers on June 9.

• Ken Henderson (# 298) batted .294 with 17 HR and 88 RBI in 1970. He also walked 87 times and scored 104 runs. The Giants were a very patient team in 1970. They had only two starters with an OBP below .375 (Al Gallagher - .335 and Hal Lanier - .265).
  
  
  

• Jim Ray Hart (# 176) batted .282 in a utility role for the Giants in 1970. He had 255 at bats in 76 games.
  
  
  
  

• Dave Marshall (# 58) didn't play for the Giants in 1970. He was traded to the New York Mets on December 12, 1969.
• Thanks again to Dean's Cards for a large portion of the 1970 Giants in this team set. He's got a lot of interesting stuff on his site.
  
  
  
  
  

This is now the oldest card I own

It's a 1952 Bowman that I got off of eBay for $2.00. It was about $4.00 with postage. It has a crease on the bottom left and some rounded corners, but it's still in pretty good shape. It'll be hard to complete team sets from this era, so I'll take everything I can get.

1970 Topps Giants - Part 2 (infielders)

• Willie McCovey (# 250) followed up his 1969 MVP season with another good year. He batted .289 and led the team in homers (39) and RBI (126). He finished 9th in MVP voting in 1970.
  
  

• Hal Lanier (# 583) batted .231 in 134 games as the Giants' starting shortstop
  
  
  

• Bob Heise (# 478) batted .234 in 67 games as a utility infielder.
  
  
  
  

• Willie McCovey (# 450) was 1 for 2 with one RBI in the 1970 All Star Game. He was a six-time NL All Star.
  
  
  
  

• Jim Davenport (# 378) batted .243 in 37 at bats in 1970. He was released on July 13, 1970.
  
  
  

• Ron Hunt (# 276) batted .281 in 117 games at 2B for the Giants in 1970. Ron had a .394 on base percentage. He was hit by a pitch a league-leading 26 times.
  
  
  
  

• Bobby Etheridge (# 107) didn't play for the Giants in 1970. He was traded to the San Diego Padres after the 1969 season. The Padres sent him to AAA Salt Lake City. He played in the minors through the 1973 season but never made it back to the majors.
  
  
  

• Tito Fuentes (# 42) played in 123 games in 1970 at 2B, SS, and 3B. He batted .267 in 435 at bats.

• Others who played infield for the Giants in 1970 but didn't get a Giants' card:

• Al Gallagher -- 3B (.266 in 282 AB)
• John Stephenson -- UT (.070 in 43 AB)
• Don Mason -- 2B (.139 in 41 AB)
• Ed Goodson -- 1B (.273 in 11 AB)