1977 Topps Baseball #14 - Tommy Smith

• Tommy Smith had a five-year major league career. This was his only card.
• Smith was a fifth-round pick of the Cleveland Indians in 1970
• Tommy was in the minors for at least part of every season from 1970-1977. He never batted below .263 and had a lifetime minor league batting average of .311. He was mostly a singles and doubles hitter and had some occasional power.
• Smith was a September call-up in 1973 and batted .244 in 14 games.
• Tommy started the 1974 season in AAA and was called up in August. He batted .097 in 31 at bats for the Indians.
• Smith was a September call-up again in 1975 and went 1 for 8 (.125) in limited action with the Indians
• In 1976 Tommy started in AAA and came up to the Indians in July. He batted .256 in 55 games.
• Smith was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the expansion draft. He made the club in 1977 and was used mostly as a late inning defensive replacement. Smith shuttled between Seattle and AAA Rochester. Rochester was the affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, but the Mariners didn't have a full system yet so some of their minor leaguers were loaned to other organizations.
• 1977 Stats: Went 7 for 27 (.259) with 0 HR and 4 RBI.  Batted .284 in 47 games for AAA Rochester.
• 1977 Highlights:
• March 17 - Went 4 for 4 with 4 RBI in an exhibition game against the San Francisco Giants
• April 13 - Entered the game as a pinch hitter with two out in the bottom of the 9th inning and singled in the tying run.
• April 14 - Was a pinch hitter again and singled in the go-ahead run in the 7th inning to make the score 2-1. The Mariners eventually won the game 4-3.
• Smith retired after the 1977 season.
• Other card blogs: 1974

1977 Topps Baseball #13 - Luis Gomez

• Although Luis Gomez had been playing in the majors since 1974, this was his first card.
• Luis Gomez was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in 1973. He spent the 1973 season with AA Orlando, where he batted .224.
• Luis was in AAA for a short time in 1974, but spent  most of the season as a backup infielder. He batted .208 in 168 at bats.
• For the next few years Gomez was a backup infielder who didn't see much playing time. He was usually a late inning defensive replacement.
• 1975: batted .139 in 72 at bats (89 games played)
• 1976: batted .193 in 57 at bats (38 games played)
• 1977: batted .246 in 65 at bats (32 games played)
• In 1977 Luis started the season in AAA Tacoma and batted .285 in 60 games. He was called up in late June.
• Gomez became a free agent after the 1977 season and signed with the Toronto Blue Jays
• Luis became the starting shortstop for the Blue Jays and played in a career-high 153 games. He batted .223 in 413 at bats.
• In 1979 Alfredo Griffin came up to the majors and became the starting shortstop. Gomez went back to his backup infielder role and batted .239 in 59 games.
• Gomez was traded with Chris Chambliss to the Atlanta Braves for Barry Bonnell, Pat Rockett, and Joey McLaughlin after the 1979 season.
• Luis started at shortstop for much of the 1980 season and batted .191 in 121 games.
• The Braves went with Rafael Ramirez as their starting shortstop in 1981. Gomez played in 35 games and batted .200 in 35 at bats. 
• The Braves cut Gomez at the end of spring training in 1982 and he retired.
• Luis played in the Senior Professional Baseball League in 1989 and in 1990.
• Gomez had the "distinction" of playing in the most games (609) without hitting a home run. He also never homered in the minors or in the Senior League.
• 1977 Highlights:
• July 3: Had  a single, a double, and a triple and knocked in four runs in a losing cause against the first place Chicago White Sox.
• July 7: Went 3 for 4 with two doubles, a run scored, and 2 RBI as the Twins beat Frank Tanana and the California Angels 8-6
• Other card blogs: 1980, cardboard gods

1977 Topps Baseball #12 - Larry Haney

• 1977 was Larry Haney's last full major league season.
• By the time this card was produced Haney was already with the Milwaukee Brewers. He was purchased by the Brewers in December 1976
• Haney spent the 1977 season as the backup catcher for Charlie Moore.
• 1977 stats:
• .228, 0 HR, 10 RBI in 63 games
• 1977 Highlights:
• July 17: Went 3 for 4 in a 3-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles
• July 29: Went 2 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored in a win over the Toronto Blue Jays
• September 24: Was 2 for 3 with an RBI.
• Other card blog entries: 1976, 1975, 1969

1977 Topps #11 - Rob Dressler

• Rob Dressler was the #1 pick of the San Francisco Giants in 1972
• Dressler pitched in the minors for four years before getting a late season call-up in 1975.
• Rob split time between AAA Phoenix and the Giants in 1976.
• Dressler was in Phoenix for the entire 1977 season. He had a 10-10 record with a 5.29 ERA in Phoenix.
• The rest of Rob's baseball career is summarized on his 1976 entry.
• Here is a blog entry about Rob's time with the Seattle Mariners in 1980 and 1981.
• Other baseball card blogs: 1976, 1976

1977 Topps #10 - Reggie Jackson

• It didn't take very long to get to our first airbrushed card. Reggie signed with the New York Yankees after the 1976 season.
• 1977 Stats:
• .286, 32 HR, 110 RBI, .550 slugging
• 2 for 16 (.125) with 1 RBI in American League Championship Series
• 9 for 20 (.450) with 5 HR and 8 RBI in World Series
• 1977 Highlights:
• June 22 - Hit a 2-run double in the top of the 8th inning with the game tied 10-10. The Yankees went on to win 12-11.
• July 19 - starting right fielder for the AL in the All Star Game - went 1 for 2 with a single and a strikeout
• July 26 - Hit a home run in the bottom of the 10th inning to win the game 5-4 over the first place Baltimore Orioles. After the victory the Yankees were two games out of first place.
• October 18 - Hit three home runs in game 6 of the World Series.
• Finished 8th in AL  MVP voting
• Links to other card blogs: 1986, 1985, 1983, 1982, 1978, 1976, 1975, 1974, 1973, 1972, 1971,  1969
• Here is Reggie's third home run in game 6 of the World Series (couldn't embed this one)
• Here is another video from that World Series:

1977 Topps #9 - Doug Rader

• Doug Rader was at the end of his career when this card was produced. Rader started the 1977 season with the San Diego Padres. He was sold to the Toronto Blue Jays in June and finished the year with them. Doug didn't make the Blue Jays in 1978 and was released.
• 1977 stats:
•  .271, 5 HR, 27 RBI with San Diego
• .240, 13 HR, 40 RBI with Toronto
• 1977 highlights:
• April 12 - Hit a 3-run homer to lead the Padres to a 4-3 win over the San Francisco Giants
• April 18 - Hit a home run and had 4 RBI in the Padres' 12-6 win over the Atlanta Braves.
• May 24 - Tripled with the bases loaded in the fourth inning of San Diego's 4-3 victory over the Braves.
• August 5 - Hit a key 2-run double as the Blue Jays beat the Milwaukee Brewers 6-1.
• Links to other card blogs: 1976, 1976 traded, 1975, 1973, 1973

1977 Topps Baseball #8 - 1976 Leading Firemen

• The first "leading firemen" card was in the 1973 Topps set.
• Bill Campbell makes the first of two appearances on a leading firemen card
• In 1976 Bill had a record of 17-5 and led the AL with a .773 winning percentage. He also led the league with 78 appearances.
• After the 1976 season Campbell became one of the first big-money free agents and signed with the Boston Red Sox.
• Campbell was the AL leading fireman again in 1977, but he had arm problems in 1978 and wasn't the same pitcher after that.
• Rawly Eastwick had his best season in 1976. He had an 11-5 record with a 2.09 ERA and an NL-leading 26 saves.
• During the 1977 season Eastwick didn't see eye-to-eye with Reds' management and was dealt to the St. Louis Cardinals. He didn't have anywhere near as much success in St. Louis (or any of the other teams for which he pitched).