Bill Virdon had a long career in baseball as a player and as a manager.
Virdon came up with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1955 and was the NL Rookie of the Year.
Bill was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1956 and played center field for them through the 1965 season. Virdon was a member of the 1960 World Champion Pirates and won a Gold Glove award in 1962.
Bill retired after the 1965 season and managed the AA Williamsport Mets in 1966
Bill coached for the Pirates for a few more seasons and then became the Pirates' manager after the resignation of Danny Murtaugh after the 1971 season.
Virdon managed the Pirates in 1972 and for most of the 1973 season until he was replaced by Murtaugh on September 6. The Pirates didn't play well in 1973, but a lot of that was due to the tragic loss of Roberto Clemente before the season.
Bill managed the Astros until the middle of the 1982 season. Virdon was the NL Manager of the Year in 1980. He took the Astros to the playoffs in 1980 and in 1981, but when the Astros struggled in 1982 Virdon was replaced. Bill is still the winningest manager in Houston history. He had a 544-522 record during his Houston tenure.
This card alluded to Jesse Jefferson's control problems. Before he was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the expansion draft, this was true. He averaged anywhere between 6 and 9 walks per nine innings from 1974-1976. Apparently Jefferson was able to solve his control problems. In each season from 1977 until the end of his career, Jesse walked fewer than four batters per nine innings.
Jesse got a chance to start regularly for the expansion Blue Jays in 1977. He had some poor W-L records, but Jesse didn't pitch too badly in 1977 and 1978.
Mike Ivie had a pretty good year in 1976, but I don't know if it warranted him getting a "5" card in 1977.
The Padres tried Mike at third base for a few weeks in August and September, but he didn't like the position and it didn't go very well. He had been suspended in May for refusing to play third base. At the end of the season Ivie wanted to be traded. The Padres accommodated him by trading him to the San Francisco Giants.
Here is John Curtis airbrushed into a Giants uniform for his 1977 card. John was used as a reliever for most of the 1977 season, except for a month and a half in May and June.
1977 Stats: 3-3, 1 save, 5.49 ERA in 43 games (9 starts)
Bill Russell was quite durable in 1977, starting 149 games at shortstop for the LA Dodgers. He batted second for most of the season. This was a bit of a drain on the Dodger attack, as Russell had only a .304 on base percentage.
1977 Stats:
Regular season: .278, 4 HR, 51 RBI, 84 runs in 153 games
NL Championship Series: .278 (5 for 18) in 4 games
This was Goose Gossage's only season in Pittsburgh. After the 1976 season the White Sox traded Gossage to the Pirates with Terry Forster for Richie Zisk and Silvio Martinez.
Nov 22 - Signed a six-year $2.5 million contract with the New York Yankees. It was a huge raise for Goose -- his 1977 salary was $46,800 and his yearly salary with the new contract was about $450,000.
Duffy Dyer split time with Ed Ott behind the plate in 1977. Dyer started 84 games and Ott started 78. Duffy got the majority of the playing time early in the season but later in the season Ott started to establish himself as the primary catcher.
Kurt Bevacqua played just about everywhere in 1977, but he only got in 39 games. The Seattle Mariners purchased Kurt from the Milwaukee Brewers in October 1976, but he was released during spring training in 1977. Bevacqua was signed by the Texas Rangers and then played in AAA Tucson until late July. Kurt put up great numbers and spent the last 9 or so weeks with the Rangers.
1977 Stats:
Tucson Toros (AAA) - .352, 9 HR, 76 RBI in 94 games
Although Steve Rogers was becoming the Montreal ace, he did not yet rate a "0" or "5" numbered card. Rogers started 40 games in 1977 but he didn't lead the NL in starts!
Rogers finished his career with a nice 3.17 lifetime ERA.
1977 Stats: 17-16, 3.10 ERA in 40 starts
1977 Highlights:
June 3 - Pitched a one-hit shutout as the Expos beat the St. Louis Cardinals 2-0. The only hit he allowed was a single up the middle by Mike Tyson in the third inning.
Dave Chalk was the starting 3B for the California Angels for a few years in the mid 1970s, but his lack of power was a liability. The Angels were ready to contend in the late 1970s and Dave was phased out.
1977 was probably Chalk's best season. He had career highs in games, doubles, batting average, hits, and stolen bases.
1977 Stats: .277, 3 HR, 45 RBI, 27 doubles in 149 games
Sept 3 - In the top of the 9th inning Chalk doubled, was sacrificed to third, and scored on Andy Etchebarren's sacrifice fly. The run was the eventual winning run -- the Angels beat the Cleveland Indians 3-2.
Oct 10 - Got the last two outs of the 8th inning to keep the Royals ahead 3-2 in game 5 of the AL Championship Series. The Royals lost the game and the pennant in the 9th inning when manager Whitey Herzog brought in a starter (Dennis Leonard) to try to finish the game. Herzog came under some criticism for waiting one batter too long to bring Mingori in. Reggie Jackson (a left handed hitter) had singled to make the score 3-2 before Mingori was brought in.
Paul Blair was acquired by the New York Yankees on January 20, 1977 for Elliot Maddox and Rick Bladt. The Yankees mostly used Paul as a late inning defensive replacement
Rob Belloir was drafted from Mercer University in Macon, GA by the Cleveland Indians in 1969. Rob was a rarity because he was born in West Germany (he was the 25th major leaguer to be from Germany).
Rob played in the minors from 1969-1975. He missed the 1971 season due to military service.
In June 1975 Belloir (with Blue Moon Odom) was traded to the Atlanta Braves for Roric Harrison.
Belloir came up to the majors in August 1975. He batted .219 in 43 games for the Braves.
Rob was in the minors for the first few months of the 1976 season. He was called up in late June, played in 30 games, and batted .200 in 60 at bats.
Rob spent most of the 1977 season in AAA Richmond. He was called up in September and played in six games.
Belloir also spent the 1978 season in Richmond. He played in two games as a September call-up and that was it for his playing career.
1977 was the only year from 1974-1979 in which Larry Bowa wasn't in the All Star Game. He still had a good year, but was overshadowed by Garry Templeton's great rookie season.
June 3 - Scored the only run in a 1-0 win over the New York Mets. Bowa singled, went from first to third on Jim Lonborg's sacrifice, and scored on a Ted Sizemore single.
Don Zimmer has had a long and storied career in major league baseball. He once noted that he never drew a paycheck from a source other than baseball.
Zimmer played in the minor leagues from 1949-1954. He almost died when he was hit in the head by a pitched ball in 1953. He wasn't fully conscious for 13 days and he had to have holes drilled in his skull to relieve the pressure. It has often been reported that he has a metal plate in his skull, but the metal is from the tantalum plugs used to cover the holes after Don recovered.
Don played for various teams in the majors from 1954-1965. He earned World Series rings with the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers and the 1959 LA Dodgers and also played for part of the season on the "legendary" 1962 New York Mets team.
Zimmer played in Japan in 1966 and then embarked on a coaching and managing career.
From 1967-1970 Don was a manager in the minor leagues.
Don coached with the Boston Red Sox from 1974-1976. He became the manager of the Red Sox when Darrel Johnson was fired in July.
Zimmer managed the Red Sox through the 1980 season. His tenure is probably best remembered for the collapse the team had in 1978. The Red Sox lost a 14 game lead and ended up losing the AL East to the New York Yankees in a 1 game playoff. Don was fired in October 1980.
Gene Pentz was used only three times in April of 1977. Although he had a 1.80 ERA at the time, Gene was sent to the minors in late April and started three games in AAA. He came back on May 17 and spent the rest of the year with Houston.
Pentz started four games in July and early August and was in the bullpen during the other parts of the season.
1977 Stats: 5-2, 2 saves, 3.83 ERA in 41 games (4 starts)
Gary Sutherland played for the San Diego Padres in 1977. He was released by the Brewers in February 1977. Sutherland spent spring training with the Padres and signed with them on April 1.
Most of Gary's appearances were as a pinch hitter and defensively late in games.
1977 Stats: .243, 1 HR, 11 RBI in 80 games (103 at bats)
1977 Highlights:
April 25 - Appeared as a pinch hitter in the 9th inning and hit a solo home run. It was his only home run of the season.
Rick Waits started the 1977 season as a reliever. Rick got his first start of the season on June 17, one day before manager Frank Robinson was fired. Waits stayed in the starting rotation for most of the rest of the 1977 season.
1977 Stats: 9-7, 2 saves, 3.99 ERA in 37 games (16 starts)
1977 Highlights:
June 21 - Pitched 6 2/3 shutout innings in his second start of the season and earned the win as the Indians beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-0.
Except for his batting average, most of Mickey Rivers' stats were down in 1977. But "Mick the Quick" was still an important part of the Yankees' first World Championship team in 15 years.
1977 Stats:
Regular season: .326, 12 HR, 69 RBI, 11th in AL MVP voting
AL Championship Series: .391 (9 for 23) in 5 games
Jim Hughes was in the minors for most of the 1977 season. He started the season in Minnesota but was sent down after appearing in two April games. Hughes pitched in the minors for a few teams in 1978 and 1979 but never made it back to the majors.
Gene Tenace was one of the last of the dynasty era Oakland A's to get away from Charlie Finley. After the 1976 season Gene signed a big free agent deal (six years, over $1.8 million) with the San Diego Padres. Topps airbrushed Tenace into a Padres uniform for his 1977 card.
