1978 Topps Image Inventory

[deweyinthehall]

1978 Topps Detroit Tigers

There are 30 Tiger images in the set, including Dave Roberts, painted to appear a Cub, minus Roric Harrison.

The team photo was taken in Tiger Stadium sometime between April 27 and June 22, owing to the presence of Luis Alvarado (3rd row, 3rd from left). The other players are too indistinct and I could find no key to accompany the image to permit a more precise dating.

The black and white image of Houk was taken at some point during his playing career with the Yankees, which spanned 1947-1954.

A good number of the images were taken at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, FL during the spring of '77, including: Arroyo, Ruhle, Wockenfuss, Fuentes, Mankowski, Rodriguez, Oglivie, Scrivener, Taylor, Morris, Parrish and Whitaker.

The Tigers had two series in Oakland, 6/10-6/12 and 8/24, during which time these images were taken: Houk, Foucault, Rozema, Hiller, Staub, May, Kemp and Corcoran.

Dave Roberts, painted to look like a Cub, was snapped in Oakland during the June series, as he had departed the club before their stop there in August.

Mark Fidrych was also taken in Oakland, but here we have a game action shot (as opposed to Rozema, which appears to have been taken as he warmed up in the pen). The only game Fidrych appeared in in Oakland that season was 6/11, which positively dates this image. He started, and threw a CG win.

LeFlore, Veryzer and Thompson all appear to have been captured during one of the club's visits to Yankee Stadium, 7/1-7/3 or 9/30-10/2.

This leaves us with Milt Wilcox, Mickey Stanley and Alan Trammell. All are wearing home uniforms, meaning they were either photographed in Lakeland or at Tiger Stadium. I think both the Wilcox and the Trammell photo clearly have the cavernous stadium in the background, so they were both shot there (Trammell was called up in September, so his would have been either 9/2-9/8 or 9/16-9/25).

Mickey Stanley is harder, but the image isn't a posed shot - it's what could be called a candid which is an action shot but without action, if that makes any sense. These sorts of images are scarce if not non-existent in the spring sites, so my conclusion is that this is Tiger Stadium as well.

[deweyinthehall]

1978 Topps Milwaukee Brewers

There are 26 Brewers images in the set, not counting the Fosse and Hisle paint jobs.

The team photo was taken on June 17th in County Stadium. Appearing in the photo are Mike Caldwell (top row to the left of the keg) who was acquired the 15th and was activated on the 17th, and Barry Cort (top row to the right of the keg) who was sent to Spokane to make room on the roster for him later that same day.

The Brewers' spring training site, Sun City Stadium in Sun City, AZ, was the site of the photographs of: Beare, Castro, Haas, Slaton, Sorensen, Travers, Haney, Yount, Joshua and Johnson.

The Brewers played 2 series in Yankee Stadium, 4/7-4/10 and 7/21-7/23, during one or both of which the following images were captured: Moore, Quirk, Cooper, Bando, Wohlford, Lezcano, Rodriguez, Brye and Augustine.

In a departure from the norm, no Oakland shots are present. Instead, several players were photographed in Comiskey Park either 5/30 or 8/26-8/28. They are: Money, McClure and Hinds. Kirkpatrick and Caldwell were also shot in Comiskey, but during the August series as they hadn't joined the club by May.

The final image is that of Paul Molitor. Molitor didn't make the Brewers until 1978, and from the information I've been able to see, he wasn't on the club's spring '77 roster either. In 1977 he played with team's A club in Burlington, IA, whose uniforms, other than their caps, mirrored those of the parent club. So, since he is wearing what appears like a Brewers' home uniform top, I think he was photographed some time during 1977 while with the Burlington club.

This image released several years ago by the Topps Vault is clearer than that on his card:

[deweyinthehall]

1978 Topps New York Yankees

There are 36 Yankee images in the set, not counting the Gossage paint job, but including Torrez, Bergman, Maddox, Cox and Blomberg.

We know the team photo was take at Yankee Stadium 8/13-8/16 or 8/24-8/30 because of the presence of Gil Patterson (4th from right, middle row).

The black and white image of Billy Martin was tough to identify, but it seems to show him with the Tigers, which means it was taken sometime during the 1958 season.

Almost all of the Yankee images were snapped at some point during the '77 campaign in the Bronx - White, Lyle, Munson, Clay, Guidry, Piniella, Tidrow, Jackson, Gullett, Nettles, Johnson, Dent, Figueroa, Holtzman, Hunter, Chambliss, Healy, Zeber, Randolph, Stanley, Rivers, Alston, Martin and Blair.

We know Ken Clay's image was taken some time after he joined the club on 6/6, and that Cliff Johnson's was taken after he joined on 6/15. Carlton Fisk can be seen in Roy White's image, so that means it was taken 5/23-5/24, 6/24-6/26 or 9/13-9/15. Other images show players in the visitors' dugout, but you can't make out the team.

Bobby Cox's card as manager of the Brave's is a paint job, and was taken in Yankee Stadium when he was a Yankee coach in 1977.

Mike Torrez was shot near the Yankee dugout sometime after he arrived on 4/27.

Ron Blomberg seems to have been taken at Shea stadium, which is where the Yankees played in 1974 and 1975.

Dave Bergman is a paint job probably taken in the spring of 1977 at the Yankee's camp in Ft. Lauderdale.

Mickey Klutts looks to be a colorized B&W image, but there is no indication of where it may have been shot.

Elliott Maddox played for the Orioles in 1977, but it seems clear that Topps used an older image of him taken while he was a Yankee, making it easier to show him as a Met, sometime during 1974-1976.

Both Record Breaker Yankees - Lyle and Jackson - were taken at Yankee Stadium at some point in 1977. The World Series card showing Reggie, if it was actually taken during the Series, was taken October 11, 12 or 18.

Finally, the ALCS card, showing Mickey Rivers sliding into second, was photographed on 10/5 when he connected for a double. A review of the box scores show there was no other play it could have been.

[deweyinthehall]

1978 Topps Toronto Blue Jays

There are 26 Blue Jay images in the set, once you eliminate the Murphy, Rader and Gomez paint jobs.

The team photo was taken in Exhibition Stadium during a September homestand give the presence of call-ups Gary Woods and Mike Darr.

The small black and white image of Roy Hartsfield appears to have been taken while he was a member of the Boston Braves from 1950-1952.

Many images were taken during the two series the Jays played in Yankee Stadium, 4/18-4/21 and 9/9-9/11: Lemanczyk, Velez, Fairly, Woods (both), Jefferson, Bailor, Vuckovich, Ault, Willis, Ashby, Ewing, Nordbrook and Clancy.

The images of Clancy and Nordbrook were taken in September because they hadn't joined the team yet in April. Ault's image could not have been taken on 9/9 as he did not play that day.

Several images were snapped during the teams visits to Oakland - 6/3-6/5 or 8/22-8/23: Howell, Garvin, Scott and Johnson.

We know that Scott didn't play on 8/22, so that rules that date out for him. More importantly, Jerry Johnson only pitched in Oakland 6/5, so that pinpoints when his picture was taken (he earned a save pitching 4 innings in relief of Jerry Garvin).

Grant Field in Dunedin, FL was where the images of Byrd, Hartsfield, Cerone and Iorg were taken.

Ernie Whitt was a hard one to place, but I think his picture was taken in Oakland.

Steve Staggs was very difficult - I went back and forth between Oakland and Comiskey - it's green, but it looks like an older park, except it doesn't have those yellow rails Comiskey had. I wasn't able to find any images on line which would make one the clear choice. I will go with Oakland, but I would really like to know if anyone recognizes that background. UPDATE - I just found a film clip which makes it clear this image of Staggs was taken in Tiger Stadium during one of the Jays' two 2-game stints there in July.

[deweyinthehall]

Help comes from the strangest places sometimes - I just found this episode of This Week in Baseball from 1977 on YouTube. at 8:38 they begin showing highlights of Cleveland at Detroit, and from watching this it seems clear to me now that both the Indians image of Bibby and the Blue Jays image of Staggs were taken at Tiger Stadium. I had ruled out Tiger Stadium because the images I had suggested it had a blue color scheme in '77 but this proves otherwise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kofzhRQJLLY

[deweyinthehall]

1978 Topps California Angels

There are 32 Angel images in the set, including the Easler, Verhoeven and Kirkwood paint jobs and excluding the Brett, Bostock and Nolan paint jobs.

The team photo was taken at Anaheim Stadium on either 8/25 - an off day when Gary Nolan (top row, far left) was acquired, and the club had a road game the 26th in Detroit.

I cannot place the small black and white image of Dave Garcia - his hat seems to have either an F or P on it, and a review of his minor league history doesn't reveal any club he played for which would have used either letter to signify its city or its name. He even played H.S. ball in East St. Louis, so that's out as well. Any help would be appreciated.

A number of images were taken in Oakland either 4/11-4/14 or 7/26-7/28: Ryan, Bonds, Miller, Etchebarren, Barlow, LaRoche, Hampton, Hartzell, Garcia, Jackson as well as the Ryan Record Breaker and the Ryan and Tanana league leaders. Barlow and LaRoche would have been take during the July series as they were not with the club in April.

Several pics were taken in Yankee Stadium either 5/3 or 8/12-8/14 - Humphrey, Chalk, Tanana, Bosley, Flores and Remy. Bosley and Flores would have had to have been taken in August because they weren't with the club yet in May.

A few were taken in Palm Springs Stadium in Palm Springs in the Spring of 1977: Baylor, Ross, Guerrero, Moore, Solaita, Mulliniks, Rudi, Easler, Kirkwood and Verhoeven (Verhoeven isn't conclusive but it's a reasonable guess).

Bobby Grich is tough - he was obviously photographed in the spring, but it wasn't in Palm Springs. There are no mountains in the background, he appears to be wearing his road light grays and, in any event, the grounds are too wide open and expansive according to any image of the field I've seen.

I have looked at images of all the other spring parks in the Cactus League from 1977 and have not been able to find a single clue as to where this image may have been captured.

[deweyinthehall]

1978 Topps Chicago White Sox

There are 29 White Sox images, once you add the paint jobs of Brohamer, Zisk, Gamble and Ken Brett, and eliminate the paint jobs of Hughes, Kirkwood, Schueler, Verhoeven, Cruz, Blomberg, Moore and Nahorodny.

The team photo was taken in Comiskey Park (the natural background has been removed) during homestands 4/29 to 5/1 or 5/13-5/22 - After the departure of Silvio Martinez and before the arrival of Ken Kravec.

The black and white image of Bob Lemon was taken at some point during his career with the Indians, 1946-1958.

Several images were captured in Yankee Stadium, during either 5/27-5/29 or 8/15-8/16: LaGrow, Lemon (both), Stillman, Knapp, Downing, Barrios, Gamble and Zisk (Knapp's was taken during May, before his demotion to Iowa where he stayed until September).

Three were taken in Oakland during either 4/22-4/24 or 9/5-9/7: Essian, Spencer and Carroll (Carroll was snapped in September, as he was just acquired from St. Louis at the end of August).

Two images were taken in Comiskey - Kessinger and Renko, with the latter taken sometime after his arrival from the Cubs on 8/18.

Finally, a number were taken at Payne Park in Sarasota in the Spring - Orta, Stone, Bannister, Nordhagen, Hamilton, Kravec, Bell, Soderholm, Garr, Johnson, Wood, Brett and Brohamer.

[DonisaTigerfan]

Originally Posted by deweyinthehall

1978 Topps Detroit Tigers

There are 30 Tiger images in the set, including Dave Roberts, painted to appear a Cub, minus Roric Harrison.

The team photo was taken in Tiger Stadium sometime between April 27 and June 22, owing to the presence of Luis Alvarado (3rd row, 3rd from left). The other players are too indistinct and I could find no key to accompany the image to permit a more precise dating.

The black and white image of Houk was taken at some point during his playing career with the Yankees, which spanned 1947-1954.

A good number of the images were taken at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, FL during the spring of '77, including: Arroyo, Ruhle, Wockenfuss, Fuentes, Mankowski, Rodriguez, Oglivie, Scrivener, Taylor, Morris, Parrish and Whitaker.

The Tigers had two series in Oakland, 6/10-6/12 and 8/24, during which time these images were taken: Houk, Foucault, Rozema, Hiller, Staub, May, Kemp and Corcoran.

Dave Roberts, painted to look like a Cub, was snapped in Oakland during the June series, as he had departed the club before their stop there in August.

Mark Fidrych was also taken in Oakland, but here we have a game action shot (as opposed to Rozema, which appears to have been taken as he warmed up in the pen). The only game Fidrych appeared in in Oakland that season was 6/11, which positively dates this image. He started, and threw a CG win.

LeFlore, Veryzer and Thompson all appear to have been captured during one of the club's visits to Yankee Stadium, 7/1-7/3 or 9/30-10/2.

This leaves us with Milt Wilcox, Mickey Stanley and Alan Trammell. All are wearing home uniforms, meaning they were either photographed in Lakeland or at Tiger Stadium. I think both the Wilcox and the Trammell photo clearly have the cavernous stadium in the background, so they were both shot there (Trammell was called up in September, so his would have been either 9/2-9/8 or 9/16-9/25).

Mickey Stanley is harder, but the image isn't a posed shot - it's what could be called a candid which is an action shot but without action, if that makes any sense. These sorts of images are scarce if not non-existent in the spring sites, so my conclusion is that this is Tiger Stadium as well.

The Thompson photo was taken during all star game activities as evidenced by the home uniform.

[deweyinthehall]

Excellent - thanks. That pegs it as 7/19/78.