1978 Topps Image Inventory

[deweyinthehall]

The 1978 Topps Minnesota Twins

There are 34 Twins images in the set, counting the Schueler, Hisle, Gomez, Hughes, Bostock and Terrell paint jobs, and excluding that of Bombo Rivera.

The team photo was taken in Metropolitan stadium between 4/26 and 5/1, after the arrival of Jeff Holly and Davis May, but before the acquisition of Dave Johnson and the departure of Jim Hughes.

The small black and white image of Gene Mauch is from his playing days with the Red Sox, 1956-57.

Images taken in Oakland, either 4/9-4/10 or 7/15-7/17, include: Tom Johnson, Carrithers, Redfern, Thormodsgard, Hisle LL, Cubbage, Goltz, Randall, Gorinski, Smalley, Wynegar, Carew, Mauch, Hisle, Hughes and Terrell.

Chiles, Ford, Kusick and Wynegar (4 cards that I really thought looked cool in 1978 and which still look cool today) were snapped on the 15th, the only night game they played in Oakland that season. Zahn's could have been taken on the 15th or the 17th, but I think it was probably the former. He started that evening, and the image looks like it was taken as the sun was setting. His appearance on the 17th was in relief on a day game.

Gomez was also taken in Oakland, during the July series as he hadn't been called up yet in April.

Borgmann, Dave Johnson and Schueler were taken in Yankee Stadium either 6/10-6/12 or 8/24-8/25.

Several images were taken at Tinker Field in Orlando during the spring of 1977 - Norwood, Perlozzo, Burgmeier, Adams, Goltz LL and Carew LL.

Bulling and Bostock present a challenge - each was taken in the spring, Bulling is wearing his road jersey and Bostock was as well, given other Twins in the background wearing theirs. From the limited details in the photos neither seems to look like Tinker Field, so I am going to put "Unknown Spring Stadium" as a place holder for each.

[deweyinthehall]

The 1978 Topps Oakland A's

There are 30 A's images in the set, not counting the Steve Dunning paint job but including Paul Mitchell's.

The team photo was taken in the first half of September, given presence of Lintz, Keough and Mallory and of George Medich, who went to the Mariners on 9/14.

The small black and white image of Bobby Winkles was taken during his time with the Tulsa Oilers from 1956-58.

The following images were captured in Oakland at some time during the 1977 season: Page, Torrealba, Langford, Newman, Sanguillen and Alexander.

Others were taken in Oakland during some specific time range depending upon when they were with the club: Tabb (before 6/30 or after 8/5), Bair (before 4/27 or after 6/19), Winkles (after 6/10), Jorgensen (after 5/22), Tyrone (after 5/14), Crawford (after 6/15), Perez (after 4/27) and Mitchell (6/24-6/29 or 7/27-8/4).

Scott, Armas, Picciolo and Williams were photographed in Yankee Stadium either 5/5-5/8 or 8/10-8/11).

Joe Coleman was photographed in Yankee Stadium as well, but by looking at his pitching record from 1977, we can tell his imaged was captured on May 7 during his 3 innings in relief of Langford.

A number of images were recorded at Hohokam Stadium in North Mesa, AZ during the spring: Lacey, North, Hosley, Norris, Blue, McCatty, Keough, Mitchell and Gross.

A few years back, this interesting image popped up online (can't recall the source) showing Gross's image being taken by, I believe, Doug McWilliams.

[deweyinthehall]

The 1978 Topps Seattle Mariners

There are 27 Mariner images in the set, excluding the Mitchell, Hale, Pasley and Todd paint jobs, and including those of Broberg, Larry Cox and Roy Thomas.

The team photo was taken in front of the Kingdome sometime between 7/3 and 7/7, after the arrival of Julio Cruz but before the departure of Dave Pagan.

The small image of Darrell Johnson shows him as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals in 1960.

A few images were taken in Oakland between 5/19-5/22 or 7/11-7/13: Johnson, Collins, Braun, House and Cruz. The latter two were taken in July after they joined the club.

Larry Milbourne was snapped in Yankee Stadium during either 4/29-5/1 or 8/30-8/31.

Quite a few were taken at Diablo Stadium in Tempe, AZ during the club's first spring training session in 1977: Abbott, Meyer, Montague, Reynolds, Pole, Romo, Baez, Stinson, Stanton, Stein, Jutze, Wheelock, Bernhardt, Burke, Thomas, Broberg and Cox.

Ruppert Jones and Carlos Lopez were impossible to conclusively identify. I went through images of every American League ballpark, and the one that seems to most closely match is Tiger Stadium, where the team played 5/27-5/29 and again 8/15-8/16. I am not remotely certain of this, though. Any insights would be appreciated.

Finally, for the longest time I had thought Ray Fosse's Brewers card was a paint job over his Seattle uniform, but after a lot of thought, I now think it was taken when he was with Cleveland, and so I am going back up to the Indians' post and placing him there.

[deweyinthehall]

The 1978 Topps Texas Rangers

The 1978 set has 32 Ranger images, excluding the Medich paint job and including those of Darold Knowles and Nelson Briles.

The team photo was taken in Arlington Stadium after July 25, which is when Bevacqua joined the club, and he is shown seated 3rd from left in the bottom row. The other players are too indistinct to make enough further identifications which could help date the image better. If anyone has the key to this photo, please pass it along.

The small black and white image of Billy Hunter was taken while he was with the Indians in 1958.

A number of pics were taken during one of the club's swings through the Bronx, either 5/25 or 8/26-8/28: Wills, Harrah, Devine, Alexander, Hargrove, Campaneris, Ellis, Sundberg and Grieve. Hunter and Bevacqua were taken during the August trip.

Some were taken in Oakland, either 6/27-6/29 or 9/23-9/25: Washington, Beniquez, Fahey, Mason and Henderson. Barker was snapped there in September, and Briles in June.

Several images were taken at Municipal Field in Pompano Beach, FL during spring training: Blyleven, May, Moret, Boggs, Alomar, Perry and Knowles.

Lindblad, though wearing his away uniform, was also snapped at the Rangers' spring home because the sign behind him is the same sign visible on Moret's card.

The rookies, Putnam and Smith, are tough ones. Putnam, wearing his home whites, appears to be completely matted around his head and shoulders. However, since no images are known to have been taken by Topps in Arlington Stadium, it must be concluded his picture was taken in Pompano Beach.

Smith is also in his whites, and for the same reason should also be considered to have been photographed in Florida. Municipal Field did have a section of seats which were green in color, but the image isn't in itself convincing that it was taken there. But, there are those whites. So, I will assume Pompano Beach.

Ellis and Horton are even tougher. With Lopez and Jones from the Mariners, I am placing them in Tiger Stadium, either 5/3 or 8/5-8/7, until better intel becomes available.

[deweyinthehall]

Starting on the National League

The 1978 Topps Chicago Cubs

The set has 29 Cubs images, excluding the Roberts, Kingman, Broberg, Fryman, Cox and Meoli paint jobs, and counting in the Bonham, Todd, Zamora, Schultz and Cardenal paint jobs.

The team "Collage" (if anyone can explain for me why the team did this for a decade or so, I would be in your debt) was assembled between 4/19 and 4/28 - after Mike Gordon was farmed and before Donnie Moore came up.

Herman Franks' black and white was tough, but I think it shows him with Brooklyn in either 1940 or 1941 - 2 stripes are seen on his sleeve cuffs and none of his other MLB uniforms had that particular feature.

The majority of Cubs images were taken in the spring of 1977 at their training facility, Scottsdale Stadium in Scottsdale, AZ: Krukow, Ontiveros, Hernandez, Morales, Franks, Biittner, Burris, Gross, Rosello, Buckner, Kelleher, Wallis, Clines, Paul Reuschel, Mitterwald and Lamp.

A few pictures were taken when the team was in Candlestick that season, either 6/20-6/22 or 8/26-8/28: Rick Reuschel, Trillo, Swisher, Sutter and Murcer. Donnie Moore's photo was taken there during June as he was sent down to Wichita at the end of July and did not return until September.

I am fairly certain that Todd, Zamora, Schultz, Cardenal and Bonham were taken in Scottsdale. Schultz may have been photographed the previous spring as he was sent to St. Louis in late February of 1977.

Another interesting item from when the Topps Vault was a going concern is this Bonham color negative:

[Cliff Bowman]

I have to ask, how are figuring out everyone who is on the team card photos?

[deweyinthehall]

.

[deweyinthehall]

In many cases, you can find the images used on the 1978 team photo cards as stand-alone items, with accompanying keys, on eBay or other sites. These images were taken by the clubs for their own purposes - they weren't Topps products. They were included in yearbooks, on calendars, etc.

In other cases, I was unable to find keys and had to do my best at ID'ing the players by sight. This is why in a couple of cases, the best I can do is say the image was taken after some day in July that a particular player whom I CAN recognize in the photo was acquired. A couple of images (the Cubs collage comes to mind) I was able to completely decipher without any problems - it depends on the quality of the image and the distinctive look of players.

Here's an example of where you can find the keys. It's ironic that Caldwell, to the left of the keg, had just been issued his uniform but hadn't yet been activated was standing next to a smiling and perhaps unaware Barry Cort would probably be told within hours of posing for this image that he was on his way back down to make room on the roster for Caldwell.

[bobw]

Originally Posted by deweyinthehall

The 1978 Topps Texas Rangers

The 1978 set has 32 Ranger images, excluding the Medich paint job and including those of Darold Knowles and Nelson Briles.

The team photo was taken in Arlington Stadium after July 25, which is when Bevacqua joined the club, and he is shown seated 3rd from left in the bottom row. The other players are too indistinct to make enough further identifications which could help date the image better. If anyone has the key to this photo, please pass it along.

The small black and white image of Billy Hunter was taken while he was with the Indians in 1958.

A number of pics were taken during one of the club's swings through the Bronx, either 5/25 or 8/26-8/28: Wills, Harrah, Devine, Alexander, Hargrove, Campaneris, Ellis, Sundberg and Grieve. Hunter and Bevacqua were taken during the August trip.

Some were taken in Oakland, either 6/27-6/29 or 9/23-9/25: Washington, Beniquez, Fahey, Mason and Henderson. Barker was snapped there in September, and Briles in June.

Several images were taken at Municipal Field in Pompano Beach, FL during spring training: Blyleven, May, Moret, Boggs, Alomar, Perry and Knowles.

Lindblad, though wearing his away uniform, was also snapped at the Rangers' spring home because the sign behind him is the same sign visible on Moret's card.

The rookies, Putnam and Smith, are tough ones. Putnam, wearing his home whites, appears to be completely matted around his head and shoulders. However, since no images are known to have been taken by Topps in Arlington Stadium, it must be concluded his picture was taken in Pompano Beach.

Smith is also in his whites, and for the same reason should also be considered to have been photographed in Florida. Municipal Field did have a section of seats which were green in color, but the image isn't in itself convincing that it was taken there. But, there are those whites. So, I will assume Pompano Beach.

Ellis and Horton are even tougher. With Lopez and Jones from the Mariners, I am placing them in Tiger Stadium, either 5/3 or 8/5-8/7, until better intel becomes available.

[deweyinthehall]

Thanks - this is a much clearer image. If I can update the dating I will do so later tonight.

[deweyinthehall]

Wow - this image complicates things a bit.

As best I can tell, these are the players, starting with the back row, l to r:
Blyleven, Fahey, Lindblad, Moret, Umbarger, Barker, Devine, Perry, ?
Mason, Henderson, Grieve, ?, Dock Ellis, Beniquez, Harrah, Hargrove
Ziegler, Miller, Ryan, Corrales, Hunter, Koenig, Hudson, John Ellis, ?
BB, Sundberg, Bevacqua, Wills, Briles, Campaneris, May, BB

This gives us 24 players, 1 below the limit. According to work I did previously, the Rangers never went below the 25 man line on their active roster that year, so someone is missing. I can't account for four guys who should have been there all year - Doyle Alexander, Sandy Alomar, Claudell Washington and Willie Horton (who arrived in April).


I have the Rangers yearbooks from 77 and 78, but I cannot ID the players denoted with ?

So what is clear is that Bevacqua arrived from Tucson on 7/25 when Henderson went to the DL.
Barker went to Tucson on the 29th to accommodate Grieve's return from the DL
Beniquez went to the DL on 7/31 and Keith Smith was brought up, but they passed each other going the other way on August 15.
Kirkpatrick went to Milwaukee and Barker was recalled on 8/20.
Umbarger was purchased from the A's on 8/25, and reportedly sent to Tucson. However, he never pitched for them, and was recalled allegedly on 9/1. So to were a good number of others, yet none are in this image.


Based on all of this, I am tempted to say the image was snapped on or about 8/31.

This would give us 24 players in the image with 2 - Henderson and Umbarger inactive, for a total of 22 active.

We're still missing Alexander, Horton, Washington and Alomar, none of whom, I'm convinced could be the 2 ? players in the image above.

So, while some things have been cleared up, there is still a mystery.