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  #1  
Old 03-13-2023, 04:17 PM
deweyinthehall deweyinthehall is offline
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Default 1978 Topps Image Inventory

For a long time I've wanted to dive into my favorite/first set, 1978 Topps, and see if I could determine to the best of my ability the location and approximate date for each image.

I've gotten to the point where I'm actually almost done, and in the coming days I plan on posting the results in this thread for others who are as obsessive as I am about either the 1978 set or in general about vintage Topps sets.

I will post team by team - the 1978 set has 763 images in total counting the 4x4 rookie cards, leaders, record breakers, team cards, managers and post season cards. Actually it just dawned on me that the managers also have those small black and white photos - I will try to ID those as well.

Each team's entry will include every image of a player from that team. Paint jobs (i.e. Dennis Blair and Nelson Briles for the Orioles) will be included in the team with which they were photographed - the Expos for Blair and the Rangers for Briles.

On rare occasion, it will be possible to identify the specific date of an image, but in most cases I will just need to say either the team's first or second trip to Yankee Stadium in 1977. I will also try to identify the locations of images taken during spring training, which has proven tough.

Anyway, the 1978 is my 'first love' in the hobby, and this has been a fun and occasionally illuminating exercise.

If anyone can correct any of my conclusions or offer to fill in missing information, please do so!
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  #2  
Old 03-13-2023, 05:01 PM
texmrsport texmrsport is offline
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Cool project. Look forward to reading your deductions. You could almost do a panoramic 360 shot of inside Candlestick Park so many were taken there. I love the shot of "Yankee" Goose Gossage pitching at the Stick pre interleague play.
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  #3  
Old 03-13-2023, 05:02 PM
deweyinthehall deweyinthehall is offline
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1978 Topps Orioles

I'll bang one out tonight.

In 1978, Topps used 27 images on Orioles cards, not counting Dennis Blair and Nelson Briles which were paint jobs.

One image, Mark Belanger, was taken in a spring stadium, almost certainly in the spring of 1977 (which I will default to in later posts). It is hard to tell if he is wearing his home whites or away light grays. It doesn't look like Miami Stadium from the images I've seen so this remains an unknown location to me.

The small B&W image of Earl Weaver as a player appears to have been taken when he was with either the Fitzgerald Orioles in 1957 or the Dublin Orioles in 1958 as a player/manager, the only two clubs he was with that went by Orioles, and there is clearly a bird on his cap.

Larry Harlow's photo was taken in Memorial Stadium either before June 2 when he went to Rochester, or in September when he returned. His long sleeves don't give anything away as both periods likely had chilly games.

Brooks Robinson's Record Breaker card was, to the best of my ability to identify, taken in Milwaukee County Stadium (the light poles and the outfield bleachers seem to be a match) during the O's visits in April, June or July, but given his long sleeves, it was probably snapped in April.

The following images were taken in Yankee Stadium during the club's visits there 5/19-5/22 or 7/26-7/28, with long sleeves possibly indicating the earlier visit and short the latter: Singleton (long), D. Martinez (Long), Bumbry (long), Weaver, Dempsey (short), T. Martinez (long), Muser (long), May (long) and Palmer (short).

Rudy May and Scott McGregor are shown in Yankee Stadium in action shots in long sleeves. Assuming this means a May visit, then these images were taken when they each started one end of a double header on May 22 (May game 1, McGregor game 2).

The following images were taken when the Orioles visited Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, either 5/13-5/15 or 8/1-8/2 (same logic with sleeves): DeCinces (long), Dauer (long), Garcia, Flanagan (long), Skaggs (short), Kelly, Smith, Grimsley and Murray (long). However, Mora's image shows him in long sleeves, and he was only there for the August series, so that sort of screws things up.

The image of Palmer on the Victory Leaders card was inexplicably taken sometime between 1966 and 1971 when the team wore that kind of road uniform. Looks like a spring shot.

Finally, the team photo - because of the presence of Tony Chevez, it had to be taken during a homestand, either 6/14-6/16 or 6/20-6/24.
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  #4  
Old 03-13-2023, 05:44 PM
deweyinthehall deweyinthehall is offline
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1978 Topps Boston Red Sox.

The Boston team set includes 32 images, not counting the paint jobs of Bailey, Torrez or Brohamer, but including the Tom Murphy Blue Jays paint job.

The team photo was taken at Fenway between 8/26 and 9/1, after the arrival of Sam Bowen, but before the call-ups arrived.

The small B&W image of Zimmer seems to have been taken when he was with the Senators from 63-65.

The following images all seem to have been taken at Chain-o-Lakes Park in Winter Haven in the spring of '77 - Murphy, Campbell, Cleveland, Lee, Stanley, Willoughby, Wise, Doyle, Evans, Dillard, Cox and Diaz.

These images seem to have been taken at Yankee Stadium during 5/23-5/24, 6/24-/26 or 9/13-9/15 (not listing the sleeves here...you can look at the cards to see): Yastrzemski, Montgomery, Rice, Burleson, Lynn, Miller and Carbo. Helms was snapped after he joined the club, during either the June or September series.

These are Oakland shots, taken 5/9-5/11 or 8/4-8/7: Zimmer, Scott, Hobson, Fisk and Jenkins. Aase had to be taken in the August series, after being called up.

Drago is an interesting case - ordinarily Topps would have used a paint job as he joined the club from Baltimore in the fall of 1977, but they used an image they must have taken of him in 1975 in Oakland, either 5/12-5/13 or 8/8-8/11.

Paxton seems to have been a colorization of a black and white image of him with the Sox - possibly a team-issued card.

Tiant is a mystery to me - I cannot tell if that was a spring shot, or at Yankee Stadium or Oakland. I lean to Oakland, but cannot be sure.

Finally, there is the image of Rice used on the HR Leaders card - you'd probably say it was impossible to tell where it was snapped, but a few years ago the Topps Vault spat out the attached image which shows it was Yankee Stadium.
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File Type: jpg 202B - RICE.jpg (18.4 KB, 364 views)
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  #5  
Old 03-14-2023, 03:14 PM
deweyinthehall deweyinthehall is offline
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1978 Topps Cleveland Indians

The Indians team set includes 32 images, with no paint jobs taken out from or added to the total.

The team card photo was taken at Municipal Stadium during one of two homestands, either 6/13-6/19 or 6/27-7/3, owing the presence of Ron Pruitt, called up 6/2 and the absence of Charlie Spikes, called up 7/8.

Jeff Torborg's black and white image was taken, probably in the spring, at some point during his stint with the Dodgers from 1964-1970.

The following images all look to have been taken at the club's Hi Corbett Field training site in Tucson in the spring of 77 - Dobson, Eckersley, Fitzmorris, Garland, Hood, Kern, Waits, Kendall, Duffy, Grubb, Manning, Blanks, Dade, Pruitt and the rookies Andersen, Oliver, Camper and Oliver.

The Indians had series in Oakland from 6/6-6/8 and from 8/19-8/21, during which the images for Lowenstein, Monge, Thornton, Bell, Carty, Kuiper, Norris and Bochte were captured.

Spikes was taken in Oakland during the August series as he wasn't with the club in June.

Torborg's manager image, if taken after his promotion from bullpen coach, was also from the August series, or if taken when he was still coaching could have been in June.

One outlier here is Jim Bibby - it looks like he was photographed in Cleveland, but I would welcome additional insights into whether that's the right location. Judging by his short sleeves, it was probably during the summer months. UPDATE - just found a film clip making it seem clear that Bibby's image was taken at Tiger Stadium during one of the Tribe's 2 June series there in the summer of 1977.

UPDATE: Another outlier is Ray Fosse. For the longest time I had assumed his paint job Brewers uniform was a Mariners outfit underneath, but when working on the Mariners post, after a lot of consideration, I now think it shows him with the Indians, where he was until a 9/9 trade to Seattle. As to where the image was taken, again this is tough. After running through all of possibilities, the likeliest one seems to be Oakland, sometime between either 6/6-6/8 or 8/19-8/21.

Last edited by deweyinthehall; 03-17-2023 at 04:09 PM.
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  #6  
Old 03-14-2023, 04:37 PM
deweyinthehall deweyinthehall is offline
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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.
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  #7  
Old 03-14-2023, 05:08 PM
deweyinthehall deweyinthehall is offline
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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:
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  #8  
Old 03-15-2023, 03:29 PM
deweyinthehall deweyinthehall is offline
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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.
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Old 03-15-2023, 05:26 PM
deweyinthehall deweyinthehall is offline
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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.

Last edited by deweyinthehall; 03-15-2023 at 07:14 PM.
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Old 03-15-2023, 07:13 PM
deweyinthehall deweyinthehall is offline
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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
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Old 03-16-2023, 05:04 PM
deweyinthehall deweyinthehall is offline
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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.
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Old 03-16-2023, 05:25 PM
deweyinthehall deweyinthehall is offline
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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.
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Old 03-17-2023, 06:49 AM
deweyinthehall deweyinthehall is offline
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1978 Topps Kansas City Royals

The set contains 31 Royal images, not counting the paint job of Jerry Terrell.

The team photo was taken at Royal's Stadium either 6/3-6/7, 6/17-6/23, 7/6-7/10 or 7/13-7/15. This would have been during homestands after Tom Hall was DFA and before Joe Lahoud was promoted from Omaha.

The small image of Whitey Herzog was taken at some point during his time with the Kansas City A's, 1958-1960.

The following images were snapped in Oakland during one of the Royals' 2 trips there, either 6/24-6/26 or 9/26-9/28: Porter, Brett, Bird, Leonard, Herzog, Littell, Gura and the Leonard League Leader picture.

Marty Pattin was also taken in Oakland, but because the only game he appeared in in Oakland that year was 6/26, we know that this action shop was captured during the 6 innings he threw in the second game of a double header before being relieved by Larry Gura. Pattin got the W to go to 1-2.

A number of images were taken in Yankee Stadium, either 6/13-6/16, 7/24 or 8/29: Cowens, Hassler, Colborn, LaCock, Patek, Poquette, Lahoud, McRae, Otis, Mayberry and Mingori.

Several of these images (i.e. Colborn) don't make it 100% clear that the location was The Bronx, but they are similar enough in look and feel to others clearly taken there (i.e. Mayberry) to reasonably conclude they were as well. Hassler's image was captured either 6/14 or 7/24, Mingori's either 6/13 or 8/29 and Lahoud's either 7/24 or 8/29 as he only joined the club in July.

A number of images were taken in the spring of 1977, but not at the Royals' training site at Terry Park in Ft. Myers.

Several images (Martinez, White, Splittorff, etc.) clearly appear to have been taken at the White Sox' facility, Payne Park in Sarasota, probably on the day of a game. The other spring shots (Hurdle, Washington, Patek LL, Busby, Wathan and Zdeb) were likely taken there as well (the use of KC's away blues is also a hint).

Last edited by deweyinthehall; 03-17-2023 at 06:57 AM.
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Old 03-17-2023, 09:16 AM
deweyinthehall deweyinthehall is offline
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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.
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Old 03-17-2023, 12:47 PM
deweyinthehall deweyinthehall is offline
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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.
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Old 03-17-2023, 04:00 PM
deweyinthehall deweyinthehall is offline
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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.

Last edited by deweyinthehall; 03-17-2023 at 04:01 PM.
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Old 03-18-2023, 07:02 AM
deweyinthehall deweyinthehall is offline
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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.
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Old 03-18-2023, 10:39 AM
deweyinthehall deweyinthehall is offline
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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:
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Old 03-18-2023, 01:23 PM
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I have to ask, how are figuring out everyone who is on the team card photos?
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Old 03-18-2023, 02:42 PM
deweyinthehall deweyinthehall is offline
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.

Last edited by deweyinthehall; 03-18-2023 at 02:47 PM.
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Old 03-18-2023, 02:46 PM
deweyinthehall deweyinthehall is offline
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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.
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Old 03-18-2023, 04:19 PM
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Default 1978 Rangers from the Vault

Quote:
Originally Posted by deweyinthehall View Post
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.
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Old 03-18-2023, 04:22 PM
deweyinthehall deweyinthehall is offline
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Thanks - this is a much clearer image. If I can update the dating I will do so later tonight.
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Old 03-18-2023, 06:47 PM
deweyinthehall deweyinthehall is offline
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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.
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Old 03-18-2023, 10:14 PM
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On second thought I think it's Darold Knowles between Grieve and Ellis. I originally thought it might be September call up Bobby Cuellar but I noticed you didn't have Knowles in your list. ETA it blows my mind that the 1977 Rangers went 94-68, they sure could have used the Wild Card back then.
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Last edited by Cliff Bowman; 03-18-2023 at 11:33 PM. Reason: Correction
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Old 03-18-2023, 11:21 PM
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The player on the back row right is Doyle Alexander, it fooled me too, I guess because he is actually smiling. Everybody in the photo is listed on this WorthPoint listing. https://www.worthpoint.com/worthoped...berg-162821295
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Last edited by Cliff Bowman; 03-18-2023 at 11:40 PM. Reason: Clarification
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Old 03-19-2023, 12:24 AM
sthoemke sthoemke is offline
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I must have bought 10,000-15,000 of the 1978's as a kid. (I can still taste the gum)

I think almost every kid on the block had thousands of the cards.

At one point, I had sorted the cards into team sets, and during the junk wax era I unsorted the team sets and put together maybe 10 complete sets.

I've since sold off a couple sets and most of the key cards, but probably still have a monster box of mostly commons.

Did any one play the game on the backs?
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Old 03-19-2023, 06:34 AM
deweyinthehall deweyinthehall is offline
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Wow - thanks. That REALLY surprised me to know that was Alexander.

OK - with this information, I still think the likeliest time for the photo was the very end of August. Knowles and Alexander's inclusion still makes sense for that time frame. It means that of the 24 players pictured, 2 are inactive (Henderson, comes off DL 9/1, and Umbarger, acquired 8/25, supposedly sent to Tucson where he never appeared in a game, recalled anyway on 9/1), and no additional September call ups (Miller, Bealey, Poloni, Putnam,etc.)

This leaves room for 3 active players missing, which would account for Horton, Alomar and Washington.

Fantastic!

UPDATE - Just checked - the Rangers played in KC on 8/31, then had an off-day before taking on Boston at home on 9/2. So I think 9/2 is the likeliest date for this photo - fans are in the stands awaiting the start of the game.

Last edited by deweyinthehall; 03-19-2023 at 06:41 AM.
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Old 03-19-2023, 06:36 AM
deweyinthehall deweyinthehall is offline
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[QUOTE= Did any one play the game on the backs?[/QUOTE]

Same as you I once had thousands back in the day - ripped so many wax, cello and rack. It was the first set I ever collected.

Finally had to buy the complete set (for $14.25 - a bargain!) from Renata Galasso. I could never find Gary Ross.

As to the game, I think I can recall a friend and I sitting down once to intentionally see how it would be played and winding up very disappointed.
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Old 03-19-2023, 06:58 AM
deweyinthehall deweyinthehall is offline
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The 1978 Topps Montreal Expos

There are 32 Expo images in the set, not including the Knowles paint job but including Pat Scanlon, Dennis Blair and Bombo Rivera.

The team photo was taken at Olympic Stadium/Stade Olympique in September - owing the presence of the call-ups.

The small image of Dick Williams was shot while he was with the KC A's in 1959 or 1960.

A host of images were taken in the spring of 1977 at City Island Ballpark in Daytona Beach: Dawson, Valentine, Parrish, Morales, Rogers, Cromartie, Kerrigan, Mejias, Stanhouse, Garrett, Brown and Blair.

Some were taken at The Stick during either 5/3-5/5 or 7/24-7/25 - Perez, Carter, Speier, Mackanin, Cash and McEnaney.

Twitchell was taken mid-delivery on 7/24, the only date he pitched there that year - a complete game 3-0 loss for Wayne that day.

Scanlon was also take in Candlestick, but back in 1975, between 6/13 and 6/15. This was the only time he appeared on an active roster when the club was in SF.

A number were taken in Shea during 4/27, 5/30-5/31, 7/8-7/10 or 9/5-9/6 - Atkinson, Unser, Williams and Frias. Bahnsen and Alcala were taken in May, July or September, Blackwell in July or September, and Schatzeder in September.

Bombo Rivera is a mystery - it is probably a spring ballpark, but City Island Ballpark didn't have double-posted light standards from what I can see.

As a curiosity, the TV spit out these images of Blair a few years back:
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Old 03-19-2023, 06:58 AM
deweyinthehall deweyinthehall is offline
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Old 03-19-2023, 11:17 AM
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The 1978 Topps New York Mets

There are 31 Met images in the set, excluding the Elliott Maddox paint job and including those of Phillips, Grote, Dwyer and Kingman.

The team photo was taken at Shea sometime during homestands from 6/16-6/22 or 6/27-6/29: The haul they received from the Reds for Seaver as well as Joel Youngblood are with the team, but Paul Siebert has yet to arrive.

The small black and white image of Torre was taken sometime during 1960-1965 when he was with the Milwaukee Braves.

I occasionally had difficulty telling images taken at Shea from images taken at the club's Al Lang Stadium facility in St. Petersburg - from a number of angles looking out into the outfield, Shea had a uniquely minor league feel to it - no structures immediately visible over the fence. If you can't see the lights or the scoreboard, it's hard to separate from a minor league park.

So, to the best of my ability, here are the shots taken in the spring: Matlack, Vail, Torre, Espinosa, Stearns, Lockwood, Harrelson, Todd, Apodaca, Swan, Hodges, Myrick and Dwyer.

Another bunch were taken at Shea at some point during the season: Mazzilli, Foster, Boisclair, Milner, Henderson (after 6/15), Zachry (after 6/15), Youngblood (after 6/15), Flynn (after 6/15), Valentine (after 6/15) and Grote (before 8/31).

The Mets actually have 2 images which can be precisely timed - Felix Millan is shown turning a double play on 7/17....he has just received the ball from Len Randle and is relaying it to John Stearns (playing 1st that day) as Dave Parker slides. The play occurred in the top of the 1st inning.

Len Randle is shown after sliding into first and being called out, as Gene Richards makes sure. This happened July 31 as Randle led off the game in the bottom of the 1st with a grounder to 2nd baseman Pat Scanlon.

Jerry Koosman is shown at some point during 77 in Shea - he happened to start the game on the 17th, so I wonder whether this doesn't show him delivering a pitch in that very game.

Ed Kranepool's image is a tough on - I had thought it might be Shea until I realized he was wearing his road uniform. The dugout roof is consistent with that at Candlestick, although the seats don't look to have that Candlestick red color, but that could be the fans. So, I will call this SF, sometime during 5/6-5/8 or 7/26-7/27.

Mike Phillips was taken in Candlestick during the May series, as he departed the club on 6/15, the same day as apparently everyone else that season.

Kingman is a headache - he played for three additional clubs in 1977 after departing the Mets on 6/15. I have to assume the original image shows him in a Met's home uniform, as it would have been easier to convert to a Cubs (so would the Yankees', come to think of it). With nothing much to go on, I will place this with the Mets in St. Pete unless there's a better theory out there.
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Old 03-19-2023, 02:42 PM
deweyinthehall deweyinthehall is offline
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The 1978 Topps Philadelphia Phillies

There are 30 Phillie images in the 1978 set, excluding the Cardenal paint job and including the paint jobs of Underwood, Bosetti and Nahorodny.

The team photo was taken outside Veterans' Stadium during 7/1-7/7, 7/12-7/17 or 7/29-8/11 - these were homestands between Dave Johnson's return from the DL and Dan Warthen's demotion, and Garry Maddox' trip to the DL on 8/13.

The black and white image of Danny Ozark was taken either when he was with the Olean Oilers in 1942 or the Omaha Dodgers in 1961. From the looks of the image I'd have to say it was 1942.

Many pictures were taken at the Phil's training facility, Jack Russell Stadium in Clearwater. This includes many players wearing away uniforms - probably they were suited up for an intrasquad game: Bowa, Harmon, Sizemore, Boone, Carlton, Carlton LL, Martin, Brusstar, Johnson, Schmidt, McGraw, Reed, Maddox, Johnstone, Kaat, Christenson, Underwood and Bosetti.

Several images are from Candlestick either 4/29-5/1 or 7/21-7/23: Hebner, Ozark, McBride and Foote (McBride and Foote would have been taken in July - neither was with the club for the first west coast trip).

Jim Lonborg was also snapped in Candlestick, but his image was captured 7/21, the only game he appeared in there in 1977 - he started and got the W in the Phil's 9-6 victory.

A few were taken at Shea during 6/3-6/5, 6/27-6/29 or 9/7-9/8: Garber, McCarver, Hutton and Luzinski. Lerch was take there either 6/5 or 6/27 - the only two times he pitched there.

Nahorodny was photographed in Shea, but between 9/3-9/5 in 1976, as he didn't make the Phil's roster at any time in 1977.

A final note - the Phillies team picture always has struck me as odd - as if the photographer snapped it a few seconds before warning them - Luzinski talking to Davey Johnson, Bake McBride picking his nose, and several others looking away from the camera. Well, I found this image on line and it seems I was right - Topps got the early shot to use for the card and THIS shot is the one the team used for other purposes:
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Old 03-19-2023, 05:08 PM
deweyinthehall deweyinthehall is offline
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The 1978 Topps Pittsburgh Pirates.

There are 32 Pirate images to assess, including the paint jobs of Forster and Gossage.

The team photo was taken in Three Rivers Stadium sometime during 4/7-4/13. All members of the opening day roster are there, minus Willie Stargell, who was about to be placed on the DL on the 15th. He was replaced on the roster by Ken Macha who is not in the image.

The small black and white of Chuck Tanner was taken while he was with the Cubs sometime during 1957-1958.

Here is where it gets ugly. The Pirates kicked my butt at trying to ID stadiums - too many fuzzy, out of focus backgrounds, as few pre-1977 images and other things that made this really a hard one. What follows can, in some cases, be considered "best guesses" and I welcome any corrections.

OK - I am calling these images as being taken in Shea during 4/22-4/23, 7/15-7/17 or 9/20-9/21 - Garner, Demery, Parker, Parker LL, Rooker, Jones and Oliver.

Tekulve was taken in Shea as well, but on one of the two days he pitched - 4/22 or 7/17.

These I am slotting for Candlestick, from 6/17-6/19 or 8/30-8/31: Ott, Stennett, Reuss, Moreno, Fregosi, Mendoza, Gonzalez, Robinson, Tanner, Stargell, Dyer, Taveras, Jackson and Forster.

Kison was taken there on 6/18 or 8/31, Macha on 8/30 or 8/31, Dilone from 6/17-6/19 (he was on the DL, but there is no other option, given the Giant player in the background) and Gossage, on either 6/18 or 8/31.

I am attributing Tim Jones' image to McKechnie Field in Bradenton in the spring, but that is chancy since it would be the only spring photo here.

Finally, the images of Candelaria, his LL card and the Taveras LL card were snapped in 1976, before the Bucs wore pinstripes. I believe both LLs were taken in Shea from 5/31-6/1, 7/28-7/29 or 9/17-9/20. I say Shea because no Pirate cards in the 1977 set, with images taken in '76, were shot at the Stick. Candelaria's main card puzzled me greatly until I saw Ted Simmons' card which was taken at the Cardinals camp at Al Lang Stadium - there is a perfect match in the images' backgrounds. Therefore, Candy's image was shot when the Buccos were visiting Al Lang for a spring game in 1976 - or perhaps '77 as teams often didn't debut new uniforms until opening day.

Like I said, I am in no way certain about many of these - there is a surprising lack of vintage 70s views of these and other stadiums which would help bring greater certainty to things. I even have the Met's yearbooks from 77 and 78 and they were of little help in terms of offering images of Shea.

Please let me know where I've erred - if I had started out with the Pirates I may not have gone onto other teams.

Last edited by deweyinthehall; 03-19-2023 at 05:25 PM.
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Old 03-20-2023, 05:08 AM
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Wished there was a like button. I also ripped many packs of this set which does not get enough love for a variety of reasons. Keep it up---and suggest to make a video of all this, though that's a lot of work. Thanks.
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Old 03-20-2023, 04:48 PM
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The 1978 Topps St. Louis Cardinals

The set contains 26 Cardinal images, including the Roric Harrison and Steve Dunning paint jobs, but excluding those of Phillips, Schultz, Dwyer, Underwood and Eastwick.

The team photo was hard to place, as I was unable to locate a key, but I think I did a fairly good job sussing out who was who. If I am correct, the photo was taken at Busch Stadium during a homestand from 8/12-8/19 - Denny and Bosetti arrived on the club on 7/29 while they were on the road (Denny is definitely in the photo and I think Bosetti is as well), and Tony Scott who is also in the photo went to the DL on 8/19 and was replaced by Dane Iorg who I don't think is in the image - in any event Kessinger left the next day and he is in the image. Any help with a key would be appreciated.

The small image of Vern Rapp was taken while he was with the Rochester Red Wings in 1953 or 1954.

A good number of images seem to have been taken at Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg, the spring facility the team shared with the Mets - these include several players in road blue, but since in a couple of photos the details of the park are the same as those in images of players in white, the were probably dressed for intra-squad action: Templeton, Forsch, Brock, Dierker, Hrabosky, Cruz, Scott, Simmons, Mumphrey, Urrea, Falcone, Reitz and Anderson.

One image was snapped at Shea, the Brock RB, and it was taken either 4/12-4/14, 8/8-8/10 or 9/23.

More images were taken during one of the club's trips to Candlestick, 6/14-6/16, 9/2-9/4: Tyson, Hernandez, Rasmussen, Rapp, Metzger, Freed, Rader and Denny.

This leaves the two paint jobs, Dunning and Harrison. Dunning's is a real stunner - is he even awake? He was in camp with St. Louis in 77, and it's hard to think Topps went looking for an older image and chose this one. So, without much to base this on, I will call Dunning for St. Louis and attribute to Al Lang in the spring of 77.

Then there is Roric Harrison - he was also with the club in the spring, and was also shot at Al Lang.

A few years ago, the Topps Vault spit this image out to confirm:
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Old 03-20-2023, 05:16 PM
deweyinthehall deweyinthehall is offline
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The 1978 Topps Atlanta Braves

The set includes 29 Braves images, excluding the Bobby Cox paint job, but including the Junior Moore paint job.

The team photo was snapped in Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium on May 3 - the day after Chaney returned from the DL and the day before Barry Bonnell came from Richmond when Joe Nolan went to the DL. Montanez is in the image even though he was on the DL, and active roster members Jerry Royster and Don Collins are absent for some reason.

Many images were taken at Candlestick during 5/27-5/29, 7/8-7/10, or 9/12-9/13: Niekro, Montanez, Ruthven, Burroughs, Royster, Niekro LL, Gilbreath, Bonnell, Easterly, Pocoroba, Paciorek, Camp, Campbell, Chaney, Rockett, Correll, Capra, Solomon, Nolan, Belloir, Gaston and Moore.

Asselstine was taken at Shea 6/21-6/22 or 9/2-9/4.

A few were recorded at the Braves' facility at Municipal Stadium in West Palm Beach in the spring - Messersmith, Matthews, Office, Murphy and Mahler.
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Old 03-21-2023, 04:42 PM
deweyinthehall deweyinthehall is offline
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The 1978 Topps Cincinnati Reds.

The 1978 set contains 37 images, not counting the Bonham paint job, but including the Fryman, Meoli, Nolan, Eastwick and Bailey paint jobs.

The team photo - surprise! - is actually the 1976 Team photo; a couple standees at the ends of the middle row have been airbrushed out and the fence has been recolored behind the, but those are the 1976 champions - Perez, McEnaney, Youngblood, etc. The photo was taken at Riverfront during a homestand between 7/29, when Sarmiento replaced Rich Hinton on the roster, and before 9/1 when Joe Henderson and Don Werner joined the club. The REAL 1977 Reds Team Photo, shown below, was taken in Riverfront sometime between 7/17 when Sarmiento and Soto were recalled and 9/1 when the call-ups began arriving.

The small black and white image of Sparky Anderson was taken when he was with the Phillies in 1959.

Several images were taken at Candlestick during 5/25-5/26, 8/12-8/14 or 9/16-9/18: Plummer, Borbon, Morgan, Anderson, Armbrister, Knight, Bench and Bailey. Auerbach was taken at Candlestick either in August or September.

Rose RB, Rose, Geronimo and Capilla were taken in Shea, either 6/7-6/8 or 8/9-8/21. Seaver was snapped at Shea, but during the August series for obvious reasons.

The rest were taken in the spring.

I believe Dale Murray was take at Al Lang field, home of the Cardinals and Mets, because the look of the outfield fence matches several images of Cardinals players.

I can say for sure that Fred Norman and Mario Soto were definitely taken at the Reds' spring home, Al Lopez Field in Tampa - you can see portions of the adjacent football stadium in the background.

The rest of the spring photos - Billingham, Griffey, Moskau, Concepcion, 2 Foster RBs, Driessen, Lum, Sarmiento, Foster, Summers, Hume, Werner, Revering, Meoli, Fryman, Eastwick and Nolan - were probably taken in Tampa, but the Murray image suggests some may have been taken in St. Pete - I could not see any other identifying features which would help the determination, so I will assume the probable, they were taken in Tampa, unless other information surfaces.

As promised, here is the REAL 1977 Reds Photo:
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Old 03-21-2023, 05:23 PM
deweyinthehall deweyinthehall is offline
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The 1978 Topps Houston Astros

There are 24 Astro images, not counting the Walton and Zamora paint jobs.

The team photo was taken in the Astrodome, sometime between 8/24 and 8/31, after Bannister came off the DL but before the call-ups arrived.

The small image of Virdon was taken while he was with the Pirates, 56-65.

Several images were taken at Candlestick, during 4/26-4/28, 8/9-8/11, 9/14-9/15: Howe, Cabell, Metzger and Pentz (August or September).

A few were taken in Shea, 6/16-6/19 or 8/22-8/23: Bannister, Watson, Lemongello, Gonzalez and Sperring.

The rest were taken during the spring - Herrmann was definitely taken at the Astros facility, Cocoa Expo Stadium in Cocoa Beach, FL. The rest were likely taken there as well - Ferguson, Cedeno, Forsch, Puhl, Niekro, Sambito, Andujar, Cruz, Richard, McLaughlin, Virdon and Howard.
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Old 03-22-2023, 04:05 PM
deweyinthehall deweyinthehall is offline
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The 1978 Topps Los Angeles Dodgers

There are 30 Dodger images in this set, not counting the Davalillo and Forster paint jobs, counting John Hale, Henry Cruz and Kevin Pasley, and the NLCS card.

The team photo was taken at Dodger Stadium, between 7/21 and 7/28 - after the arrival of Rautzhan but before the departure of Hale.

The small image of Lasorda was taken while he was with Brooklyn in 1954 or 1955.

A number of photos were taken at Candlestick Park during 4/15-4/17, 7/1-7/4 or 9/20-9/21 - Goodson, Rhoden, Cey, Rau, Monday, Smith, John, Lopes, Baker and Sosa. Burke was also snapped at Candlestick, but in either July or September.

Just 2 images are from Shea, 5/13-5/15 or 8/1-8/3- Yeager and Lacy.

The remainder were taken during the spring, almost all certainly at Holman Stadium in Vero Beach: Hough, Hooton, Lasorda, Mota, Sutton, Garvey, Garman, Oates, Martinez and Rautzhan.

Hale, Pasley and Cruz were all very likely also taken at Holman.

Russell was probably taken there as well, but I cannot confirm whether 1) he is wearing his home or away uniform, or 2) if Holman had a yellow strip along the dugout roof.

The image used on the NLCS card, of Davey Lopes batting with Tim McCarver catching, was taken at Veterans' Stadium on October 8 in the deciding game 4 - McCarver was Carlton's personal catcher (of his 39 starts in '77 only 3 were in games Carlton didn't pitch) and sure enough Carlton started game 4 with Tim behind the plate. Lopes batted 3 times against this battery, walking twice and lining out to 2nd once. In the photo, he's made contact and is headed towards first, so this was taken a split second after he hit that liner to lead off the game.
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Old 03-22-2023, 04:47 PM
deweyinthehall deweyinthehall is offline
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The 1978 Topps San Diego Padres

The set contains a total of 26 Padre images, excluding the Scanlon and Gamble paint jobs, but including Doug Rader's.

The team photo was taken in San Diego Stadium sometime during 7/1-7/5 or 7/11-7/28 - After the arrival of Tucker Ashford and before the departure of John D'Acquisto.

The smaller image of Alvin Dark was taken while he was with the Cubs in 1958 or 1959.

Several images were taken at Candlestick during 5/30-6/1, 7/6-7/7 or 9/30-10/2: Hendrick, Owchinko, Turner, Dark, Champion and Davis.

Ivie and Winfield were taken at Shea either 5/11-5/12 or 7/29-7/31.

The remainder were almost certainly taken in the spring at Desert Sun Stadium in Yuma, AZ: Jones, Tomlin, Ashford, Fingers, Fingers LL, Tenace, Shirley, Richards, Griffin, Almon, Spillner, Strom, Rettenmund, Freisleben, Sweet and Rader.
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Old 03-22-2023, 05:13 PM
deweyinthehall deweyinthehall is offline
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The 1978 Topps San Francisco Giants

There are 31 Giant images in the set.

The team photo was taken on 6/22 in Candlestick Park. Johnnie LeMaster had just arrived the previous day, and Lynn McGlothen would go on the DL later that day, to be replaced by Tommy Toms.

The small image of Altobelli is a stumper - I cannot find enough detail to even make a guess at when it was taken during his professional career, which spanned 1951-1970.

Greg Minton, like Mike Paxton of the Red Sox, seems to be a painted-over black and white image. It was likely taken at Phoenix Municipal Stadium in Phoenix in the spring. Lynn McGlothen was also take in the spring at Phoenix - even though they were Arizona, photos do suggest the presence of a lot of trees over the right and center field fences.

All the remaining photos were taken in Candlestick at some point during the 1977 season: McCovey, McCovey RB, Sadek, Barr, Halicki, Montefusco, Foli, Thomas, Evans, Whitfield, Altobelli, Moffitt, Heaverlo, Hill, Clark, Madlock, Harris, Andrews, Curtis, Herndon, LeMaster, Williams, Knepper, Alexander, Thomasson, Lavelle and Elliott.
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Old 03-22-2023, 05:22 PM
deweyinthehall deweyinthehall is offline
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Well, I've come to the end of the road with the 1978 set.

As always, if anyone can offer alternative IDs for any of these images, PLEASE do so.

And finally, I need to discuss those few card images that are simply too hard to begin to try to place: Vic Davalillo, George Medich and Danny Walton.

Between his departure from the A's in 1974 and his return to MLB with the Dodgers in 1977, Davalillo played in Mexico. Was this image snapped with Oakland? A Mexican team? Impossible to know unless the Topps Vault has released the negative which might show some of the real uniform along the borders.

George "Doc" Medich played for the A's, Mariners and Mets in 1977 - is his Rangers uniform painted over one of those? Perhaps it is from his time in Pittsburgh in 1976 or even with the Yankees for several years before. The background is too fuzzy to make a guess as to a location.

Danny Walton got into 11 games with the Astros in 1977 after arriving from the Dodgers farm in early September. He was Dodger property throughout 1977 and 1976 before that. Is there a Dodger uniform under the Astros paint job? Perhaps a Twins image? Who knows.

Thank you for indulging me this journey through the 1978 set and like I said - please send any ID information you may have!
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Old 03-23-2023, 06:54 PM
deweyinthehall deweyinthehall is offline
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One more post on the 1978 for good measure -

There are 59 paint jobs in the set, reflecting transactions which occurred as early as 2/28/77 (Buddy Schultz) and as late as 11/30/77 (Kingman, Maddox, Brohamer).

Surprisingly, 31 took place before or during the 1977 regular season, and a full 18 took place before 8/1/77, when most teams still had series to play in Candlestick and Shea, or Yankee Stadium and Oakland.

Seems Topps could have gotten an image of Doug Rader as a Blue Jay (acquired 6/8), Tom Murphy as a Blue Jay (acquired 7/27), etc, etc.

The last transactions captured in time for the 1978 set were Kingman, Maddox and Brohamer on 11/30. Baseball Reference lists Ron Schueler as joining the White Sox on 12/3, but newspaper accounts place this on 11/17. Dave Bergman's card reflects a 12/1 date, but all else points to 11/23.

The first transaction in December involving any players that would be featured in the 1978 occurred December 5 when the Angels Traded Bobby Bonds, Thad Bosley and minor leaguer Richard Dotson to the White Sox for Brian Downing, Chris Knapp and minor leaguer Dave Frost. Neither this trade nor any subsequent transactions were reflected in the 1978 set.

Therefore, I think we can conclude that Topps locked the player/team combinations in order to finish the proofing process and start runnin the presses for the 1978 set as of 12/1/77. It would be interesting to see whether other sets at this time share a similar cut off date.
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Old 03-30-2023, 11:35 AM
Fleerfan Fleerfan is offline
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Love the look back at the 1978 set as it was one of the first sets I collected. Regarding the Orioles review, the picture of Mark Belanger is from Memorial Stadium. That is the Memorial Stadium scoreboard in the background with the National Bohemian (Natty Boh) sign.
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Old 03-30-2023, 03:22 PM
deweyinthehall deweyinthehall is offline
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So it is! Thanks! I will update my list.
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Old 03-30-2023, 04:18 PM
bobw bobw is offline
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Default Danny Walton

It is probably a Dodgers image underneath the airbrush.....

Same folding chairs in the background.

Same gray t shirt underneath.

Same lock of hair across his ear.

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Old 03-30-2023, 05:55 PM
deweyinthehall deweyinthehall is offline
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Outstanding! I agree it's a match.

Walton was with the Dodgers in the spring of 76 and 77 - any idea what year this image might be from? Do you know the source?
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Old 03-30-2023, 06:02 PM
deweyinthehall deweyinthehall is offline
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I think I am actually calling this one for Holman Stadium in Vero Beach in the spring of 76 - at least a couple Dodger cards from 77 (Goodson, Buckner) were taken there and there is a strong resemblance. Also, not that it proves something, but none of the Dodgers photos in the 78 set taken at Holman in '77 used the seats/dugout area as a backdrop.
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Old 03-30-2023, 06:52 PM
bobw bobw is offline
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Default Bombo Rivera

Taken at Shea....the same indent in the trees to the left.

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