Recap: I’m going through all of the notable and somewhat notable players and managers of the 1970’s and I’m basically making like it’s an all-encompassing 1970’s throwback baseball card set. For the “card front”, I’m sharing my favorite 1970’s card of that guy. I’m also including a card back’s worth of information and thoughts about him and his cardboard.
COOKIE ROJAS
1971 Topps #118
Played 1962 – 1977
1970’s Teams: Cardinals, Royals
1970’s Highlights:
All-Star from 1971 to 1974; batted .333 with 2 runs and an RBI in the 1977 ALCS; Was involved in turning a triple play vs. the Rangers, 8/13/72
Career Highlights:
Was inducted in to the Kansas City Royals Hall of Fame, 1987; Got his first Major League hit off of Sandy Koufax in 1962
Fun Stuff:
Pitched a scoreless inning of relief, including getting Willie Mays to pop out, in the 9th inning of the 2nd game of a doubleheader, where the Phillies were down by 9 runs; Played every position at some point in his career
The Game On The Featured Card:
Because Cookie Rojas only played half of the 1970 season with the Royals and because we can see that it’s a game at Yankee Stadium with a partial score on the scoreboard in the background, it’s easy to figure out that this game was played on Sunday, August 16, 1970. At the time, #9 for the Yankees was outfielder Ron Woods and the only time he got on base in that game was in the bottom of the 6th. Woods singled off of Ken Wright to lead off the inning, but Gene Michael hit into a 6-4-3 double-play, which must be what we’re seeing here. Incidentally, the losing pitcher in that game was Jim Rooker, who is also featured in this post.
PHIL ROOF
1976 Topps #424
Played 1961 – 1977
1970’s Teams: Brewers, Twins, White Sox, Blue Jays
1970’s Highlights:
Was the first-ever Blue Jay, having been acquired from the White Sox in October 1976, a couple of months before the expansion draft
Career Highlights:
Over his career he played for 8 teams and was involved in 6 trades; Managed in the minor leagues and coached in the Majors with the Padres, Mariners and Cubs
PHANTOM SEATTLE PILOT!
Although Phil is shown as a Pilot on his 1970 Topps card, he was acquired from the A’s in January 1970 and the Pilots became the Milwaukee Brewers before the start of the 1970 season, meaning that Phil Roof never played a regular season game for the Pilots
More Card Stuff:
This 1977 O-Pee-Chee card has an updated photo of him with the Blue Jays in spring training (a card I would share with you here but I don’t have it yet)
Still More Card Stuff:
Appeared on multi-player “Rookie Stars” cards in 1963, 1964 and 1965 Topps… The 1964 card is also Phil Niekro’s rookie card; A 1982 Donruss card of Gene Roof – Phil’s younger brother – was mistakenly labeled as Phil Roof on the font
JIM ROOKER
I couldn’t decide on a ‘best’ Jim Rooker card so I instead decided to feature all of his similar follow-though cards
Played 1968 – 1980
1970’s Teams: Royals, Pirates
1970’s Highlights:
Had six seasons with double-digit wins and three with 200+ innings pitched; Pitched 8.2 effective innings over two games of the 1979 World Series, allowing 5 hits, 1 earned run and striking out 4 batters
Career Highlights:
Won 103 games over 13 seasons; Was an outfielder in the minors before being converted to pitching and had a .201 batting average over his Major League career; Was a Pirates broadcaster from 1981 to 1993
Walking home from Philadelphia:
Rooker was broadcasting for the Pirates in a 1989 game where the Bucs had a 10-0 lead in the 1st inning, and proclaimed that he would walk home if the Pirates lost the game. The Phils ended up winning 15-11, and during the following offseason he made good on his ‘promise’ and walked from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh to raise money for a children’s hospital
Fun Stuff:
Rooker was a NY Yankee for two weeks — he was acquired on September 30 1968 from the Tigers as an earlier trade’s player-to-be-named-later, and then selected by the Royals in the expansion draft held on October 15th
Card Stuff:
Appears in every 1970s Topps flagship set *except* for 1973
PETE ROSE
1976 Topps #240
Played 1963 – 1986
Managed 1984 – 1989
1970’s Teams: Reds, Phillies
1970’s Highlights:
Was named the National League MVP in 1973 in a season where he batted .338 and lead the league in average and with 230 hits (a Cincinnati Reds team record); Was an starter for the NL all-star team in 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1978; Reached 3,000 hits on 5/5/78; Was the MVP of the 1975 World Series (.370/.485/.481 with a double, a triple, 3 runs and 2 RBI); Had a National League record 44-game hitting streak in 1978; started a streak of 745 consecutive games at the end of the 1978 season
Career Highlights:
Baseball’s all-time leader with 4,256 hits and the 1963 NL Rookie of the Year, he’d easily have been a HOFer had he not been banned from baseball; Holds Reds career marks with 2,722 games, 10,934 AB, 1,741 runs, 3,358 hits, 601 doubles and 1,210 walks; Hold the Reds single-season record with 230 hits in 1973; Was a 17-time All-Star, a 2-time Gold Glove winner and a 3-time batting champion
Fun Stuff:
Was the victim of Bob Gibson’s final strikeout, 8/29/75
Card Stuff:
Was included in every flagship Topps set of the 1970s; His 1979 Burger King Phillies card was one of that year’s most sought-after oddball cards