Ray Fosse – 1973 Topps #226

 

Raymond Earl Fosse (born April 4, 1947 in Marion, Illinois) a former professional baseball player who was a catcher in the Major Leagues. He was drafted in the first round of the 1965 amateur draft by the Cleveland Indians. Fosse also holds the distinction of being the Indians’ first ever draft pick. 1965 was the first year of the Major League Baseball Draft. He batted and threw right-handed. Ray Fosse is most famous for being bowled over by the Cincinnati Reds’ Pete Rose at home plate in the last play of the 1970 All-Star Game. Rose scored the winning run, while the collision separated Fosse’s right shoulder. The injury is what caused the downfall of Fosse’s career. In reality, Fosse played 42 games in the second half of 1970, hitting .297 and winning the American League Gold Glove Award. Rose asserted he was simply trying to win the game.
Fosse’s career was one marked by numerous injuries. In 1971, Fosse suffered more injuries, getting kicked in his right hand during a brawl against the Detroit Tigers on June 20, causing a gash that required five stitches and sidelined him for more than a week. Fosse tore a ligament in his left hand during an at bat against Denny McLain, forcing him to miss the 1971 All-Star Game. He did manage to win his second consecutive Gold Glove Award in 1971. When Cleveland pitcher Gaylord Perry won the American League Cy Young Award in 1972, he gave Fosse credit for his success saying,”I’ve got to split it up and give part, a big part to Ray Fosse. He kept pushing me in games when I didn’t have good stuff. He’d come out and show me that big fist of his when I wasn’t bearing down the way he thought I should.”
In a 12 year career, Fosse played in 924 games, accumulating 758 hits in 2957 at bats for a .256 career batting average along with 61 home runs and 324 runs batted in. He ended his career with a .986 fielding percentage. Fosse led American League catchers in 1970 with 854 putouts, 48 base runners caught stealing and in range factor (7.81). In 1971 he led the league with 73 assists, and in 1973, he led American League catchers in baserunners caught stealing and in caught stealing percentage. Fosse was a member of two World Series Champion clubs. The 1973 and 1974 A’s, and also a member of the Seattle Mariners team that began playing in 1977. He won Gold Glove Awards in 1970 and 1971. Fosse was named to the 100 Greatest Cleveland Indians in 2001.

The Big Red Machine

The Big Red Machine nickname was introduced in a July 4, 1969 article by Bob Hertzel in The Cincinnati Enquirer, which posted a regular season record of 102-60 and won the National League pennant. Rookie and future-Hall of Fame manager Sparky Anderson lead the team, that featured Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan and Tony Pérez, and was supported by Dave Concepción, George Foster, César Gerónimo and Ken Griffey, Sr.. The eight players most frequently referenced as members of the Big Red Machine include baseball’s all-time hit leader in Rose; three Hall of Fame players in Bench, Peréz and Morgan; six National League MVP selections; four National League home run leading seasons; three NL Batting Champions; 25 Gold Glove winning seasons, and 63 collective All-Star Game appearances. The starting lineup of Bench, Rose, Morgan, Pérez, Concepción, Foster, Griffey, and Gerónimo (known as the “Great Eight”) played 88 games together during the 1975 and 1976 seasons, losing only 19.

Pat Jarvis – 1973 Topps #192

Robert Patrick Jarvis (born March 18, 1941, at Carlyle, Illinois) retired Major League Baseball starting pitcher who played eight seasons for the Atlanta Braves and the Montreal Expos from 1966 to 1973 in the National League. Jarvis is best known for being Nolan Ryan’s first strikeout victim on September 11 1966. He also gave up Willie Mays’ 599th and Ernie Banks’ 500th home runs. After retiring, Jarvis served several terms as sheriff of DeKalb County, Georgia, in suburban Atlanta. He was ultimately convicted of corruption charges associated with the management of the DeKalb County jail. He currently runs an organic nursery in Rutledge, Georgia.

Milt May – 1973 Topps #529

 

Milton Scott May (born August 1, 1950 in Gary, Indiana) professional baseball player and coach who played from 1970 to 1984. May was a catcher who hit for a fairly high batting average during the era in which he played. May drove in the one-millionth run in Major League Baseball history on May 4, 1975, with three-run home run. He was reputedly the slowest runner in the majors for much of his career. May was a member of the Pirates team that won the 1971 World Series. In the seventh inning of Game Four of that series, his pinch-hit single drove in Bob Robertson with the winning run in a 4-3 Pirate victory. Tragedy struck the Pirates in late 1972, when outfielder Roberto Clemente died in a plane crash. May was slated to replace Clemente in the Pirates’ lineup in 1973, with catcher Manny Sanguillén moving to right field. However the experiment ended by July when it was determined that Sanguillen could not adjust to playing in the outfield and May was back on the Pirates’ bench. In a 15 year career, May played in 1192 games, accumulating 971 hits in 3693 at bats for a .263 career batting average along with 77 home runs and 443 runs batted in. He ended his career with a .986 fielding percentage. May became a coach for the Pirates in 1987, serving under manager Jim Leyland. He was major-league hitting coach for ten seasons in Pittsburgh and two with the Florida Marlins. He spend the first half of the 1999 season with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and was later named a pitching coach for the Colorado Rockies. May was a scout for the Rockies in 2000, then spent the 2001 season as a Pirates minor-league hitting coordinator.