no. 136 - duffy dyer

Who is the man: Duffy Dyer had increased his playing time from 29 games in 1969 to 59 in 1970. He was still a backup catcher, though, and he'd remain that way for just about his whole career.

Can ya dig it: I don't think I ever knew that Duffy's real first name was "Don" until this very moment.

Right on: We're in the midst of a run of cards in the set that I traded for as a young teenager. All of them, direct from my friend's older brother's collection, are a little beat up, with the corners taking the brunt of the damage. I should think about updating these as they're from the second series and not costly at all.

You see this cat Dyer is a bad mother: Duffy Dyer was part of one of the best-named catching platoons in baseball history. In 1977, the Pirates gave their catching starts to Duffy Dyer and Ed Ott. That's just great.

Shut your mouth: Duffy Dyer's 1976 Topps card weirded us out. My brother and I made fun of it quite a bit. However, once the 1978 set arrived, Dyer had grown a mustache and suddenly, he didn't look like a goober anymore, but kind of bad-ass. Dyer kept that mustache through the rest of the period that Topps was making bubblegum cards of him. And we shut our mouths.

No one understands him but his woman: Dyer's nickname "Duffy" came from his mother, who was pregnant with him at the time. Laughing very hard at a joke on a radio show called "Duffy's Tavern," Dyer's mom fainted. When she came to, she was in the maternity ward and still groggy. "How's Duffy?" she asked. The nurses took it from there.

(A word about the back): In Dyer's one game of the 1969 World Series, he had one at-bat. He grounded out to Orioles shortstop Mark Belanger.