no. 174 - dave la roche

Who is the man: Dave LaRoche was entering his sophomore season when this card was released. He pitched 38 games in relief his rookie year in 1970.

Can ya dig it: This is another beaten up card from the first 1971 cards I received in a trade as a teenager. I've got some upgrading to do in the second series.

Right on: Rookie card!

You see this cat LaRoche is a bad mother: This "This Week in Baseball" highlight of LaRoche is awesome. Anyone who throws that pitch to Gorman Thomas three times in one at-bat is bad ass.

Shut your mouth: In a well-told story, Rod Carew and Dave LaRoche had it out in a closet after Carew told LaRoche to quit his negativity and LaRoche responded with "what are you going to do about it?"

No one understands him but his woman: LaRoche's actual last name is Garcia and he's of Spanish ancestry. But he changed his surname to "LaRoche" after his stepfather, causing some people to think his background was French. I guess that means we could have known LaRoche's son, the Nationals Adam LaRoche, by "Adam Garcia."

(A word about the back): I'm just realizing that win percentage is a stat on the backs of these cards. That's how useless win percentage is.