Who is the man: The man is the guy applying the tag on the left, none other than Derrel McKinley "Bud" Harrelson. He played in a career-high 157 games in 1970.
Can ya dig it: This card is known less for being Harrelson's card and more for Nolan Ryan editorializing at right, giving the out call before the ump has made his decision. (This writer says the Astros runner is Jim Wynn and that he was actually safe).
Right on: The second baseman backing up the play is Ken Boswell.
You see this cat Harrelson is a bad mother: Well, other than appearing on one of the more memorable cards in the 1971 Topps set, Harrelson famously fought Pete Rose during the 1973 NLCS.
Shut your mouth: The dust-up between Rose and Harrelson was initiated when the Reds took offense to Harrelson's remark about how the Reds batted in the Mets' 9-2 victory in Game 2 of the NLCS. Harrelson said of the Reds: "They looked like me hitting." That caused Joe Morgan to threaten to punch out Harrelson during pregame warm-ups and then tell him that Rose would try to take him out at second base if he had a chance.
Baseball is so weird.
No one understands him but his woman: Harrelson is the only Met to be in uniform for their two World Series titles in 1969 and 1986. He was the third base coach in 1986.
(A word about the back): This nicely-ripped back mentions Harrelson's 54-game errorless streak, which has since been broken several times and has now been doubled. Mike Bordick holds the mark at 110 straight games.
A Ken Boswell sighting! My favorite player when I was growing up in LA. Not an easy thing to do in the heart of Dodger land as I'm sure you can appreciate.
ReplyDeleteThis card is one of the all time greats. Nolan Ryan in the forefront just adds to it.
ReplyDeleteOne of the best stories in one of the best baseball books (The Bad Guys Won) is that Bud was so worked up and energized by the Mets Extra Innings playoff win over the Astros that he couldnt sleep when he got home. 9 months later, Bud Jr was born
ReplyDeleteI remember watching what would have been the 55th game of Harrelson's errorless streak. Lindsey Nelson, Ralph Kiner and Bob Murphy were gushing about what a great achievement it was, his breaking the record in the previous game and speculating on how long the streak might go on. Then, first ball in the game is hit right to Harrelson and he boots it, LOL. Oh well.
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