Who is the man: Bob Locker had just completed his first season with the Oakland A's when this card was created. He was purchased by Oakland from the Milwaukee Brewers in June 1970.
Can ya dig it: I'm sure it was not lost on Mr. Locker that he dressed at his namesake before and after every game.
Right on: Locker has a memorable 1973 Topps card in which he (and an outfielder) are airbrushed from an A's uniform into a Cubs uniform.
You see that cat Locker is a bad mother: Locker pitched for the Seattle Pilots, meaning he was mentioned in Jim Bouton's Ball Four. His most famous moment was nailing warm-up partner Ray Oyler in the privates with a pitch. All of Oyler's teammates fell into hysterical laughter as Oyler crawled around in pain and puked. So you want to be a baseball player?
Shut your mouth: Locker created a touching website tribute to Marvin Miller in an effort to get him elected to the Hall of Fame while he was alive. That didn't happen, but it's terrific reading all of the player testimonials and other stories.
No one understands him but his woman: Locker pitched in 576 games in the majors and did not start a single game.
(A word about the back): If Locker was a bullpen artist then what were his Oakland teammates Darold Knowles and Rollie Fingers?
Those old A's unis looked kind of like a costume from a Robin Hood movie. So green with kind of fancy lettering. I love 'em, but that's likely nostalgia overwhelming my opinion. I can see why most would not be too fond of them.
ReplyDeleteI got nailed between the goalposts with a lacrosse stick and rolled around on the ground and puked while a bunch of guys stood over me and laughed. Athletes are a tough crowd.
ReplyDeleteThat's a kind of diabolical grin Locker's wearing on this card. A great view of the left field bleachers at Yankee Stadium. Most of the games I went to at the Stadium, we sat in right field, but the very last game before it was renovated we sat right along the wire fence that separated the bleachers from the visitor's bullpen. You can actually make out the fence on this card.
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