Who is the man: Ron Swoboda spent all of 1970 with the New York Mets. He was traded to the Expos at the end of March 1971. And then he was dealt to the Yankees four months later. I don't know when the final series of this set was released, but I think Swoboda may have been a Yankee by the time this card was in packs, meaning the airbrushing was all for naught!
Can ya dig it: Quite the combination, an Expos hat and Mets pinstripes.
Right on: Compared with the airbrushings on the previous two cards, this one is pretty good.
You see that cat Swoboda is a bad mother: Swoboda is famous in Mets lore for his outstretched, diving catch of a Brooks Robinson liner to right field with two runners on base in the ninth inning of Game 4 of the 1969 World Series. The Mets would win that game 2-1 in 10 innings.
Shut your mouth: In the 1966 movie, "Penelope," starring Natalie Wood, Wood's character opens a pack of what appears to be 1966 Topps cards after requesting some gum from Peter Falk's character, a police lieutenant. As she opens it, she asks, "Who's Ron Swoboda?" Falk's character says dismissively, "I just chew the gum."
No one understands him but his woman: Swoboda owned the Mets record for most home runs hit by a rookie (19) until Darryl Strawberry broke it with 26 in 1983.
(A word about the back): If it wasn't for that Series catch, Swoboda might have been best know for his home runs in Carlton's 19-strikeout game.
Halfway through his rookie season in 1965, Swoboda had 16 home runs and the Mets thought they had their Mickey Mantle. Swoboda hit 3 HR's the second half of the season and, except for that catch in the World Series, it was all down hill from there for Ron.
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