no. 32 - jerry da vanon

Who is the man: Jerry DaVanon was no longer with the Cardinals when this set reached stores. He was traded to the Orioles at the end of November for pitcher Moe Drabowsky. However, Drabowsky is pictured later in this set as a Cardinal.

Can ya dig it: Over DaVanon's left shoulder there appears to be a hatless police officer loading a gun. Or that could be my imagination.

Right on: As you can see by the signature, DaVanon's real first name is Frank. His middle name is Gerald.

You see this cat DaVanon is a bad mother: DaVanon landed his first solo card despite getting into only 11 games in 1970 and hitting .111. He must have been a bad man to convince Topps to give him a card.

Shut your mouth: In the span of three months in 1975, DaVanon went from the Cardinals to the Tigers to the Indians to the Astros. DaVanon initiated his exit from the Tigers. After the Tigers purchased him from the Cardinals, they sent him a pay cut. DaVanon sent the Tigers a letter in return that said he wanted his release if that's all they thought of him. So the Tigers released him.

No one understand him but his woman: In late 1975, DaVanon was playing in the minors, never thinking of returning to the majors again. He had just landed a teaching job when the minor league manager told DaVanon that he was going to the majors. DaVanon, with a steady job waiting, said, "no, I don't want to go." The manager said, "You've got to go," and DaVanon said, "I don't want to." But DaVanon went. The school district worked it out so DaVanon could begin teaching in October. But then the Astros offered him a contract that guaranteed him a job for 1976 and he would get his pension. DaVanon resigned from this teaching job. The school district wasn't happy.

(A word about the back): Those could be the worst stats in the set. I'll have to keep a running tally.