Monday, September 24, 2012

no. 96 - joe hague


Who is the man: Joe Hague started the 1971 season with his first season as a starter under his belt. He split time starting at first base and in the outfield for the Cardinals in 1970.

Can ya dig it: I like the formal signature. Joe's middle name was Clarence.

Right on: Using "Cards" on all of the Cardinals cards seemed odd to me as a kid, but I can appreciate it now. With that font, Topps would have been forced to squeeze the letters to get "Cardinals" to fit. It has done that with "Diamondbacks" with some current sets and it doesn't look good.

You see this cat Hague is a bad mother: Hague's first hit in the major leagues was a home run, hit off of the Dodgers' Bill Singer in the top of the sixth inning on Sept. 20, 1968. It was his second major league game.

Shut your mouth: Hague was unhappy with his situation with the Cardinals in 1972. A trade with the Padres had fallen through, a trade that would have freed up the starting right field position for Hague. Instead he was forced to platoon, and said in a newspaper article that he wasn't happy about it. Two months later, he was traded to the Reds.

No one understands him but his woman: Hague would use the word "mullet" instead of a curse word. He said he developed the practice as a youngster to keep from swearing.


(A word about the back): The head shot appears to be from the same photo session as the photo on the front. That's pretty common in this set, but I wonder how many examples there are?

1 comment:

  1. I like that card...maybe it's the CARDS at the top. I can respect anyone who homers for their first hit. It does set the bar high though.

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