no. 175 - jim hickman

Who is the man: I'm sure that's exactly what baseball people were asking during the 1970 season when Jim Hickman hit .315, homered 32 times and drove in 115 runs. In the preceding eight years in the majors, Hickman had never hit more than 17 homers or 57 RBIs in a single season and had hit above .250 only once.

Can ya dig it: Hickman is posing in Shea Stadium, where he spent the first five years of his career.

Right on: I do dig the Cubbie bear logo on the sleeve, although it looks terribly dated.

You see this cat Hickman is a bad mother: Hickman was the first Met to hit three home runs in a single game, doing so in 1965 against the Cardinals.

Shut your mouth: If you were really mean, you could blame Hickman for the ruin of Ray Fosse's career, as he was the one who delivered the hit in the 1970 All-Star Game that caused Pete Rose to barrel into Fosse to score the winning run in the 12th inning.

No one understands him but his woman: Hickman pitched a game for the Dodgers in a mop-up role in 1967. He allowed a home run to Willie Mays.

(A word about the back): I missed posting on Hickman's birthday by four days. As a veteran set blogger, I can tell you one of the ultimate goals of any set blogger is to post on a player's birthday. ... OK, it's just my ultimate goal.