no. 308 - cards

Who is the man: The Cardinals suffered their worst season since 1955 in 1970 by finishing 10 games below .500 and resting in fourth in the six-team National League East. The '70s were not kind to the Cardinals, although they did finish second a few times in the early part of the decade.

Can ya dig it: I love this card just for the fact that it tells you what you are holding in your hand: Cards. Topps probably could have spelled out the full nickname in this horizontal format, but I guess they went with consistency since all the team's player cards say "Cards," too.

Right on: I have no idea what I'm looking at in the background of this photo. Is that a row of bushes? What are those piles?

You see that cat Schoendienst is a bad mother: Manager Red Schoendienst, entering his seventh season as the Cardinals' leader, is the only man crossing his arms in the photo. He's sitting in the first row right between the two bat boys.

Shut your mouth: Time to see who I can identify (or misidentify):

Seated to the right of Schoendienst are the coaches. Dick Sisler is immediately to the right. Bob Milliken is next to Sisler. At the far left in the first row is outfielder Vic Davalillo. Two spots to Davalillo's right is a young pitcher named Jerry Reuss. To the right of Reuss is outfielder Carl Taylor. Joe Torre is in the second row, third from the left. To the left of Torre is outfielder Luis Melendez. On the other side of that row is Steve Carlton, second from the right. Frank Linzy is two places to the left of Carlton. Pitcher Sal Campisi is next to Linzy. In the top row, at left, is Lou Brock. Pitcher Nelson Briles is next to Brock and Jose Cardenal is next to Briles. Bob Gibson is at the far right in the back.

No one understands him but his woman: Dick Allen as a Cardinal is a rare sight to see on a baseball card. You can catch him in a Cardinals uniform on his 1971 Kellogg's card. Or you can spot him here, in the back row, the fourth person from the right. It looks like he's wearing a batting helmet.

(A word about the back): I'm surprised Stan Musial isn't included in the list above. I suppose none of those categories chart longevity.