no. 371 - jack hiatt

Who is the man: Jack Hiatt played for two teams in 1970. Neither of them were the Astros. He was purchased by Houston from the Cubs in December, 1970.

Can ya dig it: Hiatt is wearing a Giants uniform. He last played for San Francisco in 1969. He then played for the Expos and the Cubs, so Topps just went back to a stock photo of Hiatt from his Giants days and blacked out the logo on the helmet.

Right on: Those airbrush blotches are so, so bad.

You see that cat Hiatt is a bad mother: Hiatt was king for a game in 1969. Against his future team, the Astros, he hit two home runs and drove in seven runs. Four of those RBIs came on a game-ending grand slam in the 13th inning.

Shut your mouth: Former Dodgers/Pirates/Rockies manager Jim Tracy credits Hiatt for extending Tracy's playing career. Hiatt was Tracy's manager in the Cubs organization. "Had he not stood up for me after 1977, they would have released me," Tracy said.

No one understands him but his woman: Hiatt was the last out in Don Drysdale's fifth straight shutout during his record streak of 58 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings. In the 9th inning of that game, Drysdale loaded the bases against the Giants. He then hit Dick Dietz with a pitch, but the umpire ruled Dietz didn't try to get out of the way. Dietz followed with a shallow fly out. Ty Cline then grounded to first and the first baseman threw to home to force out Nate Oliver. With two outs and runners on second and third, Hiatt popped out to first.

(A word about the back): I think the write-up on the back is a little bit muddled. Hiatt didn't hit two pinch-hit grand slams versus the Pirates in 1967. He hit one pinch-hit grand slam versus the Pirates on July 31, 1967. The other pinch grand slam of his career was in the 1969 game against the Astros. So he had two for his career, not two in one year against the same team.