In celebration of the 65th anniversary of Topps baseball cards, my collection is going to be the subject of this year-long series.
Shortly after starting my obsession in 1971, the goal was to have at least one Topps card from every year.
Although the 1952 set is considered to be the first released by Topps, the company issued two series that was a part of the game a year earlier.
Growing up the New York Yankees were never one of my favorite teams. Looking back at the teams of the late 1970s however, one has to admire the success that the team was able to attain in during their world championship seasons.
In 1977, Ron Guidry had a pretty good season with a 16-7 record as the Yankees won the World Series.
A year later, Guidry was the American League Cy Young Award winner as New York claimed a second straight championship.
Guidry nearly won the pitching triple crown as led the league in wins at 25-3 with the top ERA of 1.74. He finished second behind Nolan Ryan with 248 strikeouts. He also compiled a league best nine shutouts.
Beginning the year 13-0, Guidry had a run with victories in 10 straight starts. During that stretch, he had two shutouts with the last one being perhaps the most memorable. On June 17, he held the California Angels to four hits as he fanned a team record 18 batters.
The lefty was named to the AL All-Star Team and made it into the game to record an out of Pittsburgh Pirates legend Willie Stargell.
Seven of Guidry’s shutouts came after the all-star break and he blanked the Boston Red Sox with a pair of two-hitters in September.
After a loss at Toronto, Guidry finished the season with three wins in a row. His last victory of the regular season was the most important.
On Oct 2, Guidry was the winning pitcher in the AL East playoff game in Boston as the Yankees beat the Red Sox 5-4 in the that Bucky Dent hit his decisive homer.
In the AL Championship Series, Guidry won the fourth and final game that sent the Yankees to the Fall Classic. With New York losing the first two games to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series, Guidry changed the momentum of the affair as he won the third contest leading to three more victories by the Yankees.
Always a Yankee
Guidry made his debut with the Yankees in 1975 and he saw limited action the following season.
After his Cy Young season, Guidry was 18-8 in 1979. He was 21-9 in 1983 as he led the league with 21 complete games. He led the AL in wins for the second time in his career when he went 22-6 in 1985.
A four-time all-star, Guidry was 170-91 in 14 years in New York. He also won Gold Gloves from 1982 to 1986. He served as a team captain and his No. 49 was retired by the Yankees in 2003.