So while it's snowing, sleeting, raining, and back to snow again here in Massachusetts, I have no desire to trek out into the winter weather mess. So, that means no Topps for you!! errr, no Topps for me!!!
So I am left to read the blogroll with emptiness, while many lucky souls have found Spring in newly arrived foil packs. In any case, while reading the blogs and snooping on eBay, I can across a fantastic 2011 Topps relic card.
Behold, the genius of Bill Veek ... Rich Gossage relic (jersey is from 1975 judging the pinstripes) but the photo is from August 8, 1976 when the White Sox, needing a stunt to draw people (they were 19 games back), wore shorts in the first game of a double-header against the Kansas City Royals.
White Sox starter Rich Gossage was called on to shut down the Royals and secure a win. In 1975, Gossage was anointed the closer for the Sox and came through with a 26 save season and a 1.89 ERA. For his stellar 1975 record, Gossage was voted the Sporting News Fireman of the Year Award. At the beginning of the 1976 season, Gossage was converted to a starter by manager Paul Richards since there just wasn’t enough quality talent to go around. His record for 1976 was a forgettable 9 wins, 17 losses and a 3.94 ERA with a surprisingly high 15 complete games. Upon entering the infamous game in the 8th innning in 1976, Gossage proceeded to revert back to his closer form and shut down the Royals for two innings with one walk and one strikeout to earn his first and only save of the 1976 season.
As a big fan of the blog UniWatch, I knew the background to Veek's idea and had seen the photos and video, but to my knowledge, this is the first time I have seen the White Sox shorts on a trading card. Now that, is some Topps Goodness.
