Hello, Old Friend

While looking for Robert Benson’s The Game for last week’s BBS post, I found my collection of baseball annuals, specifically Street and Smith’s Official Baseball Yearbook for 1975. What a treat.

The articles included profiles of Frank Robinson and designated hitters;  Lou Brock’s 118 stolen bases and the impact that had on other thieves in 1974; a look at baseball’s fastest pitchers (Nolan Ryan topped the list at 100.8MPH, which also seems routine these days); a recap of the longest game of the previous year — the 25-inning marathon that saw the St. Louis Cardinals edging the New York Mets, 4-3; and many more. There was even a paean to sacrifice hits! Plus lots of pages about award winners, unusual events, and stats galore.

Of course there were the projections. S&S tapped the Phillies and Dodgers to win the NL pennant, with the Yankees and Rangers taking the AL flags. Wrong on all counts. It was the Pirates and Reds and the Red Sox and A’s. I’ve often said that sports pundits and weather people are the only professions where you can be wrong so often but still keep your job.

It was also cool to go over the extended rosters for each team. Can’t quite tell if these were the 40-man squads, but the Mets list included five catchers.

But the item I enjoyed most, year after year, was “Players’ Targets,” which showed what heralded numbers were in reach. Home runs, RBIs, and hits for batters; wins, strikeouts, and shutouts for pitchers. It was fun to look at the current players of the day — listed in all caps — and how far they might realistically move up over the course of the 1975 campaign. “Old timers” had certain cutoffs to be included on the lists: 300 homers; 2,873 hits; 1,500 RBIs / 2,000 Ks and 300 wins (no such limitations on shutouts). At the time, Hank Aaron topped the home run list with 733. Frank Robinson was in fourth place.

The publication had three covers: Catfish Hunter (the one in my stash), Dodgers’ reliever Mike Marshall, and Brock, cost just $1 and was available at newsstands everywhere. In contrast, I just spent $14.99 plus shipping for the 2024 edition of Lindy’s.

Perhaps even more enjoyable for me as an adult looking back are the ads. A complete set of 1975 Topps — the only card set available at the time — cost just $13.50 plus postage. A 2’x3′ posters of your favorite player could be had for just $2. A subscription to Sports Illustrated? Just 19 cents an issue! There were also a surprisingly large number of simulation games available as well as other souvenirs and knick-knacks; I actually bought one of the baseball cards lockers. Overall, however, there were relatively few ads compared with modern magazines.

I once started a “book” on just the advertisements in Sports Illustrated over the years to see how times and styles changed, as well as the kind of services and products were deemed acceptable in any given time-frame. Maybe this will entice me to revisit that project.