1970 Topps - Tommy Harper #370 (Third Base) - Autographed Baseball Card (Seatte Pilots / Milwaukee Brewers)
- early vintage autograph ...
- photo on his baseball card taken at - Tempe Diablo Stadium / 1969 Spring Training in Tempe, Arizona...this is perhaps the best view yet of one of the Twin Buttes that is the backdrop for Tempe Diablo Stadium. It sits behind left field.
Tempe Diablo Stadium Complex was founded in 1968 and underwent an extensive renovation in 2005. The stadium and all of its facilities overlook Gene Autry Field and the beautiful Marriott Buttes Resort. It is one of the more picturesque facilities in baseball...1969 was the first year that Tempe Diablo was used for spring training baseball.
Link to - Ramblings: Vintage Card Photo Shoots Tell Great Stories - April 13, 2015 By Rich Klein - www.sportscollectorsdaily.com/ramblings-vintage-card-phot...
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Tommy Harper (b. October 14, 1940 in Oak Grove, Louisiana) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder and third baseman. He played with the Cincinnati Reds (1962–67), Cleveland Indians (1968), Seattle Pilots (1969), Milwaukee Brewers (1970–71), Boston Red Sox (1972–74), California Angels (1975), Oakland Athletics (1975), and the Baltimore Orioles (1976).
Harper signed as an amateur free agent with the Reds before the 1960 season (as Major League Baseball had yet to institute a draft) and was assigned to Class B Topeka, where he had modest success.
In the 1963–64 seasons, Harper was a platoon player for the Reds, working mostly as an outfielder. 1965 was his breakout season, as he became the Reds' starting left fielder and leadoff hitter, hitting 18 home runs, stealing 35 bases, and leading the National League with 126 runs scored. He would occupy the leadoff role for the next 3 seasons for the Reds, starting at all three outfield positions and serving as backup infielder until being traded to the Indians for 3 players following the 1967 season.
Harper played only one season with the Indians, starting mostly in left and right field and seeing playing time at center field and second base as well. Although he struggled both with the bat and on the basepaths, he was drafted by the Seattle Pilots as the 3rd pick in the 1968 expansion draft.
Harper was the first player to come to bat in Seattle Pilots history when he led off the top of the 1st against right-hander Jim McGlothlin of the California Angels. In that inaugural at bat, he was also the first Pilots player to record a hit, doubling to left field, and then scoring the Pilots first run on a home run by Mike Hegan. Harper led the American League with a career-high 73 stolen bases—the most by an American Leaguer since Ty Cobb's 96 in 1915 and a mark that still stands today as a Pilots/Brewers record.
When the Pilots moved to Milwaukee and changed names the following season, Harper was also the first player to come to bat in Milwaukee Brewers history.
MLB statistics:
Batting average - .257
Home runs - 146
RBI - 567
Stolen bases - 408
Link to all of his issued baseball cards - www.tradingcarddb.com/Person.cfm/pid/2418/col/1/yea/0/Tom...
1970 Topps - Tommy Harper #370 (Third Base) - Autographed Baseball Card (Seatte Pilots / Milwaukee Brewers)
- early vintage autograph ...
- photo on his baseball card taken at - Tempe Diablo Stadium / 1969 Spring Training in Tempe, Arizona...this is perhaps the best view yet of one of the Twin Buttes that is the backdrop for Tempe Diablo Stadium. It sits behind left field.
Tempe Diablo Stadium Complex was founded in 1968 and underwent an extensive renovation in 2005. The stadium and all of its facilities overlook Gene Autry Field and the beautiful Marriott Buttes Resort. It is one of the more picturesque facilities in baseball...1969 was the first year that Tempe Diablo was used for spring training baseball.
Link to - Ramblings: Vintage Card Photo Shoots Tell Great Stories - April 13, 2015 By Rich Klein - www.sportscollectorsdaily.com/ramblings-vintage-card-phot...
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Tommy Harper (b. October 14, 1940 in Oak Grove, Louisiana) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder and third baseman. He played with the Cincinnati Reds (1962–67), Cleveland Indians (1968), Seattle Pilots (1969), Milwaukee Brewers (1970–71), Boston Red Sox (1972–74), California Angels (1975), Oakland Athletics (1975), and the Baltimore Orioles (1976).
Harper signed as an amateur free agent with the Reds before the 1960 season (as Major League Baseball had yet to institute a draft) and was assigned to Class B Topeka, where he had modest success.
In the 1963–64 seasons, Harper was a platoon player for the Reds, working mostly as an outfielder. 1965 was his breakout season, as he became the Reds' starting left fielder and leadoff hitter, hitting 18 home runs, stealing 35 bases, and leading the National League with 126 runs scored. He would occupy the leadoff role for the next 3 seasons for the Reds, starting at all three outfield positions and serving as backup infielder until being traded to the Indians for 3 players following the 1967 season.
Harper played only one season with the Indians, starting mostly in left and right field and seeing playing time at center field and second base as well. Although he struggled both with the bat and on the basepaths, he was drafted by the Seattle Pilots as the 3rd pick in the 1968 expansion draft.
Harper was the first player to come to bat in Seattle Pilots history when he led off the top of the 1st against right-hander Jim McGlothlin of the California Angels. In that inaugural at bat, he was also the first Pilots player to record a hit, doubling to left field, and then scoring the Pilots first run on a home run by Mike Hegan. Harper led the American League with a career-high 73 stolen bases—the most by an American Leaguer since Ty Cobb's 96 in 1915 and a mark that still stands today as a Pilots/Brewers record.
When the Pilots moved to Milwaukee and changed names the following season, Harper was also the first player to come to bat in Milwaukee Brewers history.
MLB statistics:
Batting average - .257
Home runs - 146
RBI - 567
Stolen bases - 408
Link to all of his issued baseball cards - www.tradingcarddb.com/Person.cfm/pid/2418/col/1/yea/0/Tom...