#607 - Bill Almon

What a card: This is Bill Almon's second card in the set. He's also in the draft picks subset. He is one of six players in that subset that has another card in the set. The others are Harold Baines, Jeff Burroughs, Tim Foli, Bob Horner and Darryl Strawberry.

My observation on the front: Love the dangling sunglasses.

More opinion from me: That's an optimistic-looking baseball card. Almon seems very happy to be a ballplayer on this day.

Something you might know: Almon's best statistical season by a decent margin was the 1981 season when he played for the White Sox. He batted .301 and finished 19th in the AL MVP voting. But since the strike wiped out a third of the season, there was an element of "what could have been."

Something you might not know: Almon is the only Ivy League player to be drafted first in any one of the four major professional sports. He played baseball at Brown University.

My observation on the back: Almon's bio on the Brown athletic site says that the family business is furniture products.

The blog wants to speak now: The TV tab is updated.

#273 - The 1974 No. 1 Draft Pick - Bill Almon

What a card: This card commemorates the Padres picking Bill Almon with the No. 1 selection in the 1974 amateur draft. The '74 draft was noted more for the Braves' selection of Dale Murphy at No. 5, as well as the draft that featured Lonnie Smith, Lance Parrish, Garry Templeton, Rick Sutcliffe and Willie Wilson. (In case you're interested, Topps skipped over the 1970, 71, 72 and 73 drafts, where the picks were, respectively, Mike Ivie, Danny Goodwin, Dave Roberts and David Clyde).

My observation on the front: This photo featured Almon without a mustache, which was odd because his other Padres cards feature him with a mustache. Only on a four-player rookie stars card in the 1977 set is Almon without a mustache.

More opinion from me: This card looks a lot like Almon's first solo card  ...

... except for the mustache, of course.

Something you might know: Almon was called up to the majors by the Padres the same year he was drafted. He played in 16 games and hit .316. But he wouldn't play regularly until 1977.

Something you might not know: Almon was called "Billy" by Topps through the 1980 set. It then changed to "Bill" starting in 1981.

 

My observation on the back: Always enjoyable to have a Rhode Island native on a baseball card. But I expect this subset to be flooded with California boys. Right now it's California 2, rest of the U.S. 1.

The blog wants to speak now: Sorry, the NCAA Selection Sunday wiped me out big time. No tab updates today.