1966 TOPPS WES WESTRUM
My impressions of the 1960s?
Well, not to wax all “We Didn’t Start the Fire” here, but to me it’s a blur of JFK, MLK, RFK, Nixon, Vietnam, Woodstock, men on the moon, and Miracle Mets.
Of course, when it comes to Topps cards, the decade can only mean one thing: the screaming-manager pose.
This basic tableau is illustrated ably by the 1966 card of Wes Westrum, and can be summed up thusly: older, white male with mouth agape to suggest yelling, face framed by one or two hands in close juxtaposition to mouth with intention of pantomiming amplification of said yelling.
No doubt, future baseball-card anthropologists will spend long hours puzzling over these cards. Why the hell were all the managers in the 1960s screaming? Were they yelling encouragement to players, or perhaps berating Al Barlick? Were they ordering a can of Schlitz from a distant vendor, or maybe just lobbing mild oaths at some damn fool kids?
The world may never know for sure, but while we ponder the possibilities, here’s a small gallery of further examples for your consideration…
My Father felt that Westrum “ruined” Ron Swoboda…supposedly “forced” him to take more pitches. Dad felt they paralysed Swoboda at the plate… pretty much waiting until 2 strikes to get aggressive.
hmmm.. sounds like “The Approach”.
Nice! Even if Al Lopez didn’t have his heart into it.
The other big managerial pose is the hands in pocket one. like the ’72 Hodges or ’70 Harry Walker.
Hands in pocket was the 70s version of screaming.
Really well done, thanks.
Geez Harry Craft, you could have at least feigned interest.
in 1969…. 22 guys with Hands Cupped over mouth…. 1 guy kicking dirt on an Umps pants….another guy ripping out the second base bag and throwing it…
…and, finally…. a Minor League “aspirant” Climbing a Flagpole
Can you name the 3 “exceptions”???
Guy kicking dirt: Earl Weaver
2B thrower: Leo Durocher
Flagpole: Sparky Anderson
Totally wild guesses…
Was Billy Martin managing yet? He could have been either one of the first two. Weaver is a lock for either one.
Don’t know Leo, he was before my time.
HMM…maybe I missed Leo…..
Frank Luchesi was the Flagpole Climber……
Billy was the Base tosser… and Earl was the Dirt Kicker
I guess they’ve now removed arguing with umps?…. would be a fun set to see each guy with his own specialty— Wally Backman tossing bats onto the field…
I think they should allow the umpires to yell at a manager “what are you blind” while kicking dirt on the managers uniform every time a replay appeal is denied.
LOL! Metsense, that comment should be bronzed!
Great post, but I think Harry may just be wiping something from his eye and Bob looks more like he’s whispering then yelling.
More lefty shouters than I expected.