Buyback Franken-set: Angus Snipes New Numbers Round 3

Time for the final round of buybacks that my friend Angus generously supplied recently for my franken-set project.  This is the third post containing the buybacks Angus sent; in the first he added seven new numbers to the binder, and in the second, once again seven new numbers.

This post contains just seven buybacks total to finish out the lot, but guess what?  All seven are new numbers for the binder.  I'll spoil the suspense up front here because it'll save me from typing it numerous times below.  So, let's see which seven cards got added to the binder in this batch...

1970 Topps #299 - Buddy Bradford

A fantastic card in the lead-off position.  The 1970 Topps set has some duds, I'll grant you that, but when done right it can actually be a fine looking set.  This is certainly an example of the latter.  What a bright, colorful shot, and how can you not like that White Sox uniform?  Don't know much about Buddy Bradford, who seemed to struggle to hit above the Mendoza line, and retired years before I was born.  Regardless, this will be a tough draw for any future #299 buybacks based on aesthetics alone.

1987 Topps #351 - Gene Garber

Here's closer Gene Garber, who was traded from an awful Braves team to a decent Royals team in August of 1987.  He pitched in 62 total games that year between those two teams, which is damn impressive given that it was his age 39 season.  Only time will tell how long Garber will be able to retain his hold on slot 351.

1989 Topps #481 - Chris Brown

Next up, third baseman Chris Brown.  A bizarre story to say the least.  Chris fought with injury and with living up to expectations after a promising rise to Major League Baseball, and even an All-Star season in 1986.  He died as a result of severe burns he suffered in a fire at an abandoned home that he owned more than ten years ago now.  From the articles I read it seems unclear exactly what happened to say the least.

1988 Topps #315 - Dave Parker

Here's a cool buyback, featuring "The Cobra" Dave Parker!  Dave had spent the previous few seasons in Cincinnati, but actually played the 1988 and 1989 seasons with the Oakland A's.  A very nice late-career buyback here of a guy who's a first ballot entrant to the Hall of Very Good.

The other thing that's great about this particular buyback...

...is that it completes another page!  Here we have cards 307 - 315 of the binder.  Heavy domination from '65 Topps thanks to a batch of 2014 Topps Heritage box-topper buybacks I went through a while back.  I like the back-to-back Pirates and Red Sox team cards, too.

1987 Topps #505 - Bryn Smith

Bryn Smith went 10-9 as a starter for the Expos in 1987, his fourth consecutive season with 10+ wins.  He's also the guy who complained that he had to drive to New York to buy Doritos when living in Montreal.  Always pleased to welcome a new Expos card to the binder.

1984 Topps #357 - Ron Cey

Here's another cool one!  True, I associate Cey with the Dodgers, but I don't have too many 1984 buybacks for whatever reason and this is a good star player to land.  Great shot of "The Penguin" here, who looks as if he maybe just sliced one down the right field line.

To close things out though, there was another Cubs buyback that I enjoyed even more than this one:

1985 Topps #511 - Lee Smith

An awesome Lee Smith buyback!  A fine looking card, indeed, and this is from the time when Lee was dominating as a closer for Chicago.  He had 33 saves in 1985, for a Cubs team that won only 77 games.  I'm not sure Lee will ever get a plaque in Cooperstown, it seems he actually regressed a bit in terms of votes this past year.  Either way, he was certainly one of the most dominant relief pitchers of his day, and this might be my favorite overall buyback that Angus sent.

Angus, thank you not only for sending me these awesome and much appreciated cards, but for being a stand-up dude to the point where you spent time looking through stacks of buybacks for specific numbers on my behalf.  The amount of damage you did to the binder with less than 30 total buybacks is just unreal.  You are far too kind!

Franken-set Progress:  572/792 (72%)
"Rejected" Buybacks:  476
Total Buybacks in Collection:  1,048