1973 Topps

So my guess is that Ian got drafted in the fall of 1972, then disappeared to the suburbs of Hamilton, Ontario for the remainder of the decade, leaving Sy with nowhere to go but to the pre-press foreman Jerry for the design of the 1973 cards. Jerry didn't have much in the way of design skills, outside of adding pastel colored dots and bizarre black silhouettes to the front of the cards. As quickly as it had begun, the era of great looking Topps cards was over.

The 1973 Topps Detroit Tigers team set:

Series 1

5 Ed Brinkman

29 Tony Taylor

51 Chuck Seelbach

88 Mickey Stanley

120 Joe Coleman

Series 2

146 Woodie Fryman

168 Jim Northrup

191 Detroit Tigers Team Card

201 AL Playoffs

218 Aurelio Rodriguez

256 Chris Zachary

Series 3

280 Al Kaline

304 Duke Sims

323 Billy Martin and Coaches

349 Dick McAuliffe

369 Lerrin LaGrow

Series 4

413 Tom Timmermann

433 Willie Horton

448 John Hiller

460 Bill Freehan

471 Ty Cobb All-Time Hits Leader

475 Ty Cobb .367 Batting Average

485 Norm Cash

508 Gates Brown

Series 5

537 Bill Slayback

560 Frank Howard

585 Joe Niekro

604 Rookie Pitchers Bob Strampe

633 Ike Brown

660 Fred Scherman

Well at least Jerry thought enough of some of the old-timers to make sure that all the Tigers coaches got on a card, as well as seeing to it that Ty Cobb ended up on two. Rest in peace Jerry, you did an ok job with this set.