1980 TCMA Albuquerque Dukes Baseball #5, Bill Swiacki

You're a three-sport star coming out of high school and get drafted (White Sox, 1974), but stick with more education and go to Amherst. The pros call again after junior year (Red Sox, 1977), but you want the degree and stay in school. Then both the baseball Dodgers and football Giants draft you after graduation, but should you stay in MORE school? At long last, Bill choose stirrup pants and turned pro for LA. And after all that waiting, the denouement: despite five years of fair success at AA & AAA, he never got an MLB call-up (minor league career stats).

Crotch photobomb by the groundskeeping cart. That doesn't happen often.

TCMA's back text hinted the football Giants might've drafted Bill, Jr. because he was son of former NY star Bill, Sr. The 21st century NFL probably takes itself too seriously for this kind of move, but it's nice to see the 1978 version make that nostalgic nod.

Albuquerque's set includes several future major leaguers, including Dave Stewart and Mike Scioscia.

1. Dave Stewart
2. Joe Beckwith
3. Pablo Peguero
4. Kelly Snider
5. Bill Swiacki
6. Ron Roenicke
7. John O'Rear
8. Dennis Lewallyn
9. Doug Harrison
10. Dave Patterson
11. Claude Westmoreland
12. Myron White
13. Gary Weiss
14. Teddy Martinez
15. Mike Wilson
16. Jack Perconte
17. Kevin Keefe
18. Wayne Caughey
19. Terry Collins
20. Bobby Mitchell
21. Mark Nipp
22. Ted Power
23. Del Crandall, Manager
24. Paul Padilla
25. Gerald Hannahs
26. Mike Scioscia
27. Don Crow

Value: This #5 cost $2 at MinorLeagueSingles.com. Given the number of future major leaguers, dealers charge $20-40 for the team set.

Fakes / reprints: TCMA reprinted several team sets for "collectors kits" in the late 1980s. Original cards (like today's) have blue backs and reprints have black backs.