Vintage Fridays: Tommy Davis, 1974 Kellogg's #43

One of the great things about getting packages of Orioles cards in the mail is that I have a much easier time sifting through a small stack for material for this blog, rather than digging through the much larger boxes that house the rest of my O's collection. I can get a couple weeks' worth of fresh material out of them before I go back to the drawing board.

Yesterday I told you about the generous belated Christmas gift that Tim sent me, and today's card was undoubtedly the coolest of the bunch. In general, I just go ga-ga for the old-school Kellogg's 3-D cards, and in my opinion Tommy Davis was one of the most happenin' players the Birds had in the 1970s. Why? Why not? Consider:

-His otherwordly 1962 season, when he led the National League with a .346 average and 153 RBI for the Dodgers.

-He played for 10 different franchises in 18 years. Who doesn't love a journeyman?

-The guy just looks cool, with his classic 70's afro, sideburns, and mustache, and that intimidating glare. It's a nice balance for his big grin in the 1975 Topps set.

-After he retired, Tommy admitted that he used to shave, read, and otherwise occupy himself in the clubhouse between at-bats when DHing.

-He was a feature player in Jim Bouton's book Ball Four, as the veteran pitcher considered Davis to be one of the leaders of the short-lived Seattle Pilots due to his sense of humor and his relaxed demeanor.

Case closed. Tommy Davis is the boss.