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Merkle923 · 07-07-2015, 06:27 PM

Here are, in order, the shot of Gerry (with a "G," not a "J") Spencer from the 1976 Red Sox yearbook (their cropping) and one of the Topps Vault images of Spencer.

Tthe date is 1976, not 1977 - the Red Sox wore that patch off-and-on from mid-season 1975 onwards into 1976 and definitely were shown wearing it in 1976 Spring Training images shot by Topps. This is verified by the fact that two of the players displaying the patches, Deron Johnson and Gene Michael, each attended only one Boston camp: 1976.

Below is a shot I took of Sprowl at Shea Stadium in 1980. Feel free to use as needed. Clearly his appearance on a 1981 Topps rookie card confirms they photographed him in a Houston uniform, but I don't recall seeing any Topps Sprowl images turn up in either Boston or Houston garb. For that matter, I'm pretty sure I looked for him during my extended research into the original files and he did not have a folder.

This underscores the point that my estimate of at least a million images may be wildly conservative. In addition to the filing cabinets there were uncounted boxes full of unsorted negatives, many of which have been auctioned off by Topps and have been total surprises to me when they've appeared.

Anyway. Gerry Spencer (Boston), and Bobby Sprowl (Houston):

07-07-2015, 06:27 PM	#25639
Merkle923 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2013 Posts: 2,159	Gerry Spencer and Bob Sprowl 1978 Here are, in order, the shot of Gerry (with a "G," not a "J") Spencer from the 1976 Red Sox yearbook (their cropping) and one of the Topps Vault images of Spencer. Tthe date is 1976, not 1977 - the Red Sox wore that patch off-and-on from mid-season 1975 onwards into 1976 and definitely were shown wearing it in 1976 Spring Training images shot by Topps. This is verified by the fact that two of the players displaying the patches, Deron Johnson and Gene Michael, each attended only one Boston camp: 1976. Below is a shot I took of Sprowl at Shea Stadium in 1980. Feel free to use as needed. Clearly his appearance on a 1981 Topps rookie card confirms they photographed him in a Houston uniform, but I don't recall seeing any Topps Sprowl images turn up in either Boston or Houston garb. For that matter, I'm pretty sure I looked for him during my extended research into the original files and he did not have a folder. This underscores the point that my estimate of at least a million images may be wildly conservative. In addition to the filing cabinets there were uncounted boxes full of unsorted negatives, many of which have been auctioned off by Topps and have been total surprises to me when they've appeared. Anyway. Gerry Spencer (Boston), and Bobby Sprowl (Houston): Attached Images Last edited by Merkle923; 08-01-2017 at 10:58 PM.