I’ll always remember when Jon Matlack was deckled by a Marty Perez line drive in 1973.
The ball caromed off his head, and he dropped as if he'd been shot. I felt it out in Plainview.
After all, Matlack was one of my main driveway pitchers.
This was the short roster of guys I would pretend to be as I toed the “rubber” on my driveway and hurled tennis balls at the garage door. If I could hit the same rectangle three straight times, Reggie Jackson could only grumble and head back to the bench. Sorry Reggie—this game 7 belongs to us.
Matlack was a lefty like me, and like most good lefties, he wore number 32. Plus his middle name was “Trumpbour,” which has to count for something.
These Deckle Edge cards were part of the last gasp of limited-run test issues to come out of Topps. And deep in the heart of the Technicolor 70s, I’d say it took some gumption for them to release a black and white set.
I have an ungraded Felix Millan in a box somewhere. The Seaver has eluded me.
But as much as I love Tom Terrific, every once in a while still I rock into that Matlack motion, raise the glove in front of my eyes, uncoil, deliver, and duck…
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