1976 Topps Traded Morris Nettles (#434T) - Card of the Day
The first time I came across Morris Nettles was…well, I can’t remember. But I’ve bumped into the name a few times over the years, and of course my 1980s roots always influence my first thought.
“Is that Graig Nettles’ brother?”
Morris is not Graig Nettles’ brother, of course. Never was. That honor belongs to Jim Nettles.
No, Morris Nettles was the guy the California Angels picked in the second round of the January Draft in 1972. I know you were riveted to those proceedings.
But coming straight out of Venice High School, Nettles started sprinting through the Halos’ minor league system, literally — 101 stolen bases over six stops in four seasons landed him on the doorstep in Anaheim.
Well, that and a penchant for hitting .300.
Nettles got a long look in Spring Training in 1974, and he made his big league debut in late April. He ended up spending more time with Triple-A Salt Lake City than in The Show that summer, but he was back with the Angels for most of 1975.
A combined 42 stolen bases heading into his age-24 season made Nettles pretty enough for other teams to come calling. In December, the Angels sent him and Jim Spencer to the White Sox in exchange for Steve Dunning and Bill Melton.
The idea was that Nettles would be one of several young outfielders to compete for the center field job on the South Side. Chet Lemon nailed down that role in Spring Training, though, and Nettles found himself back in the minors.
But Topps apparently thought enough of Nettles’ chances to stick for good that they included him in their scant 44-card 1976 Traded set. That’s the airbrushed beauty you see up there at the top of this post, #434T.
The Real One went to a lot of trouble to show Nettles in a cap he never actually wore in the regular season, after two years of more standard fare:
But Nettles would never appear on another Topps card, just as he would never appear in the major again. He split 1976 between Triple-A stops in the ChiSox and Indians systems and then finished up with six seasons in the Mexican League.
Nettles, who was born 72 years ago today, died in 2017, two days shy of his 65th birthday.
1969 Topps Twins Rookies (#99)
I’ll just leave this here, as the kids say. You know, as evidence that the Baseball Gods of Cosmic Symmetry and Tenuous Mental Connections do exist.
When you see it, you’ll…
Or, when you know, you’ll know.
Or whatever other modern(ish) cliches might apply.
I will note explicitly, though, that the card pictured above is the “no black loop” version. There does, indeed, exist a “yes black loop” variation if you’re into such things.
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I’ll leave you with one more bit of prickly trivia — the three Nettles mentioned above are the only ones to ever play in major league baseball, but…
…Carl Reynolds is at least an honorary member of the brotherhood, seeing as how his middle name was Nettles. And, wouldn’t you know it? Among other accomplishments, Nettles played in 94 games for the White Sox from 1927 through 1931.
The threads of baseball are all over us. All we have to do is follow them down the rabbit hole any time we have a few hours to kill.
Thanks for reading.
—Adam