Note: When you click on links to various merchants in this newsletter and make a purchase, this can result in this newsletter earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
1976 Topps Pete Varney (#413) - Card of the Day
If you think Pete Varney looks a little cheesy, cheeky, or any other chee-y adjective on his 1976 Topps baseball card, there are good reasons for that.
First of all, Varney was drafted seven times by various major league teams, including four first-round picks. Sure, none of those selections came in the primary June draft, but how many times were you picked between 1966 and 1971.
Heck, how many times was your favorite player or the local Hall of Famer picked?
Probably not seven.
Then there’s this…
In between causing a stir among big league scouts, Varney played football (and baseball) at Harvard. The 1968 team was undefeated when they hosted the similarly 8-0 Yale team on November 23. Things were looking bleak for the home team, who were staring at a 29-13 deficit with less than a minute to play.
Forty-two seconds later, though, the score was tied thanks to two quick touchdowns and two two-point conversions. Guess who scored that final deuce?
Yeah, it was Varney.
It would be another two-and-a-half years or so before Varney finally decided it was time to sign with a major league franchise. He succumbed to the White Sox’s overtures in June of 1971 and set off on his minor league climb.
A big (6’3”, 235 pounds) catcher, Varney found pro pitching to be a challenge, at least at first. Of course, starting at Double-A is no mean feat, even for a sought-after college grad. The Sox thought enough of Varney to promote him to Triple A in 1972, and he’d be there again in 1973 (though the venue changed from Tucson to Arizona).
By August of that year, Varney had found his groove at bat, hitting .251 with 18 home runs and 50 RBI in 105 games. That got him a five-game cup of coffee with Chicago, followed by another summer at Triple A and another late look in 1974.
Then, the 26-year-old spent all of 1975 with White Sox, batting .271 with two dingers and eight ribbies in 36 games.
And that brings us to Varney’s 1976 Topps, a catawampus shot showing the beaming rookie taking a practice cut while Carlos May braces himself against a bat in the background. Varney generated a lot of wind with his swing, after all, striking out 38 times in 114 PA in 1975.
So, you see, there was plenty for Varney to grin about, even if the Sox were also-rans and in 1975 and something worse in 1976. No big worry for Varney — he had his snappy Topps baseball card and, in June, he’d be traded to the Braves for Blue Moon Odom.
The Braves played in the same general stratosphere as the White Sox, but Atlanta had a stable full of part-time catchers already, including a young Dale Murphy. Consequently, Varney managed just five appearances before getting the bounce back to Triple A in 1977. He once again flashed good power (10 homers in 80 games) but never made it back to the majors.
Varney spent three years coaching high school baseball, then took over the diamond reins at Brandeis University and stayed there for 34 years.
Today, Pete Varney turns 75 years old.
Greeted by Goo
In Varney’s first game with the White Sox, in August of 1973, he drew the start behind the plate.
And who drew the start on the mound? Why, none other than the man who would become David Letterman’s Fat Tub of Goo over a decade later — Terry Forster.
Forster spent most of his career as a reliever, counting just 39 starts among his 614 big league appearances, so Varney had to be in just the right spot at just the right time for this battermate matchup to happen.
In 1987, Topps and Fleer were in the right spot at the right time to capture Forster on a pair of career-cappers. You can read about those cards right here.
—
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen anyone dropping stuff off a five-story tower, so I think I’ll go look up some old Letterman episodes on YouTube.
Or maybe I’ll just take some 1990 Fleer wax packs or myRay Knight piñata downtown and do the deed myself.
Thanks for reading.
—Adam
Great stuff. I did a little Pete Varney dive....and found this detail in The Daily Chronicle (DeKalb, IL) via Newspapers.com, under the headline: "Walk, don't run, is ChiSox' motto"---Varney's bases loaded walk in the 12th inning beat the Indians, 4-3, on Aug. 13, 1975.