A Very Busy Day for the Topps Photographer - May 28, 1972

A post on the great blog When Topps Had (Base) Balls! about the 1973 Gerry Moses card got me to thinking about the number of pictures in that set that show the Orioles playing at Memorial Stadium.  After looking through the set, I realized that there are a number of Orioles and Indians cards that appear to have been taken at the same game.  Doing some research on Baseball Reference.com, it looks like 11 different cards in the 1973 set came from a Sunday afternoon game played at Memorial Stadium on May 28, 1972. 

Two of the cards that clearly show this is a game between the Orioles and Indians involve Jack Brohamer.  In fact, I think both of these cards are from the same play:

In the top of the 3rd, Brohamer singled, and then was out on a double play on a ball hit to 2nd.  Jack's card shows him getting tagged out by 2nd baseman Bobby Grich.  I think the Mark Belanger card shows a photo of Brohamer at the conclusion of the play coming into 2nd, and Belanger jumping out of the way.

 

Brohamer did steal 2nd earlier in the game, but given that he isn't sliding, and Belanger isn't trying to make a tag, I don't think this card shows that steal.

In addition to the appearance on Brohamer's card, Grich's card also shows him at Memorial Stadium catching a infield popup.  Frank Duffy hit a popup to 2nd in the 2nd inning, and Tom McGraw popped up to 2nd in the 8th, so this card likely shows one of those 2 plays.

On the Gerry Moses card which started me on my search,  we can see an Oriole sliding in to home behind him.  The Oriole appears to be Mark Belanger, who wore # 7.  Gerry was traded along with Graig Nettles to the Yankees on November 27, 1972, which is why his cap has been airbrushed, and why his card lists him on the Yankees.

Belanger scored on a sac fly by Bobby Grich in the bottom of the 4th.  

Speaking of Graig Nettles, his picture was also taken at this game, and he received a rather poor airbrush job to show him as a Yankee:

These next 3 cards all show the same background as the Gerry Moses and Graig Nettles cards, so presumably they were all taken the same day as well:

 

 

We have one more card showing the Indians and the Orioles from this game.  Frank Duffy's card shows him making a play at 2nd with an unidentifiable Oriole sliding headfirst into the bag.  If I had to guess, I would say the Oriole is Don Baylor who was out at 2nd on a ground ball hit by Boog Powell to the 2nd baseman who threw to the shortstop to get the forceout.

Jim Palmer's 1973 card shows him pitching at Memorial Stadium.  While there is nothing to confirm that this was taken against the Indians, Jim did pitch a complete game against the Indians on May 28, and got the win 5 - 1.  Given all the other pictures that seem to be from this game, I would say the Palmer card is from that game as well.

And finally, we have Brooks Robinson.  While there is nothing in the photo to confirm that this great photo was taken during the same game, given that all of the other Orioles cards that show an action shot appear to be from this game, I think it is a safe bet to say this picture was taken the same day.

I'm not sure what the record might be for number of game used photos from a single game being used in 1 set, but having possibly 11 cards from the 1973 set coming from one game is pretty impressive!