1975 Hostess Marichal, Cooper

Nineteen seventy-five was a watershed year for a few reasons:

1) I was born;
2) The Red Sox went to the World Series;
3) Hostess began its five-year run of baseball cards.

Any baseball fan who grew up in the 1970s likely has fond memories of chowing through a combination of flour, artificial chocolate flavoring and high-fructose corn syrup while cutting a Pete Rose or Mike Schmidt off a box of Hostess dessert-like product. Of course, any youngster with a Hostess card was likely to "adorn" it with jagged edges and cupcake stains. It may have ruined the monetary value, but likely sent the nostalgia value through the roof. 

Here are a couple of '75 Hostess cards that didn't make the cut: past-his-prime Hall of Famer Juan Marichal, who pitched for the Sox in '74, and first baseman Cecil Cooper, who went on to greater success with the Brewers from 1977-87 while the Sox plowed through a half-dozen or so first basemen. 

Marichal-with-the-Sox is a popular fantasy card subject, but I'm pretty certain this is his first Hostess creation. Have some Ho-Hos and celebrate!