Oscar Gamble’s legendary hair was just part of long big-league career

He’ll always be known for his epic Afro and one of the greatest baseball cards ever made — 1976 Topps Traded No. 74T — but he also was a reliable big-leaguer for a long, long time.

He’s Oscar Gamble, a former New York Yankees outfielder who died on Wednesday at age 68. A member of the Yankees for seven of his 17 seasons in MLB, he hit .265 with 200 home runs and 666 RBI in 1,584 games. He also played for the Cubs, who drafted him in the 16th round in 1968, as well as the Phillies, Indians, White Sox, Padres and Rangers.

“He was the player on the Yankees known for big hair,” said his agent, Andrew Levy, on Twitter, “but those who knew him best will remember his big heart.”

Best of 2015: The 15 trading cards that helped define a crazy year

It’s a time of change, a time of high-end product exploration and a time of options for many collectors in what we call the sports card industry these days.

Tastes, products and prices continue to evolve as does the business environment that helps bring us our cardboard. For every super-pricey box being made, there are seemingly just as many buyers ready to rip or pick off singles for not-always-so-super prices (but super bargains).

The Buzz has only been around for part of 2015, but Buzz has been here all along as part of the world of collecting. Here are Buzz’s picks for 15 cards that helped define 2015.

2015-16 Upper Deck #201 Connor McDavid RC
The impressive prices being paid for what’s just a simple piece of cardboard with just gloss and some foil stamping shows that fundamentals never go out of style when there’s a big name involved. This time, it’s the No. 1 pick Connor McDavid, a Canadian phenom drafted by the Edmonton Oilers. This photo was selected by collectors and it even has a fun sign of 2015 — the fan showing off a photo on her phone in the background.