Going
back-to-back with one-year Major League ballplayers today after Glenn
Redmon yesterday, with former Minnesota Twins’ outfielder Mike Poepping,
who played 14 games in 1975, the sum total of his Big League career:
Poepping was another September call-up who hit .135 over that time with
five hits in 37 at-bats, with a double and one run batted in.
The 24-year-old finally got his chance at the Big Show after spending
eight years in the Minnesota system, coming up as a 17-year-old in 1968.
After another full-season in the Minors in 1976 he called it a career,
finishing up with just those 14 games in 1975, which is more than I can
say, so “cheers” to you Mike Poepping!
In my book a nine-year professional baseball career is definitely something to be proud of.
Here
was a fun card to create, a 1975 “not so missing” edition for
seven-game Major Leaguer Glenn Redmon of the San Francisco Giants:
Redmon’s Big League career spanned a late-season September call-up in
1974, hitting .235 over those seven games, with three doubles among his
four career safeties with four runs batted in in 17 at-bats. Not bad!
A decent hitting infielder with no power over his eight years as a
professional in the Minor Leagues, he played for the White Sox, Giants
and Indians organizations before retiring after the 1976 season, never
getting that chance to suit up in a Big League game again aside from
that wonderful month in late-1974.
Today
we have a “missing” 1973 career-capper for three-year Major league
infielder Rafael Robles, who played the last of his Big League games
during the 1973 season:
Robles played all three of his seasons with the San Diego Padres,
appearing in 18 games in 1972, hitting .167 with four hits over 24
at-bats.
He played all of 1971 in the Minor Leagues after coming up in 1969,
playing in six games while coming back in 1970 and appearing in 23.
All told, he played in 47 games for the new San Diego franchise, hitting
.229 while collecting 25 hits over 133 at-bats, with seven runs scored
and three runs batted in, along with four stolen bases over three
seasons under the sun.
Been
meaning to add this “nickname” card to the long-running thread for some
time now, a “Bull” Bob Watson edition for the All-Star first baseman,
and future co-architect of the New York Yankees dynasty teams of the
late-1990’s/early-00’s:
Watson was in the prime of his career when this card would have come
out, putting in consistent seasons year in and year out for the Houston
Astros, with whom he came up with back in 1966 as a 20-year-old.
After 14 seasons in the Houston sun (under a dome), he’d move on to the
Boston Red Sox for half a year in 1979, then on to the Yankees, where I
got to see him play for two-and-a-half-years until he moved on to the
Atlanta Braves for the last 2+ years of his 19-year career.
He’d finish with a very nice .295 career average, with 184 homers and
989 runs batted in, while collecting 1826 hits with two All-Star nods.
Later on, he moved into coaching and then became GM of the Yankees in
1993, helping the team draft wisely, refrain from dumb trades (ala
George Steinbrenner), helping the team build up their young core that
would lead to World Series titles in 1996, 1998-2000.
Truly a baseball lifer and underrated player in my book.
Thought
it’d be fun to create a special 1975 card with these two superstars of
baseball, Johnny Bench and Reggie Jackson in the prime of their careers:
By the time this card would have come out, these two already had three
MVPs between them, while heading towards a couple of World Championships
for Bench and five total championships for Jackson.
Nothing short of Cooperstown was ahead of them, becoming two of the everlasting icons of Major League baseball in the 1970’s.
Bench would have two home run titles in his career (1970 and 1972),
while Jackson would finish with four titles, funny enough, three of
which were shared with three different Milwaukee Brewer sluggers: George
Scott (1975), Ben Oglivie (1980) and Gorman Thomas (1982).
Go figure...
Today
we close out the career of three-year Major League pitcher Steve
Blateric, who I created the second “not so missing” card for on the blog,
this one the Cincinnati Reds:
Blateric made his Big League debut in 1971, appearing in two games for
the eventual National League champs, not factoring in a decision while
posting an ERA of 13.50 over 2.2 innings pitched.
The following year he would suit up for the New York Yankees, where he
appeared in one game, throwing four innings of scoreless ball while
striking out four.
After spending all of 1973 and 1974 in the Minors, he made it back to a
Major League mound in 1975, now as a member of the California Angels,
once again not factoring in a decision over two games and 4.1 innings,
allowing three earned runs for an ERA of 6.23.
That would be it for his career, spending two more seasons in Minor
League ball before retiring in 1977, finishing up with a total of five
appearances, no decisions, and an ERA at 5.73 over eleven innings
pitched, with 13 strikeouts against only one walk.
How about we go and give five-game Major League outfielder Jeff Yurak a “not so missing” 1979 card shall we? Well here you go:
After five years toiling in the San Francisco Giants and Milwaukee Minor
League systems between 1974 and 1978, Yurak finally got the call up to
the Big-Time by the Brewers on September 15th of 1978 after an excellent
season with the Holyoke Millers of the Double-A Brewers affiliate that
saw him hit .321 with 21 homers and 89 runs batted in.
Over those five games in the Big Leagues however, Yurak went 0-5 at the
plate with a walk, generally as a pinch-hitter along with one game in the
outfield.
In 1979 he’d find himself back in the Minors, this time seeing his
batting average drop to .245 though he did hit 16 homers and drive in 57
in 114 games.
But sadly for him it wasn’t enough for another shot at a call-up, and he retired after that last season in the Minor Leagues.
But hey, we’d all wish to have at least those five games as a Major League ballplayer. Am I right?
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