While writing up my post for the Kurt Bevacqua "Bubble Gum Contest"
card recently, I was scanning the back at the players that participated
in the contest and came across a name that stuck with me for years:
Eric Raich, who represented the Cleveland Indians
in the round-robin tourny.
The reason that name stuck was because I remember as a kid I
noticed his stats on the back of his 1977 Topps card (#62) and saw that
the guy played in only ONE game the previous year, good for 2.2 innings,
and gave up a whopping five earned runs for a
16.88 E.R.A.!
Yet Topps felt that he should get a spot in the set.
Not to take anything away from a guy who actually makes the Major Leagues! But come on. What gives?
On top of it all, by the time this card was being pulled from packs
in mid-1977, Raich's career was already behind him, as he spent 1977
and '78 in the Minors before retiring for good.
 |
| 2.2 innings in his only appearance of 1976. |
Raich, who was the #1 overall pick in the January 1972 draft coming
out of USC, came up during the 1975 season and ended up posting a 7-8
record over 18 games (17 of them starts) and 92.2 innings.
But that was really all he'd get up in the Big Leagues, as he tore his rotator cuff during the '75 season and never recovered.
After his playing days he had MUCH better luck in his new career
choice, as he went on to work for GMC Motors, where he's STILL employed,
as a Fleet Account Executive.
As a matter of fact he even has a profile page on the "Faces of GM" site, where I got some of this info.
Good for you Eric!
