Saturday, April 12, 2014

MISSING IN ACTION- 1975 JIM COX

Today's "Missing in Action" subject is a Montreal Expo player who lasted 4 years in the Majors, and actually did appear on a rookie card in the 1974 Topps set, but curiously didn't get a card the following year even though he appeared in just under half the team's games: second baseman Jim Cox.
Before we get into the player, check out the card I designed:


In 1974 Cox appeared in 77 games, good for 270 plate appearances and a light .220 average with two homers and 26 runs batted in, all while manning second base.
In his other three seasons he barely saw any playing time, appearing in 33 games total, before leaving the game for good after some solid Minor League years with the Denver Triple-A team in the Expos system.
Curious to know why the guy never really stuck with the parent-team since the Expos didn't really have a solid second baseman at the time.
For example, on their 1975 & 1976 squads their main guy at the position was Pete Mackanin, who managed to hit .225 & .224 with little pop and run production. 
It wasn't like the rest of the field where Montreal was bursting with hot young talent like Gary Carter, Ellis Valentine, Warren Cromartie and Andre Dawson.
Nevertheless, Cox should have gotten a card in the 1975 set considering some of the guys that actually got one with much less playing time.
Cox was another of those players I read about in the SABR article profiling players with substantial Major League playing time who didn't receive a Topps card. In this case, a card of his own instead of just a multi-player rookie as noted earlier.
I'll be profiling some more players mentioned in the SABR article in the near future, so keep an eye out for them.