Here's a "missing" 1974 card of an Indians player that actually saw
his playing days behind him by the time this would have come out, Ron
Lolich.
Take a look:
Lolich (a cousin of left-handed pitcher Mickey Lolich) saw Major League action three years, between 1971 and 1973.
Granted, the extent of his 1971 action was two games and eight at-bats for the Chicago White Sox.
1972 saw him get into 24 games with his new team, the Cleveland
Indians, good for 80 at-bats and a .188 average with 15 hits and a
couple of homers.
But it was 1973 that had Lolich see the bulk (and rest) of his playing time wearing a Major League uniform.
That year, while playing left and right field as well as some time
at D.H., Lolich played in 61 games, good for 140 at-bats and a .229
batting average.
He garnered 32 hits, 16 runs, two homers and 15 runs batted in, but
as I stated earlier, that would be the last of his playing days at the
Major League level.
The following two years would find Lolich playing over in japan for
the Nankai team, slamming 49 home runs combined with 128 runs batted
in, before moving on to the Kintetsu organization in 1976, where he
played sparingly.
That would be it for the "pro" side of the game for Lolich.
I did see that he played some Mexican League ball afterwards, but I can't find any stats to back that up.
That all being said, it's fun to scour baseball rosters of the
1970's looking for players with a decent amount of playing time in a
season that didn't get a card the following year.
If you like this sort of stuff, then keep watching this blog for many more in the near future.
