Next up on my "1976 Project" for a blog-reader Jim and his quest for the ultimate 1976 complete set is pitcher Milt Wilcox.
Check out the card I designed:
Of course we all remember Wilcox from his rookie days with the
Cincinnati Reds, and the years he spent as a Detroit Tigers player
between 1977 and 1985.
But in 1975 he found himself as a member of the Chicago Cubs, in a bit of a transitional time in his career.
He pitched in 25 games for the Chicago that year, going 0-1 with a 5.63 earned
run average over 38.1 innings of work, and would actually find himself
missing Major League action altogether in 1976.
But the baseball "Gods" would smile on Wilcox as he'd land in
Detroit and be a solid starter for the next nine years, solidifying his
career before bowing out after the 1986 season as a member of the
Seattle Mariners.
All told he'd go 119-113 with a 4.07 E.R.A., 10 shutouts and 1137 strikeouts over 394 games and 2016.2 innings.
Funny enough about two years ago I was watching a program on
"Animal Planet", and wouldn't you know it, there's Milt Wilcox and his
dogs competing in contests for "fetching" and the like. Seems he became a competitive dog-trainer of sorts, and for a dog-guy like myself that is all good!
