Sunday, January 4, 2015

RANDOM QUICKIE: 1978 ROB BELLOIR: WHY NOW?!

Here's a strange one to ponder: in 1978 Topps gave Braves infielder Rob Belloir, he of six games and ONE at-bat the previous year, a card in their set, yet they completely ignored him for their 1976 set after he posted 43 games and 105 at-bats in 1975?!
Take a look at his 1978 card:


Belloir had a short four-year career between 1975 and 1978, appearing in 81 total games with 167 at-bats and 36 hits, good for a .216 average.
As mentioned, even though he had some decent action in '75 he was left out of the (awesome) 1976 set (something my friend Jim and I have remedied in our "1976 Project"-keep an eye out in the near future).
Yet after appearing in a scant six games in 1977, Topps somehow managed to give him a slot in the '78 set.
No offense to Mr. Belloir here, but I sure wish they managed to give Brooks Robinson a "career-capper" card in it's place, or maybe even an Ozzie Smith rookie card.
Oh well, at least it made for an entry on my blog some 36 years later, no?