Let's give a terribly underrated player an "In Action" card in the 1972 set: Vada Pinson.
Take a look at the nice photo I came across:
I'm really digging the way this card came out!
And I am always a sucker for a famous "photobomb", in this case
future Hall of Famer and former teammate of Pinson while on the Reds,
Frank Robinson.
Pinson was playing in his first season with the California Angels in 1972 after two seasons in Cleveland.
After playing for the Angels for two years he'd move on to the
Kansas City Royals until the end of the 1975 season, retiring with over
2700 hits, 1350 runs scored, 485 doubles, 127 triples, 250 homers 1150
runs batted in and 300 stolen bases.
Think of those numbers folks. Awesome.
He posted four 200+ hit seasons, seven 20+ homer seasons, two
100-R.B.I. seasons, four 100-runs seasons, five 10+ triples seasons,
seven 30+ doubles seasons and nine 20+ stolen base seasons!
He could do it all, and yet seems to have been terribly ignored
through the years after his retirement, especially for Hall of Fame
induction.
The best tally he ever got in that regard was 15.7% in 1988, and ran out of eligibility in 1996.
I don't know how many of you feel out there, but Vada Pinson was an
amazing player and should have gotten a bit more respect for induction,
don't you think?
