As a kid collecting cards feverishly in the late-70's, I was always
mesmerized by turning to the back and seeing a player's career begin in
the 1950's.
Today's "Then and Now" subject is one of those players: Ron Fairly.
Check out my card celebrating his long career:
Fairly put in 21 years in the Major Leagues, most of them with the
Los Angeles Dodgers (11+ seasons), and the Montreal Expos (5+ seasons).
But he also put in some time with the St. Louis Cardinals, Oakland A's, Toronto Blue Jays and California Angels.
By the time he retired after the 1978 season he collected just
under 2000 hits, 215 home runs, 1044 runs batted in and a .266 batting
average over 2442 games and 7184 at-bats.
Over those years he won three World Championships, all with the Dodgers: 1959, 1963 and 1965.
A nice career overall.
Guys like Fairly, Tim McCarver and Willie McCovey always had me
glued to the backs of their cards, staring at "the 1950's" nestled into
the small print because of their long careers.
It's really what got be hooked into hunting down cards from the "Golden Years" of baseball, when the Dodgers were still in Brooklyn and the Giants were up in Manhattan.
For a kid in New York it was awesome...
