Tuesday, July 21, 2015

MISSING IN ACTION- 1978 BOBBY TOLAN

Here's a "missing" 1978 card for Bobby Tolan, who was wrapping up his nice career by the end of the 1970's.
Check out my card design:


Tolan appeared in 64 games in 1977, 15 with the Philadelphia Phillies and 49 with the Pittsburgh Pirates, good for 97 plate appearances and 90 at-bats.
He hit .189 with 17 hits, eight runs scored and 10 runs batted in, with a single stolen base.
His best years were with the Cincinnati Reds between 1969 and 1973, topping .300 a couple of times and leading the league in stolen bases in 1970 with 57 and even slamming 21 home runs in 1969 with 93 runs batted in.
Sadly for him, he was traded to the San Diego padres for pitcher Clay Kirby after the 1973 season, thereby missing out on the tremendous "Big Red Machine" run the next few years, and being a part of two world champion teams.
Dig the awesome 1970's sideburns-into-'stache going on with him on this 1978 card! Love it!
He'd actually make one more "comeback" of sorts in 1979, this time for the Padres, appearing in 22 games before retiring for good after not playing in the Big Leagues in 1978.
In all he'd finish with a .265 average with 193 steals and 1121 hits over 1282 games and 4238 at-bats, as well as a World Series ring as a member of the 1967 St. Louis Cardinals, when they defeated the Boston Red Sox.