Thursday, April 21, 2016

MISSING IN ACTION- 1976 ALAN BANNISTER

Alan Bannister’s actual rookie card would appear in the 1977 Topps set, as a member of the Chicago White Sox.
But I went and created a 1976 edition, with him as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies, for whom he played during the 1975 campaign:


Bannister, who would go on to put in a solid 12-year pro career, appeared in 24 games for the Phillies in ‘75, hitting a respectable .262 with 16 hits over 61 at-bats as a young 23-year old.
As you may remember, he would go and put in over four years with the White Sox, followed by about the same with the Cleveland Indians before spending the 1984 and 1985 seasons in the Lone Star State, playing with both the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers, where he’d retire.
All told he ended up with a nice .270 career average, with 811 hits over 3007 at-bats. I never realized he ended up with that good an average for his career.