Wednesday, July 13, 2016

1976 PROJECT: A RE-DO FOR BOBBY DARWIN

Next up in the long-running “1976 Project” for “Reader Jim” is a revamp of the originally airbrushed masterpiece that was Bobby Darwin’s 1976 Topps card.
For those who need a reminder, here’s the original:


Now here is what we came up with thanks to the Topps Vaults:

Kind of a clean-up job more than anything else, but well warranted.
Darwin found himself in Milwaukee after 3 1/2 productive years in Minnesota, where he averaged over 20 homers a year and just under 90 runs batted in.
Sadly he also averaged about 130 strikeouts per year, leading the American League three years in a row from 1972-1974 while hitting about .260.
After his move to the Brewers his career never equaled his output for the Twins, playing sporadically before being shipped to Boston where he would mainly DH before moving on yet again, this time to the Chicago Cubs for the last 11 games of his nine-year career.
All in all he hit 83 homers over 646 games with 559 hits and 328 RBI’s, with a .251 batting average in 2224 at-bats.