Here’s
a “missing” 1970 card for former relief pitcher Ron Kline, who was at
the tail end of a nice 17-year career which would end in 1970:
Like Many early relievers, Kline originally came up as a starter for the
Pittsburgh Pirates way back in 1952, but would find his niche as a
reliever about ten years into his career, then with the Detroit Tigers
in 1962.
In 1969 he played for no less than three teams: the Pirates, Giants and
Red Sox, combining for a 1-5 record with a 5.19 earned run average in 43
appearances and four saves.
This was a stark contrast to his excellent 1968 season which saw him
post a 12-5 record with a miniscule .168 ERA over 56 games, with seven
saves in 112.2 innings pitched for Pittsburgh.
In 1970, his last year in the big leagues, he’d appear in five games for
the Atlanta Braves, posting a bloated 7.11 ERA without a record, thus
closing out his career with a 114-144 record over 736 appearances, with a
3.75 ERA and 108 saves in 2078 innings pitched.