Friday, November 11, 2016

MISSING IN ACTION- 1976 DANNY WALTON

Here’s a “missing” 1976 card for Danny Walton, who would play through the 1970’s with five different organizations and never getting full-time work in:


During the 1975 season Walton was playing for the Minnesota Twins and appeared in 42 games, batting .175 with 11 hits over 63 official at-bats after playing the full 1974 season in the minor leagues.
He would find himself on the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1976, playing in only 18 games before moving on to the Houston Astros in 1977 where he suited up for 13 games. And except for a scant 10 games for the Texas Rangers in 1980, that would be it for the travelin’ man as far as his Major League action went.
He did get somewhat of a full season’s action back in 1970 with the Milwaukee Brewers and he didn’t do so bad, hitting 17 home runs with 66 runs batted in over 117 games and 397 at-bats.
But the common thread for his nine-year career spanning 1968-1980 was limited play as a utility player, finishing up with 297 games played and a .223 batting average with 174 hits over 779 at-bats with 28 home runs and 107 RBI’s.
It’s worth mentioning that he did have a few monster seasons in the Minor Leagues, finishing up with 238 home runs, with a high of 42 for the Dodgers’ system in 1977 along with 122 RBI’s, as well as 35 homers with 109 RBI’s in 1974 in the Twins system.