1976 PROJECT: JUAN BENIQUEZ

Here’s a 1976 card for Juan Beniquez, NOT because he was missing from the set, but because Topps had him in an airbrushed job with his new team, the Texas Rangers, and “Reader Jim” needed a card showing him with the Boston Red Sox, for whom he suited up the previous year:

As part of the American League champs, I can see why Jim wanted to have a version of the Beniquez card showing him with the team he came up with.
I’ve already created 1973 and 1974 “missing” cards of the former utility hitter, and this makes a nice addition to the Beniquez “family” of cards on the blog.
Beniquez was always a decent hitter, but it is odd that he seems to have found his true stroke towards the end, when he batted over .300 a handful of times, including his career-high .336 for the California Angels in 1984.
He’d finish his 17-year career with a decent .274 batting average based on his 1274 hits in 4651 at-bats, playing for no less than eight organizations.