Though he wouldn’t get his first baseball card until the 1977 set, as an airbrushed Seattle Mariner player, he did actually get some playing time in the Majors in 1973, 1974 and 1975, all with the Phillies.
For creating a 1975 card I based it on the fact that he appeared in 30 games in 1974, batting .170 with nine hits in 53 at-bats while catching.
It was the most action he saw in his first three MLB campaigns before coming back as an “original” Mariner in ‘77.
Ironically, when he did get that 1977 rookie card, he didn’t even play in the big leagues the previous season.
But we know what Topps had to do to have both the Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays well-represented in that ‘77 set for both teams’ inaugural seasons.
Nevertheless, Cox would play nine years in the big leagues, finishing up after the 1982 season with a .221 batting average based on 182 hits in 825 at-bats over 348 games, most with Seattle.
