Kinney had his first taste of the Majors in 1978, splitting the season between the Cleveland Indians, and then the San Diego Padres, for whom he’d pitch the following couple of seasons.
In all during his rookie season Kinney finished 0-3 over 25 games with a 4.73 earned run average over 45.2 innings pitched. I would think that’s enough action to warrant a card in the ‘79 set don’t you?
He would go on to pitch another four years in the big leagues, ending up 4-9 with a 4.55 E.R.A., 75 strikeouts and five saves over 97 games, all of them out of the bullpen for the Padres, Indians, A’s and Tigers.