Here’s
a “career-capping” 1978 card for nine-year Major League veteran Luis
Alvarado, who finished up his career with two games with the Detroit
Tigers:
Alvarado only got into three total games in 1977, the first one being
with the New York Mets after playing in 16 games with the St. Louis
Cardinals in 1976.
The bulk of his Big League playing time was with the Chicago White Sox,
for whom he played between 1971 through part of the 1974 season, when
he’d collect over 200 plate appearances in each campaign, topping out
with 278 in 1971.
Never a starter in any of his Major League stops, he finished his career
with a .214 batting average, with 248 hits in 1160 at-bats in 463 games
while playing second, short and third.
Of course, we will also always remember perhaps the greatest card of the 1970's, which happened to be his 1973 slab. The stuff of legends!