Here’s
a “not so missing” 1977 card for a guy who I always seemed to pull out
of wax packs years later, former outfielder Joe Simpson:
Simpson started his Major League career with the Los Angeles Dodgers,
first getting a taste of Big League ball in 1975 with nine games before
appearing in 23 games during the 1976 season.
In ‘76, Simpson collected four hits over 30 at-bats, hitting an anemic
.133 with a double and two runs scored while playing all three outfield
positions.
He’d go on to play two more seasons for the Dodgers, never getting much
playing time for the National League champs over those two years, before
finding himself in Seattle, where he would get to play more over the
course of the next four years.
Between 1979 and 1982 he averaged about 110 games a year before ending
up with the Kansas City Royals in 1983 in what would end up being his
last year as a Major League player.
Overall, Simpson finished his nine-year career with a .242 average based
on his 338 hits in 1397 at-bats, with 166 runs scored and 124 runs
batted in, while also leaving his mark on a pre-teen kid who’d
constantly see “Joe Simpson” on what seemed every other card in the
early-80’s.