Today
I post up my 1977 “Traded” card for Gold Glover Paul Blair, who found
himself heading to the division-rival New York Yankees before the season
began:
Now, I do know that Blair would actually have a “Yankees” 1977 card as
part of the Burger King set, but I wanted to add to my running set since
I like the horizontal lay-out I’ve been working with.
Blair was traded to the Bronx for Elliot Maddox and Rick Bladt, and
lucky for him he’d end up being a part of the back-to-back World
Champion “Bronx Zoo” teams.
That would give him four World Championships over his stellar career,
two with Baltimore and two with New York, along with an amazing eight
Gold Gloves and two All-Star nods.
One of the greatest fielding outfielders the game ever saw, Blair
anchored the outfield for the powerhouse Orioles of the
late-60’s/early-70’s while giving them a solid bat as well.
He would end up putting in a very nice 17-year Major League career
before retiring in 1980 at the age of 36, hitting .250 with 1513 hits,
134 homer, 171 stolen bases and 776 runs scored.
Adding
to the fun “Specials” sub-set through the wild 1970’s, today I post up
my 1976 card featuring the powerful Phillies slugging duo of Mike
Schmidt and Greg Luzinski:
When this card would have come out, perhaps only the Cincinnati Reds
arguably had a more feared duo of sluggers than the Phillies.
Schmidt was coming off of what would end up being the second of his
eight home run titles, while Luzinski was the National League MVP
runner-up to the Reds’ Joe Morgan.
Luzinski would also finish as the NL MVP runner-up in 1977, again behind
a Reds player, this time George Foster, while of course Schmidt would
end up taking home three MVP’s in the 1980’s.
It’s amazing to think that Luzinski ended up retiring with 307 homers
and 1128 runs batted in over his career, and that he was only 33 when
he left the game!
Nevertheless, what a pair of thumpers the Phillies had leading the way
for a team that also had Larry Bowa, Dave Cash and Garry Maddox among
others in their line-up!
Today
we have a “not so missing” card for a guy I have never heard of,
nine-game Major League catcher Bob Reece of the Montreal Expos:
Reece appeared in all nine of his Big League games during the 1978
season, going 2-for-11 at the plate, which comes to a .182 batting
average, with a couple of runs scored and three runs batted in.
Obviously, coming up as a catcher with the Expos when a young Gary Carter was just coming into his own was a MAJOR road block.
But Reece went on to play another three full years in the Minors, all in
the Montreal organization, before retiring after the 1981 season.
As a matter of fact he played all nine years of his professional
baseball career in the Montreal organization, originally starting out
back in 1973.
Let’s
cap-off former pitcher Al Santorini’s Major League career with a 1974
“not so missing” card, as he played the last games of his six-year
career during the 1973 season:
Santorini appeared in eight games for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1973,
tossing only 8.1 innings and not factoring in a decision while he posted
an earned run average of 5.40.
That would be the end of his Big League career, originally coming up as a
20-year-old in 1968 when he appeared in a game for the Atlanta Braves
before moving on to the San Diego Padres during their inaugural season.
That year he saw the most action of any season in the Majors, going 8-14
with an ERA of 3.95 over 32 appearances, 30 of them starts, in 184.2
innings of work.
All told, he finished his Major League tenure with a record of 17-38,
with an ERA of 4.29 over 127 appearances and 493.1 innings pitched, with
four shutouts and three saves.
On
the blog today we have a “not so missing” 1979 card for former
outfielder Orlando Gonzalez, who played in parts of three Major League
seasons, none of them consecutive, between 1976 and 1980:
Gonzalez appeared in 26 games for the Phillies in 1978, hitting .192
with five hits over 26 at-bats with a run scored while playing outfield
with some first base thrown in.
His first taste of the Big Leagues was in 1976 when he came up with the
Cleveland Indians, appearing in 28 games as a 24-year-old, hitting .250
while playing mainly first base.
After a year in the Minors in 1979, Gonzalez made it back to the Majors,
though now with the Oakland A’s, for what would be his last action on a
Big League field when he appeared in 25 games, hitting .243 with 17
hits over 70 at-bats, scoring 10 runs.
All told, his final career numbers were a .238 average, with 39 hits
over 164 at-bats with 16 runs scored and five runs batted in spread out
over 79 games.
Here’s
a really fun card to add to the 1970 (and blog) collection, a 1970 “not
so missing” card for John Hairston, brother of Jerry and son of Sam,
who appeared in his only Major League games during the 1969 season:
John played in only three games, the only games he’d play on the Big
League level, going 1-for-4 at the plate for a .250 average, with one
game at catcher and one in left field.
He would go on to play another couple of years in the Minors before
calling it a pro career, but not before being a part of the rare THREE
generation Major League baseball family, with father Sam, brother Jerry
and then nephews Jerry Jr and Scott playing later on.
An incredible Big League family tree that often gets overlooked when
others mention the Bells and Boones for multi-generation players.
Nevertheless, today is the Hairston’s, specifically John Hairston’s, day in the sun!
Enjoy.
Today
we have a “not so missing” 1978 card for former Detroit Tigers
infielder Mark Wagner, who was entering his third Major League season by
the time this card would have been out:
Wagner appeared in 22 games for Detroit in 1977, hitting .146 with seven
hits over 48 at-bats while playing mainly shortstop with some second
base thrown in.
He would spend nine seasons in the Big Leagues as a guy off the bench,
playing five years with the Tigers, three with the Texas Rangers and one
with the Oakland A’s, which was in 1984, his last year.
All told, his final numbers looked like this: a .243 career average with
205 hits over 843 at-bats and 414 career games, scoring 81 runs while
driving in 71.
Today
we take a look at the 1972 airbrush job for former pitcher Jim Colborn,
who found himself a member of the Milwaukee Brewers after three years
with the Chicago Cubs:
As you can see the nice folks at Topps did a vivid paint job on the cap
logo, then desaturated, or muted, the lid once laid out on the card.
Colborn was traded to the Brewers on December 3rd of 1971 along with
Brock Davis and Earl Stephenson for infielder Jose Cardenal.
It would turn out to be a nice trade for Milwaukee, as Colborn would go
on to post a 20-12 record in 1973, making the All-Star team while
posting an earned run average of 3.18 with four shutouts.
He would post double-digit wins the next two seasons, though “only” 10 and 11 respectively, before finishing 9-15 in 1976.
Nevertheless, with a combined 57 wins between 1972 and 1976, he certainly was no slouch during his tenure there.
By the time he’d retire after the 1978 season, Colborn finished with a
record of 83 and 88, with an ERA at 3.80 over 301 appearances and 1597.1
innings of work.
Today
I thought I’d love to post up my 1974 special card of the Oakland A’s
trio of 20-games winners from 1973, Vida Blue, Catfish Hunter and Ken
Holtzman:
The A’s would march on to their second straight World Championship that
season, led by the 62 combined wins of the three starters, with Hunter
and Holtzman posting 21 wins and Blue coming in at 20.
The team would post a record of 94-68, beating the Baltimore Orioles in
the Playoffs 3 games to 2 before proceeding to beat the New York Mets 4
games to 3 in the World Series.
It was be the last time a team would have as many as three 20-game
winners in the same season, with the 1989 A’s coming close when they
were led by Dave Stewart’s 21 wins, with teammates Mike Moore and Storm
Davis coming in at 19.
It’s also worth noting that in 1989 the A’s also had Bob Welch come in
with 17 wins. Amazing to think just how close they were to have four
20-game winners.
Today’s
“not so missing” card is of former San Francisco Giants pitcher Tommy
Toms, who played parts of three Major League seasons in the mid-70’s:
Toms made his Big League debut in 1975, appearing in seven games for the
Giants, going 0-1 with an earned run average at 6.10 over 10.1 innings
of work.
The following season, Toms again appeared in seven games, and once again
would go 0-1, this time with an ERA at 6.23 over 8.2 innings pitched,
pretty much mirroring all of his numbers from the year before.
In 1977. Toms would end up appearing in only four games, again going 0-1
with an ERA at 2.08 with 4.1 innings pitched, in what would end up
being his last taste of Major League action.
All told, Toms finished his career with an 0-3 record, with an ERA at 5.40 over 18 appearances and 23.1 innings pitched.
On
the blog this morning we have a career-capping “not so missing” 1974
card for former catcher Jerry May, who finished up a 10-year Major
League career with a handful of games with the New York Mets:
After starting the season with 11 games as a Kansas City Royal, for whom
he played in both 1971 and 1972, May was purchased by the Mets on May
14th of 1973 before getting released about a month later, playing in
four games for the eventual National League champs.
He hit a combined .158 over those combined 15 games with six hits over 38 at-bats, scoring four runs while driving in two.
May made his MLB debut in 1964 at the age of 20 with the Pittsburgh
Pirates, where he played the first seven years of his career before his
move to the Royals.
All told, he finished up with a career .234 batting average, with 357
hits in 1527 at-bats, playing in 556 games, driving in 130 runs while
scoring 120.
Today
on the blog we have a 1979 “not so missing” card for former Seattle
Mariners pitcher Rick Jones, who saw the last bit of Major League action
of his career during the 1978 season:
Jones appeared in only three games in 1978, going 0-2 with an earned run
average of 5.84 in 12.1 innings pitched, though he did strike out 11 in
that time.
That would end up being the end of his Major League tenure after parts
of three season in the Big Leagues, originally up with the Boston Red
Sox in 1976 when he did very well as a 21-year-old, going 5-3 with a
nice 3.36 ERA over 24 appearances, 14 of them starts, and 104.1 innings
pitched.
Sadly for him, he would end up being selected by the new Seattle
organization as the 22nd pick in the 1976 expansion draft, going from a
division power-house to a cellar-dwelling Mariners club.
He would end up going 1-4 for Seattle during their inaugural season of
1977, with an ERA at 5.10 over 10 appearances, all starts, and 42.1
innings of work.
All told, he’d finish his MLB career with a record of 6-9, with an ERA at 4.02 over 37 appearances and 159 innings pitched.
Here’s
a card someone requested a long while ago (sorry for the delay), a 1974
manager card for Don Zimmer, who managed the San Diego Padres in 1972
and 1973:
Zimmer was already gone as manager of the Padres by the time this card
would have come out in the Spring of 1974, but the fact that there
wasn’t a Padre-manager card in the 1974 set did not go unnoticed.
And yes, I had to create BOTH a San Diego version, as well as the
“Washington” version like so many of the other Padres in the 1974 set
when it looked like the organization was moving to the D.C. area.
Definitely a hard-luck job at that time, “Zim” managed the team to a
combined 114-190 record over those two seasons, finishing in sixth-place
both years.
But he would have greater success later on, as manager of the Boston Red
Sox from 1976 through 1980, then on to the Chicago Cubs from 1988 to
1991 (with a short managerial gig with the Texas Rangers in 1981-1982).
Of course, Zimmer will always be remembered most as a baseball “lifer”,
playing, coaching and managing in Major League ball for an incredible 61
years, from 1954 to 2014.
Loved him when he was coaching with the New York Yankees during the Joe Torre years!
Rest in Peace “Popeye”! You are missed!
Today
we have a “not so missing” 1977 card for former Montreal Expos pitcher
Larry Landreth, who spent parts of two years in the Major Leagues:
Landreth’s total time in the Big Leagues was only seven appearances over
those two years, including three games in 1976, the first of his
career, all starts, seeing him go 1-2 with an earned run average of 4.09
over 11 innings.
In 1977 he made four appearances, this time going 0-2 with a bloated
9.64 ERA in 9.1 innings, in what turned out to be the last of his
career.
He’d stick around the Minors over the following two seasons, but could
never make it back to the Majors again, finishing up with a career 1-4
record, with an ERA at 6.64 over seven appearances and 20.1 innings
pitched.
The
next no-hitter to get the spotlight in my “No-Hitters through the
1970’s” is the gem thrown by former Cleveland Indians Dick Bosman:
Bosman threw his no-hitter against the Oakland A’s on July 19th of 1974,
allowing not only no hits but also no walks, a perfect game eluding him
because of an error by the pitcher himself in the top of the fourth
when he threw a check-swing slow-roller wide of first base off the bat
of Sal Bando.
By the time the game was over, Bosman finished with only four
strikeouts, not over-powering the eventual World Champs, but throwing
strike after strike, just keeping his pitches in the strike zone batter
after batter.
It was only Bosman’s second win of the year at this point, and he would
go on to finish 1974 with a record of 7-5 with a 4.10 earned run average
over 25 appearances.
Ironically, in just the very next year, 1975, Bosman would join the A’s,
helping them to another division championship when he’d go 11-4 after
an in-season trade.
Time
to go and add Hall of Famer Don Sutton to my long-running 1975
“In-Action” sub-set, which is shaping up to be one heck of a project on
the blog:
Sutton was in the middle of a wonderful 23-year run in the Major
Leagues, reeling off win after win for the Los Angeles Dodgers since he
came up as a 21-year-old in 1966.
In the six seasons prior to the 1975 season, when this card would have
seen the light of day, Sutton’s win totals were 17, 15, 17, 19, 18 and
19.
The man was a machine, and while some people think incredible steadiness
like this doesn’t warrant a Hall of Fame selection, I do! There is
something to celebrate when a player performs year after year over a
long period of time (think Eddie Murray) without having a “mega-season”
along the way.
By the time Sutton left the game after the 1988 season, he finished with
324 wins, a 3.26 earned run average, 58 shutouts and 3574 strikeouts in
774 appearances, 756 of them starts.
Needless to say, in 1998, on his fifth try, he made it into Cooperstown,
joining former teammates Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale, with 81.6% of
the vote.
Let’s
cap-off former catcher Hal King’s seven-year career with a 1975 “not so
missing” card after he played the last of his MLB games while with the
Cincinnati Reds:
King, who was in his second year with the Reds after coming over from
the Texas Rangers, appeared in 20 games for Cincinnati, hitting .176
with three hits in 17 at-bats.
Aside from spending all of the 1969 season in the Minors, King was a
catcher off-the-bench his whole career between 1967 and 1974, playing
for the Houston Astros, Atlanta Braves, Rangers and Reds.
His final numbers: a .214 batting average with 146 hits in 683 at-bats
with 67 runs scored and 82 runs batted in over 322 career games.
The
next nickname up in my long-running “Nicknames of the 1970’s” is “The
Bee”, Al Bumbry, Baltimore Orioles spark-plug, who gets a 1978 card:
Bumbry was coming off of his best Major League season to date in 1977,
hitting .317 with 19 stolen bases and 31 doubles, well on his way to a
very nice 14-year career, all but his last (1985 with San Diego) with
the Orioles.
Over those 14 seasons he would be the 1973 American League Rookie of the
Year, would hit over .300 three times, lead the league in triples once
and top 200 hits when he collected 205 in1980, the first Baltimore
player to do so up to that point.
He would steal 254 bases over his career, twice topping 40 with 42 in
1976 and 44 in 1980, while scoring over 100 once when he scored 118
during the 1980 season.
By the time he retired after the 1985 season, he finished with a career
average of .281 with 1422 hits over 5053 at-bats in 1496 games, scoring
778 runs while driving in 402, and was a member of the 1983 world
champion Oriole club that defeated the Philadelphia Phillies (“The Wheez
Kids”).
Today
we go and give a “not so missing” 1971 card to former Detroit Tigers
pitcher and New Jersey native Norm McRae, who played the last games of
his brief Major League career during the 1971 season:
McRae appeared in 19 games for the Tigers in 1970, not factoring in a
decision though posting a very nice 2.87 earned run average over 31.1
innings of work.
The previous year he made his MLB debut, appearing in three games, again
not getting a decision, though posting an ERA at 6.00 over just three
innings.
He’d stick around pro ball through the 1972 season, pitching for both
the Detroit and Texas Rangers organizations, going a combined 13-18 with
an ERA at around 4.50, before retiring for good.
Overall, his MLB tenure resulted in 22 appearances, with an ERA of 3.15
without a decision in 34.1 innings pitched, striking out 19 while
walking 26.
Here’s
a fun card to add to my growing 1973 “missing” or “not so missing”
family: my card for former catcher Joe Goddard, who played the only
games of his brief Major League career in 1972 with the San Diego
Padres:
Goddard appeared in 12 games for the Padres, hitting an even .200 with
seven hits over 35 at-bats with a couple of doubles and a couple of
RBI’s in that time.
Originally drafted in the 8th round of the Amateur Draft in 1971 out of
Marshall University by San Diego, he’d spend all six years of his pro
career in their organization between 1971 and 1976, never getting
another chance to play in the Big Leagues besides that brief run of
1972.
On
the blog this morning we have a career-capping “not so missing” 1975
card for former Baltimore Orioles infielder Frank Baker, who played the
last of his Major League games in 1974:
Baker appeared in 24 games for the O’s, batting .172 with five hits over
29 at-bats while mainly playing shortstop with some second and third
thrown in.
He played two years for Baltimore, coming over from the New York
Yankees, for whom he played in 1970 and 1971, his first two years in the
Big Leagues.
With a full season of Minor League ball in 1972, he book-ended that with
his four-year MLB career, finishing up with 146 games, hitting .191 with
55 hits in 288 at-bats, driving in 24 runs while scoring 28 himself.
I’ll always remember Baker as one of the first 1971 cards I ever had, or
even saw, as a 10-year old when my best friend Shawn (R.I.P.) came over
with some cards back in 1979 that he found at his uncle’s house when we
were kids in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.
It was the very first time I ever even SAW 1971 cards, and I was
mesmerized by the all-black design, and luckily my boy was more than
happy to give them to me since he wasn’t really a collector.
Man, where does the time go?
Here’s
a “special” 1977 card I’ve been meaning to create for some time, a
Brooks Robinson card celebrating the all-time third baseman’s 16 Gold
Gloves:
During an incredible run between 1960 and 1975 Robinson won the Gold
Glove at his position every single year, while also making the All-Star
team all but that last season of 1975.
I’ve always loved this photo of him surrounded by his Gold Gloves!
By the time this card would have come out, he was finishing up a Hall of
Fame career of 23 seasons under the sun, and all of them with the
Baltimore Orioles, for whom he led to two championships and four
American League pennants.
In 1964 he took home the American League MVP Award, while finishing
second to teammate Frank Robinson in 1966, who did nothing but win a
Triple Crown as well.
His final numbers: over 2800 hits, 1300+ runs batted in, 1200+ runs
scored and 268 homers, while striking out only 990 times in 11782 plate
appearances.
And yet I still think he is under-appreciated!
I
haven’t done one of these in a while, but came across a nice photo of
former Mariners pitcher Stan Thomas from Seattle’s inaugural 1977
season, so here’s a re-do of his 1977 Topps card, as well as the
original as issued:
 |
| Re-done for the blog |
 |
| Original Topps release |
Thomas was drafted by Seattle away from the Cleveland Indians on
November 5th of 1976 in the expansion draft after what was a pretty good
year out of the bullpen when he went 4-4 with a 2.30 earned run average
and six saves over 37 appearances and 105.2 innings pitched.
He would go on to make 13 appearances for the Mariners, going 2-6 with a
6.02 ERA before being sent to the New York Yankees, where he’d make
only three appearances, going 1-0 with a 7.11 ERA in 6.1 innings.
Turns out that would be the last MLB action he’d see, closing out a
four-year career with a record of 11-14 along with a 3.70 ERA and nine
saves over 111 appearances and 265.1 innings.
On the blog today we have a “not so missing” 1978 card for former New York Met Luis Rosado, he of a 11-game Major League career:
Rosado played the first nine of those eleven games in his debut during
the 1977 season, batting .208 with five hits over 24 at-bats as a
21-year-old playing first base with a game at catcher.
He’d go on to spend the next two seasons in the Minors before making it
back to the Big Leagues in 1980 in what turned out to be the last of his
career, appearing in two games while going hitless over four at-bats.
I can’t find any record of any pro ball for him between 1981 and 1983
before he was back in the Minors in both 1984 and 1985 for Baltimore and
Detroit averaging right around .300 combined, before retiring for good.
Today’s
blog post has a “not so missing” 1979 card for former Atlanta Braves
infielder Chico Ruiz, who made his Major League debut during the 1978
season:
Ruiz appeared in 18 games for Atlanta, hitting .283 with 13 hits over 46 at-bats, scoring three runs while driving in two.
He would spend all of 1979 in the Minor Leagues before making it back to
the Big Leagues in 1980, hitting a nice .308 with eight hits over 26
at-bats, again scoring three while driving in two.
Sadly those decent numbers didn’t translate to another shot, as he would
go on to toil in the Minors over the next four seasons before he
retired for good in 1984.
He played all 15 seasons of his pro career in the Atlanta organization
between 1970 and 1984, but only had those combined 43 games between the
1978 and 1980 seasons on a Major League field, hitting a very nice .292
with 21 hits in 72 at-bats.
I
love creating these cards, so forgive me for adding yet another
“traded” card to the 1975 set, my Burt Hooton edition for the overlooked
reliable starter who found himself as a member of the Los Angeles
Dodgers after four+ seasons with the Chicago Cubs:
Making three starts with the Cubs to open the 1975 season, Hooton was
traded to the Dodgers on May 2nd for pitchers Eddie Solomon and Geoff
Zahn, and he would not disappoint, going 18-7 the rest of the way with
an ERA at 2.82.
He would then give Los Angeles a reliable starter of the next nine
seasons, posting 4 years of sub-3.00 ERAs and even coming in second in
the NL Cy Young Award in 1978 when he went 19-10 with a 2.71 ERA.
Between 1972 and 1980 he threw over 200 innings eight of nine seasons,
and by the time he retired after a year with the Texas Rangers in 1985,
he finished with a record of 151-136, with a very nice 3.38 ERA over 480
appearances, tossing 29 shutouts while striking out 1491 batters.
Today
we have a “not so missing” 1978 card for former infielder Craig
Robinson, who played the last games of his six-year Major League career
during the 1977 season:
Robinson appeared in 27 games for the Atlanta Braves in 1977, batting
.207 with six hits over 29 at-bats, scoring four runs while driving in
one.
Robinson made his Major League debut in 1972 with the Philadelphia
Phillies, but only ever saw full-time action in 1974 when he played in
145 games for the Braves, hitting .230 with 104 hits in 452 at-bats.
For the rest of his career he played sporadically, finishing up with a
.219 career average with 157 hits in 718 at-bats, playing in 292 games
between 1972 and 1977 with the Phillies, Braves and San Francisco
Giants.
On
the blog today, I take a page out of Topps’ book from the
late-60’s/early-70’s and use an image previously used for a players
card, in this case my 1970 “not so missing” card for former Houston
Astros pitcher Dan Schneider:
The image was used for his 1969 card, a season in which he actually saw
the last of his Major League action, appearing in six games after
spending all of 1968 in the Minors.
Over those six games Schneider went 0-1 with a 13.50 earned run average, throwing 7.1 innings which were all out of the bullpen.
Originally up with the Milwaukee Braves in 1963, Schneider pitched parts
of five seasons in the Big Leagues, ending up with a record of 2-5 with
an ERA at 4.71 over 117 appearances and 166.1 innings, starting eight
games along the way while saving two through 1969.
Here
was a fun card to create, a 1976 special featuring what was a powerful
one-two punch for the California Angels, flame-throwers Nolan Ryan and
Frank Tanana:
The two pitchers combined for 455 strikeouts during the 1975 season,
while posting 30 wins and 10 shutouts, with Tanana leading the league
with 269 K’s while Ryan had a “down” year with only 186.
Both would keep it up over the next three seasons before Ryan became a
record-breaking free agent in 1980, heading for Houston, while Tanana
developed arm troubles, becoming a “pitcher” instead of just a
“thrower”, successfully pitching through the 1993 season.
Together the duo pitched for 48 combined Big League seasons, striking
out over 8000 batters, while winning 564 games between them.
Sadly for the Angels, the bulk of it was away from Anaheim.
Nevertheless, incredible.
I think this design came out nice!
The next no-hitter in my on-going sub-set celebrating the gems of the
decade is a historic one, Steve Busby and his second no-hitter in only
his second full Major League season, thrown on June 19th:
Busby became the first pitcher to ever toss no-no’s in his first two
seasons, this one against the Milwaukee Brewers in which he faced only
28 batters, winning 3-0 in Milwaukee County Stadium.
Busby struck out four while walking six, while getting some offensive
help from Amos Otis and Ed Kirkpatrick who both hit homers.
It would be the high point of his best season in the Big Leagues, as he
would go on to post 22 wins with a 3.39 earned run average over 38
starts, 20 of which he completed.
He also tossed three shutouts while striking out a career-high 198
batters, throwing 292.1 innings and getting named to his first All-Star
team.
Sadly, after another fine season in 1975 in which he posted 18 wins
along with an ERA at 3.08 over 34 starts, getting named to his second
straight All-Star team, Busby developed a torn rotator cuff and became
the first player to undergo rotator cuff surgery, forcing him to miss
most of 1976 and all of 1977.
He made it all the way back in 1978, though only four seven games, and
was able to pitch in 22 games the following year. But after eleven
appearances in 1980 to which he went 1-3 with an ERA at 6.17 his career
was over.
A once promising career for the young right-hander ending prematurely at the age of 30.
Today
we have a “not so missing” 1972 card for former St. Louis Cardinals
infielder Milt Ramirez, who appeared in a handful of games during the
1971 season:
Ramirez made his MLB debut in 1970, appearing in 62 games for the Redbirds, hitting .190 with 15 hits over 79 at-bats.
In 1971 he only appeared in four games, hitting .273 with three hits in
11 at-bats, and as it turns out he’d toil in the Minors for the next
seven years for various organizations before finally making it all the
way back in 1979 with 28 games for the Oakland A’s.
In that last Big League season for him, he hit .161 with 10 hits in 62
at-bats, before returning for one last professional season in the Minor
Leagues in 1980.
All told, in his brief three season career Ramirez hit .184 with 28 hits
over 152 at-bats, appearing in 94 games, scoring 14 runs while driving
in six.
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