Tuesday, April 30, 2019

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1971 JOE NOSSEK

For the second day in a row here on the blog, I offer up a “not so missing” card for a player who appeared in one single solitary game the previous season, this time it’s a 1971 card for former outfielder Joe Nossek, who did just that for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1970:


Nossek appeared in what turned out to be the last game of his six-year Big League career on September 13th of the 1970 season, going 0-1 at the plate, closing out a MLB tenure that had him hit .228 over 295 games, collecting 132 hits in 579 at-bats playing for the Minnesota Twins, Kansas City/Oakland Athletics and Cardinals between 1964 and 1970.
Generally a part-time player, the most action he ever saw in any one season was the 91 appearances he made in 1966 when he played in four with the Twins before going off to play in 87 games with the Athletics, with 241 plate appearances and hitting .261.

Monday, April 29, 2019

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1973 GENE LAMONT

Here’s a “not so missing" 1973 card for former catcher (and future manager) Gene Lamont, who appeared in one single game during the 1972 season, for only two innings at that, without even a plate appearance:


Lamont spent the season in the Minor Leagues that season, pretty much as he did the prior season when he only appeared in seven games in the Big Leagues.
As a matter of fact he’d spend all of 1973 in the Minors as well before getting into 60 games in the Major League level in 1974.
After that it was only another four games in 1975 before his active days were over, totaling 87 games on the Big League level between 1970 and 1975, all with the Detroit Tigers, hitting .233 with 37 hits over 159 at-bats.
Of course, he’d get into coaching, and eventually managing after his playing days were over, managing the Chicago White Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates between 1992 and 2000 for eight seasons, even leading the White Sox to first place finishes in 1993 and 1994.

Sunday, April 28, 2019

1973 SPECIAL- BILLY MARTIN STATING HIS CASE

Found this photo of the great Billy Martin a while back and always wanted to create a card with it, so here it is, a 1973 “special” of the fiery manager at his best:


Martin was a winner wherever he managed. Just look it up!
He began his managerial career in 1969 with the Minnesota Twins and took them straight to the Playoffs, guiding the team to a first place finish with a 97-65 record.
He would move on to Detroit, and would take them to a first place finish by his second year in 1972 with a record of 86-70.
He’d move on to the Texas Rangers and they’d have their first successful season in 1974, albeit a second place finish behind league MVP Jeff Burroughs and ace Fergie Jenkins, then of course he would move on to the New York Yankees, where the “Bronx Zoo” was in full swing, eventually bringing Martin a World Championship in 1977.
He’d move on to the Oakland A’s where “Billy-Ball” was in full effect, losing to the Yankees in the Championship Series while burning through every arm on his pitching staff with overuse.
Then finally, there was the back-and-forth period between he and the Yankees, specifically owner George Steinbrenner, where he managed in 1983, 1985 and finally 1988, almost a comedic show of hiring and firing that really was an embarrassment to us Yankee fans of the era.
Nevertheless, Martin was a winner, though one with a temper at that, leaving the game with a .553 winning percentage and over 1200 wins.
Should he be in the Hall of Fame?
I do think so more for his personality than anything else. As a symbol of the wild 1970’s with his managerial style ala Earl Weaver, arguing and fighting his way through each season.
Rest in Peace Billy, you are missed.

Saturday, April 27, 2019

TRADED- 1972 KEN SINGLETON

Time to go and add a 1972 “Traded” card for one of my favorite players from ANY era, Ken Singleton, who found himself North of the border in Montreal after a blockbuster trade just as the season was opening up:


Singleton was part of the trade that brought Rusty Staub to the New York Mets, going to the Expos along with Tim Foli and Mike Jorgensen on April 5th, 1972.
He would go on to have three very solid years in Montreal, with 1973 his finest as he scored 100 runs along with 103 runs batted in and 23 homers, while also walking 123 times while leading the National League with a .425 on-base-percentage, finishing ninth in MVP voting.
Of course, we all know that Singleton would go on to have an excellent 15-year Major League career, topping 2000 hits, 1000-RBI’s and just under 250 homers while making three All-Star teams and finishing second in the American League MVP race behind Don Baylor when he had his best Big League season, hitting 35 homers with 111 RBI’s and 109 walks, hitting .295 and scoring 93 runs.
Just a great person overall, I thoroughly enjoy his time as a New York Yankee TV announcer, and will miss him as he retires after the 2019 season.

Friday, April 26, 2019

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1974 PHIL GARNER

Let’s go and give “Scrap Iron” Phil Garner a “not so missing” 1974 card based on his MLB debut of nine games during the 1973 season:


Garner got his first taste of the Big Leagues with nine games, getting five plate appearances without a hit along with three strikeouts.
Nevertheless, he would go on to a very nice 16-year career as a player, along with another eight as a manager during the 1990’s and 2000’s, even guiding the Houston Astros to a National League Pennant in 2005 when they eventually lost to the Chicago White Sox in the World Series.
As a player, he was a part of the 1979 World Champion Pittsburgh Pirates team, as well as a member of the 1973 and 1974 World Champ Oakland A’s, though not a cog or even a regular by any means.
By the time he retired after the 1988 season, the three-time All-Star finished with a career .260 average, with 1594 hits over 6136 at-bats and 1860 games.

Thursday, April 25, 2019

NO-HITTERS SPECIAL SUB-SET: COMBINED FOUR-PITCHER GEM. SEPTEMBER 28TH, 1975

Although I created a “Highlights from the 1970’s” card for the Oakland A’s four-pitcher combined no-hitter some five years ago here on the blog, I had to include it in my long-running “no-hitters through the 1970’s” series:



Whereas I originally created a card showing all four pitchers who contributed to the gem spun on the last day of the 1975 season, today I wanted something different, so I pictured the guy who closed out the game, Hall of Fame reliever Rollie Fingers.
Since I already wrote about it in the original post, I’ll take the liberty to copy-paste it here:

On the very last day of the season the A's closed out yet another successful year, no-hitting California and winning 5-0, giving them 98 wins for the season and their fifth straight division championship.
Vida Blue, Glenn Abbott, Paul Lindblad and Rollie Fingers each contributed to the no-hitter, with Blue giving up the only two walks.
What I also find incredible is the fact that the A's switched catchers during the game as well!
Gene Tenace started the game behind the plate, then switched over to first base while Ray Fosse came in at the top of the seventh inning to catch Lindblad.
For the life of me I can't (off the top of my head) remember another no-hitter where the starting catcher was pulled.
Anyone know another such game?
I'll have to look it up for sure!
As a kid I always remember the two combined no-hitters of the '70's: this game and the one that happened the very next year with two Chicago White Sox pitchers doing the same.
I'll be designing a card for THAT game as well in the near future, so keep an eye out for it.
For anyone interested in the Oakland no-hit game particulars, here's a link to the box score on the Godly web-site, "Baseball-Reference.com":
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/OAK/OAK197509280.shtml

Another item to point out: Reggie Jackson hit two home runs in the game, the second of which gave him a tie for the home run crown in 1975 with Milwaukee Brewer George Scott, one of THREE such occasions that Reggie would share a home run crown in his career with a Milwaukee Brewer!
And all three times while he was playing for a different team!
How freakin' strange is that?
He's also share the crown in 1980 with Ben Oglivie while playing for the Yankees, and with Gorman Thomas in 1982 while with the Angels.
Man I love this game!

Wednesday, April 24, 2019

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1976 LUIS QUINTANA

Here’s a “not so missing” 1976 card for former California Angels pitcher Luis Quintana, who played what turned out to be the last of his Major League games during the 1975 season:


Quintana appeared in four games for California, going 0-2 with a 6.43 earned run average over seven innings, all out of the bullpen.
The previous season he appeared in 18 games, his debut season, going 2-1 with an ERA of 4.26 in 12.2 innings, again, all out of the bullpen.
Although he’d stick around Minor League ball through the 1983 season, he’d never make it back to a Big League mound, finishing his brief career with a record of 2-3, with an ERA at 5.03 over 22 appearances and 19.2 innings pitched, all with the Angels.

Tuesday, April 23, 2019

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1979 MIKE GRACE

Love creating cards like this!
Here’s a “not so missing” 1979 card for former Cincinnati Reds third baseman Mike Grace, who played his entire Major League career over the course of two weeks between April and May of 1978:


Grace appeared in five games, going 0-for-3 at the plate, thus representing the entire action of his Big League experience.
He would go on to play another five years of Pro Ball through the 1983 season, but would never get the chance to come up to the Majors again.
Nevertheless, the man made it to the top, and that’s more than I can say!
Cheers Mike!

Monday, April 22, 2019

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1978 MIKE GORDON

Let’s go and give a “not so missing” 1978 card to former Chicago Cubs catcher Mike Gordon, who had a brief two-year Major League career in 1977-78:


Gordon appeared in the first eight games of his brief MLB career during the 1977 season, collecting one hit over 23 official at-bats.
The following year he’d play in four games, going 1-for-5 at the plate in what turned out to be the last taste of Big League ball.
He’d go on to spend all of 1979 in the Cubs’ Minor League system before retiring for good, having spent his entire eight-year professional career in the Chicago (NL) organization.
All told, he finished his MLB career with a .071 average, with two hits in 28 at-bats with a couple of runs batted in.

Sunday, April 21, 2019

NICKNAMES OF THE 1970S- 1977 "PIG PEN" JIM DWYER

Now here’s an odd kind of “Nickname of the 1970s” card I created today, one for former utility man Jim Dwyer aka “Pig Pen” from 1977:


Now, the reason this card is so odd is that Dwyer never actually played a single game with the Chicago Cubs, but he did spend most of the 1977 season in the Minor League system, where he had a great year at the plate.
On top of that, he actually DID see Big League time in 1977, but with the St. Louis Cardinals, for whom he never even played a single Minor League game for that year.
Really unique situation here!
In the Cubs system that year Dwyer hit .332 with 38 doubles, 12 triples and 18 homers to go along with 108 walks, giving him a fantastic .459 on-base-percentage.
You would THINK the Cubs of those days could have tried him out!
Nevertheless, he found himself in St. Louis by year’s end and played in 13 games for the Cardinals, hitting .226 over that short time.
So when I found this image of him at Wrigley, in Cubs gear, I knew it would make an interesting card to add to the collection!
Dwyer would go on to play 18 seasons in the Majors, hitting .260 generally as a guy off the bench for no less that seven teams: Orioles, Cardinals, Twins, Expos, Red Sox, Mets and Giants between 1973 and 1990.

Saturday, April 20, 2019

1975 SPECIAL- LOU BROCK'S PATH TO HISTORY

Came across this image of the great Lou Brock and had to make a 1976 “special” card with it, celebrating his march towards history with stolen base after stolen base during his Hall of Fame career:


Coming off of his record-breaking 1974 season when he stole 118 bases, the 36 year old then went on to steal another 56 in 1975, pushing him past the 800 mark for his career.
Of course, he would go on to steal another 138 bases before he was done, not only passing Ty Cobb for the “modern” MLB record, but even the great Hall of Famer Billy Hamilton from the 19th Century, who stole 914, unquestionably giving Brock the record until a guy named “Rickey” came along.
I love the extra logo sticker the St. Louis Cardinals used on their batting helmets in the middle of the 1970’s, shown on the image here.
Nice little bonus!

Friday, April 19, 2019

NO-HITTERS SPECIAL SUB-SET: ED HALICKI. AUGUST 24TH, 1975

The next no-hitter profiled on the long-running thread is that of young San Francisco Giants pitcher Ed Halicki on August 24th 1975 against the New York Mets:


The 24-year-old was in his first full season when he turned in the performance of his career, striking out 10 while walking two, on his way to the no-hitter at home in Candlestick Park.
Gary Thomasson and Willie Montanez drove in two runs each, supplying more than enough offense to give Halicki the support for the win, improving his record to 8-10 and lowering his ERA to 3.48.
Turns out Giants fans would have to wait another 35 years before another of their pitchers threw a no-hitter, when Jonathan Sanchez did just that on July 10th of 2010.
Nevertheless, Halicki, though he did put in a nice seven-year Major League career, reached the pinnacle of his Big League days that day in 1975.

Thursday, April 18, 2019

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1976 RICK SAWYER

Today we have a “not so missing” 1976 card for former pitcher Rick Sawyer, who you may remember from his time with the San Diego padres later in the decade:


Sawyer originally came up to the Big Leagues with the Yanks, first appearing in a single game during the 1974 season when he pitched 1.2 innings.
In 1976 he was back, albeit for only four appearances out of the bullpen, not factoring in a decisions and posting an ERA of an even 3.00 over six innings of work.
By the time the 1976 season opened, he found himself a member of the Padres, posting a nice year with a 5-3 record over 13 appearances, with an ERA of 2.53 over 81.2 innings pitched.
In 1977, he would appear in a career-high 56 games, with nine of them starts, throwing 111 innings and going 7-6, though with a bloated ERA of 5.84.
Sadly, that would be the end of his Big League days, as he’d spend all of 1978 in the Cleveland Indians organization, posting an ugly 6.43 ERA over 28 innings, ending his pro career.

Wednesday, April 17, 2019

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1974 MIKE COSGROVE

Today on the blog we have a “not so missing” 1974 card for former Houston Astros pitcher Mike Cosgrove, who appeared in 13 games during the 1973 season:


Cosgrove had a very nice showing over those 13 games, posting an earned run average of 1.80 over 10 innings while going 1-1, all out of the bullpen.
His first taste of the Big Leagues was a season earlier when he came up for seven games, going 0-1 with an ERA of 4.61 over 13.2 innings, with a start thrown in.
He would go on to play five years in the Majors, all with Houston, finishing up with a record of 12-11 with an ERA of 4.03 over 119 appearances and 274.2 innings pitched, striking out 122 batters while walking 145, collecting eight saves between 1972 and 1976.

Tuesday, April 16, 2019

MISSING IN ACTION- 1973 BROCK DAVIS

Time to go and close-out former outfielder Brock Davis’ Major League career with a 1973 career-capping card after he appeared in over a half-season’s worth of games for the Milwaukee Brewers yet was left out of the Topps set:


Davis had a very nice 1972 season for Milwaukee, hitting .318 with 49 hits in 154 at-bats, scoring 17 runs and driving in 12 himself.
Easily the best season of his sporadic run in the Majors, turns out they’d also be the last, as he’d spend the next three years in the Minor Leagues playing for four organizations before retiring for good after the 1975 campaign.
Originally up for his first taste of the Big Leagues in 1963 with the Houston Colt .45’s as a 19-year old, he went on to play parts of six seasons over 10 years, hitting .260 with 141 hits in 543 at-bats playing for Houston, Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee between 1963 and 1972.

Monday, April 15, 2019

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1970 GENE OLIVER

Today we have a career-capping “not so missing” 1970 card for former catcher Gene Oliver, who finished up a nice 10-year Major League career with 23 games for the Chicago Cubs:


Oliver hit .222 over those games, collecting the final six hits of his career in 27 at-bats in what turned out to be the end of a Big League run that began back in 1959 when he came up with the St. Louis Cardinals as a 24-year-old.
His best year was 1965 when with the Milwaukee Braves when he appeared in 122 games, hitting .270 with 21 homers and 58 runs batted in in 392 at-bats.
By the time he retired, he finished with a career .246 batting average, with 93 homers and 320 RBIs, collecting 546 hits in 2216 at-bats over 786 games.

Sunday, April 14, 2019

1970 RE-DO: COOKIE ROJAS

Found this great image of former second baseman Cookie Rojas in a St. Louis Cardinals uniform, so I figured I’d go and re-do his 1970 card. So here goes:

Re-done version
As issued by Topps

Topps originally used their tried and true method at the time of the cap-less portrait shot of Rojas, devoid of any team identity.
Funny enough, he would be traded not too long into the 1970 season to the Kansas City Royals where he’d run out his nice 16-year career, playing the final eight seasons in K.C. and becoming a fan favorite before retiring after the 1977 season at the age of 38.
The five-time All-Star retired with a .263 career average, collecting 1660 hits over 6309 at-bats, scoring 713 runs and driving in 593.

Saturday, April 13, 2019

TRADED- 1976 KEN HOLTZMAN

Time to go and create a 1976 “Traded” card (wasn’t really a fan of the Topps original lay-out) for former lefty Ken Holtzman, who found himself in the Bronx a couple months into the season:


Holtzman actually started the season with the Baltimore Orioles, for whom he just got traded to right before the season started on April 2nd as part of the blockbuster Reggie Jackson deal.
Some two and a half months later he was on the move again, as part of a huge 10-player deal that saw Rick Dempsey, Tippy Martinez, Rudy May, Scott McGregor and Dave Pagan go to Baltimore with Holtzman, Doyle Alexander, Elrod Hendricks, Grant Jackson and Jimmy Freeman coming to the Yankees.
Though he’d go 9-7 for the Yankees the rest of the way, helping them to their first World Series berth in 12 years, his best days were already behind him, winning only nine more games over the next three years before retiring for good in 1979 at the age of 33 with a career 174-150 record along with 31 shutouts and 1601 strikeouts.
Along the way he was part of three World Champion teams (A’s 1972-1974), and was named to a couple of All-Star teams.

Friday, April 12, 2019

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1978 STAN THOMAS

Today we have a sort of extreme change of fortune, a career-capping “not so missing” 1978 card for former pitcher Stan Thomas, who went from the new, cellar-dwelling Seattle Mariners to the eventual World Champion New York Yankees in 1977:


Thomas began the season as one of the original Mariners, appearing in 13 games and posting a record of 2-6 with an unsightly 6.02 earned run average over 58.1 innings of work.
Then in the middle of the “Dog Days of Summer”, August 2nd to be exact, he was sent to the Bronx “as part of a conditional deal” (whatever that means), giving him the chance to pitch on a winning team.
What he’d end up doing is go 1-0 for the Yankees over three appearances, all out of the bullpen, yet posting an ERA of 7.11 (yikes), over 6.1 innings of work.
Turns out that would be it for his Big League career, which began back in 1974 with the Texas Rangers, leaving him with a career 11-14 record, sporting an ERA of 3.70 over 111 games and 265.1 innings, with 17 starts and nine saves thrown in.

Thursday, April 11, 2019

NO-HITTERS SPECIAL SUB-SET: NOLAN RYAN. JUNE 1ST, 1975

Ho-Hum.
Time for another No-Hitter entry, and yep, it’s another gem tosses by legend Nolan Ryan, who threw his record-tying fourth such game on June 1st, 1975, matching the great Sandy Koufax for the most in one career:


Facing the Baltimore Orioles on a bright Sunday afternoon, Ryan went on to strike-out nine batters, while walking four, winning the game 1-0 thanks to a Dave Chalk third-inning single that brought speedster Mickey Rivers home.
Baltimore pitchers Ross Grimsley and Wayne Garland fought the good fight, allowing that one run while only walking one other batter, but alas, the “Ryan Express” was in full-swing in the mid-70’s, and just like that, in the course of a few seasons, he had four No-Hitters under his belt.
That Baltimore line-up was no slouch either!
Leading off for them was Ken Singleton, and they also had Al Bumbry, Don Baylor, Bobby Grich, Lee May and Brooks Robinson starting that day, with former two-time batting champ Tommy Davis pinch-hitting!
Just amazing.
Little did we know that Ryan still had three more no-no’s in that arm left, and he’d be slinging BB’s for another 18 years before hanging them up!

Wednesday, April 10, 2019

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1970 MIKE DAVISON

On the blog today we have a “not so missing” 1970 card for former San Francisco Giants pitcher Mike Davison, who appeared in one game in 1969, the very first of his Big League career:


Davison pitched two innings for San Francisco in that appearance, allowing one run on two hits while striking out two and not factoring in a decision.
The following season he’d see more action as he appeared in 31 games, all out of the bullpen, going 3-5 with an ERA at 6.50 over 36 innings of work.
He struck out 21 batters yet walked 22, giving up 46 hits, four of those home runs, leading to 26 earned runs, closing out 16 games and collecting a save.
Sadly for him, that would end up being the last of his Major League play, as he would spend all of 1971 in the Minors suiting up for both the Giants and Cincinnati Reds organizations before retiring as an active player for good at only 25 years of age.

Tuesday, April 9, 2019

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1977 FRITZ PETERSON

Let’s cap-off the nice 11-year career for former pitcher Fritz Peterson with a 1977 “not so missing” card, though one could argue it’s borderline “missing” when you remember some of the other guys who got a card in the set:


Peterson appeared in 13 games playing for the Cleveland Indians and Texas Rangers, throwing 62 innings and finishing with a 1-3 record along with an earned run average of 5.08.
In just the previous year he went 14-8 for the Indians, with a couple of shutouts and a 3.94 ERA, so the rapid decline was a surprise for the man who was also a former 20-game winner, something he did while with the New York Yankees in 1970.
While with the Yanks, he posted three straight seasons of sub-3.00 ERA’s between 1968-1970: 2.63, 2.55 and 2.90, while posting win totals of 12, 17 and 20.
By the time he retired after the 1976 season, he ended up with a career record of 133-131, with a nice 3.30 ERA and 20 shutouts over 355 appearances and 2218.1 innings pitched.

Monday, April 8, 2019

MISSING IN ACTION- 1972 JOE LIS

Here’s a “missing in action” card for former Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Joe Lis, who certainly had enough appearances during the 1971 season to warrant a spot in the monster 787-card 1972 Topps set:


Lis played in 59 games for the Phils the previous year, batting .211 with 26 hits over 123 at-bats and 144 plate appearances, with six home runs and 10 runs batted in.
Considering some of the others who got a card in that ‘72 set with less action in 1971, Lis could have easily been a choice to get one as well.
Originally up to the Majors in 1970 with 13 games as a 23-year old, Lis went on to play eight years in the Big Leagues before moving on to coaching.
During his playing career he finished up with a .233 career average, with 182 hits in 780 at-bats over 356 games playing for the Phillies, Minnesota Twins, Cleveland Indians and Seattle Mariners during their inaugural 1977 season, which was his last.

Sunday, April 7, 2019

NICKNAMES OF THE 1970'S- "THE JUDGE" FRANK ROBINSON

Time to go and give one of the all-time greats of the game, Frank Robinson, aka “The Judge”, a “Nicknames of the 1970’s” card in the long-running series here on the blog:


Robinson is perhaps the “greatest underrated player” in Major League history.
A two-time Most Valuable Player, and the first to do it in both leagues, Robinson also took home a Triple Crown in 1966, was a twelve time All-Star, finished in the Top-4 in MVP voting outside his two wins, and oh yeah, was also the first African-American Manager in league history.
When he retired as an active player in 1976, Robinson was in the top-5 in so many offensive categories he was in the company of Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron and Willie Mays.
Yet oddly enough, perhaps because of the era he played in, he would get buried in the “all-time greats” conversation in lieu of the aforementioned players along with guys like Ty Cobb, Roberto Clemente and Ted Williams.
I would say he and Stan Musial are the TWO greatest “underrated” players of all-time, and you could arguably throw in others like Al Kaline for good measure.

Saturday, April 6, 2019

AIRBRUSHING THROUGH THE 1970'S (BUT WHY THIS ONE!?)- 1978 RUDY MEOLI

Today we look at an airbrush job by Topps for their 1978, and though not a terrible one, I must ask “why bother?” considering so many other players who deserved a card that year-the 1978 Rudy Meoli:


First off, the paint job on this is pretty good actually!
The effect of the embroidery on the Chicago Cubs logo looks great, as does the shadowing on the cap itself. An excellent effort all-around.
But consider this: Meoli at that point hadn’t played in the Big Leagues since the 1875 season when he was with the California Angels!
So why the effort on a card for the 1978 set, let alone the paint job, for a light-hitting infielder who was bounced around three organizations since his last MLB action?
Very odd.
Starting in November 1975, Meoli was traded from the Angels, the team he came up with in 1971, to the San Diego Padres, then to the Cincinnati Reds in April of 1976, for whom he never played, then on to the Cubs who purchased him in September of 1977.
He’d go on to play 47 games for the Cubs in 1978, hitting .103 before moving on to the Philadelphia Phillies for the 1979 season, where he’d play the last MLB games of his career, hitting .178 before leaving the game as an active player for good.
All told, over parts of six seasons, Meoli hit .212 with 133 hits in 626 at-bats over 310 games between 1971 and 1979, mainly with the Angels.

Friday, April 5, 2019

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1974 TOM POQUETTE

Today we post up a “not so missing” 1974 card for former Kansas City Royals prospect Tom Poquette, who made his Big League debut during the 1973 season:


Poquette appeared in 21 games for Kansas City, hitting .214 while collecting six hits over 28 at-bats, driving in three while scoring four runs himself.
He would end up playing both the 1974 and 1975 seasons in the Minors, but would make it back in 1976 and have a really good rookie year, hitting .302 over 104 games, with 104 hits in 344 at-bats.
He was getting some decent attention as an “up-and-comer” for the Royals, giving them a very nice core of young players along with a guy named George Brett, among others.
In 1977 he followed up with yet another nice season, hitting .292 with 100 hits in 342 at-bats, collecting 23 doubles and six triples over 106 games, avoiding the “sophomore jinx”.
Sadly for him however, the bottom seemed to drop out from under him in 1978 when he fell to a .216 batting average in 80 games, collecting just 44 hits in 204 at-bats for the Western Division champs, and while he did bounce-back in 1979 with a .311 average, it was only after he was traded to the Boston Red Sox for “Boomer” George Scott that he got it going, and that was in only 63 games through the end of the year.
He’d spend all of 1980 in the Minors before coming back in 1981, but for only 33 games split between the Red Sox and Texas Rangers, before playing out his career with two dozen games in 1982 back where it all started, Kansas City, hitting .145 before calling it a career after parts of seven seasons.
He’d finish with a .268 average, with 329 hits over 1226 at-bats in 452 games, scoring 127 runs while driving in 136, but never maintaining that early promise shown in 1976 and 1977.

Thursday, April 4, 2019

NO-HITTERS SPECIAL SUB-SET: NOLAN RYAN. SEPTEMBER 28TH, 1974

The next no-hitter through the 1970’s profiled on the blog is the third such gem spun by the legend himself, Nolan Ryan, who reeled off another masterpiece, this time against the Minnesota Twins on September 28th, 1974:


“I knew this would probably be my last start of the season,” remarked California Angels speedballer Nolan Ryan. “I said to [catcher] Tom Egan , ‘I think I’ll let it all hang out. What do I have to lose?’”
Ha!
Having already thrown two no-hitters in 1973, Ryan came back and added to what would become one of the legendary careers in Major League baseball by striking out 15 batters (while also walking eight), keeping the Twins hitless for the third no-no in two seasons.
Just incredible.
And yet, little did any of us realize that the man would not only throw another FOUR no-hitters before he was done, but that the seventh and final no-hitter of his astonishing career would be SEVENTEEN years after this one, in 1991.
I mean, where do you even begin to explain to someone not familiar with baseball just how extraordinary this is?!
“The Ryan Express” is not of this earth!

Wednesday, April 3, 2019

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1971 TIM HOSLEY

Here’s a “not so missing” 1971 card for former catcher Tim Hosley, who debuted in the Big Leagues with seven games for the Detroit Tigers in 1970 at the age of 23:


Hosley picked up the first two hits of his career over 12 at-bats in that brief MLB experience, but would go on to play nine seasons as a back-up catcher between 1970 and 1981.
The most action he ever saw in a season would be in 1975 when he was with the Chicago Cubs and appeared in 62 games, hitting .255 with 36 hits in 141 at-bats, pretty much setting career-highs across the board in every category.
By the time he retired, he finished with a .215 batting average with 79 hits over 368 at-bats in 208 Big League games, playing for the Tigers, Oakland A’s and Cubs.

Tuesday, April 2, 2019

MISSING IN ACTION- 1976 LUIS GOMEZ

Here’s a “missing” 1976 card for a guy who had a couple of missing inclusions in Topps sets in the 1970’s, former infielder Luis Gomez of the Minnesota Twins:


Gomez played in 89 games during the 1975 season, batting .139 (ugh) with 10 hits over 72 at-bats, scoring seven runs and driving in five.
OK, with those numbers I get why Topps left him out of the 1976 set.
But the previous year, he was coming off a rookie season of 1974 that saw him play in 82 games, with 186 plate appearances, hitting .208 with 35 hits over 168 at-bats, scoring 18 runs, which, though not stellar numbers, easily could have gotten him a card in the 1975 set, no?
Nevertheless, Gomez would go on to play eight-years in the Majors, hitting .210 over 609 games with 263 hits in 1251 at-bats for the Twins, Toronto Blue Jays and Atlanta Braves before finishing up after the 1981 season.

Monday, April 1, 2019

NICKNAMES OF THE 1970S: "DOWNTOWN" OLLIE BROWN

It’s about time I added “Downtown” Ollie Brown to the long-running “Nicknames of the 1970’s” thread, and I threw a bit of a twist by creating a 1973 edition while he was with the Oakland A’s:


Finding this image made me think it’d be fun to create the card while he was with Oakland, definitely not a team he’s closely associated with.
Nevertheless, here it is, in all that green and gold glory.
Brown had his best MLB seasons behind him at this point, when he was one of the first fan favorites for the expansion San Diego Padres from 1969 through 1972.
But his career wasn’t done yet as he would go on to play through the 1977 season, finishing up his 13-year Big League career with a .265 batting average along with 102 homers, 454 runs batted in and 964 hits over 1221 games between 1965 and 1977.
It’s amazing to realize that he retired at the age of only 33. For me it seemed like by the time he was with the Philadelphia Phillies at the end of his career he was pushing 40!

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