NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1972 JIM PANTHER

On the blog today, a “not so missing” 1972 card for three-year MLB pitcher Jim Panther, who never did get a Topps card over his brief Big League tenure:

After giving him a “missing” 1973 card a few years ago here on the blog, I came across this great photo of him marking his MLB debut in 1971 while with the Oakland A’s.
Panther appeared in four games for the A’s that season, going 0-1 with an ERA of 11.12 in 5.2 innings of work, all four games coming out of the bullpen.
In 1972 Panther appeared in 58 games, good for 93.2 innings of work, going 5-9 with a 4.13 earned run average, and even started four games. So why he didn't get a slot in the 1973 set is beyond me.
After moving on to Atlanta in 1973, Panther didn't fair too well, as he ended up 2-3 with a bloated 7.63 E.R.A., spread out over 23 games.
As it turned out, by season's end his pro playing days were done, and from what I gather online he went on to coach some High School ball in Libertyville, Illinois.
All told Panther ended up with a 7-13 career record, with a 5.26 E.R.A. and 56 strikeouts over 130 innings of work in 85 games.

DEDICATED ROOKIE- 1970 RALPH GARR

Time to go and give former batting champ Ralph Garr, aka the “Road Runner” a 1970 “dedicated rookie” in my long-running thread, celebrating the man’s wonderful 13-year Big League career:

Garr broke into the Majors with 11 games in 1968, followed by 22 and 37 games respectively in 1969 and 1970 before becoming a full-time player in 1971 and immediately making an impact, collecting 219 hits and batting .343 with 101 runs scored and 30 stolen bases for the Atlanta Braves.
He would just continue to hit, eventually leading the league in batting in 1974 when he hit a career high .353 with 214 hits and 17 triples, getting named to the All-Star team for the only time in his career.
Garr put together a very nice 13-year career playing for the Braves, White Sox and California Angels, batting .306 with 1562 hits over 5108 at-bats in 1317 games.
As for “Road Runner” nickname, Garr did steal 172 bases during his career with a high of 35 in 1973, but I’ll guess it was a nom-de-plume that was stuck to him in the minors where he swiped as many as 63 bases in a season, that number happening in 1969 with Richmond of the International League.
Not too shabby a professional career!

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1974 GEOFF ZAHN

Up on the blog today we have a 1974 “not so missing” card for former pitcher Geoff Zahn, who made his Big League debut during the 1973 season:

Zahn appeared in six games for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1973, going 1-0 with a sparkling 1.356 earned run average over 13.1 innings of work.
He’d be back in 1974 and give the eventual National League champs a solid 21 appearances, finishing up with a record of 3-5 with an ERA of 2.03 in 79.2 innings, with ten of those appearances starts.
He’d have a rough next couple of years, even finding himself traded to the Chicago Cubs in 1975 with Eddie Solomon for Burt Hooton, appearing in a combined 21 games going 2-9 with an ERA around 5.00.
In 1977 he’d find himself with the Minnesota Twins, and over the next eight years he’d become a dependable starter for them as well as the California Angels, who he’ll join in 1981 and have his best MLB season for a year later.
In 1982, while the Angels chugged to a Western Division title, Zahn posted a career best 18 wins along with four shutouts over 34 starts, completing 12 games and pitching 229.1 innings.
He’d win a combined 22 games for the Angels over the next two years before having one final down season in 1985 at the age of 39 when he posted a record of 2-2 with a 4.38 ERA over seven appearances, calling it a career by season’s end.
All told, he finished with a record of 111-109 over 304 appearances, with a 3.74 ERA and 20 shutouts over 1849 innings pitched between 1973 and 1985, completing 79 of 270 starts along the way.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1972 DENNIS O'TOOLE

On the blog today is a “not so missing” 1972 card for a man who had an interesting Major League career, former pitcher Dennis O’Toole, who put in parts of five seasons under the Big League sun yet never had a decision:

O’Toole, who was the younger brother of another MLB pitcher, former Cincinnati hurler Jim, appeared in one single game during the 1971 season, pitching two innings of scoreless ball for the Chicago White Sox with two strikeouts.
That 1971 season was the middle-year of his five year tenure in the Bigs, as he would appear in 15 games between 1969 and 1973, all for the White Sox, pitching 30.1 innings, yet never factor in a decision.
After two seasons in the Minors in 1974 and 1975 he called it a career, finishing up with no decisions and a 5.04 ERA over those 15 games, striking out 22 batters while walking 10.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1979 DOUG CAPILLA

Up on the blog today, a “not so missing” 1979 card for former pitcher Doug Capilla, who had a rough season in 1978, appearing in only six games and getting hit hard at that:

Capilla went 0-1 over those six games, with a bloated 9.82 earned run average over 11 innings of work, allowing 14 hits and 11 walks with 12 earned runs. Ouch.
In 1979 he’d start the season in Cincinnati, but on May 3rd would get traded to the Chicago Cubs for a player to be named later.
He’d find better success with the Cubs and end up pitching the last two and a half seasons of his career for them, finishing up with a career 12-18 record over 136 appearances, with a 4.34 ERA over 292.1 innings, with 31 of those appearances starts between 1976 and 1981.
His best season in the Big Leagues would have to be 1977, when he split the year between the St. Louis Cardinals and Reds, going 7-8 over 24 appearances, 16 of them starts, with a 4.47 ERA and the only complete game of his career.

WTHBALLS SERIES ONE PACK NOW AVAILABLE!

OK everyone! Here we go!
Now available, my 1st Series 15-card pack of customs, with Rod Carew insert and "wthballs" sticker. Limited run. $10 a pack, $4.50 shipping (1st Class/Trking). Please email me: slogun23@gmail.com to order! No extra shipping if you buy more than one!
I've selected 15 random cards I created over the years for the blog, and will (hopefully) do so every month as long as I can, with a new glossy insert as well.
Backs are fully printed as well, though with a few tweaks/modifications (see images).
Again, please email me at slogun23@gmail.com to order, this way I can keep everything in order and track easier.
Thanks!

MISSING IN ACTION- 1979 WORLD SERIES GAME 1

Time to begin the process of “righting” the wrong that is a missing World Series sub-set in the 1979 Topps set, beginning with game one, as the Los Angeles Dodgers trounced the New York Yankees 11-5 in L.A.:

The star of the game was Davey Lopes, who went 2-for-5 at the plate with two homers and five runs batted in, giving the Dodgers an opening win as they tried to avenge their loss to the Yanks the previous season.
The Dodgers jumped on starter Ed Figueroa and drove him out of the game with two outs in the second inning, as he gave up five hits and a walk in that brief outing.
For the Dodgers, starter Tommy John was solid, pitching into the eighth inning and giving up three earned runs in 7 and two-thirds, with four strikeouts and two walks, with Terry Forster coming in for the inning and a third relief effort to close it out.
On to Game 2!!

1977 MARINERS RE-DO: LARRY COX

Time to add former catcher Larry Cox to my on-going thread of “fixing” all of the Seattle Mariner and Toronto Blue Jays airbrushed cards from the 1977 set:

Now, not that I really hate the original airbrushed cards. Since that was the first year I truly collected cards they have a special place in my heart.
However since I’m finding these nice images of the players in their respective uniforms I figured it’d be fun to have an updated set.
For those that don’t remember, here’s the original as released by the fine folks at Topps:

Though he wouldn’t get his first baseball card until the 1977 set, he did actually get some playing time in the Majors in 1973, 1974 and 1975, all with the Phillies.
He’d see his most action in 1979 & 1980 while with the Seattle Mariners, appearing in over 100 games for the only two times in his career.
Nevertheless, Cox would play nine years in the big leagues, finishing up after the 1982 season with a .221 batting average based on 182 hits in 825 at-bats over 348 games, most with Seattle.

1971 SPECIAL- THE GREAT JOHNNY BENCH TAKES OVER THE BASEBALL WORLD

Today’s blog post has a card I just had to create once I came across this classic photo of all-time legend Johnny Bench. Take a look-see:

I’ve always been in awe of the man, and his historic 1970 season made for a perfect 1971 “special” celebrating his explosion onto Major League stardom, on his way to the Hall of Fame and all-time greatest catcher status.
Just think, at the age of only 22 he was already a Rookie of the Year and a Most Valuable Player, and was already in discussion as one of the great back-stops the game ever saw.
And why not when you consider he was coming off a 1970 season that saw him hit .293 with a league-leading 45 home runs and 148 runs batted in.
Oh yes, and he already took home the third of what would be ten Gold Gloves for his amazing defensive efforts while making his third All-Star team in three full seasons.
As a kid growing up in the 1970’s, the name “Johnny Bench” was just God-like.
Hope you enjoy these “specials”, because I love creating them!

MINOR LEAGUE DAYS- ROBERTO CLEMENTE

The second player up in my new “Minor League Days” 1971 sub-set is the all-time great Roberto Clemente, “The Great One”,  showing him as a member of the Montreal Royals, for whom he suited up for one season in 1954 before embarking on his Hall of Famer career:

Clemente hit .257 over 87 games for Montreal as a 19-year-old, scoring 27 runs and driving in 12 with a stolen base for the Brooklyn Dodgers affiliate.
Of course, in November of 1954 the Pittsburgh Pirates made one of the all-time greatest moves when they purchased Clemente in the Rule 5 Draft, having him become one of the greatest, if not THE greatest player in franchise history.  
Clemente's career is the stuff of legend: His fiery play on the field, his good deeds, and his absolute adoration by teammates and fans alike.
On the field Clemente's numbers were incredible: four batting titles, five seasons batting over .340, four 200 hit seasons, 12 all-star nods, 12 Gold Gloves and a Most Valuable Player Award in 1966.
Throw in his 3000 hits, 1416 runs scored and 1305 runs batted in and you see how the man was a lethal threat at the plate.
And a prime example of Clemente's importance to the game was his immediate induction into Cooperstown by special committee in 1973, waiving the standard five-year wait before a player joins the Hall ballot, as well as the establishment of the "Roberto Clemente Award", given every year to the player that exemplified "outstanding baseball playing skills who is personally involved in community work."
Just an amazing human being.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1970 JIM BREAZEALE

Time to go and give former Atlanta Braves first baseman Jim Breazeale a “not so missing” 1970 card based on his MLB debut of two games during the 1969 season:

Breazeale went 1-for-3 at the plate in his Big League debut, including two base on balls as a September call-up as a 19-year-old out of Houston, Texas.
He’d spend all of 1970 in the Minors before making it back in 1971, hitting .190 over the course of ten games, collecting four hits in 21 at-bats including a home run with three RBIs.
He did have a Topps card in the 1973 set after having the most playing time of his short 4-year career in 1972.
That season he played in 52 games, batting .247 over 85 at-bats, collecting 21 hits, a couple of doubles and five home runs with 17 RBI's.
Breazeale, who hadn't appeared in Major League action since 1972 when he was with the Atlanta Braves, made it back to the Majors in 1978 and hit .208 with 15 hits over 72 at-bats with three doubles, three home runs and 13 runs batted in for the Chicago White Sox.
That 1978 action with the White Sox would prove to be the final time he saw on a Major League field, closing out his career with a .223 average, with 40 hits over 179 at-bats, with nine homers  and 33 RBI's thrown in.

A NOT SO MISSING 1977 CAREER-CAPPER FOR ROGER NELSON

Up on the blog today we have a career-capping 1977 card for former pitcher Roger Nelson, aka “Spider”, who played the last of his Major League games during the 1976 season:

Nelson appeared in three games for the Kansas City Royals in 1976, not factoring in a decision while pitching to a very nice 2.08 earned run average over 8.2 innings.
His finest MLB season was 1972 during his first stint with the Royals, when he posted a record of 11-6 with an excellent 2.08 ERA with six shutouts over 34 appearances, 19 of them starts.
What made the season really impressive is that he posted the lowest WHIP of any pitcher through the Greg Maddux years a couple of decades later when he finished with a WHIP of 0.871, allowing only 31 walks and 120 hits over his 173.1 innings.
I was always fascinated by this out-of-nowhere year for a relatively unknown pitcher, especially when this happened during the era of Tom Seaver, Jim Palmer, Steve Carlton et. al.
All told, he finished with a career 29-32 record, with a very nice 3.06 ERA over 135 appearances and 636.1 innings, with seven shutouts and four saves.
Half of his career 20 complete games and all but one of his career shutouts were during that magic run of 1972 when he had it running on all cylinders.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1973 ROGER REPOZ

Today’s blog post has a “not so missing” career-capping 1973 card for Roger Repoz, who closed out a nine-year Big League career with three games for the California Angels in 1972:

Repoz went 1-for-3 at the plate for the Halos, finishing his Major League tenure with a .224 average over 831 games and 2145 at-bats, spanning 1964 through 1972.
Over that time he collected 480 hits, while hitting 82 homers and driving in 260 runs, with 257 runs scored playing for the New York Yankees (1964-1966), Kansas City Athletics (1966-1967), and Angels (1967- 1972).
He’d show some pop in his bat during the “dead-ball” 1960’s, having a few Minor League seasons of 20+ homers, but he never got a full season of action under his belt during his career, with the most being in 1966 when he split the season between the Yankees and Athletics, appearing in 138 games with 418 plate appearances, hitting 11 homers with 43 RBIs.

1979 MISSING IN ACTION- AMERICAN LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

Time to add the American League Championship series to the newly designed 1979 missing postseason sub-set, following the National League counterpart from last week:

Over in the American League, the New York Yankees once again defeated the upstart Kansas City Royals for a third straight season, heading to the World Series once again to meet the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Yankees took the series 3 games to 1, with Ron Guidry supplying the series-clincher in a 2-1 win at the Stadium on October 7th.
Reggie Jackson led the way for the Yanks, hitting .462 with two homers and six runs batted in, with Mickey Rivers and Chris Chambliss also reaching .400.
On the Kansas City side, George Brett and Amos Otis did their best to bring an American League championship to K.C., hitting .389 and .429 respectively, with Brett also supplying the muscle, hitting three homers and scoring seven runs.
So the tables were set for yet another NY-LA match-up, and beginning next week we’ll go through each game with a highlight card, in full color.
Stay tuned!

MINOR LEAGUE DAYS- WILLIE MAYS

Today on the blog I present a new thread idea I’m excited about creating, my “Minor League Days” 1971 sub-set, beginning with the great Willie Mays:

I picked the 1971 year because of the great blend of “old” and “new-up and coming” stars, so it will make for a great set when it is all said and done.
Before beginning what would be one of the great Major League Baseball careers, the “Say Hey Kid” played 35 games for Minneapolis Millers in 1951 and hit a scorching .477 over 35 games, going an insane 71-for 149 at the plate with 18 doubles, three triples and eight home runs.
He also scored 38 runs while driving in 30, with an on-base-percentage of .524 and slugging .799, totaling 119 bases in those 35 games!
Needless to say, he was ready to make his impact on the Big Leagues, and would get his chance that same year, earning National League Rookie of the Year.
I’m really psyched about working on this thread, and already have a couple dozen stars ready to be created, shown during their Minor League days.
Keep an eye out for them!

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1976 DON WERNER

On the blog today we have a “not so missing” 1976 card for former Cincinnati reds catcher Don Werner, a poor bastard who happened to have the same position on the same team as perhaps the greatest catcher of them all, Johnny Bench:

Werner made his Big League debut at the age of 22 and went 1-for-8 at the plate, good for a .125 batting average over seven games.
He’d appear in only three games during the 1976 season, going 2-for-4 at the plate with a double and run batted in with some time behind the plate.
Werner actually saw substantial playing time in 1978, appearing in 50 games for Cincinnati, with 17 hits over 113 at-bats, for a .150 batting average with 11 runs batted in and seven runs scored.
Actually not a bad hits-to-RBI ratio!
Anyway, he would not see Major League action in 1979 though would make it back in 1980 before moving on to the Texas Rangers in 1981 and 1982.
For his seven year career Werner hit .176 with 49 hits in 279 at-bats over 118 games, all while catching behind the plate.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1979 RORIC HARRISON

Fun card to add to the blog today, my “not so missing” 1979 card for former pitcher Roric Harrison, who made it back on a Big League mound in 1978 after a couple of seasons toiling in the Minors:

Harrison appeared in nine games for the Minnesota Twins in 1978, going 0-1 with a 7.50 earned run average over 12 innings of work.
It was his firs MLB action since finishing the 1975 season with the Cleveland Indians after starting the campaign with the Atlanta Braves.
Sadly for him however, it would also be his last taste of the Big Show, retiring at the end of the season at the age of only 31.
Originally up in 1972 as a member of the Baltimore Orioles, Harrison ended up with a career record of 30-35 over 140 appearances, sporting an ERA of 4.24 and collecting 10 saves along the way in parts of five seasons.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1971 JORGE ROQUE

On the blog today we have a “not so missing” 1971 for former St. Louis Cardinal outfielder Jorge Roque, who made his MLB debut in 1970 with five games:

Roque went 0-1 at the plate with two runs scored in that brief time, and would go on to play in only three games the following season, hitting an even .300 when he collected three hits in 10 at-bats.
He’d play in 32 games during the 1972 season, sadly for him the most action he’d see in any of his four Big League years, hitting .104 with seven hits in 67 at-bats with three runs scored.
In 1973 he found himself North of the border with the Montreal Expos, which would end up being the last Major League action he’d see, hitting .212 over 61 at-bats with nine hits and seven runs scored in 25 games.
After his brief time in the Majors he’d go on to put another six seasons in the Mexican League, playing for a few different teams before retiring for good at the age of only 29 in 1979.
All told, his MLB tenure finished with a career .137 batting average, with 19 hits in 139 at-bats over 65 games between 1970 and 1973.

TRADED- 1976 DARRELL EVANS

Time to add a 1976 “traded” card for former slugger Darrell Evans to the mix, reflecting his trade form the Atlanta Braves to the San Francisco Giants in June of 1976:

Evans and Marty Perez were sent West for a parcel that included Willie Montanez, Jake Brown, Mike Eden and Craig Robinson, with San Fran certainly getting the better part of the deal as Evans would play for them through the 1983 season, making an All-Star team and hitting 20 or more homers three times, with a high of 30 in 1983.
Of course, little did we know he would just keep on bopping and become the first player to hit 40 homers in each league when he’d lead the American league in 1985 at the age of 38 with 40.
In 1987, at the age of 40, he would blast 34 homers with 99 RBI’s and 100 walks for Detroit, easily one of the best age-40 season we’ve seen come along.
By the time he retired, he would hit 414 home runs, while hitting .248 with two all-star game berths in 2687 games and over 10000 plate appearances.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1973 CHARLIE WILLIAMS

On the blog to start off the new week is a “not so missing” 1973 card for former pitcher Charlie Williams, the man that was traded by the New York Mets for Willie Mays:

Williams didn’t have such a great season for the Giants in 1972, appearing in only three games and going 0-2 with a dreadful 8.68 earned run average over 9.1 innings.
His 1973 season wasn’t all that much better, even though he did post a record of 3-0 over 12 appearances, with a slightly “better” ERA of 6.65 over 23 innings of work.
Turns out he would end up pitching seven years for the Giants after that one year in Flushing, generally an arm out of the bullpen with some solid years in the middle of the decade.
By the time he retired after the 1978 season at the age of 30, he finished his Big League career with a record of 23-22 over 268 appearances, with an ERA of 3.97 with four saves in 573.1 innings.

1979 MISSING IN ACTION- NATIONAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

Well here’s something I’ve been meaning to get to for years now: rectifying Topps omission of the 1978 Post-Season in their 1979 set, beginning with an all-encompassing card for the Championship Series in each league, with today the National League. Take a look:

For the second year in a row the Philadelphia Phillies were facing the Los Angeles Dodgers, with the Dodgers winning the previous year on their way to the World Series.
Sadly for the City of Brotherly Love, the result would end up being the same as the Dodgers would go on to win three games to one, culminated by a dramatic 10-inning walk-off win in Game 4, which you see depicted on the card here.
On the flip side, as you all know, 1978 would repeat 1977 for the Dodgers yet again, this time with them losing against the New York Yankees in the World Series for a second year in a row.
But they’d get their revenge a few years later when they’d face the Bronx Bombers in 1981, this time beating them and taking home their first championship since 1965.
Coming up next week, the American League Championship Series card that “never was”, followed by one card each for each game of the 1978 World Series.

FOR FUN-ANOTHER 1977 REDO FOR JESSE JEFFERSON

Came across this nice photo of former pitcher Jesse Jefferson suited up for the Chicago White Sox and figured it would be fun to “re-do” his 1977 card yet again, showing him with his 1976 team.
I already did a re-do of sorts a couple of years ago when I redesigned his airbrushed 1977 original as issued by Topps with an actual photo of him as a Toronto Blue Jay.
So here, in order, is the White Sox version for today, the original by Topps,  and the re-done Blue Jay version I created a few years back:

Jefferson was drafted by the Blue Jays from the Chicago White Sox in the Expansion Draft, for whom he pitched in 1976 and part of the 1975 season.
In the first season of Major League play for Toronto, he pitched pretty well, posting an earned run average of 4.31 with eight complete games over 33 starts, with 217 innings pitched.
Of course, as with any club just starting out, he wouldn’t get any support as evidenced by his final record of 9-17.
He would put together a nine-year career in the Big Leagues, finishing with a record of 29-81 along with an E.R.A. of 4.81 over 237 appearances, 144 of those starts, with four shutouts and 522 strikeouts in 1085.1 innings pitched.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1976 HAL BREEDEN

Up on the blog today we have a “not so missing” 1976 career-capper of sorts for former Montreal Expos first baseman Hal Breeden:

Turns out Breeden’s Major league career was already over by the time this card would have come out, having appeared in 24 games during the 1975 season, his last.
Over those 24 games Breeden hit .135 with five hits in 37 at-bats, with four runs scored and an RBI, with seven base-on-balls thrown in for good measure.
He spent five seasons in the Big Leagues, hitting .243 in that time, with 148 hits in 608 at-bats over 273 games, playing for Montreal and the Chicago Cubs between 1971 and 1975.
In 1976 he took his talents to Japan, where he immediately saw success, hitting 40 home runs with 92 RBIs for Hanshin, followed by another 37 “jacks” in 1977, with 90 RBIs.
After a mediocre year in 1978, he came back to the States where he played in the Inter-American League for Miami, appearing in 60 games before retiring for good as an active player.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1975 JOHN FULLER

Really happy to add this to my uber-long line of “not so missing” cards, a 1975 edition of three-game Major League outfielder John Fuller, whose entire Big League career was a few days in May of 1974:

Definitely a tough player to find an image for, hence the non-Topps photo used for this custom. Fuller made his MLB debut on my 5th birthday, May 9th of 1974, and proceeded to go 1-for-3 at the plate in his three game career with a run scored. However, as far as I can tell, he was back in the Minors shortly after and decided to call it a career after 1974, never playing Pro ball again. He spent his entire seven-year professional career in the Atlanta Braves organization, with only those three games in the Spring of 1974 under the sweet Big League sun.

A 1978 DO-OVER FOR PAT SCANLON

Came across a nice photo of Pat Scanlon with the San Diego Padres and figured it’d make a great “do-over” for his classic 1978 airbrush job, so here we go:

And for those who don’t remember what the original was like, allow me:

Not the worst airbrush job by Topps in the 1970’s to be honest, but anytime I come across a solid Topps image of a player suited up in the correct uni, why not?
Ironically, Pat Scanlon would never play in the Major Leagues again after the 1977 season, closing out a 4-year career that saw him suit up for the Montreal Expos between 1974-1976, and the San Diego Padres in 1977.
He finished with a .187 career average with 41 hits in 219 at-bats over 120 games between 1974 and 1977, scoring 17 runs while driving in 38 with four homers, with the 1975 season the only campaign where he saw significant playing time, with 60 games and 126 plate appearances for Montreal.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1976 BOMBO RIVERA

Up on the blog today we have a “not so missing” 1976 card for former Montreal Expos outfielder Bombo Rivera, who made his Big League debut in 1975 with five games:

Rivera hit .111 in that brief time up in the Majors, going 1-for-nine with a run scored while also collecting two base on balls.
He would play in 68 games in 1976 for the Expos, hitting a very respectable .276 with 51 hits over 185 at-bats, with 22 runs scored and 19 RBIs.
After a full 1977 season in the Minors, he was back in the Majors for 1978, now with the Minnesota Twins, where he would play over the next three seasons, hitting .271, .281 and .221 before spending all of 1981 in the Minors again.
In 1982, still only 29 years of age, he was back in the Big Leagues, though now with the Kansas City Royals, where he’d appear in only five games, the last five of his career it turned out, as he’d hit .100 with one hit over 10 at-bats.
Far from retiring, he took his talents to both Japan and Mexico, where he ended up playing another six seasons, through 1988, finally retiring as an active player.
Overall, for his MLB career, he finished with a .265 average over 335 games, with 220 hits in 831 at-bats, with 109 runs scored and 83 RBIs between 1975 and 1982.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1977 KEN RUDOLPH

Time to add my “not so missing” 1977 card of former catcher Ken Rudolph to the blog today, showing him as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals, for whom he suited up in 1976:

He appeared in only 27 games during the Bicentennial year, hitting .160 with eight hits in 50 at-bats, with a run scored and five runs batted in.
Rudolph played the first five years of his career with the Chicago Cubs, coming up during that tumultuous 1969 season, and would see the bulk of his MLB action with the organization.
Never more than a back-up catcher, he would see the most of his MLB action between 1972 and 1974, appearing in 173 of his career 328 Big League games, playing for the Cubs, Giants, St. Louis Cardinals and Orioles.
By the time he retired after the 1977 season when he split the season between the San Francisco Giants and Baltimore Orioles, he finished with a career average of .213, with 158 hits in 743 at-bats, along with 64 runs batted in and 55 runs scored with six homers thrown in.

FANTASY 1972 TRADED CARD- RUSTY STAUB

Been a long time coming to create this, but I finally got around to adding a 1972 “Traded” card for Rusty Staub to the two “missing” base cards I created seven years ago on the blog:

As we all know, Rusty Staub had contractual problems with Topps in the early '70's, and was excluded from the 1972 and 1973 baseball card sets.
He was traded by Montreal to New York on April 5th of 1972, and it's worth mentioning that this was a pretty decent trade for both teams, as Staub was sent to Flushing in exchange for Ken Singleton, Tim Foli and Mike Jorgensen. All players contributed admirably for their new teams in the next few years after the swap.
Lost in the crowd that was Rose, Bench, Jackson, Carew, etc. was this player who built a 23 year career, finishing up with over 2700 hits, 292 homers, 1466 R.B.I.'s, and six all-star appearances.
He started out as a 19 year old kid in Houston in 1963 and went on to play for Montreal, Detroit, Texas  and the New York Mets for two stints, with whom he retired with after the 1985 season.
And for those last five seasons with the Mets, he became one of the top pinch-hitters in the game and endeared himself to the Met faithful, even opening up a couple of well-liked restaurants in NYC along the way.
A few little "extras" about his career: Staub is one of three players (along with Ty Cobb and Gary Sheffield) to hit home runs as a teenager and as a 40-year old, and he is also the only player to amass 500 hits with four different teams (Astros, Mets, Expos and Tigers).
He was also the first player to play all 162 games in a season strictly as a Designated Hitter, which was for Detroit in 1978.
Seeing that the most support he ever received for the Hall was 7.9% in 1994 is a bit disappointing, to say the least.

1975 IN-ACTION: DON MONEY

Time to add former All-Star infielder Don Money to my long-running 1975 “In-Action” thread, as he was smack in the middle of a very nice 16-year Major League career:

Money was coming off of his first All-Star season of 1974, a year that also saw him set a new record of 78 straight games at third base without an error.
One thing I never realized is that he was the starting second baseman for the American League in the 1978 All-Star game, yet ended up playing more games at first base that year.
The man was versatile to say the least!
He wasn’t all defense however, as he’d hit as many as 25 home runs in a season (1977), as well as collect as many as 178 hits (1974) during his career.
The four-time all-star would retire after the 1983 season with 1623 hits, 176 homers and 798 runs scored over 1720 games.

A LITTLE PICK-ME-UP FOR TODAY! 1973 MIKE SCHMIDT PROTO-TYPE CARDS ARE IN!

So I found a great new printer that fits my "needs" for some stuff I have in mind, and I got my little "test run" today and am psyched! It was a rough test but now I know what they can do, so this is great news for anyone that was hoping I'd eventually print-up some of my creations from this blog.
Check it out:

Not too bad huh?
Professionally printed on true card stock in actual size!
And so reasonably priced!
So keep an eye out here for some ideas I have bouncing around my head: Packs? Sets? Single-offerings? I don't know yet. But you can be sure I'll be figuring it all out as soon as I can!
If anyone wants to pick this proto-type up, please email me at: slogun23@gmail.com and you can grab one for $3 postpaid in a plain white envelope. If you buy more than one I'll discount even more!
But email me so I can keep this organized...
More info on this new development as it comes!

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1975 BOB GEBHARD

On the blog today, we have a career-capping” not-so-missing 1975 card for former Montreal Expos pitcher Bob Gebhard, who saw the last of his Big League action in 1974:

Gebhard, whose only other Major League time was with the Minnesota Twins in 1971 and 1972, spent the 1973 season in the Minors before making it back North of the border with Montreal, appearing in a single game and tossing two innings.
In those two innings of work he gave up five hits, one of them a home run, for a 4.50 earned run average in a relief role.
He would spend all of 1975 in the Montreal Minor Leagues, having a decent year out of the bullpen, going 4-3 with a nice 2.67 ERA over 44 appearances and 64 innings, but even though still only 32 years of age, he retired at year’s end.
All told, his Big League time amounted to a record of 1-3, with a 5.93 ERA over 31 appearances and 41 innings pitched, picking up a save and striking out 26 in parts of three seasons.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- TERRY CROWLEY

Let’s go and give 15-year Major League veteran Terry Crowley a “not so missing” 1977 card shall we, after being left out of the Topps set that year:

Crowley split the 1976 season between the Atlanta Braves and Baltimore Orioles, hitting a combined .224 with 15 hits over 67 at-bats after spending the previous two years with the “Big Red Machine” Cincinnati Reds.
His Big League career spanned between 1969 and 1983, having the incredible luck of playing for both the 1970 Baltimore Orioles and 1975 Cincinnati Reds, the two top-winning teams of the 1970’s and World Champions.
For his career, Crowley hit .250 with 379 hits in 1518 at-bats, with 42 homers and 229 runs batted in over 865 games playing for the Orioles, Reds, Atlanta Braves and Montreal Expos.
Never more than a fill-in/pinch hitter, Crowley never had more than 283 plate appearances in any one season through his career, with only two years of more than 200.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1974 RICH CHILES

Up on the blog today we have a “not so missing” 1974 card for former outfielder Rich Chiles, who moved on to the New York Mets in 1973 after his first two seasons with the Houston Astros:

Chiles only appeared in eight games for the Mets that year, hitting .120 with three hits (two of them doubles) over 25 at-bats while scoring two and driving in one.
He would go on to play the entire 1974 and 1975 seasons in the Minors before making it back to the Big Leagues in 1976 with, you guessed it, the Astros again, though only appearing in five games, going 2-for-4 at the plate.
1977 and 1978 saw him now suiting up for the Minnesota Twins, where he saw substantial playing time, getting into 108 and 87 games respectively, hitting a combined .267 while playing the corner outfield spots.
Sadly for him however, all that got him was two seasons in the Minors in 1979/80 playing for the Cleveland and Pittsburgh organizations before retiring at the age of 30.
All told, his playing career lasted parts of six years, hitting .254 with 157 hits in 618 at-bats over 284 games between 1971 and 1978, with 68 runs scored and 76 RBIs.