Thursday, June 17, 2021

AIRBRUSHING THROUGH THE 1970's: 1977 DAVE PAGAN

About four years ago I redesigned the 1977 Dave Pagan card to show a photo of him suited up with the Seattle Mariners, making up for the Topps' issued airbrush classic. But today I thought it'd be fun to take a closer look at the original, so here goes:



Pagan originally came up with the New York Yankees in 1973 and played with them through the 1976 season before being traded as part of a blockbuster 10-player trade on June 15th that included Rick Dempsey, Tippy Martinez, Ken Holtzman and Doyle Alexander.
After 20 appearances with the Orioles the second half of 1976, he found himself as one of the original Mariners in 1977, appearing in 24 games, all but four out of the bullpen and posting a 1-1 record with a 6.14 earned run average over 66 innings.
But on July 27th of that season he found himself on the move yet again, this time to the Pittsburgh Pirates, for whom he’d play one game, the last game of his MLB career, pitching three innings of scoreless ball with four strikeouts.
After two years in the Pirates Minor League system in 1978 & 1979, he was out of pro ball for good, leaving the game with a 4-9 record along with a 4.96 E.R.A., 147 strikeouts and four saves over 85 appearances, 18 of them starts.