On the blog today, we have a "not so missing" 1975 card for former pitcher Jim Willoughby, who did manage to get into 18 games during the 1974 season but was left out of the 1975 Topps set:
Willoughby
posted a record of 1-4 over those 18 games, pitching to an earned run
average of 4.65 over 40.2 innings, starting four games along the way.
He
would actually find himself with the Boston Red Sox for the 1975
season, getting traded in October of 1974 to the St. Louis Cardinals for
Tom Heintzelman, for who he'd never suit up, before another trade in
July of 1975 to the eventual American League champs. Talk about great
timing!
He’d go on to play eight years in the Big Leagues, finishing up with a
career 26-36 record, with an ERA of 3.79 over 238 appearances, 28 of
those starts, with a shutout and 34 saves thrown in.
His best season could arguably be 1972 when he appeared in eleven games, all starts, and completed seven games, going 6-4 with an ERA of 2.36 over 87.2 innings pitched.
His best season could arguably be 1972 when he appeared in eleven games, all starts, and completed seven games, going 6-4 with an ERA of 2.36 over 87.2 innings pitched.