For no particular reason, I thought it'd be fun to revisit an old blog post from 2014, where I created a nifty 1972 "Nickname" card for former pitcher John "Blue Moon" Odom:
It
was the very first 1972 nickname card I created for the blog, and I was
really happy with the result, with splashes of color shooting out at
you from every angle!
Here's the original write-up I had to accompany the card:
"Odom spent all or parts of 12 of his 13 Major League seasons with
the A's organization: the first four when they were still in Kansas City
(1964-1967), and the next eight in Oakland.
I used a 1972 template for him since 1972 was his best season in
the 1970's, as he posted a 15-6 record with a 2.50 E.R.A. And two
shutouts over 30 starts.
After that season his career sort of went downhill from there,
finding himself playing for Oakland, Cleveland, Atlanta and the Chicago
White Sox all in 1975 and 1976.
However, as I profiled in one of my "Highlights of the 1970's" a
little while back on this blog, one of his last Major League starts, in
1976 as a member of the White Sox, was a combined no-hitter against the
Oakland A's (ironically enough), along with
teammate Francisco Barrios.
By the time he wrapped up his career after 1976, he posted an 84-85
record, with a 3.70 earned run average, 15 shutouts and 857 strikeouts
over 295 games, 229 of which were starts.
And he also left us with one of the best nicknames of the era, along with former teammates "Catfish" Hunter and "Mudcat" Grant."