On the blog today, a fun card to create, my 1979 "not so missing" card for former Cincinnati Reds pitcher Mario Soto:
Soto
made his MLB debut in 1977 with the Reds in 1977, appearing in 12 games
while posting a record of 2-6 with a 5.34 earned run average over 60.2
innings.
Those numbers got him a rookie card in the 1978 set,
but after only five appearances in 1978, Topps decided to leave him out
of the 1979 set altogether.
Over those five games in 1978 Soto
went 1-0 with a 2.50 ERA in 18 innings of work, striking out 13 batters
while also walking 13.
In 1979 he'd appear in 25 games, all
out of the bullpen, going 3-2 with a 5.30 ERA and 32 K's in 37.1
innings, again walking a high amount of batters, this time 30.
It
was in 1980 that the man found his groove, becoming one of the great
strikeout pitchers in the game over the next six seasons.
In
1980 he went 10-8 over 53 games, with 12 starts, pitching 190.1 innings
and striking out 182 batters, tossing a shutout and saving four games,
while posting a 3.07 ERA.
In 1981, though cut short because of
the strike, Soto won 12 games while striking out 151 batters, tossing
three shutouts while pitching to a 3.29 ERA over 175 innings, forming a
very nice 1-2 pitching tandem with Tom Seaver, who went 14-2.
Between
1982 and 1985, Soto was a force, as he would average 15 wins a season
for the Reds while striking out 915 batters, good for a 229 season
average.
In 1982 Soto struck out 274 batters, following
up with 242 strikeouts in 1983, some serious strikeout numbers while
finishing top 10 in the Cy Young race, including a runner-up finish in
1983 behind the Philadelphia Phillies' John Denny.
Sadly, arm
injuries set in during the 1986 season, and though still only 29 years
of age, he'd appear in only 19 games that year, followed by six in 1987
and 14 in 1988, retiring soon after at 31.
He finished his 12
year career with a record of 11-92, with a 3.47 ERA and 13 shutouts over
297 games and 1730.1 innings, striking out 1449 batters, making three
All-Star games.
A very nice MLB career cut short by injuries.
