Monday, April 3, 2023

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION: 1979 ELROD HENDRICKS

Today on the blog, we have a sweet "not so missing" 1979 card for catcher Elrod Hendricks, who was winding down a nice 12-year Major League career at this point:


Elrod would appear in only 12 games for the Baltimore Orioles during the 1978 season, followed by one single game in 1979, thus closing out a career that spanned 1968 through 1979.
Over his career he played in 711 games, with 415 hits in 1888 at-bats, giving him a .220 lifetime average with 205 runs and 230 runs batted in, playing on two World Champion teams: the 1970 Baltimore Orioles and 1977 New York Yankees.
Post-playing career, Hendricks would go on to be the longest serving coach in Baltimore history, putting in 28 years as the bullpen coach before a stroke in 2005 ended that run.
A true baseball "lifer" that became a fan favorite personality within the Oriole organization right up until his death in December of 2005, one day before his 65th birthday.