REVISITING A 10-YEAR OLD POST: MISSING 1973 ART KUSNYER

Hello all!

On the blog today, revisiting one of my early "missing" player cards from the blog, a 1973 "missing in action" card for catcher Art Kusnyer, whom I would create a few more missing cards through the 1970s before I was done:

Here's the original write-up from that post, dating April 19th, 2014:

Today's "missing" Topps card from the 1970's features a player who did appear on a multi-player rookie card in 1972, but was left out of the 1973 set even after some decent playing time the year before: Angels catcher Art Kusnyer.

Kusnyer was yet another of those players I read about in a SABR article that spoke of guys who posted the most career at-bats or innings pitched who were not represented on a Topps card (in this case, a card of their own).

Kusnyer came up for a cup-of-coffee in 1970 with the White Sox after getting picked in the 37th round of the 1966 amateur draft.

After four games and ten at-bats with Chicago in 1970, he was traded to California in March of 1971 for a couple of minor players, appearing in only six games for the season.

However 1972 would fare much better for the young catcher, as he would go on to play in a career high 64 games, good for 198 plate appearances.

For the year he batted .207, getting 37 hits in 179 at-bats with two doubles, a triple and two homers.

However this wasn't enough to get him more playing time the following season, as the Angels already had Jeff Torborg and John Stephenson ahead of him in the depth chart for the position, so all Kusnyer would see as far as playing time in 1973 would be 41 games, good for 67 plate appearances and an anemic .125 batting average.

However, not all was a lost-cause for the youngster, as on July 15th of that year Kusnyer would have perhaps the biggest thrill of his Big League career, catching Nolan Ryan's second career no-hitter against the Detroit Tigers at Tiger Stadium.

But when 1974 rolled around, Kusnyer found himself struggling to find a spot for himself in the Milwaukee Brewers organization after being traded by California in October of 1973 in a nine-player swap between the two clubs.

He'd end up toiling in the Minors for the next two seasons before finding his way back into a Major League game in 1976, getting into 15 games for the Brewers, hitting .118 on four hits in 34 at-bats.

His last hurrah on the Major League level would be in 1978 with the Kansas City Royals, playing in nine games and getting three hits in 13 at-bats, good for a .231 average.

He'd scratch out another season of Minor League ball for the White Sox in 1979 before calling it a career and eventually moving into coaching work for the Sox and the Oakland A's over the next 28 years.

Nevertheless, here's yet another "missing" piece to total representation for those of us that want players who saw enough playing time in a season to get a card along the way.

 

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1974 ART KUSNYER

Up on the blog today we have the fourth "missing" card for former catcher Art Kusnyer I've created over the years, this one a 1974 edition for the guy who seemed to be overlooked by Topps year in and year out over his six year career:

 

Kusnyer appeared in 41 games for the California Angels in 1973, hitting .125 with eight hits over 64 at-bats while picking up some time behind the plate.

It was his third straight year with the Angels after coming up with the Chicago White Sox in 1970, appearing in just four games and collecting one hit over 10 at-bats.

But when 1974 rolled around, Kusnyer found himself struggling to find a spot for himself in the Milwaukee Brewers organization after being traded by California in October of 1973 in a nine-player swap between the two clubs.

He'd end up toiling in the Minors for the next two seasons before finding his way back into a Major League game in 1976, getting into 15 games for the Brewers, hitting .118 on four hits in 34 at-bats.

His last hurrah on the Major League level would be in 1978 with the Kansas City Royals, playing in nine games and getting three hits in 13 at-bats, good for a .231 average.

He'd scratch out another season of Minor League ball for the White Sox in 1979 before calling it a career and eventually moving into coaching work for the Sox and the Oakland A's over the next 28 years.

Not too shabby a career!

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1977 ART KUSNYER

Up on the blog today is my third card creation for former catcher Art Kusnyer here on the blog, this one a 1977 “not so missing” edition:

Kusnyer appeared in 15 games for the Milwaukee Brewers in 1976 after spending all of 1974 and 1975 in the Minor Leagues.
Over that limited playing time he hit .118 with four hits over 34 at-bats, with two runs scored and three runs batted in.
Kusnyer was yet another of those players I read about in a SABR article that spoke of guys who posted the most career at-bats or innings pitched who were not represented on a Topps card (in this case, a card of their own).
Kusnyer came up for a cup-of-coffee in 1970 with the White Sox after getting picked in the 37th round of the 1966 amateur draft.
After four games and ten at-bats with Chicago in 1970, he was traded to California in March of 1971 for a couple of minor players, appearing in only six games for the season.
However 1972 would fare much better for the young catcher, as he would go on to play in a career high 64 games, good for 198 plate appearances.
For the year he batted .207, getting 37 hits in 179 at-bats with two doubles, a triple and two homers.
However this wasn't enough to get him more playing time the following season, as the Angels already had Jeff Torborg and John Stephenson ahead of him in the depth chart for the position, so all Kusnyer would see as far as playing time in 1973 would be 41 games, good for 67 plate appearances and an anemic .125 batting average.
However, not all was a lost-cause for the youngster, as on July 15th of that year Kusnyer would have perhaps the biggest thrill of his Big League career, catching Nolan Ryan's second career no-hitter against the Detroit Tigers at Tiger Stadium.
But when 1974 rolled around, Kusnyer found himself struggling to find a spot for himself in the Milwaukee Brewers organization after being traded by California in October of 1973 in a nine-player swap between the two clubs.
He'd end up toiling in the Minors for the next two seasons before finding his way back into a Major League game in 1976, getting into those 15 games for the Brewers.
His last hurrah on the Major League level would be in 1978 with the Kansas City Royals, playing in nine games and getting three hits in 13 at-bats, good for a .231 average.
He'd scratch out another season of Minor League ball for the White Sox in 1979 before calling it a career and eventually moving into coaching work for the Sox and the Oakland A's over the next 28 years.

 

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1979 ART KUSNYER

Today on the blog we have a “not so missing” 1979 card for former catcher Art Kusnyer of the Kansas City Royals, who I created a “missing” 1973 card a long time ago on the blog:

Kusnyer played the last nine games of his Major League career in 1978 for the Western Division champion Royals, batting .231 with three hits over 13 at-bats, one of them a home run.
It was his first action in the Big Leagues since 1976 when he appeared in 15 games for the Milwaukee Brewers, a triumph of sorts since he last played in the Majors before THAT in 1973 with the California Angels.
In 1972 he played in 64 games for California, with 198 plate appearances, yet Topps left him out of the 1973 set, leading to my “missing” creation mentioned earlier.
All told, Kusnyer appeared in 139 games during his six-year career, beginning in 1970 with the Chicago White Sox before moving on to the Angels where he played the bulk of his MLB tenure.
He finished with a career average of .176 with 55 hits over 313 at-bats, with three homers and 21 runs batted in.

MISSING IN ACTION- 1973 ART KUSNYER

Today's "missing" Topps card from the 1970's features a player who did appear on a multi-player rookie card in 1972, but was left out of the 1973 set even after some decent playing time the year before: Angels catcher Art Kusnyer.

Kusnyer was yet another of those players I read about in a SABR article that spoke of guys who posted the most career at-bats or innings pitched who were not represented on a Topps card (in this case, a card of their own).

Take a look at my 1973 card design first:

Kusnyer came up for a cup-of-cofee in 1970 with the White Sox after getting picked in the 37th round of the 1966 amateur draft.

After four games and ten at-bats with Chicago in 1970, he was traded to California in March of 1971 for a couple of minor players, appearing in only six games for the season.

However 1972 would fare much better for the young catcher, as he would go on to play in a career high 64 games, good for 198 plate appearances.

For the year he batted .207, getting 37 hits in 179 at-bats with two doubles, a triple and two homers.

However this wasn't enough to get him more playing time the following season, as the Angels already had Jeff Torborg and John Stephenson ahead of him in the depth chart for the position, so all Kusnyer would see as far as playing time in 1973 would be 41 games, good for 67 plate appearances and an anemic .125 batting average.

However, not all was a lost-cause for the youngster, as on July 15th of that year Kusnyer would have perhaps the biggest thrill of his Big League career, catching Nolan Ryan's second career no-hitter against the Detroit Tigers at Tiger Stadium.

But when 1974 rolled around, Kusnyer found himself struggling to find a spot for himself in the Milwaukee Brewers organization after being traded by California in October of 1973 in a nine-player swap between the two clubs.

He'd end up toiling in the Minors for the next two seasons before finding his way back into a Major League game in 1976, getting into 15 games for the Brewers, hitting .118 on four hits in 34 at-bats.

His last hurrah on the Major League level would be in 1978 with the Kansas City Royals, playing in nine games and getting three hits in 13 at-bats, good for a .231 average.

He'd scratch out another season of Minor League ball for the White Sox in 1979 before calling it a career and eventually moving into coaching work for the Sox and the Oakland A's over the next 28 years.

Nevertheless, here's yet another "missing" piece to total representation for those of us that want players who saw enough playing time in a season to get a card along the way.