Showing posts with label Chris Short. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chris Short. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

MISSING IN ACTION- 1974 CHRIS SHORT

Let’s give one time 20-game winner and hard-luck pitcher Chris Short a “missing” final “Career-Capping” 1974 Topps card shall we?


Short appeared in the last 42 games of his career during the 1973 season with the Milwaukee Brewers after 14-years as a Phillies pitcher.
In ‘73 he’d go 3-5 with a 5.13 earned run average and 44 K’s over 72 innings in those 42 appearances.
Once the #2 gun for the Phillies after future Hall of Famer Jim Bunning, Short won 20-games in 1966, 19 in 1968, 18 in 1965 and 17 in 1964.
That 1964 season was a heartbreaker for the Phillies and their fans, as they blew what seemed to be a lead they could not lose, which would have given them a World Series appearance against the New York Yankees.
With Bunning and Short alternating pitching duties down the stretch, it was enough to hold-off the Cardinals who’d end up taking the National League pennant as well as the World Series, defeating the Bronx Bombers.
Short posted some excellent seasons during the 1960’s, five times posting ERA’s under 3.00, with two seasons of 200+ strikeouts, including a career high of 237 during the 1965 season, while being named to two all-star teams.
However after the 1968 season, injuries derailed his career, and he would go on to win only 20 games in the final five years of his Major League career.
When his career was over, he ended with a 135-132 record, with a 3.43 ERA and 1629 strikeouts and 24 shutouts over 501 games, 308 of them which were starts.
Sadly his life post-baseball was rough, filled with hard times, and he passed away at the young age of 53 because of an aneurysm he suffered a few years before which left him in a coma. Sad.

Saturday, June 1, 2013

ACCIDENTAL PHOTO-BOMBING IN THE BASEBALL CARD WORLD: PART I

Wasn't it always fun to spot a star player who was caught in the action shot of someone else's baseball card?
I think the first time I took notice was on Carlton Fisk's 1977 Topps card, where he's waiting for a throw at home while Willie Randolph was trying to sliding in.
Over the years I spotted a bunch more of these cards and kept a mental note for no reason whatsoever. But now I can actually put it to some use by starting a thread that I'll revisit from time to time, called "Accidental Photo-bombing...".
Each time, I'll present a couple of cards where stars "snuck" into someone else's baseball card.
I don't know how many there are out there, but I know I already have about ten off the top of my head.
Today we'll start with two of my favorites: the 1971 Chris Short (#511), and the 1974 Fran Healy (#238).
On the Chris Short card, we can easily spot Pete Rose taking a lead off Second Base while Short is delivering a pitch. Classic stuff.

Dig the "Alpo" ad in the background!
Next up is the Healy card, featuring a great action shot on a horizontal design. That's Thurman Munson sliding safely into home in what seems to be a night game. Pretty cool.
Funny enough, Healy would be Munson's back-up catcher just a couple years later, where he would end his career as a player and move on to a successful career as an announcer.

Is this a night game?


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Everything baseball: cards, events, history and more.