REVISIT: 1978 CAREER-CAPPER FOR COOKIE ROJAS

Good day all!

On the blog today, thought it'd be fun to revisit another 10-year-old post, this one my 1978 "career-capper" for Cookie Rojas, long-time Major League infielder:

Rojas appeared in 64 games for the Western Division champ Royals in 1977, hitting an even .250 with 39 hits over 156 at-bats.
A five-time all-star, Rojas slapped his way through the Majors, collecting 1660 lifetime hits over 1822 games, with only 333 of those hits going for extra bases.
Of his 16 years in the Major Leagues, he played eight with the Royals and seven with the Philadelphia Phillies, for whom he first made a name for himself between 1963 and 1969.

 

1970 RE-DO: COOKIE ROJAS

Found this great image of former second baseman Cookie Rojas in a St. Louis Cardinals uniform, so I figured I’d go and re-do his 1970 card. So here goes:

Re-done version

As issued by Topps

Topps originally used their tried and true method at the time of the cap-less portrait shot of Rojas, devoid of any team identity.
Funny enough, he would be traded not too long into the 1970 season to the Kansas City Royals where he’d run out his nice 16-year career, playing the final eight seasons in K.C. and becoming a fan favorite before retiring after the 1977 season at the age of 38.
The five-time All-Star retired with a .263 career average, collecting 1660 hits over 6309 at-bats, scoring 713 runs and driving in 593.

TRADED- 1970 COOKIE ROJAS

Today’s blog post has an interesting 1970 “traded” card for long-time Major League second baseman Cookie Rojas, who found himself a member of the Kansas City Royals after two trades within eight months:

Rojas, who had played the previous seven years with the Philadelphia Phillies, was traded in October of 1969 to the St. Louis Cardinals, just enough time for Topps to issue his 1970 card with a “generic” capless image of him and a “Cards” designation for team.
Turns out, after only 23 games with the Redbirds he would be dealt again, this time to the new Kansas City franchise in June of 1970, setting up this card pictured here some 50 years later by yours truly.
Turns out the 31-year-old wasn’t done as a player, going on to appear in four straight All-Star games between 1971 and 1974, even getting some MVP votes in 1971 and 1973.
He would play out his career with the Royals, being a part of the teams’ surge towards the top of the American League West at the end of the decade.
By the time he retired in 1977 at the age of 38, he put in an under-the-radar 16-year career, collecting 1660 hits and a .263 batting average while making five All-Star teams, while leading his league in fielding percentage three times.
Considering the Royals traded for Rojas straight up by sending the Cardinals Fred Rico, who ended up never playing a game for St. Louis, it was a really key trade for the young organization along the lines of Amos Otis, giving them some experienced players to go along with guys like Frank White and future Hall of Famer George Brett.
Not bad.

THEN AND NOW: COOKIE ROJAS 1963-1977

Let’s celebrate the career of former all-star second baseman Cookie Rojas, who pretty much split a very nice 16-year career between the Philadelphia Phillies and Kansas City Royals with a brief stop over in St. Louis during the 1970 season and his promotion to the Major Leagues with the Cincinnati Reds in 1962:

The five-time all-star, and fan-favorite, was closing out his career with the American League West champion Royals, doling out the wisdom to young studs like George Brett and Al Cowens.
By the time he retired, he left with 1660 hits, 713 runs scored and a .263 lifetime average over 1822 games.

MISSING IN ACTION CAREER CAPPER: 1978 COOKIE ROJAS

Both a “missing” card and “career capper”, here’s a 1978 Cookie Rojas creation to celebrate a nice 16-year career:

Rojas appeared in 64 games for the Western Division champ Royals in 1977, hitting an even .250 with 39 hits over 156 at-bats.
A five-time all-star, Rojas slapped his way through the Majors, collecting 1660 lifetime hits over 1822 games, with only 333 of those hits going for extra bases.
Of his 16 years in the Major Leagues, he played eight with the Royals and seven with the Philadelphia Phillies, for whom he first made a name for himself between 1963 and 1969.