Today’s
blog post has a “not so missing” 1970 card for pitcher Jim Colborn, who
made his MLB debut during the 1969 season with six appearances and 14.2
innings with the Chicago Cubs:
Colborn posted a 1-0 record with an earned run average of 3.07, with two
of those six appearances being starts, striking out four while walking
nine.
He would find his groove after a trade to the Milwaukee Brewers in
1972, posting a 20-win season in 1973 and making his only All-Star team
before moving on to the Kansas City Royals in 1977 and posting a solid
year that saw him go 18-14.
By the time he’d retire after the 1978 season, Colborn finished with a
record of 83 and 88, with an ERA at 3.80 over 301 appearances and 1597.1
innings of work.
Time
to spotlight another no-hitter from the 1970’s, the first one thrown
during the 1977 season, that of Kansas City Royals pitcher Jim Colborn,
who tosses quite a gem against the Texas Rangers on May 14th at Royals
Stadium:
First off, I was really hoping to find a better image of Colborn in a
Royals uniform for this card. But sadly, this was the best (and ONLY)
one I could find that had the adequate resolution. So forgive the
slightly “off” clarity.
Colborn came over from the Milwaukee Brewers over the Winter and put
together a great season for the eventual American League West champions,
going 18-14 with an earned run average of 3.62 over 36 appearances, all
but one starts.
A former 20 game winner with the Brewers in 1973 (the first 20-game
winner in franchise history), he made the only All-Star team of his
10-year career that season when he paired those 20 wins with a 3.18 ERA
and four shutouts over 43 appearances and 36 starts.
The 1977 season would end up being his second best season under the Big
League sun, and it’s peak was that May 14th evening when he went on to
face only 26 “official” batters, getting the only blemish on his night, a
walk to catcher Jim Sundberg, was quickly erased by a double-play off
the bat of Juan Beniquez.
He would strikeout six batters, while cruising along to a no-hit gem in
two-hours and 10 minutes, improving his record to 5-3 at that time, with
a sparkling 2.23 ERA.
Ironically, that 1977 season would be his last solid year as a Big
League pitcher, and as a matter of fact he’d play ony one more year,
1979, when he split the year with the Royals and Seattle Mariners, going
a combined 4-12 with a 5.24 ERA over 28 appearances.
But just like that, his career was over at the age of 32, finishing up
with a record of 83-88, with an ERA of 3.80 over 301 appearances and
1597.1 innings pitched between 1969 and 1978.
Today
we take a look at the 1972 airbrush job for former pitcher Jim Colborn,
who found himself a member of the Milwaukee Brewers after three years
with the Chicago Cubs:
As you can see the nice folks at Topps did a vivid paint job on the cap
logo, then desaturated, or muted, the lid once laid out on the card.
Colborn was traded to the Brewers on December 3rd of 1971 along with
Brock Davis and Earl Stephenson for infielder Jose Cardenal.
It would turn out to be a nice trade for Milwaukee, as Colborn would go
on to post a 20-12 record in 1973, making the All-Star team while
posting an earned run average of 3.18 with four shutouts.
He would post double-digit wins the next two seasons, though “only” 10 and 11 respectively, before finishing 9-15 in 1976.
Nevertheless, with a combined 57 wins between 1972 and 1976, he certainly was no slouch during his tenure there.
By the time he’d retire after the 1978 season, Colborn finished with a
record of 83 and 88, with an ERA at 3.80 over 301 appearances and 1597.1
innings of work.
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