NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1976 JIM COX

Up on the blog today we have my third card for former Montreal Expos second baseman Jim Cox, this one a 1976 edition:

I previously created 1975 and 1977 card for the man, as his only official Topps card was on a multi-player rookie card in the 1974 set.
Cox appeared in eleven games for the Expos during the 1975 season, hitting .259 with seven hits over 27 at-bats, hitting one of his three career homers while driving in five runs.
He’d go on to play in 13 games during the Bicentennial year, which would turn out to be the final games he’d play in on the Big League level.
He would put in three full seasons of Minor League ball from 1977-1979, but never get the call back to the “Big Show” again before retiring for good at the age of 29.
All told he appeared in 110 games in the Majors, all with Montreal, batting .215 with three homers and 66 hits over 307 official at-bats.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1977 JIM COX

Having already creating a 1975 card for today’s player of the “missing” variety, today I present a “not so missing” card for former Montreal Expos second baseman Jim Cox, who played the final baker’s dozen games in his brief four year career:

Over those 13 games, Cox batted .172 with five hits in 29 at-bats, driving in and scoring a couple of runs for Montreal, the only team he’d play for in the Big Leagues.
As a matter of fact they would be the only organization he’d ever play for, suiting up for Montreal’s Major and Minor league teams between 1972 and 1979.
It was odd that he didn’t get a card in the 1975 set since he played in 77 games during the 1974 season, with 270 plate appearances!
However we can easily forgive Topps for leaving him out of the 1977 set, leaving him with a spot on a multi-player rookie card in 1974 as the only card appearance of his career.

MISSING IN ACTION- 1975 JIM COX

Today's "Missing in Action" subject is a Montreal Expo player who lasted 4 years in the Majors, and actually did appear on a rookie card in the 1974 Topps set, but curiously didn't get a card the following year even though he appeared in just under half the team's games: second baseman Jim Cox.

Before we get into the player, check out the card I designed:

In 1974 Cox appeared in 77 games, good for 270 plate appearances and a light .220 average with two homers and 26 runs batted in, all while manning second base.

In his other three seasons he barely saw any playing time, appearing in 33 games total, before leaving the game for good after some solid Minor League years with the Denver Triple-A team in the Expos system.

Curious to know why the guy never really stuck with the parent-team since the Expos didn't really have a solid second baseman at the time.

For example, on their 1975 & 1976 squads their main guy at the position was Pete Mackanin, who managed to hit .225 & .224 with little pop and run production. 

It wasn't like the rest of the field where Montreal was bursting with hot young talent like Gary Carter, Ellis Valentine, Warren Cromartie and Andre Dawson.

Nevertheless, Cox should have gotten a card in the 1975 set considering some of the guys that actually got one with much less playing time.

Cox was another of those players I read about in the SABR article profiling players with substantial Major League playing time who didn't receive a Topps card. In this case, a card of his own instead of just a multi-player rookie as noted earlier.

I'll be profiling some more players mentioned in the SABR article in the near future, so keep an eye out for them.