REVISITING A POST FROM 2016: MISSING IN ACTION 1977 JIM LYTTLE

On the blog today, let's revisit a post from 2016, that of my "missing in action" card for former outfielder Jim Lyttle:

This would be a “missing” 1977 card for a guy who was never a full-time player, but still put together an eight-year career between 1969-1976.

Lyttle capped off his career with a final year in 1976 split between the Montreal Expos and Los Angeles Dodgers, where he hit a combined .248 with 38 hits over 153 at-bats in 65 games.
Originally up with the Yanks, he’d play in the Bronx until 1972 when he put in a lone season for the Chicago White Sox before moving on to the Expos where he would play until his move to L.A.
All told Lyttle batted .248 for his career with 176 hits in 710 at-bats over 391 games, with his 1970 season being his best when he hit .310 for the Yanks over 87 games played.

Looking further into his career I saw that he played seven seasons in Japan after his Major League career, putting up some solid numbers for Hiroshima.

In both 1978 and 1981 he hit 33 homers and drove in 100+ runs, and closed out his Japanese career with 166 taters with 529 R.B.I.'s. after retiring for good in 1983.

MISSING IN ACTION- 1973 JIM LYTTLE

Here’s a “missing” 1973 card for a guy who I also created a 1976 card for, Jim Lyttle:

Lyttle appeared in 44 games with the Chicago White Sox during the 1972 season after spending his first four years in the Major Leagues with the New York Yankees.
In those 44 games, he hit .232 with 19 hits in 82 at-bats while playing the outfield.
It would be his only season in Chicago, as he’d then move on to the Montreal Expos where he’d play until 1976.
Never a full-time player, he finish up his eight-year career splitting time between the Expos and Los Angeles Dodgers in ’76, ending up with a .248 batting average based on his 176 hits over 710 at-bats in 391 games while playing all three outfield positions.

MISSING IN ACTION- 1977 JIM LYTTLE

Here’s a “missing” 1977 card for a guy who was never a full-time player, but still put together an eight-year career between 1969-1976, outfielder Jim Lyttle:

Lyttle capped of his career with a final year in 1976 split between the Montreal Expos and Los Angeles Dodgers, where he hit a combined .248 with 38 hits over 153 at-bats in 65 games.
Originally up with the Yanks, he’d play in the Bronx until 1972 when he put in a lone season for the Chicago White Sox before moving on to the Expos where he would play until his move to L.A.
All told Lyttle batted .248 for his career with 176 hits in 710 at-bats over 391 games, with his 1970 season being his best when he hit .310 for the Yanks over 87 games played.

ANOTHER AIRBRUSHING GEM: 1972 JIM LYTTLE

Here’s another great airbrush job from the 1972 Topps set, the Jim Lyttle edition, which had him up-to-date as a Chicago White Sox player:

Lyttle was traded to the South-Siders from the New York Yankees for Rich Hinton on October 13th of 1971, which gave Topps the chance to “tweak” his photo just a bit to keep him current.
The ominous shadowing around the cap was perhaps a sign that his days in Chicago were numbered, as Lyttle appeared in 44 games during the season before moving on over to the Montreal Expos in 1973 where he would spend three-and-a-half seasons before finishing up his eight-year career with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
In those eight seasons Lyttle batted .248 with 176 hits over 710 at-bats in 391 lifetime games, with 71 runs score, 70 runs batted in and 51 extra-base hits while playing the outfield.

ANOTHER AIRBRUSHING BEAUTY: 1972 TOPPS JIM LYTTLE

Here’s another airbrushing gem, the 1972 Topps Jim Lyttle card. Take a look:

Lyttle went over to the South Side of Chicago from the New York Yankees for Rich Hinton on October 13th of 1971, so Topps had to resort to some airbrushing wizardry.
Just awesome! The shadowing and the almost pink bill of the cap, plus the really good job they did with that “Sox” logo.
The left side of the cap in the image, where you can see the underside, seems a bit off on the angle, making the cap look too big for his head.
As for Lyttle, he’d end up spending 8-years in the Majors, lasting until the 1976 season and finishing up with a .248 average with 176 hits in 710 at-bats over 391 games with the Yankees, White Sox, Montreal Expos and Los Angeles Dodgers.

MISSING IN ACTION- 1976 JIM LYTTLE: "1976 PROJECT"

The next card in my ongoing "1976 Project" for "Reader Jim" here on the blog is former outfielder Jim Lyttle, then of the Montreal Expos.

Take a look:

Lyttle carved out an eight-year career for himself, playing for the Yankees, White Sox, Expos and Dodgers between 1969 and 1976.

In that time he compiled a .248 batting average, 176 hits, 71 runs and 70 runs batted in with nine homers.

Looking further into his career I saw that he played seven seasons in Japan after his Major League career, putting up some solid numbers for Hiroshima.

In both 1978 and 1981 he hit 33 homers and drove in 100+ runs, and closed out his Japanese career with 166 taters with 529 R.B.I.'s. after retiring in 1983.

When you look at his playing career against his card appearances, it turns out he's also "missing" from a few other sets: 1973, 1975 and 1977.

Needless to say, I'll be tackling those in the future as well.