REVISITING A 1973 "MISSING IN ACTION" CARD FOR JOE HORLEN

On the blog today, we revisit a 10-year-old post with a "missing" 1973 card I created way back when for pitcher Joe Horlen:

Horlen capped off a very nice 12-year career when he retired after the 1972 season, posting 32 appearances with the Oakland A’s after playing all eleven of his previous Major League seasons with the Chicago White Sox, for whom he had some really good seasons.
In 1972 he posted a 3-4 record with a 3.00 earned run average, with six starts and a save scattered among his 84 innings of work.
While with the White Sox Horlen had some all-star seasons, particularly his 1967 season when he went 19-7 with a league-leading 2.07 ERA and six shutouts.
Those numbers would be good enough for a second place finish in the Cy Young race, as well as a fourth place finish in MVP voting.
Of his 12 years on a big league mound, Horlen posted five sub-3.00 ERA campaigns, all consecutive (between 1964 and 1968), with a low of 1.88 in 1964.
By the time he retired he finished with a 116-117 record with a nice 3.11 earned run average and 18 shutouts over 361 games, 290 of which were starts, and 2002 innings.

NICKNAMES OF THE 1970s: 1971 JOE "HARD LUCK" HORLEN

On the blog today we add Joe "Hard Luck" Horlen to my long-running "Nicknames of the 1970s" thread, celebrating the hard-luck pitcher who'd have himself a very nice 12 year Major League career:

 

Horlen, who pitched 11 of his 12 Big League careers with the Chicago White Sox before one last season as an Oakland Athletic in 1972, was a solid starter who would consistently post ERA's below 3.00, yet never seem to get the support, leading to a pedestrian 116-117 career record which was terribly not representative of his talents.

For example, in 1964 he posted a sparkling 1.88 ERA over 210 innings, only to finish with a record of 13-9 for the White Sox.

In 1966 he finished the season with an ERA of 2.43 over 37 appearances and 211 innings, only to finish with a record of 10-13.

The only season where he seems to have gotten the help he needed from the offense was in 1967 when he finished second in the A.L. Cy Young race, posting a record of 19-7, leading the league with his 2.06 ERA and six shutouts.

By the time he retired in 1967, his 116-117 record did not represent his career, which resulted in a 3.11 ERA over 361 games, with 18 shutouts.

Definitely "Hard Luck"!

MISSING IN ACTION- 1973 JOE HORLEN

Let’s go and give long time starting pitcher Joe Horlen both a “missing” and career capping 1973 Topps card shall we? 
Here you go:

Horlen capped off a very nice 12-year career when he retired after the 1972 season, posting 32 appearances with the Oaklnad A’s after playing all eleven of his previous Major League seasons with the Chicago White Sox, for whom he had some really good seasons.
In 1972 he posted a 3-4 record with a 3.00 earned run average, with six starts and a save scattered among his 84 innings of work.
While with the White Sox Horlen had some all-star seasons, particularly his 1967 season when he went 19-7 with a league-leading 2.07 ERA and six shutouts.
Those numbers would good enough for a second place finish in the Cy Young race, as well as a fourth place finish in MVP voting.
Of his 12 years on a big league mound, Horlen posted five sub-3.00 ERA campaigns, all consecutive (between 1964 and 1968), with a low of 1.88 in 1964.
By the time he retired he finished with a 116-117 record with a nice 3.11 earned run average and 18 shutouts over 361 games, 290 of which were starts, and 2002 innings.