NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION: 1976 RICH McKINNEY

Good day all!

On the blog today, a subject of a FEW "missing" cards here on the blog over the years, Rick McKinney, with a "not so missing" 1976 edition this time:

McKinney appeared in only eight games for the Oakland A's during the 1975 season, collecting one hit over seven at-bats with two runs batted in and a walk.

He would spend all of 1976 in the Minors, but would come back in 1977 to play in 86 games for Oakland, which turned out to be the last Big League action of his seven-year career.
When it was all said and done, McKinney finished with a .225 batting average, with 199 hits in 886 at-bats over 341 games, with 20 homers and exactly 100 runs batted in and 79 runs scored.
Of course we’ll also remember that McKinney got two straight classic airbrush jobs on his Topps cards in 1972 and 1973, which I profiled years ago on the blog:

http://whentoppshadballs.blogspot.com/2014/09/an-all-time-classic-airbrush-job-1973.html

http://whentoppshadballs.blogspot.com/2013/09/when-airbrushing-goes-terribly-wrong.html

 

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1975 RICH McKINNEY

Time to add a "not so missing" 1975 card for former Major League infielder Rich McKinney to the WTHBALLS stable, the third creation here over the years for the guy:

 

McKinney appeared in only five games for the three-time World Champs in 1974, his second year with the team, going 1-for-7 at the plate while putting in time at second base on the defensive side.

He would go on to appear in only 8 combined games in 1975 before spending all of 1976 in the Minors, but would come back in 1977 to play in 86 games for Oakland, which turned out to be the last Big League action of his seven-year career.
When it was all said and done, McKinney finished with a .225 batting average, with 199 hits in 886 at-bats over 341 games, with 20 homers and exactly 100 runs batted in and 79 runs scored.
Of course we’ll also remember that McKinney got two straight classic airbrush jobs on his Topps cards in 1972 and 1973, which I profiled years ago on the blog:

http://whentoppshadballs.blogspot.com/2014/09/an-all-time-classic-airbrush-job-1973.html

http://whentoppshadballs.blogspot.com/2013/09/when-airbrushing-goes-terribly-wrong.html

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1974 RICH McKINNEY

Up on the blog today is a “not so missing” 1974 card for infielder Rich McKinney, who I’ve already created a 1978 career-capper for a few years back:

McKinney appeared in 48 games for the champion Oakland A’s during the 1973 season, hitting .246 with 16 hits in 65 at-bats in limited play.
He would go on to appear in only 13 combined games over the next two seasons before spending all of 1976 in the Minors, but would come back in 1977 to play in 86 games for Oakland, which turned out to be the last Big League action of his seven-year career.
When it was all said and done, McKinney finished with a .225 batting average, with 199 hits in 886 at-bats over 341 games, with 20 homers and exactly 100 runs batted in and 79 runs scored.
Of course we’ll also remember that McKinney got two straight classic airbrush jobs on his Topps cards in 1972 and 1973, which I profiled years ago on the blog:

http://whentoppshadballs.blogspot.com/2014/09/an-all-time-classic-airbrush-job-1973.html

http://whentoppshadballs.blogspot.com/2013/09/when-airbrushing-goes-terribly-wrong.html

Classics!

MISSING IN ACTION- 1978 RICH McKINNEY

Here is a “missing” 1978 card that’s a last hurrah for former Oakland A’s player Rich McKinney, who came back to the Majors after missing a year:

McKinney was back in the big leagues in 1977, appearing in 86 games for the A’s, hitting .177 with 35 hits over 198 at-bats, which sadly didn’t translate into any more Major League action, closing out his seven-year career.
Up with the Chicago White Sox in 1970, he went on to play for the New York Yankees in 1972, then Oakland the final four years of his career, although he only played in 13 games in 1974 and 1975 combined before spending 1976 in the Minors, putting up some good numbers.
When it was all said and done, McKinney finished with a .225 batting average, with 199 hits in 886 at-bats over 341 games, with 20 homers and exactly 100 runs batted in and 79 runs scored.

AN ALL-TIME CLASSIC AIRBRUSH JOB: 1973 TOPPS RICH McKINNEY

Man have I been sitting on this card for a while!

An absolute gem of an airbrush disaster if there ever was one: the 1973 Topps Rich McKinney card. Take a look:

Where do we begin?!

First off, poor McKinney! As I profiled a while ago, his 1972 card was also a bad airbrush job, showing him as a New York Yankee with his cap poorly executed, with his last-name clearly running across the back of his jersey (something a Yankee jersey has NEVER had). 

It was clearly McKinney in a White Sox uniform, and slapped together for his '72 issued card.

Now here we have something that tops it, a terrible neon disaster of a paint job trying to show him in an Oakland A's uniform, with a hilariously done two-dimensional looking paint job!

Just look at the cap! Look at the black stroke around his body against the background! Awesome, just awesome.

I love the almost crayon-fill yellow striping on the jersey, and that wisp of hair that looks like it's coming out of his cap on the back.

Definitely one of Topps worst (and for us, best) airbrush jobs of the period.

McKinney didn't play much for a few years after 1973, totaling only 13 games for the A's combined in 1974 and 1975.

He was out of Major League ball for 1976, but did come back and play in just over half a season's worth of games in 1977, getting into 86 games for Oakland before calling it a career. 

As a matter of fact I want to create a "missing" 1978 card for him since he had decent playing time the previous year, but I just cannot find a usable image of him in an Oakland uniform anywhere.

If anyone has one, please send it along so we can fill in this "missing" part of 1970's Topps cards!

"WHEN AIRBRUSHING GOES TERRIBLY WRONG"- PART VIII

Now, if you're going to go ahead and bother airbrushing a cap to represent a player's new team, don't you think it may be worthwhile to pay a little attention to details of a historic nature and simply airbrush the jersey a little?
Anyone who knows baseball uniforms knows that the New York Yankees have never, and I mean NEVER had a player's name across the back of a jersey.
It's one of those little things that gets on my nerves every time I see a Yankee fan with one of those "authentic" jerseys they spent out the ass for, only to ruin it by getting letters across the back, making a joke of a beautiful piece of baseball history.
Anyway, take a look at the disaster below.
Here we have card # 619 of Topps 1972 set showing Rich McKinney, who was traded to the Yanks in December of 1971 for pitcher Stan Bahnsen, in a poorly airbrushed Yankee cap (seriously, that "NY" is hilarious).
But upon further inspection, not only can you can clearly see the first few letters of his last name on his back, but you can even see the "x" of the word "Sox" on the front of his jersey as well.
Kind of funny actually. But I have to ask: if the person airbrushing the image already had the equipment out, why not pull the trigger a few more times AT LEAST to get rid of the last name?
Forget the front for a minute. Airbrushing away the last name on the back would have been an easy one.
Oh well. I guess these guys were NOT being paid by the hour.
As for Rich McKinney the player: by the time this card saw the light of day his best days were behind him.
He played in only 37 games for New York in 1972 before going to the Oakland A's as part of the trade that brought Matty Alou to the Yanks a year later.
In Oakland he managed to stick around until the 1977 season, playing sporadically at best, though he did play in 86 games in 1977 (second highest seasonal total in his career), good enough for 198 at-bats.
Yet Topps didn't include him in the 1978 set, to which I will right this "wrong" in the future as part of my "missing" thread.
Now let me go and count how many Yankee jerseys I can find with player names on the back, I'm heading to the Stadium...

You ever see a Yankee uniform with a name across the back?!