MISSING IN ACTION- 1975 RON WOODS

Let's give former outfielder Ron Woods a 1975 "missing" card shall we?

Check out what I came up with:

In 1974 Woods played in 90 games for the Expos, accumulating 151 plate appearances and 127 at-bats, with 26 hits (a .205 average), a homer and 12 runs batted in. That qualifies for a card in my book!

That would be the last action he'd see in the Majors, capping off a six-year career that saw him come up with the Detroit Tigers in 1969, and shortly thereafter getting traded to the Yankees, where he'd play until the 1971 season before moving on to Montreal.

He never got to play a full season while in the Big Leagues, topping out at 135 games and 385 plate appearances in 1973.

His final numbers were: a .233 batting average, 290 hits, 162 runs scored, 26 homers and 130 runs batted in over 582 games and 1461 plate appearances.

I always remember him because of his awesome 1971 Topps card, which I profiled earlier on this blog.

Check it out when you get the chance!

AN ALL-TIME CLASSIC CARD: 1971 LINDY McDANIEL

The 1971 Topps Lindy McDaniel (#303) card has always been another of my favorites from the set.
For me, it always seemed like the perfect "classic" baseball photograph with McDaniel on the mound at the "old-OLDER" Yankee Stadium in 1970.
Besides the fact that the black-bordered 1971 set always looks nice, the photo is perfectly cropped to show the in-game action and the vastness of the stadium behind him.
There were a few Yankee players that were given an awesome card in this set. Earlier on this blog I profiled the Ron Woods and Thurman Munson cards, and in the future I plan on posting on the Roy White issue as well.
Just a nice card that reflects the era it was snapped in very well.
As for McDaniel, he had a nice 21 year career in the big leagues, proving himself mainly as a reliever. He lead the league in saves three times and finished with 172 in his career.
1970 was arguably his finest year in the Majors, as he appeared in 62 games for the Yankees, with a 9-5 record and 29 saves to go along with a nifty 2.01 E.R.A.
At the time of his retirement after the 1975 season, he was second all-time (behind Hoyt Wilhelm) in game appearances by a pitcher with 987.

About as "classic" a photo as you can get...

A THING OF BEAUTY: TOPPS 1971 RON WOODS (#514)

I want to take it easy today and spotlight a card I've always loved: the 1971 Topps Ron Woods card (#514).
Just a perfect moment in time captured for eternity on a baseball card.
Great shot of Woods at the plate in the old Yankee stadium. All-Star catcher Bill Freehan is behind the plate along with an unidentified umpire.
It's a perfectly cropped photo of baseball action for the under-used horizontal lay-out in the black bordered 1971 set.
The Roy White card (#395) from the same set is very similar: same game, same lay-out. But I like this shot better for the inclusion of the ump with the classic external chest protector from back in the day.
So sit back, relax, and enjoy one of the nicer photographed cards from the 1971 "black-beauty" Topps set...They just don't make'em like they used to huh?

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