NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1978 TOM BUSKEY

Up on the blog today is a “not so missing” 1978 card for former pitcher Tom Buskey, who did in fact appear in 21 games for the Cleveland Indians the year prior:

Buskey incredibly didn’t factor in a decision over those 21 games, all out of the bullpen, pitching to an earned run average of 5.29 over 34 innings of work.
You can almost say that because of the 21 appearances he should have gotten a Topps card in 1978, making this a “missing” card instead of a “not so missing” one.
He would end up putting in eight years in the Big Leagues, pitching through the 1980 season and appearing in 258 games, all out of the bullpen for the Yanks, Cleveland Indians and Toronto Blue Jays between 1973 and 1980.
His final numbers looked like this: a 21-27 record with a 3.66 earned run average over 479.1 innings pitched, picking up 34 saves and striking out 212 hitters.
His best year would arguably be 1975 while with the Indians when he finished 5-3 with a nice 2.57 earned run average over 50 appearances and 77 innings pitched, with seven saves.

 

 

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1974 TOM BUSKEY

Today I present a 1974 “not so missing” card for former reliever Tom Buskey, who made his MLB debut during the 1973 season as a member of the New York Yankees:

Buskey appeared in eight games for the Yanks, going 0-1 with an ERA of 5.40 over 16.2 innings pitched, collecting a save along the way.
He would end up putting in eight years in the Big Leagues, pitching through the 1980 season and appearing in 258 games, all out of the bullpen for the Yanks, Cleveland Indians and Toronto Blue Jays between 1973 and 1980.
His final numbers looked like this: a 21-27 record with a 3.66 earned run average over 479.1 innings pitched, picking up 34 saves and striking out 212 hitters.
His best year would arguably be 1975 while with the Indians when he finished 5-3 with a nice 2.57 earned run average over 50 appearances and 77 innings pitched, with seven saves.

AIRBRUSHING THROUGH THE 1970'S: 1975 TOM BUSKEY

Today we take a look at the airbrushing on the 1975 Tom Buskey card, who went from the New York Yankees to the Cleveland Indians during the 1974 season as part of the trade that brought Chris Chambliss and Dick Tidrow to the Bronx:

What makes this so interesting is that Buskey went on to appear in 51 games for the Indians in 1974, yet Topps couldn’t seem to get an image of him in a Cleveland uni for the 1975 set?!
Really odd that Chambliss and Tidrow are photographed in their proper uniforms, yet Buskey was airbrushed into Indians garb.
Buskey would go on to appear in 258 games during his eight-year Major League career, all out of the bullpen, finishing up with a record of 21-27, with an ERA at 3.66 over 479.1 innings pitched along with 34 saves.
In 1978 he went to the Toronto Blue Jays as a Free Agent, where he played the last three seasons of his career, retiring after 1980.