NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1975 DAVE MOATES

Up on the blog today is a truly “not so missing” 1975 card for former Texas Ranger Dave Moates, who appeared in one game during the 1974 season, his first game in the Big Leagues:

Moates appeared as a pinch runner for first baseman Jim Spencer on September 21st of 1974, somewhat of an unusual MLB debut.
He’d be back in the Majors the following season, appearing in 54 games and hitting a nice .274 with 48 hits over 175 at-bats, with three homers and 14 runs batted in.
In 1976 he’d play in 85 games for the Rangers, hitting .241 with 33 hits in 137 at-bats, but as it turned out it was the last Big League action he’d see as he would go on to spend the 1977 season split between the Rangers and New York Yankees Minor League systems, hitting .308 with 40 stolen bases, but never getting a call-up.
Don’t know why, but he called it a career at that point, still only 29 years of age, finishing his career with a .260 batting average, with 81 hits in 312 at-bats over 140 games, all for the Rangers between 1974 and 1976.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1974 PAUL POWELL

Up on the blog today, a 1974 “not so missing” card for former Los Angeles Dodger outfielder Paul Powell, who appeared in only two games during the 1973 season:

Powell came over from the Minnesota Twins, for whom he played in 20 games making his Big League debut in 1971 as a centerfielder.
After coming over to the Dodgers in October of 1971 for Bobby Darwin, he spent all of 1972 in the Minors before getting back to the Big Leagues with those two games in ‘73, going 0-for-1 at the plate, striking out, while playing some left field.
After another full season in the Minors for 1974, he’d be back on Big League grass for eight games in 1975, now also putting in time behind the plate, going 2-for-10 at the plate while catching seven games, with one other game out in the outfield.
Definitely a rarity to see an outfielder come back as a catcher like that. And fun to bring up on the blog!
For his career, Powell played in 30 games, hit .167 with seven hits in 42 at-bats, with a homer, two RBIs and nine runs scored.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1979 ROB BELLOIR

Up on the blog today we have a “not so missing” 1979 card for former Atlanta Braves infielder Rob Belloir, who played the last of his Major League games in 1978:

Belloir only appeared in two games during the 1978 season, going one-for-one at the plate with a double, in what I’m sure was not expected to be the last taste of his Big League action.
Originally up in 1975 with 43 games, he played parts of those four seasons between 1975 and 1978, hitting a combined .216 with 36 hits over 167 at-bats, all for Atlanta.
Those 43 games in 1975 would be the most appearances he’d see in his brief career, playing in 30 the following season then only six and two respectively in 1977 and 1978.
It is funny to me that he got a card in the 1978 set considering he played in only six games the previous season, but lord knows I stopped trying to figure out Topps selection process years ago.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1977 KEN PAPE

Here’s a fun card to create, a 1977 “not so missing” card for 21-game Major League infielder Ken Pape, who played his one season under the Big League sun for the Texas Rangers in 1976:

Pape hit .217 over those 21 games, hitting one home run while driving in four over 23 at-bats, scoring seven himself while collecting five hits.
Sadly for him, he’d spend the next four seasons toiling in the Minors for the Texas, Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners organizations before calling it a career in 1980, still only 28 years of age.
Nevertheless, for those 21 games in the Bicentennial Summer he was a Major League player, something I’m sure we can ALL say we’d wish for ourselves!

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1973 ELIAS SOSA

Time to add a 1973 ”not so missing” for former reliever Elias Sosa to the wthballs stable, marking his Big League debut in 1972 with eight appearances:

Sosa was 22-years-of-age when he got his first taste of the Majors in ‘72, going 0-1 with a nice 2.30 earned run average over 15.2 innings for the San Francisco Giants.
In 1973 he would have an excellent year, going 10-4 over 71 appearances, posting an ERA of 3.28 with 18 saves as an official rookie, pitching 107 innings and making one start.
He would go on to have a very nice, under-the-radar Major League career that spanned 12 seasons, between 1972 and 1983, going 59-51 with 83 saves and a 3.32 ERA in 601 appearances.
His finest season would arguably be 1979 while with the Expos when he went 8-7 with a brilliant 1.96 ERA over 62 appearances and 96.2 innings pitched, along with 18 saves while closing out 41 games.
He would play for eight different teams, including the Los Angeles Dodgers for whom he’d get the only World Series experience of his career in 1977, and the Montreal Expos where he’d see the only other Post Season action in 1981.
Seems the 1970’s had a bunch of these “forgotten” relievers who put in solid seasons year after year, without the gaudy numbers but effective nevertheless.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 1970'S- 1977 MARK "THE BIRD" FIDRYCH MAKES A SPLASH

I can never have enough Mark Fidrych customs in my stable here on the blog, and today I post up another creation for the young man who took the baseball world by storm in 1976:

We all know the story: that Monday Night game, how he ended up starting the all-star game, how he won 19 games and led the league in earned run average, how he was given the nickname "Bird" and the antics he displayed on the mound.
Sadly we also know how his career was derailed because of injuries, how he was never able to make it back successfully, and how years later he was tragically killed in an accident at the young age of 54.
But the "Bird" legend will always be around, and for those of us lucky enough to have witnessed it, it was incredible.
His 1977 Topps card is STILL one of my all-time favorites solely because I feel it captured that "essence", that personality he had, as a character that comes along all too rarely.
In 1976 I was seven years old and just starting to pay attention to baseball, and all I kept seeing was this phenomena of “The Bird”, his act on the mound, that smile, and of course images of him with Sesame Street’s “Big Bird”.
This man came across as a God to my young impressionable mind, and when ripping open packs of 1977 cards soon after, and pulling that card of his, jeez, it was like nothing else.
What an icon of the game for that era. Perfect.

BILL MADLOCK AS TEXAS RANGER- A LOOK AT HIS ROOKIE CARD IMAGE PRE-AIRBRUSH

Always fun to look at stuff like today’s blog entry, the 1974 original image of future multi-batting champ Bill Madlock as a Texas Ranger before Topps took an airbrush to it:

Of course, as you can see from the image of his actual rookie card, he was already airbrushed over to his new team, the Chicago Cubs, for whom he’d immediately make an impact with two consecutive batting championships in 1975 and 1976.
But as you can see, the original image had him suited up with his first Big League club, the Texas Rangers, with whom he hit a blistering .351 in his first taste of Major League action over 21 games in 1973.
Nevertheless, after the blockbuster trade that saw him head North while former Cubs ace Fergie Jenkins went to Texas in October of 1973, Madlock did NOT disappoint, hitting .313, .354 and .339 over the next three seasons before the Cubs moved him to San Francisco before the 1977 season.
“Mad Dog” would go on to win another two batting titles while with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1981 and 1983, and finish with a career .305 average over his 15-year career which concluded after the 1987 season.
If I’m not mistaken he is still the only eligible player to win four or more batting titles and not be in the Hall of Fame.
Interesting...