Today
I present to you a 1978 “not so missing” card for former infielder Tom
Heintzelman, who appeared in only two games for the San Francisco Giants
during the 1977 season, but you all know that’s good enough for me to
create a card:
Heintzelman spent all of 1975 and 1976 in the Minors after coming up
with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1973 and playing parts of 1973 and 1974.
Over those two games in 1977, he went 0-2 at the plate while not getting
any time defensively out in the field, though I did post his position
as “2B” instead of pinch-hitter.
Regardless, in 1978 he’d play what turned out to be the last games of
his MLB career when he appeared in 27 games for the Giants, batting .229
with eight hits in 35 at-bats, with a double and a couple homers thrown
in.
He’d spend all of 1979 in the Minors, but would retire soon after,
finishing up his Big League tenure with a career .243 average, with 34
hits over 140 at-bats in 90 games between 1973 and 1978.
Up
on the blog today, a 1977 “not so missing” card for former Milwaukee
Brewers pitcher Moose Haas, who made his MLB debut during the 1976
season with five appearances as a 20-year-old:
Haas went 0-1 during his first taste of the Big Leagues, sporting an
earned run average of 3.94 over 16 innings of work, with two of those
games starts.
He would go on to be a solid arm, generally as a starter, for Milwaukee
over the next nine seasons before finishing up his career with two years
out in Oakland.
The early-90’s were his solid seasons, as he would have double-digit win
totals every year between 1979 and 1983, with a high of 16 in 1980 when
he went 16-15 with three shutouts and a career-high 252.2 innings.
In 1983 he’d lead the American League with a .813 winning percentage
after posting a record of 13-3over 25 games, all starts, with three
shutouts.
By the time he retired after the 1987 season, still only 31 years of
age, he finished with a career 100-83 record, with a 4.01 ERA over 266
games and 1655 innings pitched, with eight shutouts and 853 strikeouts.
For me, I’ll always remember him for the near no-hitter he tossed
against the Yankees in June of 1985, finally broken up with a Don
Mattingly double to right field in the seventh inning.
Haas was dealing that game and he really looked to have the Yankees
number, eventually settling for a 6-0 win with just that one hit
allowed.
Anytime
I use a non-Topps photo for a card I always look to “correct” it later
on with the genuine article, like today for former California Angels
catcher Tom Egan:
I originally used a non-Topps photo for Egan and a 1976 “not so missing”
card a while back, and although it was fine, I like using the
“real-deal” so much more. Lucky to find this one.
Egan was just coming off the last games of his Big League career in 1975
that saw him appear in 28 games for the Angels, who seemed to use
DOZENS of catchers during the decade.
He hit .229 for the Halos that year, collecting 16 hits over 70 at-bats
with seven runs scored and three runs batted in, with three doubles and a
triple.
Turns out that was it for him in the Majors, retiring shortly after
without even some Minor League games before calling it a career.
He originally came up to the Big Leagues back in 1965 as a 19-year-old with the Angels, appearing in 18 games and hitting .263.
He’d go on to play parts of the five years with the Angels, never more
than 79 games (1970) before going on to play for the Chicago White Sox
in 1971/1972.
After a year in the Minors, he was back with the Angels in 1974, playing
in 43 games before that last season of 1975, finishing up with a career
.200 batting average after collecting 196 hits in 979 at-bats spread
out over 373 games.
On
the blog today, a career-capping “not so missing” 1973 card for former
Chicago White Sox outfielder Jim Qualls, who played the last of his
brief three-year Big League career in 1972:
Qualls appeared in 11 games during the 1972 season, his only time with
the White Sox, going 0-for-10 at the plate ironically in general use as a
pinch-hitter, with one game out in the field.
He originally came up to the Majors in 1969 with the Chicago Cubs,
playing in 43 games and of course being remembered for breaking up Tom
Seaver’s perfect game on July 9th with one out in the ninth inning.
The following season had him play in nine games for the Montreal Expos,
going 1-for-9 at the plate, before spending all of 1971 in the Minor
Leagues.
After his Big League career he played for two years in Japan, suiting up
for the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes in 1972/1973 before calling it a
career.
For his MLB tenure, he finished with a .223 average, with 31 hits over
139 at-bats over 63 games, most during his debut season in 1969.
Today
on the blog we have a 1978 “traded” card for former second baseman
Jerry Remy, who found himself heading East to the Boston Red Sox after
three seasons with the California Angels:
Traded to the Red Sox for pitcher Don Aase, Boston picked up the sweet
end of this deal as Remy not only would become a productive player, but
eventually go on to becoming a baseball “lifer” of sorts as he’d move
into the Boston broadcast booth for over 30 years, something he still
does to this day.
After three really good years with the Angels between 1975 and 1977, the
Angels shipped Remy to Boston and Remy quickly paid dividends as he’d
make the only All-Star team of his career during his first season with
the Sox, hitting .278 with 87 runs scored and 30 stolen bases.
He’d go on to play seven seasons with Boston, sadly his career suffering
from injuries which led him to retire at the young age of 31 after the
1984 season.
He’d finish his 10-year career with a .275 batting average, with 1226
hits and 605 runs scored over 1154 games and 4455 at-bats., stealing 208
bases.
Fun
card to add to the “Nicknames of the 1970’s” stable, a 1973 edition
featuring Kansas City pitcher Roger Nelson, aka “Spider”, who came out
of nowhere in 1972 with a season for the ages, albeit somewhat under the
radar:
Nelson, who barely played the previous two seasons, so much so that he
wasn’t even in the 1972 Topps set, went on to post one of the lowest
WHIP’s in MLB history in 1972 with a 0.871 mark.
He’d post a record of 11-6 over 34 appearances, 19 of them starts, with
six shutouts and two saves while striking out 120 batters while walking
only 31.
His 3.87 strikeouts to walks ratio also led the American League, while
also finishing the season with a stellar 2.08 earned run average.
However he quickly fell to earth the following year, now pitching for
the Cincinnati Reds, appearing in only 14 games while going 3-2 with a
decent 3.46 ERA, throwing only 54.2 innings.
He’d pitch parts of the 1974 and 1976 seasons, spending all of 1975 in
the Minors, finishing up his nine year Big League career with three
games for the Royals out of the bullpen during the Bicentennial year.
All told, he finished with a career 29-32 record, with a very nice 3.06
ERA over 135 appearances and 636.1 innings, with seven shutouts and four
saves.
Half of his career 20 complete games and all but one of his career
shutouts were during that magic run of 1972 when he had it running on
all cylinders.
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on the blog today we have a “missing” 1970 card for former pitcher
Marcel Lachemann, who made his MLB debut during the 1969 season with the
Oakland A’s:
Lachemann, who would also go on to manage in the Majors, just as his
brother Rene Lachemann, appeared in 28 games for Oakland, going 4-1 with
an earned run average of 3.95 over 43.1 innings of work with a couple
of saves.
He would pitch for parts of two more seasons before toiling in the Minor
Leagues through the 1974 season, that last two in the Montreal Expos
organization.
All told, he finished his Big League career with a record of 7-4,
posting a final ERA of 3.44 over 70 appearances and 102 innings pitched,
collecting five saves, with all of his time in the Majors coming out of
the bullpen.
Between 1994 and 1996 he’d manage the California Angels, finishing his
managerial career with a 161-170 record, leading the Angels to a second
place finish in 1995.
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