HERE FOR ANOTHER GUEST SPOT, BOB JONAS AND HIS 1973 WORLD SERIES SUB-SET!

I am psyched to have Bob Jonas contribute yet another awesome World Series sub-set, this time his 1973 edition, with seven great cards that should have been a part of that great 1973 set!
Here they are:

While Topps’ actual Series sub-set wasn’t terrible, actually pretty good, they seemed to miss some of the classic moments of the Fall Classic, sometimes using images that really could have been better.
I love these revised cards!
Of course, the 1972 series was the beginning of TWO dynasties in a sense.
We had what would become the first of three straight championships for the Oakland A’s, who had stars like Reggie Jackson, Sal Bando, Catfish Hunter and Joe Rudi anchoring their team, and on the other side we had what was already turning out to be one of the greatest teams ever, with the “Big Red Machine” gaining steam, eventually taking home two straight World Series wins in 1975 and 1976.
Keep’em coming Bob!!! I’ll happily post them as you create them!

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1979 SKIP JAMES

Here’s a 1979 card for two-year Major League first baseman Skip James, who played for the San Francisco Giants during the 1977 and 1978 seasons:

During the 1978 season James batted .095 with two hits over 21 at-bats, scoring five runs while driving in three over 41 games.
That would be the last Major League action he’d see in his brief career, as he’d spend the 1979 season in the Milwaukee Brewers minor league system before playing out his pro career in Japan for the Yokohama Taiyo Whales in 1980.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1971 LOU KLIMCHOCK

Here’s a “not so missing” 1971 card for former infielder Lou Klimchock, who wrapped up a 12-year career in 1970 with 41 games for the Cleveland Indians:

Klimchock batted .161 with nine hits over 56 at-bats for the Indians while filling in at first and second base, with some pinch-hitting duties thrown in.
The previous year he saw the most action in any one Big League season, appearing in 90 games for Cleveland while collecting 258 at-bats.
He hit a very respectable .287 with 74 hits, setting career-highs across the board with 26 runs, six homers and 26 runs batted in.
He finished his career with 155 hits over 318 games and 669 at-bats, hitting .232 with 13 homers and 69 ribbies and 64 runs scored.

1976 PROJECT RE-DO: DICK SHARON

Back in November of 2014, as part of my “1976 Project” for my buddy Jim, I created a “missing” Dick Sharon card using the best image we had available at the time.
Since then a couple of better Topps images were released, and we updated the card, yet I never posted it here on the blog, so here goes:

Here’s the original write-up on Sharon as well:

“After appearing the previous two years in Topps sets as a Detroit Tiger, Sharon was left out of the 1976 set, even though he played in 91 games for the Padres, good for 191 plate appearances.
His numbers for the year: a .194 batting average, with 31 hits in 160 at-bats.
Among his hits were seven doubles and four homers to go along with 14 runs scored and 20 runs batted in.
As it turned out it would be the final year of Sharon's brief three-year career, and he finished up with a lifetime .218 batting average with 13 homers and 102 hits over 242 games.
But his story doesn't end there!
I came across this article on Sharon as I was looking over his career for this post.
Seems he was one of those characters that graced the game in the 1970's, and the article is an entertaining read for those interested:

http://blog.detroitathletic.com/2014/02/26/outspoken-tigers-outfielder-dick-sharon-went-fly-chasing-fly-fishing/

He even commented on the article! (scroll down to the bottom of the article for his post).
You have to love a guy like this!”

Just one more step to getting my all-time favorite set fully represented!

JUST ONE OF THOSE QUIRKY 1970'S CARDS: 1972 BOBBY PFEIL

Was going through my 1972’s recently and the Bobby Pfeil caught my eye because of the airbrush job.
So when I looked up his career to see if he even played after that (for a possible “not really missing in action” card), I saw he never even played for Boston, and never even played in another Major League game again:

After coming up to the Majors at the right time, as a member of the 19769 New York Mets, playing in 62 games and batting .232 with 49 hits over 211 at-bats, he’d spend all of 1970 in the Philadelphia Phillies system after being traded there for Ron Allen.
Making it back to the Big Leagues in 1971, he’d play in 44 games for the Phillies, batting .271 with 19 hits over 70 at-bats while playing seven different positions.
However, after being traded to the Milwaukee Brewers in February of 1972, then getting purchased by Boston a little over a month later, he’d spend the entire 1972 season playing for the Louisville Colonels,  Boston’s Triple-A affiliate, putting in a very nice year with a solid .272 average with 134 hits and 65 runs scored.
But that would be it for his career, as he was out of pro ball for good after that season, leaving us with one of many quirky cards of the era of guys pictured as members of a team they never actually ended up playing for.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1972 BUDDY HUNTER

After earlier creating “not so missing” 1974 and 1976 cards for former Red Sox second baseman Buddy Hunter, it’s time to finish it off and present a 1972 “not so missing” card, thus having a card for each season he played, albeit brief, in the Major Leagues:

Hunter appeared in eight games in his first taste of the Big Leagues, going 2-for-9 with two runs scored, good for a batting average of .222.
He’d play in 13, then one game respectively in 1973 and 1975, all for Boston, representing the entirety of his MLB action, finishing with five hits in 17 at-bats, good for a very respectable .294 career average over 22 games.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION -1974 MIKE THOMPSON

Merry Christmas everyone!!! And may 2018 be a banner year for all of us!!!
Here’s a “not so missing” 1974 card for a guy who pitched a total of four innings the year before, spread over two appearances, Mike Thompson:

Thompson was back in the Major Leagues after spending all of 1972 in the Minor Leagues, not factoring in a decision in that brief action for St. Louis.
In 1971 he had his first taste of the Majors, going 1-6 for the Washington Senators with a 4.86 earned run average.
He would go on to split the 1974 season between St. Louis and the Atlanta Braves, posting a record of 0-3 before finishing up his four year career in 1975 going 0-6 for Atlanta.
All told the numbers weren’t pretty, finishing with a career 1-15 record over 54 appearances and 164.2 innings pitched, with a 4.86 E.R.A.