NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1973 BOB STINSON

Up on the blog today we have a “not so missing” 1973 card for Bob Stinson, former catcher, who played in 27 games for the Houston Astros during the 1972 season:

Stinson was already with his third team in four seasons as a Big Leaguer: coming up with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1969 and 1970, then moving on to the St. Louis Cardinals for 17 games in 1971 before his one season with the Astros in 1972.
In his brief time with Houston, he hit .171 with six hits in 35 at-bats, driving in two runs while scoring three with a double and a walk.
He’d play 12-years in the Big Leagues, finishing up with the Mariners in 1980 after two years with the Royals in 1975 and 1976, and two years with the Montreal Expos in 1973 and 1974, hitting .250 in 652 games, with 408 hits over 1634 at-bats, with 33 homers and 180 runs batted in.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1972 TONY MUSER

Today we have a 1972 “no so missing” card for Tony Muser, who made it back to the Majors after spending all of 1970 in the Minor Leagues:

After spending all of 1970 in the Boston Red Sox Minor League system, he was back in 1971, now as a member of the Chicago White Sox, where he’d play into the 1975 season before getting traded to the Baltimore Orioles for pitcher Jesse Jefferson, before playing out his nine-year career with 15 games for the Milwaukee Brewers in 1978.
Never truly a full-time player, he retired with a .259 batting average, with 329 hits over 1268 at-bats in 663 games, with 123 runs scored and 117 RBIs.
He’d also go on to coaching and managing later on, heading the Kansas City Royals from 1997 and 2002, winning 317 games while losing 431.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1971 LOU MARONE

Today we have on the blog a “not so missing” 1971 card for former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Lou marone, who threw the last of his MLB innings during the 1970 season:

Marone appeared in only one game for the Pirates in 1970, pitching 2.1 innings and giving up a run, good for an earned run average of 3.86.
In 1969 he had a very nice debut, posting an ERA of 2.55 over 35.1 innings and 29 appearances, going 1-1 with 25 strikeouts against 13 walks.
He’d go on to pitch two more seasons in the Pirates Minor League system through 1972, but never make it back to a Major League mound again, finishing up with 30 appearances and that 1-1 record from 1969, with a very nice 2.63 ERA.

1974 SPECIAL- PETE ROSE AND JOHNNY BENCH

Time for another “special”, and since I found this sweet image a while back let’s make it a 1974 Pete Rose/Johnny Bench card celebrating their National league dominance at the time this card would have seen the light of day:

Rose was coming off of his third batting title, and first MVP Award in 1973, setting a career high with 230 hits while also scoring over 100 runs for the sixth time in his eleven MLB seasons to that point.
It’s also worth pointing out that it was his sixth 200+ hits seasons in eleven years as well, setting the eventual stage of he taking over the all-time MLB career hits mark some 12 years later when he surpassed the great Ty Cobb.
For Bench, all he did up until this point was take home the 1968 Rookie of the Year Award, the NL MVP Award in both 1970 and 1972, and completely reshape the catcher’s position as we knew it, while STILL only 25 years of age!
At this point in their careers, we didn’t even get to experience the great “Big Red Machine” two-time World Champions of 1975 and 1976 yet! One of the great dynastic teams in the league’s history.
But both would end up setting new standards in MLB history, though Rose screwed it all up with that gambling bug!
Nevertheless, BOTH are Hall of Famers in my eyes! Two of the best ever.

MISSING IN ACTION- 1977 JOE LAHOUD

Today we have a “missing” 1977 card for former outfielder Joe Lahoud, who split the 1976 season between the California Angels and Texas Rangers:

Lahoud appeared in 80 games during the 1976 campaign, batting a combined .200 with 37 hits over 185 at-bats, definitely enough playing time to warrant a card in the 1977 set.
He would move on to the Kansas City Royals for his final two seasons of Big League ball in 1977/78, appearing in only 47 games for the American League West champs, finishing his 11-year career with a .223 average, with 429 hits over 1925 at-bats.
He’d also hit 65 homers while driving in 218 runs, scoring 239 himself over 791 appearances between 1968 and 1978.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1978 JOEY McLAUGHLIN

On the blog this morning I post up a not so missing” 1978 card for former pitcher Joey McLaughlin, who made his MLB debut during the 1977 season with the Atlanta Braves:

McLaughlin appeared in three games for Atlanta, starting two of them though getting hit hard, lastin only a combined six innings while giving up 10 earned runs for an unsightly 15.00 ERA.
He would spend all of 1978 in the Minors before making it back the following season, where he would go 5-3 with a very nice 2.48 ERA over 37 appearances and 69 innings pitched, finding new life as an arm out of the bullpen.
He’d go on to play seven years in the Big Leagues, for the Braves, Toronto Blue Jays and Texas Rangers, through the 1984 season, finishing up with a record of 29-28, with an ERA of 3.85 over 250 appearances and 448.2 innings pitched, with 36 saves.

1971 TRADED- AL DOWNING

Time for another “traded” card for the long-running series, and today it’s a 1971 edition for former pitcher Al Downing, who bounced back from a couple of “off” seasons to have his best year as a Major Leaguer:

Downing, who came up as a young stud with the New York Yankees, even leading the American League with 217 strikeouts in 1964, was coming off of three disappointing years between 1968 and 1970, splitting that last year between the Oakland A’s and Milwaukee Brewers.
On February 10th of 1971 however, he was dealt to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Andy Kosco, and all Downing would go on to do is post a record of 20-9, along with a 2.68 earned run average with a league-leading five shutouts over 37 appearances, all but one starts.
Easily his best season in the Big Leagues, Downing would slip somewhat the following year, but through no fault of his own as he’d post a record of 9-9 with a very nice 2.98 ERA over 30 starts, which included four shutouts.
He’d pitch another five decent seasons for the Dodgers, through the 1977 campaign, before retiring with a record of 123-107, with 24 shutouts and 1639 strikeouts over 405 appearances, with 317 of them starts between 1961 and 1977.