Today
on the blog we have a “not so missing” 1975 card for former catcher
Pete Varney, who played parts of four seasons in the Major Leagues and
only got one “official” Topps card, in 1976:
Varney made his MLB debut during the 1973 season, appearing in only five
games and going 0-4 at the plate then following it up with nine
appearances in 1974 when he went 7-for-28, good for a .250 batting
average.
In 1975 he’d see the most action in any one season, playing in 36 games
for the White Sox, batting .271 with 29 hits in 107 official at-bats,
including 12 runs scored and eight runs batted in.
That amount of face-time In the Big Leagues was good enough to get him a
card in the classic 1976 Topps set, but it sadly wouldn’t last, as he
would appear in only 19 games in the Majors during the Bicentennial
season, split between Chicago and the Atlanta Braves, for whom he’d play
the last games of his career with.
That season he’d bat a combined .216 with 11 hits in 51 at-bats,
connecting for three homers with five RBIs and five runs scored.
Turns out that would be the last action he’d see in the Majors, as he’d
play all of 1977 in the Minors for Atlanta before retiring as a player,
finishing up with a career .247 average, with 47 hits over 190 at-bats,
with 18 runs scored and 15 RBIs.
Fun
card to add to the “nicknames” thread today, a 1970 edition for the
“Mule” Dick Dietz, who had himself a nice eight-year MLB career, with a
colossal All-Star season in 1970:
Dietzput in a decent career, with this MVP-calibre season smack in the
middle in 1970 when he hit .300 with 22 homers, 107 runs batted in, 36
doubles and 109 walks. One of the better seasons by a catcher in that era.
This season was so far and away from any of his other seven campaigns it
reminds me of the 1980 Miguel Dilone or Steve Stone years, or maybe the
1973 Davey Johnson season among others.
Over his eight seasons In the Big Leagues, Dietz hit .261, with 478 hits
in 1829 at-bats, hitting 66 homers and driving in 301, with 226 runs
scored over 646 games, with his one all-star season coming in 1970.
I
have always wanted to “update” that 1970 card for former outfielder Ron
Stone, and I recently found a great image to do it with, so here goes.
As you may remember, with Topps and the Players Union battling each
other, Topps began using old images for players, sometimes reusing
images from years prior for their cards in the late-60’s/early-70s.
This one is a great example, the original Ron Stone 1970, which clearly
shows him in a Kansas City Athletics uniform from about 1966 when he
made his MLB debut with 26 games:
Now, with time on our side I found this image of him in the correct
uniform as a Phillies player, so here’s the new, updated version:
Stone would spend four of his five MLB seasons with the Phillies,
finishing up with a career .241 average over 388 games, collecting 194
hits in 804 at-bats between 1966 and 1972, with 1967-68 spent entirely
in the Minors.
A
familiar face of late-70s/early-80s baseball gets a “not so missing”
1975 card, former catcher Jim Essian a couple of years before his actual
Topps rookie card of 1977:
Essian originally came up to the Big Leagues with the Philadelphia
Phillies in 1973, appearing in two games before coming back in 1974 with
17 games.
Over those 17 games he went 2-for-20 at the plate, with a run scored and
two base on balls before coming back in 1975 for yet another brief
appearance in the Majors, this time two games where he went 1-for-2 at
the plate with an RBI.
1976 would be his break, as he was now a member of the Chicago White
Sox, playing in 78 games and hitting .246 with 49 hits over 199 at-bats,
thus his true rookie card in the 1977 set.
He would go on to play 12 seasons in the Majors, finishing up in 1984
with 63 games as an Oakland A’s catcher, putting in a career .244
average with 453 hits in 1855 at-bats, with 33 homers and 207 runs
batted in.
He’d go into coaching post playing career, even getting some managerial
experience in 1991 as the third manager of the season for the Chicago
Cubs, going 59-63 for a fourth place finish.
Up on the blog today is a “not so missing” 1973 card for former pitcher Ray Bare, who made his MLB debut during the 1972 season:
Bare appeared in 14 games for the St. Louis Cardinals, going 0-1 with a
sparkling 0.54 earned run average over 16.2 innings pitched.
He would spend all of 1973 in the Minor Leagues before making it back in
1974, going 1-2 over 10 appearances with a bloated 5.92 ERA in 24.1
innings.
The following season he’d have a full-time gig, now as a starter for the
Detroit Tigers, appearing in 29 games, 21 of them starts, going 8-13
with a 4.48 ERA over 150.2 innings, completing six games including a
shutout.
He’d be back in 1976, appearing in 30 games, with 21 of them starts,
going 7-8 with a 4.63 ERA, with three complete games and two shutouts.
He’d start off the 1977 season in the Minor Leagues before getting back
on a Big League mound before the season was over, going 0-2 with an ERA
at 12.56 over five appearances and 14.1 innings.
But those appearances would be the last of his career, as he would spend
all of 1978 in the Baltimore Orioles Minor League system before hanging
them up at the age of 29.
All told he finished his career with a record of 16-26, posting an ERA of 4.79 over 88 appearances and 340 innings pitched.
A
bit of a twist creation today for the blog, a “redone” 1971 card for
former first baseman George Kopacz, who appeared in his last MLB games
during the 1970 season as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates:
Now, the twist is that Kopacz did in fact appear on a multi-player
rookie card in the 1971 set, but as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers,
with whom he’d never actually play.
So, finding this image of him in the Pirates uni made for a “corrected”
1971 card representing his final season as a Big League ballplayer.
Originally up to the Majors in 1966 as a member of the Atlanta Braves,
he played in six games in his first MLB action, going hitless in nine
at-bats with a run scored.
After three-plus seasons in the Minors, he made it all the way back to
the Big Leagues with 10 games in 1970 with the Pirates, going
3-for-sixteen at the plate, good for a .188 average.
Turns out that would be it for his career, as he would go on to play
another three years in the Minor Leagues before retiring for good after
the 1973 season.
All told his Big League career ended with a .120 batting average, with
three hits over 25 at-bats in 16 games, along with two runs scored.
Today
on the blog we have a “not so missing” 1979 card for former Kansas City
Royals pitcher George Throop, who appeared in one game for the Western
Division champs the previous year:
Throop, who was originally up for his first taste of the Big Leagues in
1975, appeared in one game during the 1978 season, pitching three
innings of scoreless ball and ending up with the win.
He’d end up playing only one more year in the Majors, splitting the 1979
season between the Royals and Houston Astros, going 1-0 once again,
with a 4.32 ERA over 18 appearances and 25 innings pitched.
But it seems like his professional career ended there, without even any
Minor League games played after that 1979 season, finishing with a
career 2-0 record along with an ERA at 3.83 over 30 appearances and 42.1
innings of work.
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