GIMMIE A DO-OVER: 1977 GENE TENACE

Time to go an add another re-done 1977 A's card to my ongoing thread, this time All-Star catcher/first baseman Gene Tenace, who left the Oakland A's for some Southern air, signing with the San Diego Padres in December of 1976:

Original card issued by Topps

 

Tenace was as solid as they came for the juggernaut A's dynasty of the mid-70s, giving the team a versatile leader who was an on-base machine with some decent "pop" in his bat.

As a matter of fact in three different seasons Tenace collected more walks than hits in full seasons where he walked over 100 times.
Part of the first big wave of Free Agency, as stated earlier he’d move on to the San Diego Padres in 1977 where he’d play for four seasons before playing for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1981 & 1982, then one last season in the Big Leagues with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1983.
By the time he retired he ended up with a .241 career average, with 201 homers and 674 runs batted in, with 1060 hits and 984 walks over 1555 games and 4390 at-bats, with an All-Star start in 1975.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1975 RICH TROEDSON

Up on the blog today, we have a "not so missing" 1975 card for two-year Major League pitcher Rich Troedson, who played what turned out to be the last of his Big League games during the 1974 season:

 

Troedson appeared in 15 games for the San Diego Padres in 1974, posting a record of 1-1 with an ERA of 8.68 in 18.2 innings or work, with a save thrown in.

The previous season, his first, he appeared in 50 games for San Diego, with 18 of those appearances starts, completing two while saving one.

Over those 50 games he pitched to a record of 7-9 with a respectable 4.25 ERA in 152.1 innings, striking out 81 while walking 59.

He'd spend all of 1975 in the Minors, but that would be it for the Majors, as he would go on to play the 1976 season in Mexico for Monterrey before calling it a playing career.

All told, he finished with a record of 8-10 over 65 games, with an ERA of 4.74 over 171 innings and two saves.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1979 LARRY MURRAY

On the blog today, the fourth "missing" card to appear here for former outfielder Larry Murray, this one a 1979 edition for the sparsely used player:

 

In 1978 he’d only play in eleven games, hitting .083 with a single hit over twelve at-bats, but he’d come back in 1979 and get the most playing time he’d see over a season when he appeared in 105 games, hitting .186 with 42 hits over 226 at-bats.
That action would get him his first Topps card in the 1980 set, only to never appear in a Major League game again.
After only 13 games in the Minor Leagues during the 1980 season, he’d be finished with pro ball, only 27 years of age.

Originally up in 1974 with the New York Yankees for only six games, he would see parts (though small) of the next six years, never getting a full time chance with either NY or Oakland, with that last season mentioned above the most action he'd see in any one year.

Go figure.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1978 RANDY McGILBERRY

Today's blog post has a 1978 "not so missing" card for former Kansas City Royals pitcher Randy McGilberry, who played in parts of two seasons in the Majors, including his Big League debut in 1977:

 

McGilberry appeared in three games for the A.L. West champ Royals, taking a loss against no wins over seven innings, pitching to a 5.14 ERA.

The following year he'd appear in 18 games, all out of the bullpen, tossing 25.2 innings and once again going 0-1, with a 4.21 ERA.

Sadly for him, though still only 24, he'd never get another chance in the Majors again, pitching two more years in the Minors for both the Kansas City and New York Mets organizations before calling it a career in 1980.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1977 BOB OWCHINKO

On the blog today, a "not so missing" 1977 card for former San Diego Padres pitcher Bob Owchinko, who made his Big League debut during the 1976 season:

 

Owchinko went 0-2 in his first taste of the Majors, throwing 4.1 innings over two appearances at the tail end of the year, getting hit hard, to the tune of a 16.62 ERA. Ouch.

He'd fare much better the following season, when he'd go 9-12 over 30 games, 28 of them starts, completing three and throwing two shutouts in 170 innings of work.

After parts of four seasons with San Diego, he was off to the Cleveland Indians in 1980, appearing in 29 games and having a rough year, going 2-9 with a 5.27 ERA in 114.1 innings, though he did post a shutout.

In both 1981 and 1982 he suited up for the Oakland A's, where he became a bullpen guy, appearing in 83 games combined, saving five games and throwing 141.1 innings in relief.

After a 1983 season that saw him appear in one game for the Pittsburgh Pirates, not registering an out over two batters, he came back in 1984 as a member of the Cincinnati Reds, where he played in 49 games, with four starts, going 3-5 with a 4.12 ERA in 94 innings, saving two.

He'd spend all of 1985 in the Minors at the age of 30, before making it back to the Big Leagues in 1986 for what turned out to be his last hurrah in the Majors, this time for the Montreal Expos, where he would go 1-0 over three games, posting a 3.60 ERA over 15 innings.

Overall, Owchinko finished with a record of 37-60 over 275 games, pitching to a 4.28 ERA in 890.2 innings of work, tossing four shutouts and saving seven games in 10 seasons.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1975 JIM WILLOUGHBY

On the blog today, we have a "not so missing" 1975 card for former pitcher Jim Willoughby, who did manage to get into 18 games during the 1974 season but was left out of the 1975 Topps set:

 

Willoughby posted a record of 1-4 over those 18 games, pitching to an earned run average of 4.65 over 40.2 innings, starting four games along the way.

He would actually find himself with the Boston Red Sox for the 1975 season, getting traded in October of 1974 to the St. Louis Cardinals for Tom Heintzelman, for who he'd never suit up, before another trade in July of 1975 to the eventual American League champs. Talk about great timing!

He’d go on to play eight years in the Big Leagues, finishing up with a career 26-36 record, with an ERA of 3.79 over 238 appearances, 28 of those starts, with a shutout and 34 saves thrown in.
His best season could arguably be 1972 when he appeared in eleven games, all starts, and completed seven games, going 6-4 with an ERA of 2.36 over 87.2 innings pitched.

SPECIAL CUSTOM SETS: SERIES 7, SERIES 8 AND THE "MISSING" 1972 ALL-STAR SET

An added post today because of some absent-mindedness on my part!

It's been pointed out to me that I've missed posting some of the recent custom card sets I've put out, here on the blog. 

Totally an oversight by myself!

In my excitement to post on Twitter or email I forgot to also post it here on the blog, so here goes:

SERIES 7 (Released August, 2021)

SERIES 8 (Released September, 2021)

SPECIAL "MISSING" 1972 ALL-STAR SUB-SET ( (Released February, 2022)

 

Hope this brings everyone here up to speed on the printed output!

Thank you all for the interest and support!

Gio/wthballs