NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1970 CLYDE MASHORE

Here’s a fun card to add to the 1970 collection, a “not so missing” Clyde Mashore, known for his five seasons with the Montreal Expos, yet came up for his first taste of Major League ball with two games in 1969 with the Cincinnati Reds:

Mashore went 0-1 at the plate with a run scored for the Reds as a 24-year-old when he got called-up in July.
About a year later he would be traded to the Montreal franchise for Ty Cline, and would spend the rest of his playing days with the Expos, playing through the 1973 season, generally as a guy off the bench.
Never a full-time player, Mashore ended playing in 241 games during his Big League stay, hitting .208 with 87 hits over 419 at-bats, hitting eight homers and driving in 47, along with 11 stolen bases and 58 runs scored.
I also created “missing” cards for him in the past, a 1974 “career-capper” and a 1972 edition, since Topps failed to include him in those sets while having others with far less playing time getting a slot.

1975 IN-ACTION: RALPH GARR

Even though Ralph Garr had an amazing action shot for his card in the 1975 set, I had to add him to the growing “In-Action” sub-set I’ve been building for a while, so here it is:

At the time the reigning National League batting champ after a .353 mark in 1974, Garr had an amazing run between 1971 and 1975, a stretch that saw him top .325 three times, along with three 200-hit seasons and leading the league in triples twice.
In 1976 he’d find himself with the Chicago White Sox, where he’d hit an even .300 his first two years there, but he’d be out of Major League ball just three years later after a rapid decline.
Nevertheless, he’d finish his Big League career with a .306 batting average, with 1562 hits over 5108 at-bats, stealing 172 bases and scoring 717 runs over 14-years.
The “Roadrunner” definitely had it going on in the 1970’s!

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1974 JOHN FELSKE

Here’s a “not so missing” 1974 card for three-year Major Leaguer, and future manager, John Felske, who played the last of his Big League games in 1973:

Felske appeared in 13 games for Milwaukee in 1973, batting .136 with three hits in 22 at-bats, scoring one run and driving in four.
Originally up with the Chicago Cubs in 1968 for a cup-of-coffee, where he appeared in only four games, he made it all the way back in 1972 when he played in 37 games for the Brewers, hitting .138 with 11 hits in 80 at-bats, with the only homer he’d hit in MLB play and five RBI’s.
All told, he finished with a .135 average with 14 hits in 104 at-bats, before going into coaching and eventually managing, which he did between 1985-1987 with the Philadelphia Phillies, even leading them to a second place finish in 1986 with a record of 86 and 75.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1976 KEN BERRY

Here’s a 1976 “not so missing” career-capper for former Gold-Glove centerfielder Ken Berry, who wrapped up a nice 14-year Major League career in 1975 with the Cleveland Indians:

Berry appeared in 25 games for the Tribe during his last taste of Big League ball, batting an even .200 with eight hits over 40 at-bats, scoring six runs with one run batted in.
He twice was awarded a Gold Glove for his work in the outfield, in 1970 during his final season with the Chicago White Sox, the team he came up with in 1962, and again in 1972 in his second season with the California Angels, for whom he played between 1971 and 1973.
He’d spend the 1974 season with the Milwaukee Brewers, where he hit .240 over 98 games, before that last year with the Indians.
By the time he retired, he finished with a .255 batting average, with 1053 hits over 4136 at-bats in 1384 games, with 422 runs scored and 343 runs batted in, and an All-Star nod back in 1967.

TRADED- 1974 WALT WILLIAMS

Today we have a “Traded” 1974 card for Walt “No Neck” Williams, who was actually on a Cleveland Indians Topps card, but was part of a three-team trade which landed him in the Bronx on March 19th, 1974:

Williams came to the New York Yankees along with pitcher Rick Sawyer in a trade that also included the Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers, with Jim Perry going back to the Indians and catcher Jerry Moses going to the Indians.
Turns out Williams would spend the final two years as a Major Leaguer with the Yankees, getting released right before the 1976 season and retiring for good in 1980 after two seasons in Japan and two more in the Mexican League.
Originally up to the Majors in 1964 as a 20-year-old for 10 games with the Houston Colt .45’s, he’d spend the next two seasons in the Minor Leagues before making it back, now as a member of the Chicago White Sox, in 1967, where he’d go on to play for the next six years before moving on to the Indians for one season.
By the time he was done, he finished with a nice .270 batting average, with 640 hits over 2373 at-bats in 842 games, scoring 284 runs and driving in 173, while also leaving us with one of the great nicknames of the era, “No Neck”, and if you look at any of his Topps cards, you’ll see why.
As for the card template, I was never a fan of that GIANT yellow "Traded" banner Topps used on their version in 1974, so I just went with a horizontal layout, which I am a big fan of.

MISSING IN ACTION- 1972 CHRIS ZACHARY

Today we have up on the blog somewhat of an interesting “missing” card, that a 1972 edition for former pitcher Chris Zachary:

Zachary pitched for nine seasons in the Big Leagues, and over that time Topps gave him a few cards in their sets between 1963 and 1973.
However, though Zachary never had a “full” season of action in his MLB tenure, the one season that saw him somewhat close to full-time work was ignored by the folks at Topps, leaving him out of the 1972 set.
In 1971, his only season with the St. Louis Cardinals, Zachary appeared in 23 games, with 12 of those starts, pitching a total of 89.2 innings, by far a career-high.
He posted a record of 3-10 with an earned run average of 5.32, with a shutout and 48 strikeouts against 26 base on balls.
Now, you’d think with the monster 1972 set coming out that Topps would have this guy in their set! But no, he was omitted while so many other guys who played so much less in 1971 got a slot in there.
As a matter of fact, in the very next Topps set of 1973, after a season that saw Zachary pitch only 38.1 innings for the Detroit Tigers in 1972, he got a card!
Go figure.
Nevertheless, over the course of his nine years on a Big League mound, Zachary accumulated a record of 10-29, with an ERA at 4.57 over 108 appearances, 40 of those starts, and 321.1 innings pitched.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1978 JOHN TAMARGO

Here’s a “not so missing” 1978 card for former catcher John Tamargo, who started off his five-year Major League career with the St. Louis Cardinals, including four games during the 1977 season after breaking in with 10 in 1976:

Tamargo went 0-for-4 at the plate for St. Louis over those four games in 1977, while collecting three hits over 10 at-bats in his first taste of the Big Leagues in 1976.
In 1978 he’d end up splitting the season between St. Louis and the San Francisco Giants, batting .224 over 42 games, with 22 hits in 98 at-bats.
The following year he’d end up splitting between the Giants and Montreal Expos, hitting .247, before playing out what would be his last as an active player in 1980 with the Expos, hitting .275 over 37 games, with 13 runs batted in, both career highs.
Overall for his major League tenure, Tamargo ended up hitting .242 with 59 hits in 244 at-bats, scoring 19 runs while driving in 33 over 135 games.