Quick: who was the only player to wear uniform number "42" for the Los Angeles Dodgers after Jackie Robinson retired?
If you answered Ray Lamb, today's "missing in action" subject, good for you!
Turns out Lamb wore the legendary number in 1969 while with the Dodgers, before they retired the number in 1972.
Lamb was already a member of the Cleveland Indians by then, and was out of professional baseball by 1974.
However I feel he "should" have, or "could" have had a card in
Topps 1974 set based on the playing time he put in the previous year.
Before we get into the numbers, take a look at my 1974 "missing" card design:
In 1973 Lamb appeared in 32 games for the Tribe, going an even 3
and 3 with a 4.60 earned run average and 60 strikeouts in 86 innings of
work.
But by March of 1974, he was released, and as far as I can tell never played again, not even Minor League ball.
Strange, as I haven't come across any info regarding an injury or something like that.
Lamb's best season was arguably 1971, when he posted a deceptive
6-12 record to go along with his 3.35 E.R.A., three complete games and a
shutout playing his first year for the Indians after being dealt by the
team that drafted him, the Dodgers.
He put in a decent year in 1972, going 5-6 with an even better 3.09 E.R.A., mainly as a guy out of the 'pen.
All told, he finished his career with a 20-23 record, 3.54 E.R.A. and 258 strikeouts in 424 innings over 154 games.
