Thursday, April 30, 2015

WHY? 1970 TOPPS BOB HEISE

Here's another one of those "head-scratchers" for those of us who pay attention to stuff like this: why did Topps issue a card for Bob Heise in their 1970 set?
First, the card:


If you go and look at Heise's action in 1969, you'll quickly see that the guy only appeared in four games for the New York Mets. Four games.
On top of that, in 1968 he appeared in only six games for the Mets.
So for a total of ten games in two years, he got a card in the 1970 set. Odd.
On top of all THAT, at the tail-end of his career, when he played in 63, 32 and 54 games respectively between 1975-1977, he was omitted from all Topps sets.
(Needless to say I'll be "fixing" THAT soon enough!).
Did Topps need to "fill out" the Ginats roster in the set, so they found a spot for Heise. I find that questionable. So your guess is as good as mine!
Heise did manage to put together an eleven-year career that saw him suit up for the Mets, Giants, Brewers, Cardinals, Red Sox and Royals before retiring after the 1977 season.
He batted .247 with a single homer (in 1970), 86 runs batted in and 104 runs scored over 499 games and 1144 at-bats.

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