Next
up in the on-going “missing rookie cup” series through the 1970’s is
former San Diego padre Johnny Grubb, who was a Topps All-Star Rookie for
his 1973 rookie year, thus the “fixed” 1974 card:
Grubb had himself a very nice rookie campaign, finishing up the season
hitting .311 with 121 hits over 389 at-bats, scoring 52 runs while
collecting 33 extra base hits.
He would go on to have a nice 16-year career in the Big Leagues, easily
overlooked with his .278 batting average playing for the Padres,
Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers and Detroit Tigers between 1973 and
1987.
Sadly for him, though he did stick around for 16 seasons as a Big
Leaguer, that .311 batting average in 1973 turned out to be a
career-high, and it was also arguably his finest season in Major League
ball.
Nevertheless, by the time he retired he left the game with 1153 hits
over 4154 at-bats, along with 553 runs scored and 475 runs batted in,
while also being a member of the World Champion juggernaut 1984 Detroit
Tigers team that went wire to wire.
Not too shabby...