I
love creating these cards, so forgive me for adding yet another
“traded” card to the 1975 set, my Burt Hooton edition for the overlooked
reliable starter who found himself as a member of the Los Angeles
Dodgers after four+ seasons with the Chicago Cubs:
Making three starts with the Cubs to open the 1975 season, Hooton was
traded to the Dodgers on May 2nd for pitchers Eddie Solomon and Geoff
Zahn, and he would not disappoint, going 18-7 the rest of the way with
an ERA at 2.82.
He would then give Los Angeles a reliable starter of the next nine
seasons, posting 4 years of sub-3.00 ERAs and even coming in second in
the NL Cy Young Award in 1978 when he went 19-10 with a 2.71 ERA.
Between 1972 and 1980 he threw over 200 innings eight of nine seasons,
and by the time he retired after a year with the Texas Rangers in 1985,
he finished with a record of 151-136, with a very nice 3.38 ERA over 480
appearances, tossing 29 shutouts while striking out 1491 batters.