Tuesday, January 7, 2020

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1977 TUCKER ASHFORD

Time to go and add former San Diego Padres infielder Tucker Ashford to my long running “not so missing” thread, with a 1977 card to mark his MLB debut a season earlier:


Ashford had himself a nice Big League debut during the Bicentennial season, going 3-for-5 at the plate in four games as a September call-up, with a double and two stolen bases.
In 1977 he’d get what turned out to be the most action in any of his eventual seven years in the Majors, playing in 81 games for the Friars, hitting .217 with 54 hits in 249 at-bats, scoring 25 runs while driving in 24 himself.
He’d play in 75 games a year later, hitting almost 30 points higher with a .245 clip, but would spend all of 1979 in the Minors before coming back in 1980 for 15 games with the Texas Rangers.
The rest of his career plays out as such, appearing in three games for the New York Yankees in 1981, back to the Minors in 1982, then 35 games with the New York Mets in 1983, and finally nine games in 1984 with the Kansas City Royals, which turned out to be the last as an active player in the Big Leagues.
Over parts of seven Major League seasons between 1976 and 1984, Ashford played in 222 games, hitting .218 with 111 hits in 510 at-bats, suiting up for five different teams, while playing all infield positions and even catching for one game while with the Mets in 1983.