Time to go and give longtime Milwaukee Brewers second baseman Jim Gantner a “not so missing” 1978 card, as he was just starting out on a very nice 17-year Big League career:
Gantner only appeared in 14 games for Milwaukee in 1977, his second
taste of the Majors after 26 games in 1976, and hit .298 with 14 hits in
47 at-bats, including his first Major League home run.
Can you imagine the Brewers with such a “problem” that they had Robin
Yount, Paul Molitor, Jim Gantner and Don Money clogging up there infield
spots? Amazing!
Anyway, Gantner eventually found his way to a regular slot for Milwaukee
and would play the entirety of his career there, retiring after the
1992 season with 1696 hits and a .274 average, with 726 runs scored, 568
runs batted in and 137 stolen bases over 1801 games.
A solid player who played under the radar for a team that also featured
guys like Gorman Thoman, Ben Oglivie, Cecil Cooper and Ted Simmons
besides those mentioned earlier along the way.
