Hot on the heels of yesterday’s re-do of former catcher Alan Ashby, the blog follows up today with another former catcher getting the “do-over” treatment, a 1975 edition for Ken Rudolph:
Now if you remember, Topps’ 1975 airbrush job showing Rudolph with his
new St. Louis Cardinal team was one for the ages. Take a look:
What a doozy! It was actually part of a slew of unbelievable Cardinals airbrush jobs that I covered on the blog a long time ago:
http://whentoppshadballs.
But for Rudolph, he played in 57 games for the San Francisco Giants
during the 1974 season, hitting a career-best .259 with 41 hits over 158
at-bats, along with 11 runs scored and 10 runs batted in.
It was his only season out West after starting his career with the Chicago Cubs, playing for them 1969 through 1973.
Never more than a back-up catcher, he would see the bulk of his MLB
action between 1972 and 1974, appearing in 173 of his career 328 Big
League games, playing for the Cubs, Giants, St. Louis Cardinals and
Orioles.
By the time he retired after the 1977 season, he finished with a career
average of .213, with 158 hits in 743 at-bats, along with 64 runs batted
in and 55 runs scored with six homers thrown in.
