Up on the blog today we have a 1977 do-over for long-time Major League catcher Alan Ashby, who was originally airbrushed into a Toronto Blue Jays uni by the fine people at Topps for their set:
I originally had this image to be used for a “not so missing” 1975 card,
but obviously the Cleveland uniform is clearly from 1976 and later, not
from 1974 or even 1975.
Nevertheless, I figured I’d use it here to show the team he actually
played for the season prior instead of the new franchise he’d suit up
for in 1977.
Ashby appeared in 89 games for the Indians in 1976, hitting .239 with 59
hits over 247 at-bats, scoring 26 runs while driving in 32.
After being traded to the Jays from the along with Doug Howard for
pitcher Al Fitzmorris in November of 1976, Ashby would go on to put in
two seasons for the expansion team before moving on to play for the
Houston Astros for the next eleven years.
I never realized that his career took him all the way to the doorsteps
of the 1990 decade, finishing up with 22 games for the Astros in 1989
after 17-years as a Major League catcher.
In those 17 seasons he batted .245 while playing in 1370 games,
collecting 1010 hits with 90 home runs and 513 runs batted in over 4123
official at-bats. After his baseball career ended as a player he hung
around the game as a coach in the Astros system as well as a broadcaster
for the Astros in both radio and television.
