Up on the blog today we have a "not so missing" 1975 card for former catcher John Stearns, who made his MLB debut with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1974:
Stearns played
in one game for the Phils in 1974, going 0-2 at the plate before finding
himself as part of a package in a trade to the New York Mets that sent
reliever Tug McGraw to the city of Brotherly Love.
Turns out
he would spend the rest of his Big League career with the Mets, playing
into the 1984 season, getting named to four All-Star teams along the
way.
In that time however he only had three seasons of
full-time work, with 1978 arguably his finest when he stole 25 bases
while hitting .264 with 126 hits and 15 homers, while driving in 73
runs.
All told, he finished his career with a .260 batting
average, with 696 hits over 2681 at-bats in 810 games, with 334 runs
scored and 312 RBIs, and a very nice 91 stolen bases as a catcher.
