On the blog today I thought we'd take a look at a Topps negative I found floating around the web for former pitcher Bob Johnson's 1974 traded card:
As
always, just interesting to see how Topps went about their airbrushing
to have a player on their "new" team, in this case for their new idea of
a "traded" sub-set, which they would repeat two years later in 1976.
Johnson
was sent to the Cleveland Indians from the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he
pitched for three years after coming up with the Kansas City Royals in
1970.
What I always remember about Johnson is that he had a hard-luck year in 1970 when he became the only pitcher to
strike out 200 or more batters in a season, yet fail to win 10 or more
games.
Pitching for the Royals that year, Johnson went 8-13 with a 3.07 earned run average, while whiffing 206 batters, tossing four shutouts and completing ten of his 26 starts.
Pitching for the Royals that year, Johnson went 8-13 with a 3.07 earned run average, while whiffing 206 batters, tossing four shutouts and completing ten of his 26 starts.
That is a nice rookie year in the Majors if you ask me!
The following year he found himself in Pittsburgh and won a championship
with them, even starting a game in the World Series against the
Baltimore Orioles.
All told, he posted a career 28-34 record, with a 3.48 ERA and 507 strikeouts over 183 games, 76 of which were starts, and 692.1 innings.
All told, he posted a career 28-34 record, with a 3.48 ERA and 507 strikeouts over 183 games, 76 of which were starts, and 692.1 innings.
