The next player from my recently released two-series 1970 "In-Game Action" set to get the spotlight here on the blog is the great Bobby Bonds, who was just coming into his own when this card would have seen the light of day:
What an awesome combination of power and speed.
Five times he attained a 30/30 season, just missing out on becoming
the first player in history to hit 40/40 in 1973 when he clubbed 39
homers with 43 swipes.
As it was, he finished with 332 homers, 1024 runs batted in, 1258
runs scored and 461 stolen bases and even took home three Gold Gloves.
I remember him stating years later that if he knew it was going to
be such a big deal he'd have done it multiple times. And I'm sure he
could have too.
Even though he did put in a solid career, you have to wonder "what
could have been" if he found a real home and was able to put in a career that was a
bit longer.
An incredible talent, it just seems that after his first seven seasons with
the San Francisco Giants, no one really wanted to keep him around,
playing for seven teams in seven years between 1975 and 1981.
