I don't know why it has taken me so long to create a 1970 "Highlight" card celebrating Major League baseball coming to Seattle, but I fix that today with the following card:
I
have already created other such cards for the Montreal Expos (1970),
Texas Rangers (1973) and Milwaukee Brewers (1971), so why the Pilots
cards escaped me I have no idea.
Funny I bring up a 1971 card
for the Milwaukee Brewers, since as we all know that is the franchise
that was born from the mess that was the Seattle Pilots endeavor, as the
Pilots lasted only one season as a Big League team before a last-minute
deal with Milwaukee car-dealer Bud Selig before the 1970 season led to a
hasty relocation to the Brew-city.
The team went 64-98 in
their only season, led by manager Joe Schultz, with their top players
being Don Mincher, Tommy Harper and Tommy Davis.
On the
pitching side of things, Diego Segui put in a good year, going 16-6
mainly out of the bullpen, with starter Gene Brabender leading the team
with 13 wins, seven complete games and 139 strikeouts.
Of
course, thanks to pitcher Jim Bouton, who appeared in 57 games as a
reliever for the team, we were also left with hilarious stories of the
tumultuous season because of his landmark book "Ball Four", giving us
insight into the personalities that made up the squad.
If you STILL have not read it, please do yourself a favor and get to it!
There's
so much I can get into here, but for a more rudimentary quick read on
the team and that 1969 season, here's the Wiki-link:
