CAREER-CAPPER: 1968 BILL "MOOSE" SKOWRON

Up on the blog today, a fun card to create, a 1968 "career-capper" for former New York Yankee slugger Bill "Moose" Skowron, who finished up a nice Major League career in 1967 as a member of the California Angels:

Skowron actually split that 1967 season between the Chicago White Sox and Angels, combining for a .206 batting average over 70 games, with 27 hits, eight runs scored and elevel runs batted in.

Earlier in the decade "Moose" was an All-Star first baseman for the dynastic Yankees, including their monstrous 1961 season, when he hit a career-best 28 homers.

By the time he retired he finished with eight All-Star nods, 211 homers and a nice .282 batting average over 1658 games played, collecting 1566 hits in 5547 at-bats, with 682 runs and 888 RBIs.

A fan favorite in the Bronx, he was a part of five World Championship teams while appearing in eight World Series, total. Incredible run!

 

FIXING UP ALL-STAR CARDS: 1984 FRED LYNN

On the blog today, a real travesty for Topps regarding their All-Star cards of the 1980s.

Imagine being selected as a starter for your league, and THEN you go on to hit the FIRST grand slam in All-Star game history, helping your league win its first Midsummer Classic in 12 years, and you get OVERLOOKED for an All-Star card the following year!?

Well, welcome to California Angels star Fred Lynn, who had this very thing happen in 1984 when the new Topps baseball cards came out.

So here is his rightful All-Star card, 42 years later:

As for Mr. Lynn, after a wonderful college career at USC, Lynn became an instant star in 1975 when he led the Boston Red Sox to the World Series after copping both the Rookie of the Year AND Most Valuable Player Awards. The first player ever to do so, and still only one of two (Ichiro Suzuki joined him in 2001).
He’d go on to win four Gold Gloves, get named to nine all-star teams, and hit the only Grand Slam in All-Star game history, a memorable shot off of Atlee Hammaker in the 1983 classic that gave the American League it’s first win over the National League since 1971.
Hampered by injuries throughout his 17-year career, he still finished with a very solid MLB resume: 306 homers, 1111 RBI’s, 1063 runs scored and a .283 batting average, with 10 seasons of 20+ homers over 1969 games.

 

FIXING UP ALL-STAR CARDS: 1984 ROD CAREW

Up on the blog today, we go ahead and "fix up" another 1980s Topps All-Star card, this time giving Rod Carew his rightful 1984 All-Star card as the American League's starting first baseman for the 1983 game:

Topps inexplicably went and gave Baltimore Orioles legend Eddie Murray the All-Star card, but why!?

Carew was still an automatic at that slot for years at the time, and was the starter yet again in 1983 when the A.L. FINALLY won after a 12-year losing streak.

The man was a player for the ages, as he would go on to play in 18 All-Star games, missing only his final season in the Majors in 1985. Just incredible.

The first nine seasons of his career were as an All-Star second baseman, while the last nine were as a first baseman.

The legend topped .300 15 years in a row, with a high of .388 in 1977 on his way to a Most Valuable Player Award and capturing the public’s attention with his .400 chase late in the season.
A clear-cut Hall of Fame player, he was inducted on his first year of eligibility in 1991 when he garnered 90.5% of the vote, which leaves me with the question: who the hell are the 9.5% who DIDN’T vote for him!!!???

3053 hits, a .328 career average, 353 stolen bases and 15 straight seasons of .300+ batting.

The man was a hitting machine, and I'm so glad I got to see him play during his magnificent career!

FANTASY CARD: 1972 "TRADED" NOLAN RYAN

Hot on the heels of my re-done base 1972 card for the "Ryan Express", I now post up a "Traded" late-series 1972 card I had printed up for one of my recent printed sets, which would have made that 1972 set even more of a beast:

Would have been a great card to add to that cool 1972 sub-set!

What really needs to be said about a guy who has become more myth than baseball legend?

300+ wins, 5700+ strikeouts, 60+ shutouts, and oh yeah SEVEN no-hitters, two of which came when he was well into his 40’s while with the Texas Rangers!

I love thinking about the fact that he did most of his damage in the American League with the designated hitter. Now imagine how many strikeouts he could have had in his prime pitching in the National League where the pitcher batted?!

Would it be safe to say you could add 20-30 strikeouts a season to his total? More?

Hey, you never know…

Nevertheless, the man became a baseball God, eventually finding his place in the Hall of Fame upon his first year of eligibility as an absolute no-brainer.

I just thank the skies above that I got to see him pitch in-person!

SPECIAL REQUEST: "CORRECTED" 2024 HERITAGE SHOHEI OHTANI (ORIGINAL VERSION BY TOPPS)

As I did earlier with a "corrected" 2025 Topps Heritage card for Juan Soto, showing him with the Yankees and having an All-Star on his card, I went ahead and dug up the ORIGINAL 2024 Heritage card for all-world Shohei Ohtani, from the design Topps was originally going to put out there had he not signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the initial advertising for the set:

 

Topps simply took this image, airbrushed the correct uniform, and TOOK AWAY the All-Star designation to create their as-issued Dodgers version.

This of course pissed off those of us who want the FULL all-star teams designated on their base-cards to build out sets (just like the Soto dilemma a year later).

I do remember Topps' first advertising for the 2024 Heritage set showed this Ohtani Angels version, then quickly changed once he signed with the Dodgers.

Since he was the American League All-Star DH in the 2023 game, he should have had this card with the All-Star designation, them maybe an update Dodger version (harking back to the Hank Aaron treatment in 1975).

So I hope this helps clear up the "missing" A.L. All-Star in the Heritage set!

REVISITING MY "NOT REALLY MISSING" 1971 RAY OYLER FROM 10 YEARS AGO

Good day all!

On the blog today, revisiting a post from 10 years ago, my "not really missing" 1971 card for Ray Oyler of the California Angels:

I recently came across this nice usable image for former shortstop Ray Oyler as a California Angel, and since he didn't have a card in the 1971 set I figured I'd whip one up, even though it's a bit of a stretch considering the minimal time he played in 1970.

The 1970 would end up being the last in Oyler's six-year career.

It wasn't much of a showing, as he collected two scant hits over 24 at-bats, good for a .083 batting average in the 24 games he got into that season.

But when you look at his career, Oyler was all glove and no bat, almost literally.

By the time he hung up his cleats after 1970, he retired with a .175 batting average, based on his 221 hits over 1265 at-bats.

Between 1965 and 1970, he topped .200 once, when he hit .207 in 1967 for the Detroit Tigers.

However, on a positive note, during the Tiger's World Series run in 1968 Oyler played in 111 games for the champs, arguably the high point of his career before being selected by the expansion Seattle Pilots for the 1969 season.

Quite a few teammates reflected on Oyler's defensive prowess, some even stating that no matter what the batting average was, having Oyler as their shortstop helped their team.

Talk about the epitome of "good field, no hit"!

 

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: NOLAN RYAN

Time to finally add the "Ryan Express", Nolan Ryan to my long-running WTHBALLS "Classic Baseball" set, celebrating the great game and it's rich history:

What really needs to be said about a guy who has become more myth than baseball legend?

300+ wins, 5700+ strikeouts, 60+ shutouts, and oh yeah SEVEN no-hitters, two of which came when he was well into his 40’s while with the Texas Rangers!

I love thinking about the fact that he did most of his damage in the American League with the designated hitter. Now imagine how many strikeouts he could have had in his prime pitching in the National League where the pitcher batted?!

Would it be safe to say you could add 20-30 strikeouts a season to his total? More?

Hey, you never know…

Nevertheless, the man became a baseball God, eventually finding his place in the Hall of Fame upon his first year of eligibility as an absolute no-brainer.

I just thank the skies above that I got to see him pitch in-person!

 

REVISITING A POST FROM 10 YEARS AGO: MISSING 1976 WINSTON LLENAS

From ten years ago on the blog, today we revisit a "missing" 1976 card for former California Angels infielder Winston Llenas, part of the "1976 Project" I worked on for my buddy Jim:

Llenas appeared in 56 games for the Halos, hitting .186 with 21 hits over 113 at-bats while playing five different positions plus some DH-ing.

The action he saw in 1975 would be the last of his career, all spent with the Angels since he came up in 1968.

He didn't play in 1970 or 1971, so over the six seasons he did see action in the Majors, he hit .230 with 122 hits over 531 official at-bats, spread over 300 big league games.

In 1973 he led the American League with 16 pinch-hits and 56 pich-hit at-bats, while seeing the most action in any season he played, 78 games.

He then went on to play a year in Japan, for the Taiheiyo Club in 1976, hitting .227 before going to to play, coach and manage in the Dominican Republic for years, eventually getting inducted into the Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008.

 

REVISITING MY "MISSING" 1977 CARD FOR MIKE EASLER

Today on the blog we revisit my "missing" 1977 card for the "hit Man" Mike Easler, who was still to find his place as an everyday player in the Majors:

Though Easler would have his rookie card in the 1978 set on one of those multi-player jobs, he could have easily gotten a card in the '77 set based on his action in the 1976 season with the California Angels.

In the bicentennial year, Easler played in 21 games with 59 plate appearances, with 13 hits in 53 at-bats, good for a .241 batting average.

He also collected a double, triple and four runs batted in along with six runs scored, all as a designated hitter.

It wasn't until 1980 that he saw full-time work, and he came in with a bang, hitting a robust .338 with 21 homers and 74 RBI's in only 393 at-bats for the reigning champion Pirates.

Six years later I remember him joining the Yankees and he performed well, hitting .302 with 14 homers and 78 RBI's, before playing out his final year in the Majors in 1987, split between the Yanks and Phillies.

By the time he closed out his 14-year career, he finished with a very nice .293 average with 118 homers, 522 runs batted in and 465 runs scored.

 

CAREER-CAPPER: 1968 LEW BURDETTE

Up on the blog today, we have a 1968 "Career-Capper" for pitcher Lew Burdette, who put together an excellent 18 year Major League career:

Burdette appeared in 19 games for the California Angels in 1967, the last season he'd suit up in the Majors, going 1-0 with a 4.91 earned run average over 18.1 innings at the age of 40.

Burdette of course will always be known as the hero of the 1957 World Series when he pitched the (then) Milwaukee Braves to a surprising championship win over the favored New York Yankees, winning three games, all complete games, two of them shutouts.
He put in 18 seasons in the Big Leagues, winning 203 games while posting and earned run average of 3.66 along with 33 shutouts and 32 saves over 626 appearances.
Between 1956 and 1961 he averaged just under 20 wins a season for the Braves, with a high of 21 in 1959 which led the National League, as well as his four shutouts and 39 starts.
Great playing career for a baseball lifer, who’d retire after a couple of seasons with the California Angels in 1967 as an arm out of the bullpen at the age of 40.

GIMMIE A DO-OVER: 1970 RUDY MAY

Thought it'd be fun to give former pitcher Rudy May a "do-over" on his 1970 card, so here you go, using a much better image of him during his time as a California Angel:

My re-done version

Original Topps release

May made his Major League debut in 1965 as a 20-year-old, appearing in 30 games and tossing 124 innings, certainly good enough for a card in the 1966 set.

He posted a record of 4-9 with a 3.92 earned run average, striking out 76 batters while throwing a shutout.

All told, he posted a 152-159 career record, with a 3.46 earned run average, 24 shutouts, 12 saves and 1760 strikeouts between 1965 and 1983.

His finest year was easily 1980, when he led the American League in E.R.A. with a nice 2.46 mark, WHIP at 1.044 and strikeouts-to-walks with a 3.41 number as a member of the New York Yankees.

 

MISSING IN ACTION: 1966 RUDY MAY

Let's go way back into the 1960s for today's "missing" card, that of pitcher Rudy May, then of the California Angels, and a 1966 edition:

May made his Major League debut in 1965 as a 20-year-old, appearing in 30 games and tossing 124 innings, certainly good enough for a card in the 1966 set.

He posted a record of 4-9 with a 3.92 earned run average, striking out 76 batters while throwing a shutout.

All told, he posted a 152-159 career record, with a 3.46 earned run average, 24 shutouts, 12 saves and 1760 strikeouts between 1965 and 1983.

His finest year was easily 1980, when he led the American League in E.R.A. with a nice 2.46 mark, WHIP at 1.044 and strikeouts-to-walks with a 3.41 number as a member of the New York Yankees.

REVISIT: MISSING IN ACTION- 1976 ORLANDO RAMIREZ: "1976 PROJECT"

On the blog this fine day, we revisit my "missing" 1976 card for Orlando Ramirez, originally created some 10 years ago for my buddy Jim and his "1976 Master Set" project:

In 1975 Ramirez played in 44 games, good for 113 plate appearances, yet he missed out on a card in that awesome set from 1976.

Yet Topps decided that after he appeared in 30 games with 83 plate appearances in 1976, he'd get a card the following year.

Actually, he also had more playing time during the 1974 season, so he's actually "missing" from the 1975 set as well! (future post!).

Those three seasons would actually be the bulk of his major League playing time, with sparse action in both 1977 and 1979 (he didn't play at all in 1978).

He finished his career with a .189 average with 53 hits in 281 at-bats, with five doubles and a triple.

Thanks to "Reader Jim" for the chance at this project, and tackling these players left out!

 

REVISITING A CLASSIC CUSTOM FROM 2014: MISSING IN ACTION 1972 TONY CONIGLIARO

Let's revisit one of my favorite early "missing" cards from the blog, my 1972 card for Tony Conigliaro of the California Angels, created and posted in December, 2014:

Just a great card to design and actually print up, as part of one of my early "Series" packs a few years back.

Here's the original write-up for that post, which appeared on December 6th of 2014:

A little while back I fulfilled a request for a 1976 Tony Conigliaro card, even though it wasn't on my radar.

Today I'll post up a "Tony C" card that was INDEED on my radar: a "missing" 1972 design. Check it out.

The reason I consider it a missing card, even though Conigliaro didn't play in 1972, was that in 1971 he did suit up in 74 games for the California Angels, good for 292 plate appearances.

For the season he hit .222 with four homers and 15 runs batted in, along with 23 runs scored and 59 total hits.

It is easy to forget that after his beaning in 1967, and missing all of 1968, Conigliaro came back and posted a remarkable return season in 1969, hitting 20 homers, driving in 82, and taking home the American League Comeback Player of the Year Award.

1970 was even more incredible, as he swatted a career high 36 home runs, while driving in 100+ for the only time in his career (116)!

Sadly because of the beaning he suffered eye-troubles and was never the same again, and he was traded to the California Angels with pitcher Ray Jarvis and catcher Jerry Moses for Doug Griffin, Jarvis Tatum and Ken Tatum.

As if that wasn't enough for the poor guy, the true tragedy of the Tony Conigliaro story would be in 1982, when he was about to interview for a broadcasting job in Boston and suffered a catastrophic stroke, leaving him in a vegetative state until his death eight years later in 1990.

Really a sad story that leaves you with the "what if's" of the sports world…

GIMMIE A DO-OVER OF ONE OF MY OWN: 1979 RANCE MULLINIKS

Good day all.

On the blog today, a do-over for one of my own creations from a couple weeks back, a "not so missing" 1979 card for Rance Mulliniks, which I originally posted with an image of Bobby Jones, corrected here with a nice image of Mulliniks:

A few of you spotted the error immediately, and I was lucky enough to already have another image of the long time infielder to use as my "fix".

Mulliniks, who had his Topps rookie card in the 1978 set after appearing in 78 games for California in 1977, hit .185 in 1978 over the aforementioned 50 games, with 22 hits over 119 at-bats while putting time in at shortstop.

He'd play in only 22 games during the 1979 season for the Angels before being part of a blockbuster trade in December of 1979 that included Willie Aikens and Al Cowens, seeing the players swap uni's between the Angels and Kansas City Royals.

He'd see limited time with the Royals in 1980 and 1981 before heading off to the Toronto Blue Jays, where he finally found a home and would spend the rest of his 16-year career with, playing 11 seasons for the Jays, generally at third base with some time around the rest of the infield.

He would have some really nice seasons with the Jays, and while never truly a "full-time" player, he'd put in seasons with over 350 plate appearances between 1982 and 1988, hitting as high as .324 (1984) with a couple of other .300+ seasons thrown in.

By the time he retired after the 1992 season, he finished up with 972 hits in 3569 at-bats, good for a .272 mark, with 445 runs scored and 435 runs batted in over 1325 games.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION: 1979 RANCE MULLINIKS

Up on the blog today, we go and give former Big League infielder Rance Mulliniks a "missing" card since he played about a third of a season for the California Angels the year prior:

Mulliniks, who had his Topps rookie card in the 1978 set after appearing in 78 games for California in 1977, hit .185 in 1978 over the aforementioned 50 games, with 22 hits over 119 at-bats while putting time in at shortstop.

He'd play in only 22 games during the 1979 season for the Angels before being part of a blockbuster trade in December of 1979 that included Willie Aikens and Al Cowens, seeing the players swap uni's between the Angels and Kansas City Royals.

He'd see limited time with the Royals in 1980 and 1981 before heading off to the Toronto Blue Jays, where he finally found a home and would spend the rest of his 16-year career with, playing 11 seasons for the Jays, generally at third base with some time around the rest of the infield.

He would have some really nice seasons with the Jays, and while never truly a "full-time" player, he'd put in seasons with over 350 plate appearances between 1982 and 1988, hitting as high as .324 (1984) with a couple of other .300+ seasons thrown in.

By the time he retired after the 1992 season, he finished up with 972 hits in 3569 at-bats, good for a .272 mark, with 445 runs scored and 435 runs batted in over 1325 games.

 

1960S ALL-DECADE TEAM: A.L. RIGHT-HANDED PITCHER: DEAN CHANCE

Our blog post today, my selection for the Right-handed American League pitcher of the 1960's, and I went with Cy Young Award winner Dean Chance:

First off, my kingdom for a nice portrait photo of the ace pitcher during his time pitching for the Los Angeles Angels!

I just could not find such a photo for this card, and hope to before I come to printing this set up later this year.

Anyway, I went with Dean Chance based on his two 20-win seasons, his sick 1964 Cy Young winning year, 11 shutouts in 1964, and five sub-3.00 E.R.A. campaigns by the time the '60's were in everyone's rear-view mirrors.

In 1962, his first full-year in the Majors, he finished third for Rookie of the Year, going 14-10 with a 2.96 E.R.A.

Throughout the rest of the decade it was more of the same, as he posted solid numbers year in and year out.

But it was his 1964 season that was far and away his best year in the Majors, as he finished with a 20-9 record with a sparkling 1.65 earned run average, 11 shutouts and 207 strikeouts, leading to a Cy Young win and a fifth-place finish in M.V.P. voting for the Los Angeles Angels.

He'd post another 20-win season in 1967, now as a member of the Minnesota Twins, going 20-14 with a 2.73 E.R.A., five shutouts and 220 strikeouts, and followed up in 1968 with a career high of 234 K's along with a 2.53 E.R.A., six shutouts and a mediocre 16-16 record.

Sadly for Chance this would be his last full season in the Majors, even though he was still only 27 years old.

1969 would see Chance make only 15 starts, going 5-4 with a 2.95 E.R.A. and 50 K's in only 88.1 innings before scraping together two more years playing for the Indians, Mets and Tigers.

He would be out of baseball for good by 1972, only 30 years old, but his solid seven years between 1962-1968 still makes him my pick as the righty pitcher on my A.L. All-Decade team for my 1970 sub-set.

 

REVISITING A 10-YEAR OLD POST: MISSING IN ACTION JEFF TORBORG

Today on the blog we revisit a 10-year old post featuring an early "missing in action" card, this one of catcher Jeff Torborg of the California Angels:

Here's the original write-up for that post:

"You know, California Angels catchers of the early to mid 1970's got "dissed" left and right by Topps.

My last "Missing in Action" subject was Angels' backstop Art Kusnyer, and today's player is another California signal-caller, Jeff Torborg, who should have had a card in the 1974 set.

You think a guy who caught no-hitters by BOTH Nolan Ryan and Sandy Koufax in his career would get a little love, especially since he did actually play in 102 games in 1973!

In those 102 games played he had 284 plate appearances and started more than half the Angels games that year with 95.

Then take into account that Topps instead went ahead and gave a card in their 1974 set to both Charlie Sands and Rick Stelmaszek, who appeared in only 17 and 22 games respectively as the Angels fourth and fifth string catchers the previous year!

How does that compute?

If you're keeping track, I've only named four catchers here, yet I stated Sands and Stelmaszek as the fourth and fifth string.

Turns out (and thank you to reader "ecloy" for the heads up) Topps also omitted ANOTHER Angels catcher that year by leaving out their second-most active back-stop in 1973, catcher John Stephenson, who appeared in 60 games, good for 132 plate appearances.

???

So Topps leaves out the three most active Angels catchers of 1973 and gives cards to two guys who totaled 39 games between them!?

I just can't figure it out.

Nevertheless, with the missing 1973 Kusnyer card, this 1974 Torborg card, and in the near future the missing Stephenson cards (yes, there were multiple missing cards for this player in the decade), I hope to fill in all the blanks for Angels catchers of the 1970's.

I'll also be writing about Charlie Sands and his TWO inexplicable cards during the '70's as well.

Keep an eye out for all of them here…

As for Torborg, after a very successful college career playing for Rutgers University in New Jersey in the early 60's Torborg was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers as an amateur free agent in 1963.

He made it to the Majors in 1964 and went on to play seven years for L.A. as a back-up catcher before being purchased by the California Angels in March of 1971, where he went on to play for another three seasons.

After the 1973 season, as the Angels primary catcher among a slew of guys behind the plate that year, Torborg was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for pitcher John Andrews.

Turns out both players never appeared in another Major League game again.

Torborg was out of the game as a player for good, but he almost immediately made a go of it as a Major League manager, landing the job of Cleveland Indians skipper during the 1977 season (remember his card as manager in that awesome manager sub-set in the 1978 Topps set?).

This lead to an on-again/off-again eleven year managerial career between 1977 and 2003 managing five teams: the Indians, White Sox, Mets, Expos and Marlins.

Some of you may also remember that Torborg was the Marlins manager at the beginning of what was to be their World Championship season in 2003 before being replaced by Jack McKeon after a rough 16 and 22 start.

As a player Torborg never really became a full-time player, but man was he lucky with the opportunity to catch some memorable games for some memorable pitchers!

On September 9th, 1965 while with the Dodgers he was behind the plate for Sandy Koufax's perfect game against the Chicago Cubs.

Then on July 20th, 1970 he caught Bill Singer's no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies (funny enough he'd also be a teammate of Singer over in California).

But if that wasn't enough, Torborg ended up catching Nolan Ryan's first of a record seven Major League no-hitters when he was behind the plate for Ryan's masterpiece on May 15th, 1973 against the Kansas City Royals.

Not a bad string of historical experience for a part-time catcher in ten years!

As for Angels' catchers, next week I should have a card (or two) designed for yet another missing player, John Stephenson, who really got shafted multiple times by Topps.

Keep an eye out for it.."

WTHBALLS GUM PACK CUSTOM SET: NOLAN RYAN

Up on the blog today, we post up my Nolan Ryan mini "Gum Pack" custom card, from my set released a few months back:

Just a fun set to design and release, using a fun packaging idea that came to me one day as I was in the candy/gum aisle of a super market.

What really needs to be said about a guy who has become more myth than baseball legend?

300+ wins, 5700+ strikeouts, 60+ shutouts, and oh yeah SEVEN no-hitters, two of which came when he was well into his 40’s while with the Texas Rangers!

I love thinking about the fact that he did most of his damage in the American League with the designated hitter. Now imagine how many strikeouts he could have had in his prime pitching in the National League where the pitcher batted?!

Would it be safe to say you could add 20-30 strikeouts a season to his total? More?

Hey, you never know…

Nevertheless, the man became a baseball God, eventually finding his place in the Hall of Fame upon his first year of eligibility as an absolute no-brainer.

I just thank the skies above that I got to see him pitch in-person!

REVISITING A 10-YEAR OLD POST: MISSING 1973 ART KUSNYER

Hello all!

On the blog today, revisiting one of my early "missing" player cards from the blog, a 1973 "missing in action" card for catcher Art Kusnyer, whom I would create a few more missing cards through the 1970s before I was done:

Here's the original write-up from that post, dating April 19th, 2014:

Today's "missing" Topps card from the 1970's features a player who did appear on a multi-player rookie card in 1972, but was left out of the 1973 set even after some decent playing time the year before: Angels catcher Art Kusnyer.

Kusnyer was yet another of those players I read about in a SABR article that spoke of guys who posted the most career at-bats or innings pitched who were not represented on a Topps card (in this case, a card of their own).

Kusnyer came up for a cup-of-coffee in 1970 with the White Sox after getting picked in the 37th round of the 1966 amateur draft.

After four games and ten at-bats with Chicago in 1970, he was traded to California in March of 1971 for a couple of minor players, appearing in only six games for the season.

However 1972 would fare much better for the young catcher, as he would go on to play in a career high 64 games, good for 198 plate appearances.

For the year he batted .207, getting 37 hits in 179 at-bats with two doubles, a triple and two homers.

However this wasn't enough to get him more playing time the following season, as the Angels already had Jeff Torborg and John Stephenson ahead of him in the depth chart for the position, so all Kusnyer would see as far as playing time in 1973 would be 41 games, good for 67 plate appearances and an anemic .125 batting average.

However, not all was a lost-cause for the youngster, as on July 15th of that year Kusnyer would have perhaps the biggest thrill of his Big League career, catching Nolan Ryan's second career no-hitter against the Detroit Tigers at Tiger Stadium.

But when 1974 rolled around, Kusnyer found himself struggling to find a spot for himself in the Milwaukee Brewers organization after being traded by California in October of 1973 in a nine-player swap between the two clubs.

He'd end up toiling in the Minors for the next two seasons before finding his way back into a Major League game in 1976, getting into 15 games for the Brewers, hitting .118 on four hits in 34 at-bats.

His last hurrah on the Major League level would be in 1978 with the Kansas City Royals, playing in nine games and getting three hits in 13 at-bats, good for a .231 average.

He'd scratch out another season of Minor League ball for the White Sox in 1979 before calling it a career and eventually moving into coaching work for the Sox and the Oakland A's over the next 28 years.

Nevertheless, here's yet another "missing" piece to total representation for those of us that want players who saw enough playing time in a season to get a card along the way.