NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION: 1979 ELROD HENDRICKS

Today on the blog, we have a sweet "not so missing" 1979 card for catcher Elrod Hendricks, who was winding down a nice 12-year Major League career at this point:

Elrod would appear in only 12 games for the Baltimore Orioles during the 1978 season, followed by one single game in 1979, thus closing out a career that spanned 1968 through 1979.

Over his career he played in 711 games, with 415 hits in 1888 at-bats, giving him a .220 lifetime average with 205 runs and 230 runs batted in, playing on two World Champion teams: the 1970 Baltimore Orioles and 1977 New York Yankees.

Post-playing career, Hendricks would go on to be the longest serving coach in Baltimore history, putting in 28 years as the bullpen coach before a stroke in 2005 ended that run.

A true baseball "lifer" that became a fan favorite personality within the Oriole organization right up until his death in December of 2005, one day before his 65th birthday.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1974 ELROD HENDRICKS

Today's blog post has a "not so missing" 1974 card for former catcher Elrod (Ellie) Hendricks, who really should have had a card in the years set after his 1973 playing time:

 

Hendricks appeared in 41 games for the Baltimore Orioles in 1973, going 18-for-101 with 15 runs batted in and 10 walks over 114 plate appearances.

It was somewhat of a typical season for the backstop, as he would never truly get full-time action in any of his seasons in the Big Leagues.

Between 1969 and 1971 he did manage to get into 100+ games, with a high of 106 in 1970.

But for the rest of his career it was always under the 100-game mark, filling in behind the plate wherever he was playing.

For his 12-year career spanning 1968 to 1979 he played in 711 games, with 415 hits in 1888 at-bats, giving him a .220 lifetime average with 205 runs and 230 runs batted in, playing two World Champions team: 1970 Baltimore Orioles and 1977 New York Yankees.

MISSING IN ACTION- 1977 ELROD "ELLIE" HENDRICKS

Here’s a “missing” 1977 card for former catcher Elrod “Ellie” Hendricks, who was at the tail-end of his 12-year career which included three separate stints with the Baltimore Orioles:

Hendricks split the 1976 season appearing in 54 games with the Orioles and the New York Yankees, and hit a combined .174 with 23 hits in 132 at-bats while filling in behind the plate.
He would go on to play in just under a couple dozen games between the Yanks and again the Orioles over the next three seasons, finishing up with a sole appearance in 1979 with the eventual American League champ Orioles.
For his 12-year career spanning 1968 to 1979 he played in 711 games, with 415 hits in 1888 at-bats, giving him a .220 lifetime average with 205 runs and 230 runs batted in.