1977 N.L. CENTENNIAL: JOHN MILNER

Adding to my monster 1977 "N.L. Centennial" sub-set, celebrating the Senior League's 100th anniversary of 1976, we have "The Hammer" John Milner of the New York Mets:

Milner was a couple of years removed from the two best seasons of his career, hitting 20+ homers in both 1973 and 1974 while also manning first base and the outfield for the New York Mets.

He'd have a decent 1976 season, hitting 15 home runs with 78 runs batted in while hitting .271, bouncing back from a bad year in 1975 when he hit .191 over 91 games.

However he’d never quite reach those numbers again in his 12-year career, or even get the playing time, as he’d top 500 plate appearances only once more between 1975 and the end of his career in 1982,
By the time he was out of big league ball in 1982, he finished with 131 homers with 855 hits over 3436 at-bats, for a lifetime average of .249 with 455 runs scored and 498 runs batted in...and one cool nickname.

 

1978 TRADED- JOHN MILNER

Today on the blog we have a 1978 “traded” card for “The Hammer” John Milner, who found himself part of a blockbuster trade on December 8th, 1977 after seven seasons as a New York Met:

Milner was part of a monster four-team trade between the Mets, Pirates, Texas Rangers and Atlanta Braves that also saw Willie Montanez, Bert Blyleven, Al Oliver, Jom Matlack and six others on the move.
A Shea Stadium fan favorite during his Mets years, Milner hit as many as 23 homers in a season while playing both First Base and Left Field between 1971 and 1977.
He would play 12-years in the Big Leagues, finishing with 131 homers, a .249 batting average and 855 hits over 1215 games and 3436 at-bats between 1971 and 1982.
Sadly, Milner passed away at the age of only 50 from cancer on January 4th, 2000.

NICKNAMES OF THE '70'S #42: "THE HAMMER" JOHN MILNER

Time to go and give “The Hammer”, John Milner a “Nickname” card in my ongoing thread.
Take a look:

I gave him a 1975 card since he was coming off of arguably the two best seasons of his career, hitting 20+ homers in both 1973 and 1974 while also manning first base and the outfield for the New York Mets.
He’d never quite reach those numbers again in his 12-year career, or even get the playing time, as he’d top 500 plate appearances only once more between 1975 and the end of his career in 1982,
By the time he was out of big league ball in 1982, he finished with 131 homers with 855 hits over 3436 at-bats, for a lifetime average of .249 with 455 runs scored and 498 runs batted in...and one cool nickname.