1977 N.L. CENTENNIAL: JOHN MONTEFUSCO

Today we add former San Francisco Giant ace John Montefusco to my long-running 1977 "N.L. Centennial" sub-set:

The 1975 N.L. Rookie of the Year had a fine Sophomore season in 1976, winning 16 games with a 2.84 earned run average, leading the league with six shutouts while striking out 172 batters in 253.1 innings.

In his Freshman season of 1975 he cruised to the rookie-award by posting a record of 15-9 with a 2.88 earned run average and a very impressive 215 strikeouts.
He also chipped in four shutouts over his 34 starts, completing 10 of them while throwing 243.2 innings, even finishing fourth in the league Cy Young race.

He’d stick around in the big leagues through the 1986 season, but sadly for him never had the success of those first two years, though he did post a 14-4 record in 1983 split between the San Diego Padres and New York Yankees, for whom he’d pitch the final 3 1/2 years of his 13-year career.
All told Montefusco finished with a 90-83 career record, with a 3.54 ERA, 1081 strikeouts and 11 shutouts over 298 appearances, 244 of which were starts.
And of course...a cool nickname!
“The Count”!

NO-HITTERS SPECIAL SUB-SET: JOHN MONTEFUSCO. SEPTEMBER 29TH, 1976

The next no-hitter through the 1970’s that gets a spotlight in my long running thread is the gem tossed by young “cocky” San Francisco right-hander John Montefusco:

The reigning National league Rookie of the Year came into the 1976 season with high expectations and didn’t disappoint, culminating with a 9-0 win over the Atlanta Braves, keeping them hitless and giving the Major Leagues their fourth no-hitter of the Bicentennial season.
Coming into the game with a 15-14 record, Montefusco came within one pitch of a Perfect Game, settling for the no-hitter that only had a walk to lead-off hitter Jerry Royster .
He struck out four while completing his no-no in just under two hours, at one hour and 59 minutes to be exact. Can you imaging a game these days coming in under two hours?
The no-hitter gave Montefusco an NL leading six shutouts for the season, finishing up with a 16-14 record, along with an ERA of 2.84 with 11 complete games and 172 strikeouts in 253.1 innings of work.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR- 1976 SUB-SET

Next up in my on-going “1970’s Awards” thread are the 1975 Rookies of the Year, celebrated on the following 1976 card:

In the National League we have pitcher John “The Count” Montefusco of the San Francisco Giants, who cruised to the rookie-award by posting a record of 15-9 with a 2.88 earned run average and a very impressive 215 strikeouts.
He also chipped in four shutouts over his 34 starts, completing 10 of them while throwing 243.2 innings, even finishing fourth in the league Cy Young race.
In the American League, of course it was all about “Mr. World” that year, rookie superstar Fred Lynn, who also took home the MVP Award, thus becoming the first player ever to pull that off.
In his monstrous rookie season, Lynn helped the Red Sox to a World Series berth by hitting .331 with 21 homers and 105 runs batted in along with a league-leading 103 runs scored and 47 doubles.
The man was a beast!
On top of all that he even took home a Gold Glove, something he’d do three more times in his 17-year career that spanned 1974 to 1990.
Of the two, Lynn definitely had the star-power throughout his career, but Montefusco also put in some time as a Major Leaguer, finishing up his Big League tenure in 1986 after a few seasons with the Yankees.

NICKNAMES OF THE 1970'S: "THE COUNT" JOHN MONTEFUSCO

Here’s a nickname card for a guy who made a big splash when he played his first full season in the Major Leagues, the 1975 National League Rookie of the Year John Montefusco of the San Francisco Giants, aka “The Count”:

Montefusco had a great rookie season for the Giants in 1975, going 15-9 with 215 strikeouts and a 2.88 earned run average with four shutouts in his 35 games, all but one of them a start.
He followed up with an excellent sophomore season in 1976, posting a career high 16 wins along with a 2.84 ERA and 172 strikeouts, with a league-leading six shutouts over 37 games and 253.1 innings.
He’d stick around in the big leagues through the 1986 season, but sadly for him never had the success of those first two years, though he did post a 14-4 record in 1983 split between the San Diego Padres and New York Yankees, for whom he’d pitch the final 3 1/2 years of his 13-year career.
All told Montefusco finished with a 90-83 career record, with a 3.54 ERA, 1081 strikeouts and 11 shutouts over 298 appearances, 244 of which were starts.
And of course...a cool nickname!
“The Count”!