NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1978 ORLANDO RAMIREZ

Up on the blog today we have a “not so missing” 1978 card for former California Angels shortstop Orlando Ramirez, for whom I’ve created cards for before:

Ramirez appeared in 25 games for the Angels during the 1977 season, batting .077 with a single hit in 13 at-bats, with six runs scored and a stolen base.
It was pretty much the norm for him in all his five-years as a Big League player, all of which were with the Angels.
Pretty much averaging about 30 games a season, Ramirez filled in at short while hitting around the “Mendoza Line”, with a high of .240 in 1975.
After a year in the Minors in 1978, he made it back to the Majors in 1979 for 13 games, which would be the last of his MLB career before going to play in the Mexican League for three years before retiring for good after the 1982 season.
All told, he played in 143 games in the Big Leagues, batting .189 with 53 hits over 281 at-bats with 24 runs scored and 16 runs batted in.

MISSING IN ACTION- 1975 ORLANDO RAMIREZ

Here’s a “missing” 1975 card for a guy who I also created a missing 1976 for a while back, former California Angels player Orlando Ramirez:

Ramirez played in 31 games in his rookie 1974 campaign, hitting .163 with 14 hits over exactly 86 official at-bats while playing shortstop.

He would go on to play all five years of his big league career for the Angels, ending up with a .189 batting average based on his 53 hits in 281 at-bats, with 24 runs scored and 16 runs batted in along with 16 stolen bases.

He would get a card in the 1977 set, oddly enough with less action than his other two seasons in which I created a card for him, go figure…

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

Odd, Orlando Ramirez was left out of the 1976 Topps set, even though he played more in 1975 than 1976, yet Topps gave him a slot in the 1977 set.

Follow?

First, the card for the ongoing "1976 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!