GIMMIE A DO-OVER: 1975 PAT BOURQUE

Today’s blog post offers up a “fix” for a situation that I’m always fascinated about: Topps trying to get the card right, eventually getting shafted with a late-minute transaction.
In this case, Pat Bourque, who was originally shown in the 1975 set as an Oakland A’s player, even though he finished the 1974 season as a Minnesota Twin, and never played Big League ball again:

Bourque played the last 23 games of the 1974 season with the Twins after coming over from Oakland, hitting .219 with 14 hits in 64 at-bats, with five runs scored and eight runs batted in.
But after the season ended, he was traded by Minnesota back to Oakland, for whom he started the 1974 season with, but would never appear in a Major League game with.
As a matter of fact, instead of playing baseball in the States again, he took his talents South to Mexico where he played the next four years with the Mexico City Reds before finally retiring after the 1978 season.
Nevertheless, it gives us a unique oddball 1975 card showing him with the A’s, for whom he never played again, and no cards of him as a Twin, which I fixed today.

 

THE RANDOM ODDITY OF THE 1975 TOPPS PAT BOURQUE

I never realized the 1975 card of Pat Bourque was “technically” off for a couple of reasons, mainly the fact that he finished the 1974 season as a member of the Minnesota Twins, followed by the fact that he never played professional ball ever again.
So why the 1975 card with him as an Oakland A’s player?

Well it turns out that Bourque was traded by the Twins on October 23rd of 1974 BACK to the Oakland A’s, for whom he played the first part of 1974, but never ended up playing for them again.
Nevertheless, Topps, trying to stay on top of the move, had him as an Oakland player in anticipation of his playing the 1975 season there.
Bourque played 73 games for the A’s to start the 1974 campaign before being traded to the Twins on August 19th for Jim Holt, ending up with a .225 batting average combined between the two teams.
Turns out he’d never play pro ball again, Majors or Minors, though I can’t seem to find out why.
He finished his four-year Major League career with a .215 average, with 87 hits over 405 at-bats, driving in 61 runs while scoring 36 himself between 1971 and 1974.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1972 PAT BOURQUE

Today on the blog I offer up a “not so missing” 1972 card for former first baseman Pat Bourque, who made his MLB debut during the 1971 season with the Chicago Cubs:

Bourque appeared in 14 games for the Cubs, hitting .189 with seven hits over 37 at-bats, including the first triple and home run of his brief four-year career.
He’d go on to play for the Cubs, Oakland A’s and Minnesota Twins between 1971 and 1974, hitting .215 with 12 homers and 61 runs batted in over 201 games and 405 at-bats, along with 87 hits and 36 runs scored.
In 1973 he played in the World Series for Oakland against the New York Mets, going 1-for-2 at the plate as the A’s went on to win their second straight championship, surely the high-point of his Big League tenure.
Now I need to find a usable image of him with his short time as a Minnesota Twins player at the end of his career in 1974!