MISSING IN ACTION: 1974 RICK REICHARDT

Time to finally create a "missing" 1974 card for uber-Bonus-Baby Rick Reichardt, who was coming to the end of an unfulfilled Major League career after only a decade or so:

Reichardt appeared in 87 games over the 1973 season, split between the Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals, hitting .250 with six homers and 33 runs batted in.

He'd appear in one single game in 1974 before finally retiring, ending what was once a very promising career that was derailed by kidney problems.

Of course, Reichardt is well remembered as a spectacular two-sport superstar at the University of Wisconsin, so much so that a bidding war began by Major League clubs for his services, eventually having him sign a then unheard of $200,000 signing bonus with the (then) Los Angeles Angels of the American League.
This necessitated the development of the Amateur Draft, which began the very next year in hopes of curtailing such a wild scenario as the Reichardt affair.
Sadly for Reichardt, a serious kidney ailment cut short an excellent 1966 season which saw him have a kidney removed, and though he put up some decent numbers from time to time through the rest of his career, he was never the same again.
His last Topps card was in the 1971 set, which is odd since he really should have had a card from 1972 to 1974.

 

A RE-DO OF ONE OF MY OWN! 1973 RICK REICHARDT

Time to finally correct a mistake I made way back when with my "missing in action" 1973 card for former Bonus Baby Rick Reichardt, when I mistakenly used an image of Pete Varney.

Well today we have the corrected version with a correct image of the man that was mainly responsible for the Amateur Draft because of the insane money and hoopla over his impending pro career:

Reichardt played in 101 games during the 1972 season, batting .251 with 73 hits over 291 at-bats with eight home runs and 43 runs batted in during his second season with the Chicago White Sox.
That is serious playing time to be omitted from the Topps set, so I’m wondering if he just didn’t want to be on a card ala Mike Marshall or Tony Horton around the same time.
Of course, Reichardt is well remembered as a spectacular two-sport superstar at the University of Wisconsin, so much so that a bidding war began by Major League clubs for his services, eventually having him sign a then unheard of $200,000 signing bonus with the (then) Los Angeles Angels of the American League.
This necessitated the development of the Amateur Draft, which began the very next year in hopes of curtailing such a wild scenario as the Reichardt affair.
Sadly for Reichardt, a serious kidney ailment cut short an excellent 1966 season which saw him have a kidney removed, and though he put up some decent numbers from time to time through the rest of his career, he was never the same again, eventually retiring after a single at-bat with the Kansas City Royals in 1974.
His last Topps card was in the 1971 set, which is odd since he really should have had a card from 1972 to 1974.
I actually already created a 1972 “missing” card for him a while back, and once I can find a decent shot of him with the Royals, I plan on doing the same for both 1974 and 1975.
Anyone have good images of him with KC?

MISSING IN ACTION- 1973 RICK REICHARDT

Today we go and give the man man responsible for Major League baseball creating the amateur draft, bonus baby Rick Reichardt, who had substantial playing time in 1972 yet was not a part of Topps’ 1973 set:

Reichardt played in 101 games during the 1972 season, batting .251 with 73 hits over 291 at-bats with eight home runs and 43 runs batted in during his second season with the Chicago White Sox.
That is serious playing time to be omitted from the Topps set, so I’m wondering if he just didn’t want to be on a card ala Mike Marshall or Tony Horton around the same time.
Of course, Reichardt is well remembered as a spectacular two-sport superstar at the University of Wisconsin, so much so that a bidding war began by Major League clubs for his services, eventually having him sign a then unheard of $200,000 signing bonus with the (then) Los Angeles Angels of the American League.
This necessitated the development of the Amateur Draft, which began the very next year in hopes of curtailing such a wild scenario as the Reichardt affair.
Sadly for Reichardt, a serious kidney ailment cut short an excellent 1966 season which saw him have a kidney removed, and though he put up some decent numbers from time to time through the rest of his career, he was never the same again, eventually retiring after a single at-bat with the Kansas City Royals in 1974.
His last Topps card was in the 1971 set, which is odd since he really should have had a card from 1972 to 1974.
I actually already created a 1972 “missing” card for him a while back, and once I can find a decent shot of him with the Royals, I plan on doing the same for both 1974 and 1975.
Anyone have good images of him with KC?

MISSING IN ACTION- 1972 RICK REICHARDT

Here's a "missing" card for an interesting figure in baseball history: a 1972 Topps card for former "Bonus Baby" Rick Reichardt.

Check out my card design:

For those of you who don't know, Reichardt is the reason Major League baseball came up with the amateur draft in 1965 after a crazy bidding war ensued the year before for Reichardt's services, leading the Los Angeles Angels to eventually "win" out and signing him for $200,000 then (over $1.5 million today).

Reichardt was a two-sport star in college, playing both baseball and football for the University of Wisconsin, twice leading the Big-10 in batting and excelling as a fullback for the eventual #2 ranked football team in 1962.

However, as we've seen so many times before and since, injuries took their toll on his career, and although he had some decent years as a big leaguer, he could never become the star everyone thought they'd see when he came up.

After hitting 16 homers with a .288 average in only 89 games in 1966, he came back in 1967 with 17 homers, 69 runs batted in and a .265 average, followed by 21 homers, 73 R.B.I.'s and a .255 average in 1968.

In 1970 he was traded to the Washington Senators where he posted similar numbers both that year and the next, but further injuries kept him from full-time play, leading to his career coming to a close in 1974 after only one at-bat with Kansas City, where he played most of 1973.

I don't know why Topps left him out of his card sets in 1972, 1973 and 1974 since he did play enough for card appearances, especially since he does have a special place of sorts in baseball lore.

Perhaps (as with some other guys back then) he didn't want to be on a card or had contractual issues with Topps?

Who knows? But I will also be designing those "missing" cards as well in the near future.