NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1975 STEVE DUNNING

On the blog today, we have a “not so missing” 1975 card for former pitcher Steve Dunning, who already has had a FEW creations here on the blog over the years:

Dunning appeared in only one single game during the 1974 season, throwing 2.1 innings for the Texas Rangers and getting hit hard, to the tune of a 19.29 ERA.
He would spend all of 1975 in the Chicago White Sox organization, putting up a nice season with a 15-9 record along with a 3.49 ERA and three shutouts.
That would get him a Big League return in 1976, splitting the year between the California Angels and Montreal Expos, going 2-6 over 36 appearances, with a 4.35 ERA.
All told, Dunning put together a seven-year MLB career between 1970 and 1977, finishing up with a record of 23-41 with an ERA of 4.56 in 136 appearances, 84 of them starts, pitching 613.2 innings with a save and a shutout thrown in.

 

MISSING IN ACTION- 1974 STEVE DUNNING

Here’s a card a long-time in the making, my 1974 “missing in action” for former pitcher Steve Dunning, who split his 1973 season between the Cleveland Indians and Texas Rangers:

I finally found a nice shot of him with the Rangers, which filled a gap in my list of truly “missing” players, this one for the 1974 set.
Dunning appeared in 27 games during the 1973 season, going 2-8 with a 5.53 earned run average spread out over 112.1 innings of work. Certainly enough of a season to warrant a card in the 1974 set!
He would only end up appearing in one game in the Big Leagues in 1974, pitching 2.1 innings for Texas before spending all of 1975 in the Minors.
All told, Dunning put together a seven-year MLB career between 1970 and 1977, finishing up with a record of 23-41 with an ERA of 4.56 in 136 appearances, 84 of them starts, pitching 613.2 innings with a save and a shutout thrown in.

MISSING IN ACTION (SORT OF) 1977 STEVE DUNNING

Today’s blog post is a little bit of a different animal.
It’s a “missing” 1977 card for former pitcher Steve Dunning, who definitely pitched enough in 1976 to warrant a Topps card the following year.
However, he split the 1976 season between the California Angels and Montreal Expos, finishing the season across the border up North, so technically this should be an Expos card, not Angels.
Well, since I cannot find a suitable image of him with the Expos, but DID find this great Topps photo of him as an Angel, we get the following:

Dunning spent all of 1975 in the Chicago White Sox Minor League system before making it back to a Big League mound in 1976, now a member of the Angels.
He only appeared in four games for them, pitching a total of six innings to a 7.50 ERA before he was purchased by the Expos on May 5th, 1976.
Once in Montreal he went on to appear in 32 games, with seven of them starts, throwing 91.1 innings and going 2-6 with a 4.14 ERA.
The combined 97.1 innings of work and 36 appearances should have gotten him a card the following year, so I don’t know why he was left out.
It’s especially funny when you consider that in 1977 he was now a member of the Oakland A’s and appeared in only six games, pitching 18.1 innings, and THAT got him a card in the 1978 set.
All told, Dunning put together a seven-year MLB career between 1970 and 1977, finishing up with a record of 23-41 with an ERA of 4.56 in 136 appearances, 84 of them starts, pitching 613.2 innings with a save and a shutout thrown in.

ANOTHER HEAD-SCRATCHER: 1973 STEVE DUNNING

Let's take a look at another classic from the Topps 1970's family: a 1973 card of former pitcher Steve Dunning.

Beyond the painfully obvious airbrushing of the cap (love the crazy shadowing on the "C" logo), many of us are left wondering as to exactly what uniform he is wearing on the card.

I've read a few places that think it can be an older Cleveland Indians home jersey, with "Indians" across the chest, while I've also read that it could be a minor league uni form their Portland Beavers Triple-A franchise.

I'll be honest, the very little we do see of the letters look like neither the end of the word "Indians" OR even the end of the words "Portland" or "Beavers".

Anyone know for sure what uni Dunning is wearing here?

You have to wonder why Topps didn't just leave a photo of Dunning unaltered for the card since he pitched for Cleveland for three years up to this point.

Granted the Indians did switch over to that cap from a dark blue one the previous year, so it was a dramatic change in attire for the Tribe.

But nevertheless….

And speaking of Dunning, seems he has TWO "missing" cards that I need to tackle in the future, a 1974 card with him as a Texas Ranger, and a 1977 edition with him as a Montreal Expo player.

I'm having no luck tracking down an image of either options. Any help?