MISSING IN ACTION: 1969 TONY HORTON

Today on the blog, we have my "missing" 1969 card for former Cleveland Indians slugger Tony Horton, who famously did not have any Topps cards during his career:

Horton originally came up with the Boston Red Sox in 1964 as a 19-year old, appearing in 36 games, hitting .222 with a homer and eight runs batted in.

After a couple of more sporadic seasons bouncing between the Majors and Minors with Boston, Horton was traded to the Cleveland Indians in 1967 for pitcher Gary Bell, and finally got some full-time work with the parent club.

After a couple of decent years he really came into his own in 1969, hitting .278 with 27 homers and 93 runs batted in on 174 hits in 625 at-bats.

1970 started out well for the young slugger, as he had a three-homer game against the Yankees as well as hitting for the cycle on July 2nd against the Orioles, but after a prolonged slump and constant booing from the fans, the emotional toll finally came to a head for Horton as he took himself out of a game on August 28th against the Angels.

It was the second game of a double-header, and he voluntarily left the game after the fifth inning.

Sadly, later that evening he attempted suicide, but luckily survived and eventually got treatment for his problems.

But as for his baseball career, he'd never appear in another Major League game again.

His former manager, Alvin Dark, stated that in his long baseball career, the Horton situation was the "most sorrowful incident I was ever involved in, in my baseball career."

Tony Horton was only 25 years old when he left the game, after only 636 games and seven years, and has always been a stark reminder of the pressures professional athletes have day to day that fans can easily overlook as they're entertained on an almost nightly basis for six-months out of every year.

 

MISSING IN ACTION: 1968 TONY HORTON

Here's a really fun "missing" card to add to the WTHBALLS checklist: a missing 1968 card for slugger Tony Horton of the Cleveland Indians:

Horton originally came up with the Boston Red Sox in 1964 as a 19-year old, appearing in 36 games, hitting .222 with a homer and eight runs batted in.

After a couple of more sporadic seasons bouncing between the Majors and Minors with Boston, Horton was traded to the Cleveland Indians in 1967 for pitcher Gary Bell, and finally got some full-time work with the parent club.

After a couple of decent years he really came into his own in 1969, hitting .278 with 27 homers and 93 runs batted in on 174 hits in 625 at-bats.

1970 started out well for the young slugger, as he had a three-homer game against the Yankees as well as hitting for the cycle on July 2nd against the Orioles, but after a prolonged slump and constant booing from the fans, the emotional toll finally came to a head for Horton as he took himself out of a game on August 28th against the Angels.

It was the second game of a double-header, and he voluntarily left the game after the fifth inning.

Sadly, later that evening he attempted suicide, but luckily survived and eventually got treatment for his problems.

But as for his baseball career, he'd never appear in another Major League game again.

His former manager, Alvin Dark, stated that in his long baseball career, the Horton situation was the "most sorrowful incident I was ever involved in, in my baseball career."

Tony Horton was only 25 years old when he left the game, after only 636 games and seven years, and has always been a stark reminder of the pressures professional athletes have day to day that fans can easily overlook as they're entertained on an almost nightly basis for six-months out of every year.

REVISITING A 10-YEAR-OLD POST: MISSING 1971 TONY HORTON

Up on the blog today, time to revisit a 10-year-old post, this one my "missing" 1971 card for slugger Tony Horton, a bit of an enigma both to his missing Topps cards and to his issues with mental health:

Here's the original write-up I had here way back when:

" Yesterday I presented my design for the "missing" 1970 Topps card for Indians player Tony Horton, explaining that he never had an "official" Topps card in his seven-year career.

Today I present what would have been his last card after his sudden and sad retirement from the game during the 1970 season.

I still don't know why Topps never produced a card for the young slugger, but it makes the Tony Horton story that much more mysterious and begs a few more answers to some tough questions.

For the 1970 season, Horton was hitting .269 with 17 homers and 59 runs batted in by August, certainly good numbers for that era.

But as I stated yesterday, Horton was battling serious issues and walked away from the game, literally, during a doubleheader, leading to a suicide attempt that very night.

Luckily for him, he sought treatment and was helped with his problems.

However he never did return to professional ball, and went on to live a private life, refusing to talk to media post-retirement.

If anyone knows why Topps never had Horton under contract I'd love to hear it. Was it Horton's decision? Was it Topps?"

CUSTOM SPOTLIGHT: 1965 TONY HORTON

The next card from my "Whole Nine" set released last year to get the spotlight here on the blog is my "missing" 1965 card for enigmatic slugger Tony Horton:

 

Horton originally came up with the Boston Red Sox in 1964 as a 19-year old, appearing in 36 games, hitting .222 with a homer and eight runs batted in.

After a couple of more sporadic seasons bouncing between the Majors and Minors with Boston, Horton was traded to the Cleveland Indians in 1967 for pitcher Gary Bell, and finally got some full-time work with the parent club.

After a couple of decent years he really came into his own in 1969, hitting .278 with 27 homers and 93 runs batted in on 174 hits in 625 at-bats.

1970 started out well for the young slugger, as he had a three-homer game against the Yankees as well as hitting for the cycle on July 2nd against the Orioles, but after a prolonged slump and constant booing from the fans, the emotional toll finally came to a head for Horton as he took himself out of a game on August 28th against the Angels.

It was the second game of a double-header, and he voluntarily left the game after the fifth inning.

Sadly, later that evening he attempted suicide, but luckily survived and eventually got treatment for his problems.

But as for his baseball career, he'd never appear in another Major League game again.

His former manager, Alvin Dark, stated that in his long baseball career, the Horton situation was the "most sorrowful incident I was ever involved in, in my baseball career."

Tony Horton was only 25 years old when he left the game, after only 636 games and seven years, and has always been a stark reminder of the pressures professional athletes have day to day that fans can easily overlook as they're entertained on an almost nightly basis for six-motnhs out of every year.

MISSING IN ACTION- 1971 TONY HORTON

Yesterday I presented my design for the "missing" 1970 Topps card for Indians player Tony Horton, explaining that he never had an "official" Topps card in his seven-year career.

Today I present what would have been his last card after his sudden and sad retirement from the game during the 1970 season.

Take a look:

I still don't know why Topps never produced a card for the young slugger, but it makes the Tony Horton story that much more mysterious and begs a few more answers to some tough questions.

For the 1970 season, Horton was hitting .269 with 17 homers and 59 runs batted in by August, certainly good numbers for that era.

But as I stated yesterday, Horton was battling serious issues and walked away from the game, literally, during a doubleheader, leading to a suicide attempt that very night.

Luckily for him, he sought treatment and was helped with his problems.

However he never did return to professional ball, and went on to live a private life, refusing to talk to media post-retirement.

If anyone knows why Topps never had Horton under contract I'd love to hear it. Was it Horton's decision? Was it Topps?

MISSING IN ACTION- 1970 TONY HORTON

I just came across an interesting bit thanks to the guys at SABR (once again), that listed the Major Leaguers with the most career at-bats or innings pitched who never had a Topps card.

Sure most of the guys were journeymen without a substantial big league resume, but there were a couple of names that stood out to me, most notably former Indian slugger Tony Horton.

I was really surprised by this since I was convinced there was a card for him at some point, and that it was something I had in my collection.

But low-and-behold, except for a Kelloggs card in 1971, there wasn't a regular-issue card of the tragic figure who left the game at a young age amid inner-turmoil.

Well, since my blog deals with the 1970's, I went ahead and designed a card for him in the 1970 and 1971 set since he retired during the 1970 season.

Today I post up my 1970 design. Take a look:

Horton originally came up with the Boston Red Sox in 1964 as a 19-year old, appearing in 36 games, hitting .222 with a homer and eight runs batted in.

After a couple of more sporadic seasons bouncing between the Majors and Minors with Boston, Horton was traded to the Cleveland Indians in 1967 for pitcher Gary Bell, and finally got some full-time work with the parent club.

After a couple of decent years he really came into his own in 1969, hitting .278 with 27 homers and 93 runs batted in on 174 hits in 625 at-bats.

1970 started out well for the young slugger, as he had a three-homer game against the Yankees as well as hitting for the cycle on July 2nd against the Orioles, but after a prolonged slump and constant booing from the fans, the emotional toll finally came to a head for Horton as he took himself out of a game on August 28th against the Angels.

It was the second game of a double-header, and he voluntarily left the game after the fifth inning.

Sadly, later that evening he attempted suicide, but luckily survived and eventually got treatment for his problems.

But as for his baseball career, he'd never appear in another Major League game again.

His former manager, Alvin Dark, stated that in his long baseball career, the Horton situation was the "most sorrowful incident I was ever involved in, in my baseball career."

Tony Horton was only 25 years old when he left the game, after only 636 games and seven years, and has always been a stark reminder of the pressures professional athletes have day to day that fans can easily overlook as they're entertained on an almost nightly basis for six-motnhs out of every year.

Tomorrow we'll take a look at my design for his "missing" 1971 Topps card.