Here’s a “missing” 1976 Topps card for former Minnesota Twins player Craig Kusick, check it out:
Kusick appeared in 57 games for Minnesota in 1975, batting .237 with 37
hits across 156 official at-bats while manning first base and DH-ing.
He would go on to put in seven seasons as a big league player, all but
24 games of them with the Twins, with those aforementioned 24 with the
Toronto Blue Jays at the end of his tenure in 1979.
All told he batted .235 for his career with 291 hits over 1238 at-bats,
with 46 homers and 171 runs batted in in 497 games played.
Let’s go and give long time starting pitcher Joe Horlen both a “missing” and career capping 1973 Topps card shall we?
Here you go:
Horlen capped off a very nice 12-year career when he retired after the 1972
season, posting 32 appearances with the Oaklnad A’s after playing all
eleven of his previous Major League seasons with the Chicago White Sox,
for whom he had some really good seasons.
In 1972 he posted a 3-4 record with a 3.00 earned run average, with six
starts and a save scattered among his 84 innings of work.
While with the White Sox Horlen had some all-star seasons, particularly
his 1967 season when he went 19-7 with a league-leading 2.07 ERA and six
shutouts.
Those numbers would good enough for a second place finish in the Cy Young race, as well as a fourth place finish in MVP voting.
Of his 12 years on a big league mound, Horlen posted five sub-3.00 ERA
campaigns, all consecutive (between 1964 and 1968), with a low of 1.88
in 1964.
By the time he retired he finished with a 116-117 record with a nice
3.11 earned run average and 18 shutouts over 361 games, 290 of which
were starts, and 2002 innings.
Another week, another set of trivia questions for you to ponder.
This week I'm focusing on 30-save seasons during the 1970's.
See which ones you can get.
As usual, I'll post the answers tomorrow.
1. Of all 30-save seasons in both the N.L. and A.L. through the '70's, who posted the most losses in a season of 30+ saves?
2. Who posted the lowest E.R.A. in a 30-save season during the decade?
3. Who posted the most wins during a 30-save season?
4. Who struck out the most batters in a 30-save season during the '70's?
5. Who appeared in the fewest games during a 30-save season in the 1970's?
***SPOILER ALERT! ANSWERS BELOW:
1. Mike Marshall, Twins. 15 losses in 1979.
2. Bruce Sutter, Cubs. A 1.34 E.R.A. in 1977.
3. Mike Marshall, Expos. 14 wins in 1973.
4. Bruce Sutter, Cubs. 129 K's in 1977.
5. Dave Giusti, Pirates. 58 appearances in 1971.
As
if the 1976 needs any more hype as to how awesome it was/is, here’s
another card that I’ve always thought was near perfect: Ray Fosse.
Just look at the colors, the action shot, that look on his face!
What a card!
I remember first seeing that card as a kid and thinking Fosse looked so
mean, like a biker ready to block the plate and demolish whoever was
heading his way.
LOVE this card!
So many of those Oakland A’s cards looked great because of the color
scheme, like the Cincinnati Reds and Detroit Tiger cards as well.
As for Fosse, he put in a nice 12-year career that some say was derailed
somewhat because of the famous Pate Rose collision during the 1970
All-Star game that left Fosse injured.
Many say he was never the same again.
Nevertheless, he played until 1979, being named to two All-Star teams
and winning two Gold Gloves along the way before retiring after the 1979
season.
I
don’t know how THIS highlight from 1970’s baseball eluded me when I was
running my “Highlights from the 70’s” thread a while back, but it just
hit me the other day: Pete Rose collecting his 3000th hit on May 5th,
1978 against the Montreal Expos.
Check out my card:
Of course Rose would charge right through 3000 hits and head for 4000,
eventually overtaking Ty Cobb for the all-time hits total with 4256.
The man was a machine!
One of the all-time greats, it’s a shame his career has been marred by
all the gambling B.S., which personally shouldn’t keep a guy like Rose
out of the Hall.
“Charlie Hustle”...
It feels like I’ve done quite a few “missing” New York Mets hasn’t it?
Well here’s another, former pitcher Paul Siebert, and a “missing” 1978 card.
Take a look:
Siebert appeared in 25 games with the Mets after coming over from the San Diego Padres during the season.
He posted a 2-1 record (all with the Mets), with a 3.69 earned run average over 29 games and 31.2 innings of work.
In his short five-year career he went on to post a 3-8 record with a
3.77 ERA and 59 strikeouts over 129 innings and 87 appearances.
Keep an eye out for his “missing” 1979 card in the near future as well!
Next up in the “1976 Project” of “missing” players is former outfielder Jerry Martin.
Take a look at the card I came up with:
Martin played in 57 games during the 1975 season for the Philadelphia Phillies, hitting .212 with 24 hits in 114 at-bats.
It was his second taste of the big leagues, and he’d go on to play for
another nine years before hanging them up after the 1984 season after 51
games with the New York Mets.
In between he suited up for the Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants and
Kansas City Royals, putting in his best seasons with the Cubs in 1979
and 1980 when he hit a combined 42 home runs with 146 runs batted in.
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