MISSING IN ACTION- 1970 MERRITT RANEW

Here’s a “missing” 1970 card for one of the Seattle Pilots in their lone 1969 season, former catcher Merritt Ranew:

Ranew appeared in 54 games for the Pilots, his first taste of Major League action since the 1965 season when he played for the California Angels.
In those games for Seattle he batted .247 with 20 hits over 81 at-bats while filling in behind the plate as well as a few games in the outfield and one at third base.
Those would be the final games of his five-year MLB career, finishing up with a .247 average, collecting 147 hits in 594 at-bats with five teams between 1962 and 1969.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1974 JIM FOOR

Today’s “not so missing” card is for former pitcher Jim Foor, who had a brief three year Major League career, the last of which was with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1973:

Foor appeared in the last three games of his big league career in 1973, pitching 1.1 innings with a walk (intentional) and a strikeout, not factoring into a decision.
That would give him a total of 13 career games in Major League ball, the first 10 of which were with the Detroit Tigers where he picked up his only win (against no losses), though getting hit hard (eight earned runs in 4.2 innings pitched).
All told he finished with a 1-0 record with a 12.00 ERA over those 13 games and 6 total inning pitched.

MISSING IN ACTION- 1976 TOM EGAN

Here is yet ANOTHER of those Angels’ catchers who could have gotten a card during the 1970’s, Tom Egan:

Egan joins the incredibly long list of California catchers like Jeff Torborg, Charlie Sands, Ike Hampton, John Stephenson and Art Kusnyer who have received customs from this blog!
Talk about your revolving door!
For Egan, he put in eight years with the Angels with two with the Chicago White Sox squeezed in, playing his last Major League games in 1975 when he appeared in 28 games, batting .229 with 16 hits over 70 at-bats.
That would give him an even .200 batting average over ten seasons, with 196 hits in 979 at-bats in 373 games, all but one at the catching position (he appeared as a first baseman once in 1971).
What exactly WERE those Angels doing with their catchers during the 1970’s? So many it’s amazing...

MAJOR LEAGUE FOUNDERS: DOUG ALLISON 1876-1976

The next “founders” of the Major Leagues is Doug Allison, former catcher who’s career spanned the pre-N.A. Days through to the inaugural decade of the Major Leagues:

Allison began his career with the Geary of Philadelphia squad in 1868 before becoming one of the legendary members of the Cincinnati Red Stockings in 1869, who went undefeated and put baseball on the map as the burgeoning sport of America.
An innovator of the sport, he is the first known player to use a glove, in his case buckskin mittens in 1870, and is credited as being the first catcher to stand right behind the batter to help prevent base runners from stealing a base.
He played all five of the National Association seasons, with no less than SIX organizations, before ending up with the Hartford team in 1875, a team he’d play for the next three seasons, the latter two being the first two years of the newly formed Major League.
His professional career would span 1869 through 1883 (not playing 1880-1882), and would retire with a .271 lifetime average over 318 games.

NEGRO LEAGUE LEGENDS- WILLIE WELLS

The next Negro Leagues legend we spotlight is shortstop extraordinaire Willie Wells, who put together a 25-year professional career between the NPL and Mexican Leagues between 1924 and 1948:

A ten-time all-star, Wells was also a Cuban League Most Valuable Player twice, in 1929/30 and 1939/40, and holds the Negro National League record of 27 home runs in a season in 1926, this third year as a pro.
As was one of my previous players spot-lighted, Mule Suttles, Wells was a part of the “Million Dollar Infield” along with Ray Dandridge and Dick Seay playing for the Newark Eagles.
Though an excellent hitter, Wells was particularly known for his defensive skills at short, and is credited as mentoring Jackie Robinson with infield defense including turning a double-play.
As for his offense, Wells recorded stats for the Negro Leagues are impressive, retiring with a .319 batting average along with a .510 slugging percentage and exactly 100 home runs in 756 games played.
A member of the Mexican and Cuban Halls of Fame, Wells was also inducted into the American Hall of Fame in 1997 by the Veteran’s Committee, capping off the career of one of the greatest shortstops in Negro Leagues history.

GREAT AIRBRUSH OR OLD PHOTO: 1978 DICK DRAGO

Here’s a card that’s always interested me because of an unanswered question, the 1978 Dick Drago card, and “is this an airbrush job or an older photo?”:

I understand it can easily be a photo from his first tour with the Bosox between 1974 and 1975, and it does seem to fit.
However I stare at that cap and I’d swear it looks airbrushed to me. What do you all think?
Drago split the 1977 season with the California Angels and Baltimore Orioles, posting a 6-4 record with a 3.41 earned run average over 49 games, all out of the ‘pen.
He’s put together a nice 13-year career between 1969 and 1981, finishing up with a 108-117 record, along with a 3.62 ERA over 519 games, 189 of them starts.
His best year was easily his 1971 season with the Kansas City Royals when he went 17-11 with a 2.98 ERA and four shutouts over 34 starts and 241.1 innings pitched.
That effort even got him a fifth place finish in the American League Cy Young race as he led the Royals staff to a second place finish in only their third season in the league with a 85-76 record.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1972 MARV LANE

Here’s a 1972 card for former career Detroit Tigers outfielder Marv Lane, who made his Major League debut during the 1971 season with a scant eight games:

In those eight games, Lane hit .143 with a couple of hits over 14 at-bats, with an RBI and walk thrown in.
He would only play in eight more games the following season, followed by six in 1973 before getting the most action of his five-year career in 1974 when he played in 50 contests, batting .233 with 24 hits, 16 runs scored and nine RBI’s.
After playing in the minors during the 1975 season, he made it back to the big leagues in 1976, playing in the final 16 games of his career, batting .188 with nine hits in 48 at-bats, closing out his MLB tenure with a .207 average, 37 hits, 23 runs scored and 17 RBI’s over the course of 90 games.