Way
back in June of 2015 I created a “missing” 1976 card for former San
Diego Padres third baseman Steve Huntz for the long-running “1976
Project” for my buddy Jim.
Recently, I came across a much better image to use for the card, so I went ahead and re-did the card using the better photo:
Here’s what I originally wrote for the blog-post back then:
“After playing in 35 games for the Chicago White Sox in 1971, Huntz
bounced around in the Minors before coming back up to the "Big Show" in
1975 with the San Diego Padres.
He appeared in 22 games, good for 62 plate appearances.
He tallied eight hits in 53 at-bats, good for a .151 batting average,
with four doubles, four runs batted in and three runs scored.
It would turn out to be the last of his Major League playing time, as
he'd suit up for the Padres Triple-A Hawaii team in 1976 and 1977 before
retiring for good.
Could have been a decent "Long Time No See" card since he last appeared in the 1972 set.
One final note, Huntz was part of the trade that brought slugger Dick
Allen to the North Side of Chicago when he was traded along with Tommy
John to the Los Angeles Dodgers for the "Wampum Walloper" in December of
'71.
Up
on the blog today is a 1973 card for a guy who’ll get a few “missing”
cards on this blog before I’m done, first baseman Joe Lis:
Lis appeared in 62 games for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1972, batting
.243 with 34 hits over 140 at-bats, certainly enough action to warrant a
card in the 1973 set.
He would end up putting in eight seasons in the Major Leagues, batting
.233 with 182 hits in 780 at-bats over 356 career games, with 32 homers,
92 runs batted in and 96 runs scored.
The most he ever played in any one season was in 1973 while with the
Minnesota Twins when he appeared in 103 games, hitting .245 over 286
plate appearances, with nine homers and 25 RBIs.
He’d eventually end his career with nine games playing fore the
inaugural 1977 Seattle Mariners before playing a season in Japan in
1978, returning for one last Minor League season in 1979, his last as a
pro.
I’ll
use any reason to post up about one of the great underrated players of
the era, Vada Pinson, so today I’m taking a look at his 1970 card and
wondering: was this card airbrushed?
I keep going back and forth, never really deciding for sure either way.
Pinson was traded by the St. Louis Cardinals on November 21st of 1969
for Jose Cardenal, so I don’t believe even with a later-series card in
the 1970 set Topps would have had a chance to shoot him in an Indians
uni, especially with the photography problems they had at that time.
So what this looks like is an older shot of him with the Cincinnati
Reds, and they very cleverly took the “C” logo and gently outlined it in
“Indians-blue”.
Genius. Very simple, but very effective.
As for Pinson, I’ve always loved his career, and wonder had he not
played the bulk of his Big League time in the shadows of Willie Mays,
Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente and Frank Robinson, would he have made it
all the way to the Hall of Fame.
Four-times he’d collect over 200 hits, seven times over 20-home runs,
nine times over 20-stolen bases, and the man only made two All-Star
teams!
Just an awesome career that saw him finish with over 2700 hits, 250
homers and 300 stolen bases, while also collecting over 480 doubles and
120 triples.
Though
he began his Major League career later in the decade, I have to add
Andre Dawson, aka “The Hawk” to be long-running “Nicknames of the
1970’s” thread:
Dawson came up and took home the National League Rookie of the Year in
1977 and just kept on putting in All-Star seasons for over the next 20
years, punching his ticket for the Hall of Fame.
Eight-time All-Star, eight-time Gold Glove, 1987 N.L. MVP, the man was
one of the best in the game, and yet incredibly was STILL overlooked
through much of his career, playing up North with the Montreal Expos.
The five-time 20/20 guy stole as many as 39 bases in a season (1982),
while hitting as many as 49 homers (1987), twice finishing second in the
MVP race (1981 and 1983).
By the time he retired after the 1996 season he finished with 438 homers
with 314 stolen bases, 2774 hits and 1591 runs batted in, finally
making it into Cooperstown in 2010.
What a player...
On
the blog today we have a 1978 “not so missing” card for former
infielder Jim Morrison, who made his MLB debut in September of 1977, on
his way to a nice 12-year career:
Morrison appeared in five games for the Philadelphia Phillies in that
1977 call-up, batting a robust .429 with three hits in seven at-bats
with three runs scored.
He would go on to put together a very respectable career, mainly with
the Chicago White Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates, for whom he played ten
seasons combined.
Over his career he only had the chance at a full season twice, and he put in very good years both times:
In 1980 he appeared in all 162 games for the White Sox and hit ..283
with 171 hits, 40 doubles and 15 home runs, along with 57 runs batted in
and 66 runs scored.
Then years later in 1986, now with the Pirates, he played in 154 games
and went on to post career highs with 23 home runs and 88 runs batted
in, while also batting .274 with 35 doubles.
Those are some really good numbers for a guy that was really a platoon player most of his career.
By the time he retired after the 1988 season, he finished with a .260
batting average, with 876 hits and 112 homers, with 371 runs scored and
435 RBIs in 1089 games.
On
the blog this morning we have a special “No-Hitter” card for one of the
great games of the decade, Rick Wise and his gem on June 23rd of 1971,
when he not only held the powerful Cincinnati Reds line-up hitless, but
he helped his own cause with TWO two-run home-runs. Just amazing:
I wrote about this game a while ago on the blog, so I’ll use that here:
“Wise's incredible game took place on June 23 (43 years to the day I am
writing this actually!), 1971, and as I mentioned earlier, was against
the freakin' "Big Red Machine" of Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Tony Perez et
al!
Talk about an extra "oomph" of an accomplishment!
The guy goes out and no-hits a killer line-up, and also slams TWO home
runs, good for three of the four runs the Phillies score that day (a
Roger Freed double accounting for the other)!
It's easy to forget that the guy put together a really solid Major
League career, finishing with a 188-181 record to go along with a 3.69
earned run average, 30 shutouts and 1647 strikeouts over 506 games (455
starts) between 1964 and 1982.
Yes he'll always be remembered for being the "wrong" side of the Steve
Carlton trade (ironically enough during the off-season after his no-hit
year), but if not for an injury-plagued season in 1974 while with the
Red Sox, he could have been a 200-game winner.”
It’s also worth remembering that the Reds, well on their way to the “Big
Red Machine” days, were no-hit twice in the month of June, by Wise and
by Ken Holtzman just three weeks before.
Go figure...
Here’s
a fun card to create, a 1976 Ron Clark for the former infielder, who
made it back to the Big Leagues for one single game in 1975 after
spending the previous two years in the Minors:
Clark, who last played in the Big Leagues in 1972, splitting the season
with the Oakland A’s and Milwaukee Brewers, made it all the way back in
late-September and got in what was to be his last appearance, striking
out in his one at-bat against the New York Mets on September 26th.
Between 1966 and 1971 he played for the Twins, Seattle Pilots, and A’s
before that split season of ‘72, generally as a shortstop and third
baseman.
Sadly, the man was never able to get above the “Mendoza Line”, his average never getting above .193. Ouch.
Turns out that one at-bat with the Phillies in 1975 would be the last
at-bat as a pro, deciding to retire rather than continue on in the
Minors after 1975.
He’d finish his career with a .189 batting average, with exactly 100
hits in 530 at-bats in 230 games, with 40 runs scored and 43 runs batted
in.
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