TRADED- 1977 PAUL BLAIR

Today I post up my 1977 “Traded” card for Gold Glover Paul Blair, who found himself heading to the division-rival New York Yankees before the season began:

Now, I do know that Blair would actually have a “Yankees” 1977 card as part of the Burger King set, but I wanted to add to my running set since I like the horizontal lay-out I’ve been working with.
Blair was traded to the Bronx for Elliot Maddox and Rick Bladt, and lucky for him he’d end up being a part of the back-to-back World Champion “Bronx Zoo” teams.
That would give him four World Championships over his stellar career, two with Baltimore and two with New York, along with an amazing eight Gold Gloves and two All-Star nods.
One of the greatest fielding outfielders the game ever saw, Blair anchored the outfield for the powerhouse Orioles of the late-60’s/early-70’s while giving them a solid bat as well.
He would end up putting in a very nice 17-year Major League career before retiring in 1980 at the age of 36, hitting .250 with 1513 hits, 134 homer, 171 stolen bases and 776 runs scored.

1976 SPECIAL- THE SLUGGING PHILLIES MIKE SCHMIDT AND GREG LUZINSKI

Adding to the fun “Specials” sub-set through the wild 1970’s, today I post up my 1976 card featuring the powerful Phillies slugging duo of Mike Schmidt and Greg Luzinski:

When this card would have come out, perhaps only the Cincinnati Reds arguably had a more feared duo of sluggers than the Phillies.
Schmidt was coming off of what would end up being the second of his eight home run titles, while Luzinski was the National League MVP runner-up to the Reds’ Joe Morgan.
Luzinski would also finish as the NL MVP runner-up in 1977, again behind a Reds player, this time George Foster, while of course Schmidt would end up taking home three MVP’s in the 1980’s.
It’s amazing to think that Luzinski ended up retiring with 307 homers  and 1128 runs batted in over his career, and that he was only 33 when he left the game!
Nevertheless, what a pair of thumpers the Phillies had leading the way for a team that also had Larry Bowa, Dave Cash and Garry Maddox among others in their line-up!

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- BOB REECE

Today we have a “not so missing” card for a guy I have never heard of, nine-game Major League catcher Bob Reece of the Montreal Expos:

Reece appeared in all nine of his Big League games during the 1978 season, going 2-for-11 at the plate, which comes to a .182 batting average, with a couple of runs scored and three runs batted in.
Obviously, coming up as a catcher with the Expos  when a young Gary Carter was just coming into his own was a MAJOR road block.
But Reece went on to play another three full years in the Minors, all in the Montreal organization, before retiring after the 1981 season.
As a matter of fact he played all nine years of his professional baseball career in the Montreal organization, originally starting out back in 1973.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1974 AL SANTORINI

Let’s cap-off former pitcher Al Santorini’s Major League career with a 1974 “not so missing” card, as he played the last games of his six-year career during the 1973 season:

Santorini appeared in eight games for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1973, tossing only 8.1 innings and not factoring in a decision while he posted an earned run average of 5.40.
That would be the end of his Big League career, originally coming up as a 20-year-old in 1968 when he appeared in a game for the Atlanta Braves before moving on to the San Diego Padres during their inaugural season.
That year he saw the most action of any season in the Majors, going 8-14 with an ERA of 3.95 over 32 appearances, 30 of them starts, in 184.2 innings of work.
All told, he finished his Major League tenure with a record of 17-38, with an ERA of 4.29 over 127 appearances and 493.1 innings pitched, with four shutouts and three saves.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1979 ORLANDO GONZALEZ

On the blog today we have a “not so missing” 1979 card for former outfielder Orlando Gonzalez, who played in parts of three Major League seasons, none of them consecutive, between 1976 and 1980:

Gonzalez appeared in 26 games for the Phillies in 1978, hitting .192 with five hits over 26 at-bats with a run scored while playing outfield with some first base thrown in.
His first taste of the Big Leagues was in 1976 when he came up with the Cleveland Indians, appearing in 28 games as a 24-year-old, hitting .250 while playing mainly first base.
After a year in the Minors in 1979, Gonzalez made it back to the Majors, though now with the Oakland A’s, for what would be his last action on a Big League field when he appeared in 25 games, hitting .243 with 17 hits over 70 at-bats, scoring 10 runs.
All told, his final career numbers were a .238 average, with 39 hits over 164 at-bats with 16 runs scored and five runs batted in spread out over 79 games.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1970 JOHN HAIRSTON

Here’s a really fun card to add to the 1970 (and blog) collection, a 1970 “not so missing” card for John Hairston, brother of Jerry and son of Sam, who appeared in his only Major League games during the 1969 season:

John played in only three games, the only games he’d play on the Big League level, going 1-for-4 at the plate for a .250 average, with one game at catcher and one in left field.
He would go on to play another couple of years in the Minors before calling it a pro career, but not before being a part of the rare THREE generation Major League baseball family, with father Sam, brother Jerry and then nephews Jerry Jr and Scott playing later on.
An incredible Big League family tree that often gets overlooked when others mention the Bells and Boones for multi-generation players.
Nevertheless, today is the Hairston’s, specifically John Hairston’s, day in the sun!
Enjoy.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1978 MARK WAGNER

Today we have a “not so missing” 1978 card for former Detroit Tigers infielder Mark Wagner, who was entering his third Major League season by the time this card would have been out:

Wagner appeared in 22 games for Detroit in 1977, hitting .146 with seven hits over 48 at-bats while playing mainly shortstop with some second base thrown in.
He would spend nine seasons in the Big Leagues as a guy off the bench, playing five years with the Tigers, three with the Texas Rangers and one with the Oakland A’s, which was in 1984, his last year.
All told, his final numbers looked like this: a .243 career average with 205 hits over 843 at-bats and 414 career games, scoring 81 runs while driving in 71.