Nerd alert!
Recently on twitter I saw something about the “only two players in MLB
history with the surname Moyer (Jamie and a guy named Ed from 1910)” and
thought, “wasn’t there a guy in the 1972 Topps set with that last
name?”
Anyway, turns out I had a post ready that was about that very player,
James (Jim) Moyer, who never played in the Majors but was airbrushed for
a spot in the 1972 set on a multi-player rookie card, so here goes:
If you look closely you can tell that the fine people at Topps
airbrushed the pitcher into a Cleveland uniform from a San Francisco
Giants one.
Moyer, who began his pro career back in 1966 with the Giants, was just
picked up by Cleveland before the 1972 season started, hence the
artistic necessity.
Turns out Moyer would go on to pitch another three years in Minor League
ball, all in the Cleveland organization, before calling it a career
after 1974.
Up
on the blog today we have a career-capping “not so missing” 1979 card
for former New York Mets pitcher Bob Myrick, who turned out played the
last of his Major League games in 1978:
Myrick appeared in 17 games for the Mets during the 1978 season, going
0-3 with a nice 3.28 earned run average over 24.2 innings of work.
But just after the 1979 season started he was part of a small package of
two pitchers traded to the Texas Rangers for pitcher Dock Ellis, so his
time out at Shea was over.
Turns out, after pitching in the Minors over the next couple seasons, he
decided to call it a career without ever getting back to a Big League
mound again, finishing up with a record of 3-6 and an ERA at 3.48 over
82 appearances and 139.2 innings, all for the Mets between 1976 and
1978.
Time
to go and create a 1973 “not so missing” card for former outfielder
Curt Motton, who was left out of the Topps set after only 48 games
played during the 1972 season:
Motton began the 1972 campaign as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers, for
whom he hit .167 over just six games, going 1-for-6 at the plate with a
couple of runs batted in and a run scored.
On may 26th, he was traded to the California Angels for pitcher Archie
Reynolds, and he went on to hit .154 over 42 games, collecting six hits
in 39 at-bats for his new team.
It would be his only time with the California franchise, as by the time
the 1973 opened he was back with his original team, the Baltimore
Orioles, who he came up with in 1967.
Between 1973 and 1974, Motton would appear in only 12 combined games for
the O’s, going 2-for-14 at the plate with four RBIs before calling it a
career.
Over his eight-year MLB tenure, he hit .213 with 121 hits in 567
at-bats, but most importantly was a member of the juggernaut Oriole
teams between 1969 and 1971, with a World Championship in 1970.
Today’s
blog post has a “not so missing” 1974 card for outfielder Tony Scott,
who made his Major League debut in 1973 with the Montreal Expos:
Scott, who would go on to play eleven seasons in the Big Leagues, went
0-1 at the plate with two runs scored for the Expos in his debut season,
while stealing a base and collecting a walk.
He’d see pretty much the same action in 1974, but this time he’d collect
two hits over seven at-bats, hitting .286 with five more stolen bases
and 19 runs scored.
Turns out after a couple of “cups of coffee” with Montreal in 1973 and
1974, Scott played in 92 games in 1975, good for 159 plate appearances
with 26 hits over 143 at-bats, giving him a .182 average.
He’d miss the 1976 season stuck in the Minors, but then go on to play on
through to 1984 in the Big Leagues after appearing in 45 games with,
who else, the Montreal Expos.
In between he played for the St. Louis Cardinals and Houston Astros,
giving him an 11-year career that saw him bat .249 with 699 hits in 2803
at-bats, playing in 991 games before his career ended.
Just
for the fun of it, I thought I’d go ahead and redo former pitcher Rich
Robertson’s 1972 Topps card since he never even ended up playing for the
Chicago White Sox, and it would negate the hilarious airbrush job.
Check out the original White Sox card and what I came up with, and what I switched it to:
Robertson was purchased by the Chicago White Sox on February 7th of
1972, and it was a wonderful accomplishment for Topps to scramble and
get him in a White Sox uni (via airbrushing) for his card in the ‘72
set.
Only problem was that Robertson was RETURNED to the San Francisco Giants
about a month later, which in turn had him released by the end of
March, thus ending his Big League career.
So turns out the action he saw during the 1971 season would be the last
of his MLB career, which was spent entirely with the Giants between 1966
and 1971.
The 1970 season would be his best, as he posted career-highs across the
board due to extended action, with a record of 8-9 along with an earned
run average of 4.85 over 41 appearances and 183.2 innings pitched.
He finished his career with a record of 13-14, with an ERA of 4.94 over
86 appearances and 302.1 innings, with a shutout and two saves thrown
in.
Time
to go ahead and give former pitcher Bill Singer a career-capping 1978
card celebrating his 14-year Big League career, which came to an end
with 13 appearances in 1977 as an “original” Toronto Blue Jay during
their inaugural season:
Singer went 2-8 for Toronto over those 13 appearances, 12 of them
starts, pitching to an earned run average of 6.79 over 59.2 innings of
work.
Still only 33, arm troubles led him to retiring after that season,
finishing up his career with a record of 118-127, with a nice 3.39 ERA
over 322 appearances, with 24 shutouts and 1515 strikeouts.
During his career he posted two 20-win seasons and three 200-strikeout
seasons, including 241 in 1973, which helped set a new record along with
teammate Nolan Ryan’s 383 for most strikeouts by teammates with 624.
He also struck out 227 batters in 1968 with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and
a career-high 247 the following season for L.A., which was also his 1st
20-win campaign.
Today’s blog post has an admittedly “fantasy” 1975 Highlight card that of course would have been a stretch for Topps to create.
But I always wanted to have a card celebrating the teenage Robin Yount
and his Major League debut with more than just a “regular” card:
A nice photo of the “Boy Wonder” getting ready to put together a 20-year
Hall of Fame career that saw him take home two American League Most
Valuable Player Awards, three All-Star nods (that’s it!?!?), three
Silver Slugger Awards and a Gold Glove.
Yount broke into the Majors in 1974 at the age of 18, appearing in 107
games and hitting .250 with 86 hits over 344 at-bats, scoring 48 runs
with 26 RBIs.
A Milwaukee Brewer for life, Yount finished his great career with 3142
hits, 1632 runs scored, 251 homers and 271 stolen bases, and still
retired at the age of “only” 37.
I loved him as a kid and was in awe of the Brewers’ combo of Yount and
Paul Molitor, watching them put in year after year of solid stats.
It’s amazing to realize that when he had his first true All-Star season
in 1980, after what was already seven years in the Big Leagues, Yount
was STILL only 24 years of age!
He was on cruise-control from then on, elevating his game to become one
of the elite players in the American League, with 1982 the high point
when he led the Brewers to the World Series and taking home his first
MVP Award.
I just realized I have to create a “nickname” card for him, “The Kid”!
Keep an eye out for that one soon!
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Everything baseball: cards, events, history and more.
