MISSING IN ACTION- 1978 BOB HEISE

Here’s a card for a player who had a FEW “missing” cards in the decade, former infielder Bob Heise, this time a 1978 edition:

I’ve already made a 1976 “missing” card for him as part of the “1976 Project”, and I have another one lined up for 1977, but this 1978 card is also a career-capper, as he closed out a nice 11-year career with a season in Kansas City, being a part of the 1977 American League West champ Royals.
Heise appeared in 54 games with KC, batting .258 with 16 hits over 62 at-bats with defensive work at all infield positions.
This was pretty much his role his entire career in the Major Leagues, playing for no less than seven organizations between 1967 and 1977.
He would end up with a .247 batting average for his career, with 283 hits over 1144 at-bats and 499 games

1976 PROJECT- ED GOODSON

Here’s a card created for the ongoing “1976 Project” a while back featuring former infielder Ed Goodson, who actually appeared in the 1976 set as a Los Angeles Dodger, with the team he finished the 1975 season with, the Atlanta Braves:

Goodson would go on to play the final two years of his eight-year career with the Dodgers in 1976 and 1977, but since “Reader Jim” shares my feelings that a set represents more of what happened the previous season, sort of like a “yearbook”, he asked me to create a Braves card.
Originally a San Francisco Giant between 1970 through midway 1975, Goodson found himself in Atlanta for the final 47 games before moving on to L.A.
Basically a catcher off the bench his entire career, he had a very nice 1973 season for San Fran when he batted .302 with 12 homers and 53 runs batted in over 102 games, easily his best season in the Major League.

MISSING IN ACTION- 1973 RICK MILLER

Here’s a “missing” 1973 card for long time Red Sox outfielder Rick Miller, who played 12 of his 15 Major League seasons in Beantown:

Miller appeared in 89 games for the Red Sox in 1972, his second season in the “big show”, batting .214 with 21 hits over 98 at-bats.
Except for the three years spanning 1978-1980 when he played for the California Angels, Miller was a familiar face in the Boston dugout until his retirement after the 1985 season.
By the time he left the game, he collected 1046 hits over 3887 at-bats, good for a career .269 average with 552 runs scored and 369 runs batted in.

MISSING IN ACTION- 1975 CHRIS ARNOLD

Here’s a “missing” 1975 card for a guy who actually had almost 200 plate appearances in 1974, and played another two years in the Majors, Chris Arnold of the San Francisco Giants:

Arnold played in 78 games for the Giants in 1974, batting .241 with 42 hits in 174 official at-bats with 22 runs scored and 26 runs batted in while playing all the infield slots but First Base.
He would play all six of his big league seasons with San Francisco, coming up in 1971 and playing through the 1976 campaign.
As a matter of fact he actually got a card in the 1977 set after already playing his final game the year before.
All told Arnold hit .237 over his career, with 103 hits in 435 at-bats with 47 runs scored and 51 RBI’s while playing the aforementioned infield positions and nine games behind the plate in 1973.

CARRER CAPPING M.I.A.- 1972 DICK HALL

Here’s a “missing” Career Capper for a guy who came up as an outfielder yet made a nice career for himself as a pitcher, Dick Hall:

Not many images of Hall at the end of his career, so I used this action shot.
 Hall closed out a very respectable career in 1971, finishing with a 93-75 record along with a 3.32 earned run average over 495 appearances, collecting 71 saves along the way.
He originally came up as an outfielder with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1952, but by the time 1955 came around they realized he was better suited to the pitcher’s mound.
Turned out to be a smart move, as Hall found his niche in the bullpen by the time he joined the Baltimore Orioles, for whom he’d play nine of the final eleven seasons in the big leagues.
A member of two championship teams, Hall was a valuable arm to call on for the Birds, whether it was putting in long relief work or closing out games.
In the postseason you can see just how valuable he was, posting a 2-1 record over five games, with a perfect 0.00 ERA in 8.2 innings, finishing four of those contests.
And on a personal note, he was the very first 1970-card I ever got as a kid around 10 years old back in 1979 or so. I’ll always remember gawking at the back and seeing that long career dating back to the early ‘50’s, blew my mind.

DEDICATED ROOKIE- 1973 BOB BOONE

Time to give former all-star catcher Bob Boone a “dedicated” rookie card since he appeared on a three-way card in the 1973 set:

The seven-time Gold Glove receiver first came up during the 1972 season with the Phillies, where he would spend the next 10 years of his career, appearing in three all-star games and picking up two of the aforementioned Gold Gloves and being an integral part of the 1980 world champion squad.
In 1982 he would move over to the West Coast and the California Angels, where he’d spend the next seven years, taking home another four Gold Gloves, his last as an Angel at the age of 40!
But he wasn’t done there, as he would then go to Kansas City where he would win yet another Gold Glove, at the age of 41 in 1989 for his stellar defensive work behind the plate.
Over his 19 years as a big league catcher he would play in 2264 games, collecting over 1800 hits and ending up with a .254 average, leading his league in many defensive categories.
Not only a baseball lifer, but the son of former big leaguer Ray, as well as the father of two future players in Aaron and Bret.
Some serious baseball lineage we’re talking here.

MISSING IN ACTION- 1974 BERNIE ALLEN

Next up is a “missing” 1974 card for former infielder Bernie Allen, who finished up a nice 12-year career with a split season between the New York Yankees and Montreal Expos:

Allen appeared in a combined 33 games in 1973, batting .206 with 22 hits in 107 at-bats while playing both second and short.
Known mainly for his five years as a Minnesota Twins player, with whom he came up in 1962, Allen also spent five years with the Washington Senators before a full season in the Bronx in 1972.
Overall he finished his career with a .239 batting average based on his 815 hits in 3404 at-bats, with 73 home runs and 352 runs batted in and 357 runs scored.