NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1971 VERN FULLER

Here’s a “not so missing” career-capper for former infielder Vern Fuller, who played all six of his Major League seasons with the Cleveland Indians, the last of which was 1970:

Fuller appeared in 29 games for the Tribe in 1970, batting .182 with six hits over 33 at-bats while filling in throughout the infield.
Ironically this was one year removed from the most action he had as a Big Leaguer, playing in 108 games during the 1969 season when he hit .236 with career highs in hits (60), RBIs (22), Runs (25) and at-bats (254).
Come 1972 he was out of baseball as a player completely, finishing up with a career .232 batting average with 182 hits over 785 at-bats in 325 games.

MISSING IN ACTION- 1974 JIM McANDREW

Here’s a “missing” 1974 card for former New York Mets starting pitcher Jim McAndrew, “Miracle Mets” member of 1969:

McAndrew appeared in 23 games for the Mets during the 1973 season, going 3-8 with a 5.38 earned run average over 80.1 innings of work, with just under half those appearances as a starter.
The previous season was his best as a Major League pitcher, as he posted a record of 11-8 with a nice 2.80 ERA over 28 games, 23 of which were starts, with 160.2 innings pitched.
Injuries curtailed his career, and by the beginning of the 1974 season he found himself as a member of the San Diego Padres, appearing in what would ultimately be the final 15 games of his seven-year Big League career, going 1-4 with a 5.62 earned run average over 41.2 innings.
It would be the last pro action he’d see as well, retiring and moving on to a career in coal which he would retire from some 25 years later.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1972 KEN HOTTMAN

Today’s “not so missing” card is a 1972 Ken Hottman, he of six games in 1971 comprising his entire Major League career:

Hottman was called up in September of 1971 and played five game in Left Field for the Chicago White Sox, going 2-for-16 at the plate, good for a .125 batting average for his Big League tenure.
Before his call-up he was tearing up Double-A ball, batting .302 that season with 37 homers and 116 runs batted in for the Asheville Tourists of the Dixie Association.
However, come the new season of 1972 it was back to the Minor Leagues, where he’d spend the rest of his pro career, playing through the 1974 season before going on to some time in the Mexican League in 1975, never coming close to the Majors or even the power level he displayed in 1971.

1977 MARINERS REDONE- DICK POLE

Next up in the 1977 expansion hit parade redo is former pitcher Dick Pole, who was drafted by the Seattle Mariners as the seventh pick in the expansion draft in late 1976:

Re-done

Original card with airbrushing

Pole has the misfortune of being drafted away from the Boston Red Sox, not too far removed form a World Series berth in 1975 and still a power in the American League East.
As expected, the 1977 season was a rough one, with Pole posting a record of 7-12 with a 5.15 earned run average over 25 appearances, all but one of them as a starter.
He’d go on to pitch only one more season in the Majors, going 4-11 the following year with a bloated 6.48 ERA over 21 games and 98.2 innings of work.
He’d spend the following three years in the Minors, pitching in the Pittsburgh and Detroit systems before taking his playing experience over to coaching, something he would do for over 20 years through the 2009 season, even helping develop a young Greg Maddux back in the mid-80’s when coaching for the Chicago Cubs.

1975 IN-ACTION: ROLLIE FINGERS

Next up in the long-running 1975 “In Action” series is the premier American League relief pitcher at the time, the Oakland A’s Rollie Fingers:

Fingers was wrapping up a third straight world championship with the A’s in 1974, while also putting together yet another All-Star campaign, leading the AL in appearances with 76, while posting a record of 9-5 with 18 saves over 119 innings pitched.
It’s amazing to think his best years were still ahead of him, as he’d go on to San Diego and Milwaukee, where he’d lead his league in saves three times, while taking home the AL MVP and Cy Young in 1981 when he led the Brewers to the playoffs with a remarkable 1.04 ERA and a league-leading 28 saves during the strike-shortened season.
By the time he retired after the 1985 season after some injury-plagued years, he was at the top of the career saves list with 341, while posting a very nice 2.90 ERA over 944 appearances and 1701 innings pitched in 17-seasons.
In 1992, in what was his second year of eligibility, he was selected for the Hall of Fame with 81.2% of the vote, making him only the second career-reliever to be so honored, following the great Hoyt Wilhelm who was selected for induction in 1985.

NICKNAMES OF THE 1970'S" "SCOOP" AL OLIVER

Time to post up my 1973 “Nicknames of the 1970’s” card for one of my favorite underrated players of the era, Al “Scoop” Oliver of the Pittsburgh Pirates:

Oliver was the model of all-star consistency through the decade, from his rookie year of 1969 when he was robbed of the Rookie of the Year Award (losing to the Dodgers’ Ted Sizemore), straight through to his being colluded against in the mid-80’s with many others, prematurely ending his MLB career.
All he did was hit between .280 and .300 every season, racking up hits, doubles, runs batted in, while other players got the accolades: Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell, Dave Parker, Tim Raines, Andre Dawson, Gary Carter.
Of course when you get to play alongside these guys, it’s understandable how a man who put up the numbers year after year like Oliver did could go under-appreciated like he did.
But come on! Look at his career!
The seven-time All-Star finished his Big League tenure with 2743 hits, 529 doubles, 219 homers, 1326 RBIs, a .303 batting average, with ONLY 756 strikeouts over 9049 at-bats.
In 1982 he had his best season, leading the National League in batting, doubles, total bases and RBIs while also hitting 22 homers and scoring 90 runs, finishing third in MVP voting.
In 1980, thanks to guys like George Brett, Rickey Henderson and Reggie Jackson in the American League, Oliver’s season went almost unnoticed as he collected career-highs with 209 hits, 96 runs scored, 117 RBI’s and 43 doubles while hitting .319.
I always felt he, Cecil Cooper and Miguel Dilone had great years at the wrong time (if there is such a thing), in 1980.
Seemed Oliver had a few of those years throughout his 18-year career.
Oliver for the Hall of Fame? I don’t know. I’d put him in along with Steve Garvey, Dave Parker, Vada Pinson and even Bob Johnson from the 1930’s, in appreciation for the HIGH level of play these guys put in over a long period, with brief moments of top-notch play.
Seems silly to see these careers get lost in the non-HOF shuffle for no other reason than not hitting those “magic numbers”.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1972 CARL TAYLOR

Here’s a “not so missing” 1972 card for former catcher Carl Taylor, who suited up for the World Champ Pittsburgh Pirates by season’s end in 1971:

Taylor, who came over to the Bucs on September 3rd of the ‘71 season after being purchased from the Kansas City Royals, appeared in seven games, batting .167 with a couple of hits over 12 at-bats.
He began the season in Kansas City, though only appearing in 20 games on the year, collecting seven hits there over 39 at-bats for a .179 average, giving him a combined ..176 batting average for the year.
He’d find himself right back in Kansas City for the 1972 campaign, where he’d play the last two years of his MLB career, seeing his last Big League action in 1973, appearing in 69 games for KC.
He finished his 6-year MLB career with a .266 average based on his 225 hits in 846 at-bats, spread out over 411 games between 1968 and 1973.
On a personal note, Carl Taylor was the very first “old card” I ever got, finding him just laying there in the schoolyard in 1979, my mind blown by seeing a card design I had never seen before since I started collecting as a seven year old in 1976.
Sure, I’d seen some 1975’s at my cousin’s house, but I had never seen any card of any year that was older than that. So to see that nice, clean layout, unlike anything issued by Topps since 1975, was mind blowing. It was the first spark of any kind that started my life-long craze of hunting down “old cards”.
Soon after, I found an Antique Store on the other side of the neighborhood that was the mother-load, large bunches of commons rubber-banded together for 75 cents (70’s), and smaller bunches of commons for $1, of which I distinctly remember 1962’s.
On top of that, I will always remember the 9-pocket sheets hanging in his window with Mantle, Campanella, Maris, Jackie Robinson. 1959, 1956, 1958.
Sadly those cards were about $5-$10, and my mom was NOT shelling out that kind of coin for “stupid baseball cards”. Remember, this was 1979/1980.
Incredible memories some 40 years later!