On
the blog today, a “not so missing” card for two-year Major League
pitcher Steve Shea, who threw the last of his Major League innings
during the 1969 season as part of the inaugural Montreal Expos team:
Shea appeared in 10 games for the Expos, not factoring in a decision but
posting a nice 2.87 earned run average over 15.2 innings, all out of
the bullpen.
A season earlier he made his Big League debut, as a member of the
Houston Astros, appearing in 30 games and posting a record of 4-4 along
with an ERA of 3.38 over 34.2 innings of work.
He would go on to pitch in the Minors in both 1970 and 1971, but never
get a shot back to the Majors, retiring with a career 4-4 record over 40
appearances, with a 3.22 ERA and six saves in his two seasons under the
Big League sun.
Today
we have a 1977 “not so missing” card for former pitcher Craig Skok, who
made it back to the Major Leagues after spending the previous two years
toiling in the Minors:
Skok, who made his MLB debut in 1973 with the Boston Red Sox, was now
back on a Big League mound as a Texas Ranger in 1976, appearing in nine
games and posting a record of 0-1.
It wasn’t the most successful return, as he got hit hard, giving up 13 hits along with three walks in just five innings pitched.
He would not play any pro ball at all in 1977 before coming back to the
Majors in 1978, now with the Atlanta Braves where he’d finally get his
first win, going 3-2 with a 4.35 ERA over 43 appearances and 62 innings
of work.
In 1979 he’d be back with the Braves, going 1-3 with a 3.98 ERA in 44
appearances and 54.1 innings, but it would be the last time on a Big
League mound, spending all of 1980 in the Minors before retiring from
Pro Ball.
For his career he appeared in 107 games, all in relief, with a record of
4-7 and a 4.86 earned run average with five saves in 150 innings
pitched.
As
promised a few days ago when I profiled his 1978 “mystery” card, today
on the blog I give you my re-done alternate Dick Drago, showing him
suited up for the team he finished the 1977 season with, the Baltimore
Orioles:
Though I have always loved the original Topps release for Drago that year, I did come across this image of him as an Oriole.
Drago split the 1977 season with the California Angels and Baltimore
Orioles, posting a 6-4 record with a 3.41 earned run average over 49
games, all out of the ‘pen.
He’s put together a nice 13-year career between 1969 and 1981, finishing
up with a 108-117 record, along with a 3.62 ERA over 519 games, 189 of
them starts.
His best year was easily his 1971 season with the Kansas City Royals
when he went 17-11 with a 2.98 ERA and four shutouts over 34 starts and
241.1 innings pitched.
That effort even got him a fifth place finish in the American League Cy
Young race as he led the Royals staff to a second place finish in only
their third season in the league with a 85-76 record.
I like the idea of going back and seeing where Topps produced a player’s
card in the team he was ABOUT to start playing with, rather than who he
finished the previous year’s season with, and recreating a card to show
the latter instead of the former.
Already have a bunch lined up so keep an eye out for them over the next few months here on the blog!
On
the blog today, we have a “not so missing” 1979 card for former Oakland
A’s first baseman Jerry Tabb, who played the last of his Big League
games during the 1978 season:
Tabb appeared in 12 games for Oakland in 1978, hitting .111 with a
single hit over nine official at-bats, driving in a run, along with two
walks.
This was coming off a 1977 season that saw him play in 51 games, hitting
.222 with 32 hits in 144 at-bats, setting career-highs across the board
since it was by far the most action in any of his three seasons in the
Majors.
In 1976 he made his debut, but with the Chicago Cubs as a 24-year-old,
hitting .292 with seven hits in 24 at-bats, then getting purchased by
Oakland just before the season started on March 15th of 1977.
It seems he never played pro ball again after the 1978 season, as I can’t even find any Minor League action for him later on.
All told the Oklahoma native played in 74 career games, hitting .226
with 40 hits, 10 runs scored and 20 runs batted in along with six homers
and three doubles.
On
the blog today we have my 1970 “dedicated rookie” for all-star
designated hitter Hal McRae, who began his career as an infield prospect
with the Cincinnati Reds:
McRae didn’t actually play in any Major League games during the 1969
season, but he did make his Big League debut in 1968 with 17 games,
hitting .196 with 10 hits over 51 at-bats as a 22-year-old second
baseman.
He’d be back in the Majors in 1970, where he would stay for the next 18
seasons putting together an excellent career, becoming one of the first
true full-time designated hitters once he was traded to the Kansas City
Royals before the 1973 campaign.
All McRae would end up doing once in a Royals uniform is put in a
15-year run where he became one of the best hitters in the league, with
three All-Star nods, six .300+ batting average seasons, and MVP
consideration four times.
By the time he was done, he retired with a career .290 batting average,
with 2091 hits, 484 doubles and 1097 runs batted in over 2084 games and
7218 at-bats, making three All-Star teams and finishing top-5 in MVP
voting twice (1976 and 1982).
I
just realized the card I was going to profile was something I already
covered a few years ago, Dick Drago’s
1978 Topps card.
Since it’s been hot on my mind lately, I figure “why not?” and repost the entry today.
I never realized that Topps either used an old image for the '78 Drago card or did some incredible airbrushing.
I understand it can most probably be a photo from his first tour with the Bosox
between 1974 and 1975, and it does seem to fit with “Boston” across his
chest instead of ”Red Sox”.
However I stare at that cap and I’d swear it looks airbrushed to me. What do you all think?
Any of my Red Sox experts out there spot anything that can tell us for sure either way in this image?
I have always loved this card. Just one of those cards that looks perfect between image, layout and template that seem to mesh perfectly.
Drago split the 1977 season with the California Angels and Baltimore
Orioles, posting a 6-4 record with a 3.41 earned run average over 49
games, all out of the ‘pen.
He’s put together a nice 13-year career between 1969 and 1981, finishing
up with a 108-117 record, along with a 3.62 ERA over 519 games, 189 of
them starts.
His best year was easily his 1971 season with the Kansas City Royals
when he went 17-11 with a 2.98 ERA and four shutouts over 34 starts and
241.1 innings pitched.
That effort even got him a fifth place finish in the American League Cy
Young race as he led the Royals staff to a second place finish in only
their third season in the league with a 85-76 record.
In a few days I’ll have my 1978 “re-do” with Drago suited up as a
Baltimore Oriole, since he did finish the 1977 season with them.
Keep an eye out for it here or on my Twitter feed!
Today’s
blog post has a “not so missing” 1974 card for the first Dominican
catcher to play in the Major leagues, Freddie Velazquez, who played the
last of his MLB games in 1973 with the Atlanta Braves:
Velazquez, whose only other Big League season occurred in 1969 as a
member of those one-year wonder Seattle Pilots, appeared in 15 games for
Atlanta in 1973, hitting a robust .348 with eight hits over 23 at-bats.
In his MLB debut of 1969, he played in six games with the Pilots as a
31-year-old rookie, collecting two hits over 16 at-bats, good for a .125
average.
A career Minor Leaguer, Velazquez made his American Pro debut back in
1958 in D-Ball with Panama City as a 20-year-old, going on to play 14
years in the lower levels before making it to the Big Show.
Nevertheless, over his brief two-year MLB career, he finished with a .256 average with 10 hits in 39 at-bats over 21 games.
FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER...
@wthballs
Everything baseball: cards, events, history and more.
