NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1978 KEN OBERKFELL

 

Up on the blog today we have a "not so missing" 1978 card for former third baseman Ken Oberkfell of the St. Louis Cardinals, who made his Big League debut with nine games the previous year:

Oberkfell hit .111 in his first taste of Major League pitching, collecting a single along with a run batted in over nine plate appearances.

The following season he would go on to appear in two-dozen games for the St. Louis, hitting a disappointing .120 with six hits in 50 at-bats, scoring seven runs while collecting his first extra-base-hit, a double.
Of course as you know, he would go on to play 16 seasons in the Big Leagues, the first eight with the Cardinals before moving on to the Atlanta Braves for five years, before playing out his career with four others between 1988 and 1992.
Oberkfell gave St. Louis a solid few seasons between 1979 and 1983, never hitting below .289 while admirably manning third base, including their 1982 championship season.
By the time he retired after the 1992 season, he finished with a .278 career average, with 1354 hits over 4874 at-bats and 1602 games, with 558 runs scored and 446 runs batted in.

 

MINOR LEAGUE DAYS- TOM SEAVER

The next star player profiled in my long-running 1971 "Minor League Days" sub-set is "Tom Terrific", Tom Seaver, who played his one and only season in the Minors for the Jacksonville Suns in 1966:

Seaver posted a record of 12-12 over 34 appearances for the Suns, completing 10 games and pitching four shutouts along with 188 strikeouts against only 66 walks.

Of course, the following season he would begin his Major League dominance, taking home the N.L. Rookie of the Year Award, only to be followed with three Cy Young Awards, 12 All-Star nods, and ultimately a Hall of Fame career rarely matched in Big League history.

The man would end up with a 311-205 record along with 61 shutouts and 3640 strikeouts to go with a brilliant 2.86 ERA over 20-seasons and 656 appearances, 647 of which were starts.

God I loved Tom Seaver when I was a kid. More than any other pitcher of that era I was in awe of this man. He just seemed like a "super-hero" to me.

Rest in Peace Sir...

 

ON CARD ALL-STARS: 1970 WILLIE McCOVEY

Next up in my new thread of 1970 "on-card" All-Stars is the National League starting first baseman for 1969, "Stretch" Willie McCovey, who was in the midst of his monster MVP season:

McCovey made his fifth All-Star team that year, on his way to taking home the league MVP Award after a season that saw him lead the league with 45 homers, 126 RBIs, a .453 OBP and a .656 slugging percentage, as well as a whopping 45 intentional base on balls.

The man put it ALL together that year!

McCovey came into the Majors with a bang in 1959, tearing the seams off the ball by hitting .354 with 13 homers and 38 runs batted in along with 32 runs scored in only 52 games, copping a Rookie of the Year Award and setting the tone for his 22-year career.

By the time he retired in 1980, he crushed 521 home runs, collected over 2000 hits, drove in over 1500, and left his mark as one of the most feared sluggers of his generation.

In 1986, his first year of eligibility, he was voted into the Hall of Fame with 81.4% of the ballots cast.

Man, what a threesome McCovey, Willie Mays and Orlando Cepeda made back in the 1960's for San Francisco, huh?

Just incredible.

JUST FOR THE FUN OF IT, ANOTHER 1977 RE-DO FOR RICK JONES

Up on the blog today, we have my SECOND re-do for former pitcher Rick Jones' 1977 card. The first was just an actual photo of him as a Seattle Mariner to "fix" the original as-issued Topps card which was an odd (to say the least) COMPLETE airbrush job, which was originally a black-and-white photo.This one reflects the team for whom he actually played in 1976, the Boston Red Sox:

Jones appeared in 24 games for the Red Sox in 1976, putting in a nice performance as he posted a 5-3 record along with a 3.36 earned run average, starting 14 of those appearances. Once onto Seattle however, he didn’t fair so well, going 1-4 with a 5.10 ERA over ten appearances, all starts and 42,1 innings of work.
The following year he’d make only three appearances for Seattle, starting two games and going 0-2 before spending 1979 and 1980 in the Pittsburgh Pirates minor league system, posting double-digit wins each year, yet leaving the game for good at the age of 25.Interesting to see his 1975 minor league season, as he posted a record of 20-7 with a 2.67 ERA and 177 strikeouts over 29 starts and 226 innings at the age of only 20. 

 

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1977 KERRY DINEEN

On the blog today, how about a "not so missing" 1977 card for former New York Yankee outfielder Kerry Dineen, who appeared in four games over the 1976 season for the American League champs:

Dineen, who made his MLB debut in 1975 with seven games as a Yankee and hit a scorching .364 in his limited play, came back for those few games in 1976 and hit a respectable .286 with two hits over seven at-bats, including a run batted in and a stolen base.

He would find himself traded to the Philadelphia Phillies just before the 1977 started for Sergio Ferrer and spend the whole year in the Minors, before making it back to the Big Leagues in 1978.

In what turned out to be his last taste of the Majors, he appeared in five games for the Phillies in 1978, hitting .250 with two hits over eight at-bats, spending the rest of the year tearing up Minor League pitching to the tune of a .345 batting average.

Sadly that didn't turn into another Major League shot, as he would play all of 1979 in the Minors, then retiring by year's end. All told, he finished his career with a very nice .324 career average, with 12 hits in 37 at-bats over 16 games between 1975 and 1978.

 

A 1976 CAREER-CAPPER FOR "MIRACLE MET" GARY GENTRY

Up on the blog today we have a 1976 "Career-Capper" for Gary Gentry, former 1969 "Miracle Mets" starter, who finished up his injury-plagued seven year Major League career with seven games for the Atlanta Braves in 1975:

Gentry went 1-1 over his brief final season, with an earned run average of 4.95 in 20 innings of work, with two of the appearances starts.

Still only 28 years of age, he would call it a professional career after the season, ended what was a seven-year career that began with great promise in 1969.

That season, making his Big League debut, he'd post a record of 13-12 over 35 starts, pitching to an ERA of 3.43 with three shutouts as the New York Mets shocked the baseball world by steamrolling to a World Championship, beating the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles.

He would have a decent four-year run with the Mets, winning 13, 9, 12 and seven games respectively between 1969 and 1972 before finding himself with Atlanta in 1973.

But once in Atlanta he couldn't get much playing time, appearing in a total of 26 games over the three seasons, winning a total of five games.

By the time he retired, he finished with a record of 46-49, with an ERA of 3.56 over 157 games and 902.2 innings pitched, with eight shutouts and two saves.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1975 BUTCH METZGER

Today on the blog we have a "not so missing" 1975 card for FUTURE National League Rookie of the Year Butch Metzger, who made his Big League debut during the 1974 season with the San Francisco Giants, appearing in 10 games:

Over those ten relief appearances, Metzger went 1-0 with an earned run average at 3.55, striking out five while walking 12 over 12.2 innings.

His 1975 season was more of the same, as he'd only appear in four games, now for the San Diego Padres, again posting a record of 1-0 with an ERA at 7.71 in 4.2 innings.

In 1976 he had quite a rookie season, appearing in 77 games and posting a very nice record of 11-4, with an ERA of 2.92 over 123.1 innings, all in relief.

He closed out a league-leading 62 games that year, picking up 16 saves while striking out 89 with 52 walks.

Those numbers got him a shared Rookie of the Year Award, which he split with the Cincinnati Reds Pat Zachry.

Sadly, that would end up being the high point of what turned out to be a short Big League career, as Metzger would falter a bit in 1977, even getting traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for John D'Acquisto and Pat Scanlon and going a combined 4-2 over 75 appearances with a 3.59 ERA in 115.1 innings, with only seven saves.

He would find himself a New York Met in 1978, appearing in 25 games while pitching to a 1-3 record with a 6.51 ERA over 37.1 innings, the last innings he'd pitch in the Majors, still only 26 years of age.

After a full season in the Atlanta Braves system in 1980, he would call it a career, ending up with a record of 18-9 with an ERA of 3.74 over 191 appearances and 293.1 innings pitched.