Just
about to write up this post when I double-checked and saw that the
player featured today actually was on a multi-player rookie card in
1979, but I’ll post the card up anyway, a “dedicated rookie” for former
Baltimore Orioles pitcher John Flinn:
Flinn made his Major League debut during the 1978 season, eventually
appearing in 13 games while pitching to a record of 1-1 with a bloated
8.04 earned run average over 15.2 innings.
The following season he’d only appear in four games for the eventual
American League champs, not factoring in a decision while not allowing
an earned run in 2.2 innings.
1980 would see him suit up for the Milwaukee Brewers where he appeared
in 20 games, going 2-1 with an ERA of 3.89 along with two saves in 37
innings of work, but it wasn’t enough for him to stay up in the Big
Leagues, as he’d spend all of 1981 in the Minors before making it back
in 1982 with the A.L. Champs for what would end up being the last five
appearances of his career, this time back in Baltimore, when he went 2-0
with a very nice 1.32 ERA over 13.2 innings pitched.
After a couple of more years down in the Minors for the Baltimore
organization, Flinn retired after the 1985 season, leaving the game with
a record of 5-2, posting an ERA of 4.17 over 42 appearances and 69
innings pitched.
The
next no-hitter profiled here on the blog is the second gem tossed by
Chicago Cubs pitcher Ken Holtzman, who kept the heavy-hitting Cincinnati
Reds hitless on June 3rd of 1971:
Holtzman, who threw his first no-hitter in 1969, struck out six batters
while walking four in this one in beating the Reds 1-0, scoring that
lone run himself after reaching on an error in the third and coming
around on a single by second baseman Glenn Beckert.
Hard-luck losing pitcher Gary Nolan pitched eight innings, striking out
three and walking none, dropping to 3-6 while Holtzman improved his
record to 4-6.
That Cincinnati team was no slouch, featuring a line-up of Hal McRae,
Lee May, Johnny Bench, Tony Perez, George Foster and Dave Concepcion.
Pretty amazing feat, but once again proves that the game of baseball is
one incredible game when the unexpected seems to happen every day!
Today
I post up my “not so missing” 1977 card for former Minor League slugger
Roger Freed, who couldn’t take those power numbers to the Majors over
his eight-year Major League career:
Freed, who put up some big time stats in the Minors during his pro
career appeared in eight games with Montreal in 1976 after spending all
of 1975 and most of 1976 in the Minor Leagues.
Over those eight games he hit .200 with three hits over 15 at-bats, driving in a run.
In the Minors that year all he did was hit 42 home runs while driving in
102 runs, and this was only over 398 at-bats and 122 games!
All that did for him was get drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the
1976 Rule 5 Draft and get part-time play over the next three seasons,
which would be the final three years of his Big League career before
finishing up with one last season in the Minors in 1980.
Originally signed by the Baltimore Orioles, he put up some great years
in the Minor Leagues between 1966 and 1970, hitting as many as 31 homers
and driving in as many as 130 runs, while also hitting as high as .334,
all while in his early 20’s.
But after some brief action with the Orioles in 1970 he was shipped off
to Philadelphia, where his average hovered around .225 with hardly any
power, so back he was in the Minors in 1973 and 1974 before a
late-season call-up with the Cincinnati reds at the end of 1974.
By the time he retired he finished with 22 homers with 109 runs batted
in and 49 runs scored, along with a .245 batting average over 344 games
and 717 at-bats.
I
know it’s a bit of a stretch here, but I just had to create a
“nickname” card for the great Minnie Minoso, who famously made an
appearance during the decade as an active player in 1976:
Minoso, aka the “Cuban Comet”, is arguably a Hall of Famer, and I always
felt the stunts in 1976 and 1980 may have even hurt his chances of
getting into Cooperstown.
From 1951 to 1961 he had a wonderful Major League career, leading the
league in stolen bases three times, triples three times, and hits and
doubles once each, while also driving in over 100 runs four times and
topping 20 homers four times.
Eight times in that span he would top a .300 batting average, and in
1951 many consider him the true American League Rookie of the Year when
he his .326 split between the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox,
while topping the league in triples with 14 and stolen bases with 31.
Along the way he was named to seven All-Star games, winning three Gold
Gloves as well, funny enough finishing fourth in the A.L. MVP race four
times.
Of course, 12 years after his last playing days, in 1976, he ended up
going 1-for-8 at the plate as a 50 year-old, then coming back in 1980 at
the age of 54 and going hitless in two at-bats.
Nevertheless, Minoso finished his career with a .298 average, with 1963
hits over 6579 at-bats, along with 186 homers and 205 stolen bases while
also topping 1000 runs scored and RBIs, 1136 & 1023 respectively.
Time
to go and add Pirates legend “Pops” Willie Stargell, patriarch of the
“We Are Family” champions to the ever-expanding 1975 “in-Action” thread:
Stargell was one of the heavy hitters of this era as we all know,
helping the Pirates to two championships in the decade, co-sharing the
National League MVP Award in 1979 along with St. Louis Cardinals batting
champ Keith Hernandez.
The two-time home run champ drove in over 100 runs five times in his
career, with another four 90+ RBI years with six 30+ homer campaigns as
well.
Between 1971 and 1973 he finished second, third and second respectively
in the N.L. MVP race, while making the All-Star team seven-times.
Naturally, when Cooperstown came calling in 1988, he made it in on the first try, being named to 82.4% of the ballot.
I still can’t believe it’s been 17 years since he passed away just one month after his 61st birthday.
Rest in Peace “Pops”.
Today’s
blog post has a career-capping “not so missing” 1979 card for infielder
Gary Sutherland, who finished off a 14-year career in 1978 with 10
games as a St. Louis Cardinal:
Sutherland, who originally came up to the Big Leagues in 1966 as a
21-year-old with the Philadelphia Phillies, generally played second base
over his career, but was used all over the infield and even some
outfield.
In that last season of 1978 he played in 10 games, batting .167 with a
single hit over six at-bats, scoring a run, and would finish his career
with a batting average at .243 with 754 hits over 3104 at-bats, hitting
24 homers and driving in 239 runs in 1031 games.
His finest season would have to be 1974 when, as a Detroit Tiger, he hit
.254 with 157 hits and 60 runs scored, along with 20 doubles and 49
runs batted in during one of the few seasons he played a full year, in
this case 149 games and 652 plate appearances.
Here’s
a “career-capping” not-so-missing 1970 card for former reliever Jack
Baldschun, who played the last 12 games of his nine-year career in 1970
with the expansion San Diego Padres:
Baldschun posted a record of 1-0 over that action, closing out eight
games and throwing 13.1 innings with 12 strikeouts against only four
walks.
A career reliever, Baldschun appeared in 457 games over his Major League
career, all out of the bullpen, mainly for the Philadelphia Phillies
for whom he played between 1961 and 1965, averaging about 66 appearances
a seasons.
His finest season would be 1963 when he posted a record of 11-7 with a
very nice 2.30 earned run average, with 16 saves over 65 appearances.
The following season, a heart-breaker for the Phillies when they
collapsed at the end of the year and losing out on the National League
Pennant, he posted a career-high 21 saves.
Overall, he finished with a record of 48-41, with an ERA at 3.69 and 60 saves over 457 appearances and 704 innings pitched.
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