#8 - George Theodore (NYM)

This would be George Theodore's only Topps baseball card of his career.  He played two seasons with the Mets, 1973 and 1974.  He saw limited action with 45 games in '73 and 60 games in '74.  He hit only two homers, one in each year.  His '75 homer came in 76 at bats, a solo shot for his only RBI of the year.  Only 12 of his 26 games were in the outfield, and he made 2 errors in 7 total chances.

An interesting positioning of Theodore in Topps numbering system places him at card #8, just after #7 Catfish Hunter.  These two cards came after all the front-loaded Hank Aaron stuff.  The A's played the Mets in the World Series in 1973.  Theodore played in two of the games, games 2 and 4.  In game 2, he pinch hit for Mets pitcher Ray Sadecki and grounded out to short.  Not much help in the Mets 10-7 win.  In game 4, he was a late 8th inning defensive replacement for outfielder Cleon Jones, then popped out to end their half of that inning in another Mets win.  Back out in the field in the 9th, the A's hit two singles to left field (there's no record of Theodore fielding the ball, and he was not credited with a fielding chance), so that half inning secured a Mets victory, and his major league career was essentially over.  Catfish Hunter pitched in games 3 and 6, so the two never faced each other.

Nickname: Stork

Typo: George is shown here with a birthdate of 11-13-47, but all other records indicate he was actually born in '46.

Cartoon: George likes marshmallow milkshakes?  I wouldn't know.  But he sure makes a slurping noise.

Background ballpark:  Shea Stadium, during batting practice