Who? I remember this card from my youth, but never really thought much of it. I simply don't have a place in my memory for Floyd. Bobby finished his career just one homer shy of Duane Kuiper. This was his last card, as he played his last game in June of '74. Notice his three different names. His full name is Robert, his card goes by Bobby, but he signs Bob. There is a discrepancy between the stats on this card and Baseball Reference. His '73 season shows him going 25 for 78 with a .321 average. BR gives him an additional hit, 26, for a .333 clip. Who has the typo? Was there even a typo? Could a scoring decision have been reversed after his career was over, giving him an additional hit? Bobby was traded from the Orioles in mid-June in the 1970 campaign, depriving him of a World Series ring. He didn't play much at all for the O's that year, having only 2 at bats. He picked it up in KC at the old Municipal Stadium, hitting .326 in a limited role the rest of the way.
This is the first card in this set of a second baseman. Forty-one cards in. And it's not a full 2B card, as Bobby is a utility player who splits time at another IF position. I have a dummy post that I placed earlier in the set to act as a temporary place holder for labels that haven't been used yet. So right after I post this, I need to go in and wipe it out from that dummy post. If you click on the Dodgers team label or the DH position label in the lower right margin, this dummy post will show up. I think I'm correct that there is still one team yet to appear, the Dodgers. I know there hasn't been a DH position yet in this set, so after those are done, my dummy post will have served its usefulness.
Cartoon: Evidently, Bobby never used his hobby against opposing pitchers. Otherwise he might have broken Hank Aaron's record.
Ballpark background: Oakland Coliseum. Where else? It leads the ballpark backgrounds so far in this set, according to my label list that is keeping count. Which park will win it all in '74?
I wish that some scoring decisions in my life could be released after the fact...
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this...Bobby was my uncle 'by marriage' in the mid-70s. I didn't have very much interaction with him, and subsequently lost all contact with that side of the family a few years later, but I can honestly say that Bobby initiated the baseball spark in my young mind that has expanded into the extreme passion and love of the game I have today, nearly 40 years later.
ReplyDeleteStevo,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad he had such the influence on you. It's good to hear from a relative of one of my ballcard players!