#432 - Chris Arnold

This guy had an interesting history in baseball a couple ways. First, regarding his baseball card history. Chris Arnold had a Topps card every year from ’72 to ’74 during which the prior seasons (’71-’73) he had a grand total of 151 MLB at bats. He was then shut out in ’75 and ’76 when for the similar time (’74-’75) he had 215 at bats. Topps revived him in ’77 after 69 at bats and then, to top it off, he had a Japanese card in ’79. Position-wise he was about as irregular as you get: by majority of innings he was a third baseman (’72); a catcher (’73); a second baseman (’74); an outfielder (’75); and a second baseman again (’76). Chris was a walking advertisement for versatility. In ’73 he would have his best moment up top, a grand slam that helped bring the Giants back from a 7-1 deficit to win a game against Pittsburgh. That day helped to contribute to a nice little year for him which included a .381 OBA and 13 RBI’s on only 54 at bats. Here he poses at Candlestick in a shot that almost perfectly mimics the one he’ll have on his ’77 card. At least that was one thing that didn’t change.

Chris Arnold grew up in southern California and played third base in high school. Upon graduating in ’65 he was drafted and signed by the Giants and began in Rookie ball that summer as a shortstop. That would remain his primary position the next few years in A ball. His error totals were awfully high but his average climbed steadily at that level through mid-’68 when he began doing his military turn as a submariner in the Navy. That caused him to miss all of ’69 and a significant chunk of ’70 as well. When he returned that summer, though, he got promoted to Double A and had a short tour in Triple A and also got moved back to third. In ’71 he got moved again – this time to second – put up some good defensive and excellent offensive numbers and got his first look up top. ’72 was all Giants but not too much playing time with Al Gallagher and Dave Kingman ahead of him. After a brief tour back in Triple A in ’73 he returned to San Francisco for a short but productive season.

In ’74 Tito Fuentes missed a bunch of time so Arnold picked up his most time in the field and at the plate with 174 at bats. He hit .241 with 26 RBI’s and the following season got most of his work up top in late innings. He also hit .339 back in Triple A and returned to San Francisco for all of ’76, where he hit .217 in 69 at bats. In ’77 he would spend his whole year back in Triple A where he hit .302 with 35 doubles and 90 RBI’s as an outfielder. While somebody would take interest in those stats and sign Chris, it wouldn’t be the Giants, and so his career in the States ended. He hit .237 with 51 RBI’s up top and .293 in the minors. Defensively he played every position in San Francisco but pitcher and center field, though he did pitch a bit in the minors.

In ’78 Arnold went to Japan, where he played for the Kintetsu Buffaloes. Joe Lis, Charlie Manuel, and Bobby Mitchell were the other US guys that played on his team. In ’78 he hit .274 with 15 homers and 72 RBI’s. In ’79 he had at least 15 homers as well and by the time he was done after the ’80 season he had 43 homers and a .274 average. He then returned to the States. I have read in various places that he is a sports agent based in Denver but that all seems cut and pasted from the same source. There has been a Chris Arnold actively representing players from the early Eighties to the mid-2000’s – the Dodger first baseman Mike Marshall and Angel outfielder Garret Anderson were clients – but I cannot tell if it’s the same guy.

Topps seems to have a tough time finding star bullets for Chris, so they get a little masochistic with that first one. The second one was a big deal because those happened in only 42 games. The cartoon is a stretch also.

This one is obviously all-NL:

1. Arnold and Garry Maddox ’72 to ’74 Giants;

2. Maddox and Gene Garber ’75 to ’78 Phillies.

#431 - Gene Garber

As far as I can tell, this is Gene Garber’s rookie card. Up until ’73 Gene had a sort of hit (minors) and miss (majors) career until a couple 14-win seasons prompted a trade prior to the season to KC. For the Royals he played a bit of a swing role, getting eight starts and putting up eleven saves to finish behind Doug Bird as the team’s second most effective reliever. But it would be a short relationship with the Royals and the AL. Midway through the ’74 season he would return to the NL and then begin his MLB career in earnest. Here he looks like he's toting some chaw in Oakland. A great action shot would be of him in mid-windup when he would be facing second base before delivering one of his off-speed pitches.

Gene Garber came out of farm country in Elizabethtown, PA, where he lettered in hoops twice and baseball all four years in high school at shortstop and pitcher. His senior year he tossed five one-hitters and struck out 27 in an 11-inning game. He was drafted that spring of '65 by Pittsburgh in a late round and after a couple token innings in Rookie ball finished out the year in A ball. He remained at that level as a starter the next two seasons when he started late each year since he was going to school. He put up a super 1.89 ERA the second season. In ’68 he kept the ERA low in a season split between Double (as a starter) and Triple A (in the pen) and then did the same in ’69, although that year he was in the rotation at both spots. He also finished his degree and made his debut up top that June. He began ’70 in Pittsburgh but after getting roughed up a bit returned to Triple A where things didn’t get much better and he returned to the pen. He also started his military hitch that year. Then in ’71 and ’72 he enjoyed his two 14 victory seasons at Triple A - nearly halving his ERA that second season - and made another stab up top which again didn’t go too swimmingly. After the season he was traded to the Royals for Jim Rooker.

Garber had another rough patch to open the ’74 season in Kansas City and in June he was sold to the Phillies where he began his stint there in Triple A throwing nearly shutout ball in three starts. Then when he returned upsatairs his NL experience would be extremely different, beginning with a 4-0 season with four saves and a 2.06 ERA the rest of the way. Back then the Phillies had a successful bullpen-by-committee thing going and Gene would be an integral part of that most of the rest of the decade. In ’75 he led the NL in games and games finished and his numbers steadily improved – especially his ERA – the next few seasons. He left behind a 33-28 record with a 2.68 ERA and 51 saves in just under five seasons when he was traded in June ’78 to Atlanta for Dick Ruthven when the Phillies needed another starter. For the Braves, Gene became the closer and posted 22 saves the rest of the way his first year. After a mixed year in ’79 – he matched his 25 save total from the year before but his ERA ballooned by two runs and he lost 16 games – he lost the closer role to Rick Camp a couple seasons though his numbers improved in each one. Then in ’82 he was back in and though he had to pitch through a hamstring injury posted maybe his best year: 8-10 with a 2.34 ERA with a team-record 30 saves as the Braves made it to the playoffs. In ’83 he suffered nerve damage in his pitching arm which led to a doubling of his ERA and a drop in his save totals. ‘84 and ’85 continued to be significant discounts to his ’82 season as his arm issues lingered – in ’85 he only had one save despite finishing 31 games – but in ’86 he would recapture the bullpen ace designation as he went 5-5 with 24 saves and a 2.54 ERA. In ’87 he began the year 8-10 with eleven saves but the Braves had two other aging relievers in the wings in Terry Forster and Bruce Sutter so Gene was sent back to KC at the end of August for Terry Bell and did a nice job down the stretch getting eight saves in his 13 outings. After another season in ’88 with the Royals he was done at age 40. Gene went 96-113 with a 3.34 ERA and 218 saves in his career. His post-season stats were a bit of a discount: 1-3 with a 5.79 ERA in seven games.

After playing Garber returned to his home base of Elizabethtown where he expanded his family’s farm to a pretty decent size. For a bunch of years he has been partnering with his sons in raising emus and is very active as an advocate for the medicinal properties of the oils harvested from the birds. He is also active in preserving farmland in his county.

Gene gets a star bullet for his ’72 season, in which he was his league’s pitcher of the year. He may be the first guy in the set whose tour of duty was indicated by Topps as being with the National Guard.

It’s September 11, which means it’s a pretty somber day here in the NYC area. Since music can be soothing, it feels like a good day to catch up on the news in that area. On September 7, 1973 Elton John kicks off his tour supporting his new “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” album at the Hollywood Bowl in which he is introduced by Linda Lovelace, the porn actress. On September 8, Marvin Gaye reacquaints himself with the top of the US charts when “Let’s Get It On” goes Number One.

To hook up a pitcher and an outfielder we need an infielder:

1. Garber and Ted Sizemore ’77 Phillies;

2. Sizemore and Matty Alou ’71 to ’73 Cardinals.

#430 - Matty Alou

This was always one of my favorite cards in the set. First off, Matty is sweating up a storm – it’s just dripping from his chin – so he must have just scored and is returning to the dugout. Second, while this is a non-Traded traded card the Topps guys left it alone and I think the pinstripes actually look pretty good with the gold (brown?) and yellow colors Topps opted for on Padres cards. Third, this is Matty’s last card and in fact represents the last time all three Alou brothers would have cards in the same set. And you gotta give Matty some props: if you discount his last few at bats with San Diego in ’74 he went down swinging, putting up a nearly .300 average his final full season. The pinstripes look good on him; a whole lot better than the horribly-airbrushed ones did on his ’73 card. Matty spent the year with NY split between the outfield and first before he and his brother Felipe were sort of unceremoniously dumped the same week in September, with Matty returning to St. Louis. So the over-the-shoulder glance is sort of an appropriate pose as he looks back at his Yankee season and his career, at least in the States.

Matty Alou was signed by the Giants out of the Dominican Republic in ’57 and had sort of a tough summer in D ball, hitting only .247. In ’58 he moved up to C ball and his average moved up as well, to .321. The next two seasons he did the double jump, to A ball in ’59 and Triple A in ’60, where both years he had double-digit homers, pretty good RBI totals, and hit .288 with a .366 OBA the first year and .306 with a .353 the second. After a few at bats for the Giants in ’60 he came up to start the next season and hit awfully well his first couple seasons but with Willie Mays, Harvey Kuenn, Felipe Alou, and either Orlando Cepeda or Willie McCovey ahead of him couldn’t crack the lineup. But he got a bunch of post-season time, first starting the winning-series rally against the Dodgers and then hitting .333 against the Yankees. Then in ’63 he banged up his knee pretty badly in spring training and barely played either up top or in Triple A, where he was assigned for about a month. Ironically that was the year when the three Alou’s all started a game for San Francisco, making history. He would suffer a broken hand in ’64 and though in that season and in ’65 he got an increasing number of at bats, his average wasn’t making anyone too happy, and after the latter season he was traded to Pittsburgh for Ozzie Virgil and Joe Gibbon.

Alou’s move to the Pirates was super successful. The manager back then, Harry “The Hat” Walker had been a batting champion when he played and could be a very effective teacher. His magic worked extremely well on Matty, up until then a strict pull hitter who tried to muscle his hits to right field. Harry had Matty use a heavier bat with no knob which he choked up pretty high. He also had him wait for the pitch a bit longer and really shortened his stroke so that Matty became a punch guy with most of his hits thereafter being to the left side of the field. Finally Matty had a habit – I do not know if this one came from Walker or not – of hitting off his front foot, which was really odd since he began his stance with that foot in the air, like Mel Ott. But it all worked as he immediately took over center field and his first season won the NL batting title with his .342 average. He then lost only a few points off that mark in ’68 when pretty much everyone else’s average fell hard. He was an All-Star that season and the next one when he led the NL in hits and doubles. ’70 would then be his only Pirate season of hitting below .300 and after the season Pittsburgh decided Al Oliver was deserving of a full-time spot and sent Matty and George Brunet to the Cards for Nelson Briles and Vic Davalillo.

Pretty poor timing for Alou, as Pittsburgh went on to win the Series in ’71. But Matty turned in some nice numbers for the Cards including the best power numbers of his career as he put in some time in the third spot instead of his normal leadoff position. In ’72 for St. Louis he played as much first base as outfield since his arm was beginning to wear down and the Cards too had some young guys that needed time in the field. Late that August he lucked out by being sent to Oakland for Bill Voss and he hit pretty well down the stretch and then about 100 points higher in the playoffs. Plus he got back the ring he missed out on in ’71. After the season he came to NY for Rob Gardner and Rich McKinney, two hot prospects that never really made it, and re-united with his brother. After his short bit with the Padres in ’74 his MLB career was done. Matty hit .307 with a .345 OBA – he wasn’t much of a walker – and 236 doubles among his 1,777 hits. He hit .232 in 21 post-season games and also stole 156 bases and ranks in the top 100 for assists from center field.

Alou didn’t waste too much time in furthering his baseball career, signing a contract to play in Japan before he was formally cut loose by San Diego. The team he played for was Taiheiyo and he replaced Frank Howard on the roster, joining Don Buford, another recent exile. Matty played through ’76 when his manager was, believe it or not, Leo Durocher. He finished over there with a .283 average in his three seasons and then returned to the DR where he did local scouting for a bunch of years, mostly for the Giants, but also – at least – for Detroit (from ’87 to ’89). He also did some work for his old winter ball team, Escogigo, for whom most of the top three record spots are held by him and/or one of his brothers. He passed away at home last November, after suffering a stroke brought about by diabetes. He was 72.

Matty has room for one star bullet and it covers his ’72 playoff hitting, which was awfully good. Neither he nor his brothers have the parenthetical name, though the surname by which they were known back home was Rojas, not Alou. He has a SABR bio, though the folks at baseball-reference don't recognize that.

I love to get some dirt involved in this exercise:

1. Alou and Willie McCovey ’60 to ’65 Giants;

2. McCovey and Al “Dirt” Gallagher ‘’70 to ’72 Giants;

3. Gallagher and Dick Lange ’73 Angels.

Al Gallagher – affectionately called Dirt because his uniform was always a mess – was a colorful third baseman in the early Seventies who closed things up with the Angels and really should have had a card in this set.

#429 - Dick Lange

Here is a true rookie card, another rarity of late. Dick Lange looks pretty swarthy in an unfamiliar setting, at least to me. Dick was yet another hot college prospect – we have  had a good run of those lately – who rose fairly quickly through the minors. He too threw some serious heat, although I guess everything was relative back then to teammate Nolan Ryan. He began ’73 at Triple A where he put up some nice starting numbers and then came up late in the season to get some work as a swing guy, with four starts among his 17 games. His ERA was a bit high, but not as high as it is on baseball-reference where they credit him with a couple less innings of work. Sometimes reassessments can be a bitch.

Dick Lange was a star in Midland County, Michigan in the big three sports, and his American Legion team was the state champ in ’67. That team also included Jim Kern and Terry Collins. Dick then went to Central Michigan University where he continued to pitch and was 20-4 for his career with a school-record 229 strikeouts. His junior year of ’70 he went 9-2 with 99 K’s – another record – and that spring he was drafted by California. Dick wasted no time in creating some buzz, going 13-0 with 151 strikeouts in 111 innings that summer in Rookie ball. After some pretty good numbers in eight starts at Double A in ’71 it was up to Triple A Salt Lake City where he would spend a pretty good chunk of time the next seven years. In ’71 he got a save in the only game he didn’t start at that level and in ’72 he added four more to his totals. He debuted that September in Anaheim and got a K an inning in his two games, one of which was a start. '74 was all MLB and though Dick put up his best ERA at that level of 3.80 he only went 3-8 in the rotation. In ’75 he was again a swing guy and went 4-6 with a save but his ERA climbed over a run and in ’76 he was back in Triple A where he went 12-7. At some point that year he apparently hurt his arm and in ’77 although he went 7-2 in nine starts his ERA was 5.37 and he didn’t finish out the year. That was his final season and he finished 9-15 with a 4.47 ERA. In the minors he was 58-36 with a 3.32 ERA.

Lange returned to the Midland area where for a number of years he had his own steel-related business and then was a house painter. In ’91 he was inducted into the Midland County hall of fame and thereafter into the Central Michigan one. Around 2008 he began coaching pitching at a place in Almont called The Strike Zone where he was interviewed and from which a bunch of the above information was gleaned. He also participates in baseball-related golf tournaments.

Dick’s star bullets refer to that excellent Rookie ball year in ’70. He also threw a no-hitter in college that year. He returned to Central Michigan to finish his education degree while in the minors. I do not know how long he taught thereafter.

Let’s try another infielder for the hook-up:

1. Lange and Denny Doyle ’74 Angels;

2. Doyle and Tony Taylor ’70 to ’71 Phillies;

3. Taylor and Gary Sutherland ’67 to ’68 Phillies.

Taylor really should have had a card in this set.

#428 - Gary Sutherland

Ah, the return of the Traded card. These things have been getting pretty scarce lately and this one is pretty interesting because its subject is yet another guy who by all rights shouldn’t have had a card in this set. Gary Sutherland only had a total of 62 MLB at bats the past two seasons when this card was printed and his inclusion in the trade here was sort of a throw-in. But give Topps props for its crystal ball gazing. Gary would go on to put up the next two seasons as the regular Detroit second baseman from pretty much out of nowhere; or in baseball’s version of nowhere as a 30 year old Triple A player. He did have a bang up year at that level in ’73, posting a .294 average with 36 doubles and 80 RBI’s while leading his league in fielding at second. Gary’s regular card shot shows him in an away uniform at what may be Shea. The Traded shot appears to be older, in a flannel away jersey that is probably Houston’s as well, possibly from ’72. That air-brush job isn’t too terrible. They should have put a Detroit skyscape in the background to add some authenticity.

Gary Sutherland was sort of a west coast version of Bobby Valentine while growing up. At nine he was a local figure skating champion and at Glendale High he would be a basketball and baseball star. After graduating in ’62 he went to USC where he continued to play those two sports. His sophomore year of ’64 he won his team’s defensive player of the year award in hoops and in baseball he was All-American. That summer he was busy as well, playing for the Goldpanners in Alaska – where he hit .365 – and playing in Tokyo in the Olympics where baseball was a demonstration sport (in their one game the US beat Japan). Later that year he was signed by the Phillies and halfway through his junior year would begin his career, putting up a .285 average in Double A and having a fine defensive year at second. The next year he moved up a level where he hit .254, this time while playing shortstop. Gary could put the ball in play and only had 67 strikeouts during his first two full seasons. 

In ’67 Sutherland came up to Philadelphia where he started off hot – he was hitting .400 in early May – and was initially platooned in left field with Johnny Briggs. Gary's average cooled off a bunch the rest of the way and he spent the balance of the season backing up Bobby Wine at short. In ’68 he did the back-up thing again, this time adding third and second to his position arsenal while raising his average a bunch. After the season he went to Montreal in the expansion draft. There he was reunited with manager Gene Mauch and DP partner Wine and in ’69 he teamed with Bobby to form an excellent defensive middle infield for the new team. The trouble was though that neither of them hit terribly well, though Gary did continue his low K totals. In ’70 Gary had a hand injury for much of the season, lost some starting time to Marv Stahle, and saw his average drop thirty points. In ’71 Montreal acquired Ron Hunt from the Giants and Gary got more starts at short than at second as Wine's career was winding down. He did raise his average 50 points, though, which should have helped keep him in the lineup. But in the off-season Montreal picked up Tim Foli from the Mets in a big trade and Gary was sent to the minors. In Triple A he hit .285 before being sold to Houston midway through the season. For the Astros he remained at that level and hit just shy of .300 the rest of the way. After a very similar ’73 he went to Detroit in this trade.

For the Tigers Sutherland immediately took over second base, getting 619 at bats in ’74, by far his most at the MLB level. He hit .254 and then .258 the next year. Both were unfortunately pretty nasty years for the franchise. In ’76 Gary kicked off the year hitting only .205 and was traded to the Brewers for Pedro Garcia, another low-average second baseman. For Milwaukee the rest of the way he would split starting time with Tim Johnson and not improve his average terribly much. After the season he was released and signed with San Diego as a free agent. For the Padres he spent the ’77 season backing up rookie Mike Champion at second, hit .243 and was again released. He hooked up with the Cards for whom he had a token few at bats in early ’78 before he was cut loose in May. He finished with a .243 average with only 219 strikeouts in over 3,100 at bats.

After baseball Sutherland returned to the coast where he gave real estate a shot for a couple years. By ’80 he was back in ball, though, where he would have a long career as a scout: for San Diego (’80-’81; he discovered Tony Gwynn); Cleveland (‘82-’89); the Dodgers (’90-’98); and the Angels (’99-2011). For that last team he would rise to director of scouting until he was swept out last November after the California GM was cut loose. I am unsure what he has been doing since.

Gary’s star bullets are a bit more qualified in nature than quantified. That last name must give him hand cramps at card shows.

As indicated above, Topps does a nice job with the prediction on Gary’s at least immediate future in Detroit. Lots of excessive language here: “Super Scout” makes it seem like that Tighe guy wore a cape and his quote that ends the narrative seems awfully escalated.

Let’s try another utility guy for the hook-up:

1. Sutherland and Ty Cline ’69 Expos;

2. Cline and Bobby Bolin ’67 to ’68 Giants.

Ty Cline was a mostly back-up outfielder and first baseman who swung a light bat for a bunch of teams in the Sixties and early Seventies. He had a nice little post-season run for the Reds in ’70.

#427 - Bobby Bolin

Bobby Bolin got released in spring training of ’74 on the same day as Luis Aparicio, so like Little Looie, this is his last card. The infield behind Bobby looks enormous and the shot appears to be taken about a year before his release, on a practice spring training field. Bobby certainly deserved a card in ’74 as his ’73 numbers – particularly his 15 saves – made him one of the AL’s better relievers. But new manager Darrell Johnson regarded the 34-year-old Bolin as too old, so he replaced him and his saves and his 2.72 ERA with Diego Segui, who in ’74 was 36, saved ten, and put up a 4.00 ERA. Oops. Bobby and another “aged” reliever – Bob Veale – actually put up 26 saves between them and formed a pretty good closer combo, finishing 53 games between them. Bobby seemed to roll pretty easily though, and it wasn’t long before he was back to his home base and onto his next thing.

Bobby Bolin threw some serious heat as a kid and high schooler but nobody outside the hamlet of Hickory, South Carolina, knew that until the school’s principal kept bugging one of the local rags to do a feature on him. He succeeded and the article got some bird dog scouts to take interest, one of them being from the Pirates, who signed Bobby with Branch Rickey in the room. That signing was later annulled by the commissioner because the Pirates broke all sorts of rules but later in ’56 Bobby signed with the Giants and this time it was left intact. He got things rolling the next spring and went 15-9 in D ball with a no-hitter and a 3.53 ERA but was a bit wild with more walks than strikeouts. He had an off year in C ball in ’58, going 10-8 with a 4.22 ERA but got the K to BB thing ironed out and then in ’59 tossed another no-no as he went 20-8 with a 2.84 ERA and 271 strikeouts in 225 innings in B ball. Those numbers got him into the A’s and in ’60 he went 12-8 with a 3.19 ERA and nearly a strikeout an inning split between Double and Triple A.

When Bolin came up to San Francisco in ’61 he was initially a reliever, a role at which he did a pretty nice job over the next couple seasons, averaging nearly a strikeout an inning, and adding 17 saves through ’63. His second year he got some post-season action, though he didn’t do terribly well. In ’63 he did spot duty and in ’64 his starts outnumbered his relief outings for the first time and though he threw pretty well, his record didn’t reflect it. In ’65 it was mostly pen work again but he got enough innings to get the seventh best ERA in the NL. ’66 was back to the rotation where again an excellent ERA was belied by his record. After a ’67 blow-up he came back strong in ’68 to post the NL’s second-best ERA at almost a run higher than winner Bob Gibson. After a sub-standard season in ’69 he was traded to the Pilots/Brewers for Steve Whitaker and Dick Simpson. While he won the first home game ever in Milwaukee for that franchise it was sort of a lost year there and in September he came to the Sox for outfielder Al Yates. For them he had a couple saves in his six outings and added six more and a winning record despite a high ERA in ’71. He spent a bunch of the ’72 season at Triple A Louisville – he went 6-1 with six saves and a 2.20 ERA at that level - and added five saves up top. After his fine ’73 he was released the following March. Along with the stats on the card he had 32 complete games, ten shutouts, and 50 saves. In the post-season he had a 6.75 ERA in nearly three innings.

Bolin returned to South Carolina, settling in a town called Six Mile where he worked his land for a bit and had his own business that may have been a purveyor of travel cards. He also sold a home in a nearby town that is now a wildlife refuge. In ’86 he returned to baseball as a pitching coach in the White Sox organization. I am not sure how long that tenure lasted but it was long enough for him to get props in developing Bobby Thigpen, the future record-setting reliever. He stayed local, adding a home supplies business to his portfolio, and in 2008 was inducted into his home state’s hall of fame.

Bobby gets room for one star bullet. That game was against the Dodgers. I find it pretty wiggy that on baseball-reference the pitcher with whom he has the greatest similarity is Kerry Wood.

This guy came up in a post a while back:

1. Bolin and Jose Pagan ’61 to ’65 Giants;

2. Pagan and Rennie Stennett ’71 to ’72 Pirates.

#426 - Rennie Stennett

\When this photo was taken in ’73 it was pretty unknown where Rennie Stennett was going to play. While his card says second base, he had until then pretty much split time between there and the outfield. Then in the wake of Roberto Clemente’s passing following the ’72 season, there was a shot of him returning to the outfield, but instead he spent most of the early part of the season at shortstop after Gene Alley got hurt. Then Dave Cash had to do his military reserve hitch so it was back to second. All this movement helped plague Rennie’s batting average which in mid-season was in the .225 area after he’d averaged .305 up top until then. His average revived a bit but it would still be the lowest of his career for a long while. But the turmoil of ’73 would be erased when Cash got traded to the Phillies and Rennie got the second base gig uncontested in ’74. For the next few seasons he wasn’t going anywhere.

Rennie Stennett was born in Colon, Panama, and then grew up in the Canal Zone where he was a volleyball, basketball, and pitching star at Paraiso High School. After he graduated he played a year in Panama in semi-pro ball where he went 12-4 and hit .400. That second stat impressed visiting scouts more so when he was signed by the Pirates in ’69 and came north for A ball, he began his career as an outfielder. He returned to Single A in ’70, upped his average nearly 40 points, and got two hits in his only Triple A game. In ’71 Rennie stuck in Triple A where he now concentrated on second since the Pirates had a plethora of promising outfielders in the minors and were over-stocked there up top. He responded by hitting the crap out of the ball and by that summer was up in Pittsburgh for good.

Stennett got into games pretty quickly because Bill Mazeroski was hurt and aging fast and Dave Cash was doing his military time. Rennie certainly didn’t disappoint as he hit .353 and was batting leadoff by the time the season was out. But Cash was back by playoff time so Danny Murtaugh had to leave Rennie off the post-season roster. In ’72 he returned, doing time at second and in all three outfield positions, hitting .286 and this time getting playoff play where he hit for the same average. After the Cash trade second was all Rennie’s and he responded awfully well. In ’74 he banged out 196 hits to hit .291. The only real knocks on him at that point was that he never walked – true enough since he was a free swinger – and could be a bit sloppy around the bag, especially when compared to Cash. But Rennie had more range than Dave and that year went 410 straight chances without an error. In ’75 he hit .286, put up his highest RBI total of 62, and made headlines by going seven-for-seven in a game. In ’76 the average came in a bunch but he topped out with nine triples and stole 18 bases, a significant uptick to any total he’d had until then. In ’77 he exploded, stealing 28 bases and putting up a .336 average and a .376 OBA when he went down with a horribly broken ankle in August. That killed his season and probably did significant damage to the rest of his career. He came back in ’78 before the ankle was ready and hit only .243 as he spent time on the DL. In ’79 he fell to .238 as his at bats dropped a tad and Phil Garner took over second mid-way through the season. Rennie only got token time during the post-season run that year but did get a hit against Baltimore in his only at bat. After the season he left as a free agent.

San Francisco signed Stennett for the ’80 season to a then pretty fat contract with a guaranteed bonus. They were hoping he could regenerate some of that ’77 magic but unfortunately for him and them the best he could do was ‘78’s. After hitting .244 with decreased mobility in the field in ’80, manager Frank Robinson wasn’t too happy so in ’81 Rennie got replaced by new acquisition Joe Morgan. During spring training of ’82 the Giants bought out his contract for about a million and Rennie became a poster child for over-spending on undeserving free agents. He spent the rest of the year playing in Mexico for Reynosa and then returned to the States in ’83 where he hit .309 in a pretty decent comeback attempt with Montreal’s Triple A franchise. While he expected a promotion based on that bit of work it didn’t come and that was his last stop for a while in pro ball. He finished with a .274 average with 41 homers and 432 RBI’s. He hit .212 in 14 post-season games and .318 in the minors.

Once his ’83 season petered out Stennett settled in Florida where he briefly had a carpet-cleaning business with some partners. He then joined Davimos Sports Management, a firm founded by former teammate Manny Sanguillen to represent Latin American players in the US. Rennie also played some local ball and in ’89 attempted a comeback with Pittsburgh, nearly making it through spring training. He did put up a pretty good average in the Senior League that year. Since then he has remained a local presence in FLA and still seems to be affiliated with Sanguillen. He is also listed as a partner in a demolition firm down there.

Topps messes up the star bullets a bit with Rennie. In ’71 he only played second so that must have been a hell of a jump to stop that homer in the first bullet. Both of those first two bullets actually happened in ’72. That playoff play was pretty impressive. Playing left, Rennie caught a Cesar Geronimo fly at the line and winged the ball home to nail Bench. The Pirates were down 2-0 when the play happened in the fourth and they won 3-2.

On September 1, 1973 Paul McCartney, his wife Linda, and guitarist Denny Laine would begin recording the album “Band On The Run” in Lagos, Nigeria. I guess that’s where the photos on the posters in the album were shot.

You gotta love those well-traveled reserve guys:

1. Stennett and Ed Kirkpatrick ’74 to ’76 Pirates;

2. Kirkpatrick and Kurt Bevacqua ’73 Royals;

3. Bevacqua and Pete Broberg ’75 to ’76 Brewers.