Bill Stein, the 1977 Hostess Seattle Mariners Guy
Day 9 of the 2025 Spring Training Challenge -- A Card of an Expansion Team
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1977 Hostess Bill Stein (#136) - Card of the Day
In many ways, Bill Stein was the perfect sort of guy to become a star for an expansion team in Major League Baseball — as much as any player becomes a star for an expansion team, that is.
By its very cobbled-together nature, a new team is unlikely to have much success right off the bat, and its players are unlikely to make huge impacts. But someone has to play everyday, and those guys imprint their names on team history.
So it was for the Seattle Mariners.
When the Mariners took the field for the first time in 1977, they brought major league ball back to Seattle after a seven-year hiatus that came following a single season of the 1969 expansion Seattle Pilots. In case you don’t remember, Bud Selig bought that team and turned them into the Milwaukee Brewers.
In between, Seattle was granted an American League West franchise and set about building the team, where they ran into Mr. Bill Stein.
Stein had been drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 33rd round in 1968, then in the fourth round by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1969. He spent the next three seasons in the minors before appearing in 14 games for the Cards in 1972. After another 32 big league contests in 1973, the Cardinals traded Stein to the California Angels in September for Jarry DaVanon. Before he could ever suit up for the Halos, though, Stein was on the move again, to the Chicago White Sox, who sent Steve Blateric to the Angels (later on).
Stein spent a couple of seasons trying to find his way with the ChiSox, appearing in 13 and 76 games before settling in to more regular work — 117 games — split between second and third base in 1976. In that “breakout” season, Stein hit .268 with four home runs and 36 RBI.
That was enough for the Mariners to make him the 5th overall pick in the expansion draft that November, and he was off to Seattle.
With such a lofty draft slot, expectations were that Stein would become one of the Mariners’ first regulars, and he didn’t disappoint on that front. Starting 146 games at third and seeing action in 151 contests overall, Stein established career highs with 13 homers and 67 ribbies to go along with his .259 average.
With a few Major League seasons under his belt, Stein had already seen his rookie card come and go, a 1976 Topps card that showed him in his White Sox uniform. Becoming a bona fide starter opened up a few new avenues for Stein’s cardboard aspirations in 1977, though, and he took advantage with his first Topps Mariners card…and a 1977 Hostess card.
Of course, Topps didn’t have real photos of these expansion team guys in their real expansion team uniforms, so it was off to the airbrush lab to make due. And, since Topps were the folks behind the Hostess cards, too, there was more airbrushing there.
And so we’re left with a 1977 Hostess card of Bill Stein in his White Sox jumpsuit/overalls that makes it look like he walked right off the factory floor, slapped on a gaudy painted Mariners batting helmet, and headed to the ballpark.
High art?
Nope, but a great representative piece of the times, and of the year, and more than worthy as our entry here on Day 9 of our 2025 Spring Training Baseball Card Challenge.
I mean, what else could you want from a baseball card of an expansion team in their expansion year?
Check out the entire series of 2025 Spring Training Challenge posts here.
Your Turn!
What’s your “expansion team” baseball card? Show and/or tell in the comments (or somewhere else) to let our little corner of the world know about it!
More Mariners Trivia
The Mariners may not be the most tradition-rich franchise in the game, but they’re coming up fast on 50 years of existence…wow! That means there are plenty of highlights — and lowlights — to look back on if you’re in the mood.
One good way to stoke those M’s fires is with Ray Walker’s trivia book on the team — The Ultimate Seattle Mariners Trivia Book (affiliate link). It’s one of a series of team-focused trivia books, with one available for most, if not all, MLB franchises.
Not great literature, but a fun read, especially here in Spring Training and especially if you need/want to brush up on your Mariners trivia. Plus, you can read it for “free” if you’re a Kindle Unlimited Subscriber.
(affiliate link)
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How about Mariners 1977 card for Grant Jackson who never pitched for Seattle and was traded to Pirates where he won a World Series in 1979.
When I lived in the northwest for school, I ended up adopting the Mariners as my AL team. I discovered that the first stab at a franchise didn't work out. The Seattle Pilots moved to Milwaukee to replace the departed Braves. So I selected this 1969 Topps Pilots card of Wayne Comer because I liked his sneer. https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/cY0AAOSwZilmf3GL/s-l1200.jpg
He learned that he died a couple of years ago, but I found out this on his Wiki page: In 1969, Comer's only full season in the majors, he led the Seattle Pilots in runs scored, led the American League in double plays turned as an outfielder, and ranked second in the American League in assists from the outfield. He was also a member of the 1968 Detroit Tigers and compiled a perfect 1.000 postseason batting average with a pinch-hit single off Joe Hoerner in his only at bat in Game 3 of the 1968 World Series.