Drawing a Blank(s) on Larvell's Hobbies?
A cardboard crystal ball just might help
1980 Topps Larvell Blanks (#656) - Card of the Day
It’s always interesting to find out how players spend time in the offseason, or what sorts of jobs or hobbies they get involved with once they hang up their spikes.
Moe Berg is a yardstick for this sort of thing, but players don’t have to turn to espionage to have compelling extra-baseball stories.
Andre Dawson stepped in to run a funeral home after he made it to the Hall of Fame, for example.
Multiple Hall of Famers sold cars in the offseason back before Curt Flood challenged the reserve clause (and probably after).
Randy Johnson — yes the Big Unit! — is now a renowned photographer.
Raul Mondesi went into politics and…well…seems politics got into him, too.
Sometimes, a player’s baseball cards, or at least one of his cards, can give us insight into his off-field habits. Who could forget that Don Rose enjoys stereo music, for example?
And sometimes, a player’s baseball card seems to be hinting at future endeavors, at least in hindsight. Like a cardboard crystal ball.
For instance, take a look at the 1980 Topps Larvell Blanks card above. Does that remind you of anything?
I’ll give you some time to ponder that one. Meanwhile, you might be interested to know that that card is actually Blanks’ last, even though it’s not a career-capper. That’s because Blanks played his last game on August 3, 1980, and was released on August 8 — plenty of time for the card companies to decide to not include him in their 1981 sets.
But it wasn’t the Rangers who released Blanks, despite what you see on the front and back of his final card.
See, Blanks was the Braves’ third-round pick in the 1969 draft, and he spent the first seven seasons of his professional career with Atlanta. That run included spending part of each summer from 1972 through 1975 with the big club, culminating in his first extended look.
Blanks spent that 1975 season as the Braves’ primary shortstop, appearing in 141 games in total. He finished his official rookie season with a batting line of .234, 3 home runs, 38 RBI, 49 runs scored, and 4 stolen bases. He also struck out more than he walked and managed just 19 extra-base hits.
The defense wasn’t top-drawer, either. In modern parlance, it all translated to an OPS+ of 61 and -1.4 WAR.
But Atlanta was able to parlay Blanks’ extended playing time into a new look for the team.
Specifically, that December, the Braves traded Blanks and Ralph Garr to the White Sox for Ken Henderson, Dan Osborn, and Dick Ruthven. The Sox then flipped Blanks to the Indians for Jack Brohamer that same day.
Blanks took on a utility role in Cleveland, splitting time the next three summers between shortstop, second base, and third base. He raised his batting profile in that time, hitting .276 with the Indians (though it fell throughout the three seasons) and upped his slugging percentage close to .400 each of the first two years with the Tribe.
In October of 1978, Cleveland traded Blanks and Jim Kern to the Rangers for Len Barker and Bobby Bonds. Texas manager Pat Corrales used Blanks more sparingly, but the utility man did make 68 appearances in 1979, mostly at shortstop and third base. The returns weren’t so great: .200, 1 HR, 15 RBI.
That’s where we catch up with Blanks on his 1980 card, doing…what?
Still thinking?
OK, let’s finish up the story with a December 1979 trade that sent Blanks and Doyle Alexander to the Braves for Adrian Devine and Pepe Frias. Blanks was back where he started!
Sometimes going “home” isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, though, and the return engagement in Atlanta didn’t go so well for Blanks. After watching him hit .204 with two homers and 12 RBI in 88 games, the Braves released him.
And that was the end of the road for Blanks in the majors. But there was still plenty of life ahead, including that “prediction” from his 1980 Topps card. Any bells ringing yet? No?
Here, let me show it to you one more time:
Now that you’ve seen it again, does anything come to mind? Still no?
Alright, I’ll spill the beans.
Blanks has become an ace golfer in recent years, competing on the Golf Channel Amateur tour and showing up on leaderboards as recently as August 2024. Dude’s a lifelong athlete.
But of course you already knew that if you were paying attention to his 1980 Topps baseball card, right? And if you were paying attention to the back of that card (or any of his cards), you might also have realized that today is special.
Because today, Larvell Blanks turns 75 years old.
Now, in honor of Blanks’ birthday, I have a question…
An In-Between Rookie Card
Bill White also has a birthday today, turning 91 years old! For the first half of the 1960s, White was one of the best players in the game, a multiple-time Gold Glove winner and All-Star who won a World Series with the Cardinals in 1964. But he didn’t begin his career in St. Louis, and his rookie card doesn’t even quite reflect his rookie origins, either. Read all about it right here.
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