Joe Strain and His Mystery Hat

AND his celebrity doppelganger

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1979 Topps Giants Prospects (#726) - Card of the Day

At first glance, you might think there’s something fishy about the 1979 Topps Giants Prospects card.

Or is it a Phillies Prospect Card?

That’s usually the first place my mind goes when I’m thumbing through some 1979s and come across this card. Greg Johnston and Joe Strain are wearing Phillies caps, right?

But then I realized John Tamargo is sporting the iconic “SF” and have to rethink/remember — or just shrug and move on.

Today is Joe Strain’s 70th birthday, though, an important enough occasion that we should dig in a bit and find out what’s going on here.

As it turns out, the answer is simple enough — probably.

See, Strain and Johnston both played for the Phoenix Giants in 1978, which could explain the “P” on their caps. The wrinkle is that the style doesn’t match what you find on minor league cards of the day, like Strain’s 1978 Cramer issue (#24):

The jersey neck looks like a match, though, so I’ll go with “alternate cap” unless I hear a better explanation.

Anyway, Strain hit .305 for Phoenix in 1978, the third time in three seasons since he signed as an amateur free agent that he topped .300. He stole 30+ bases each summer from 1976 through 1978, too, climbing from Rookie ball to Phoenix in successive seasons.

Strain started 1979 back at Phoenix but got the call to San Francisco near midseason despite seeing his batting average “slide” to .297.

Manager Joe Altobelli started Strain at second in a June 28 game at home against the Astros. Even though the rookie went 0-for-3, he made 66 more appearances (including 64 starts) through the end of the season. He ended the campaign batting .241 for the 71-91 Giants.

That was enough to get him back to the Bay in 1980, where he hit .286 in more limited playing time under new manager Dave Bristol.

In December, though, the Giants sent Strain and Phil Nastu to the Cubs for Jesus Figueroa, Jerry Martin, and a player to be named later, who eventually became Mike Turgeon.

Strain made it into 25 games for the Cubs before The Strike tore the season in two, and he also logged 11 games at Triple-A Iowa that summer. But he hit just .189 in the majors and .222 in the minors, punching his ticket to the farm in 1982.

After a full season at Triple A for the Cubs in 1982 and another at the same level for the Rangers in 1983, Strain was done as a player.

He then embarked on a long career as a coach, manager, and teacher, spanning various levels of the professional game, college, and high school.

And one last thing about Joe Strain — have you ever wondered where the inspiration for certain fictional characters comes from?

I’m not saying…I’m just saying.

A Barry Sighting?

One of Strain’s teammates with the 1981 Cubs was another guy who would never play in the majors again after that season.

Of course, 35-year-old Bobby Bonds was a bit more accomplished than Strain at that point, which actually makes his exit from the game seem even more premature. He did try one more time, appearing in 28 games for the 1982 Columbus Clippers, the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees.

By then, Topps had issued this beaming card, which turned out to be a career-capper. You think Bobby is smiling at teenage son Barry Bonds?

Dunno, but seems like a possibility, given the stories we’ve heard about young Bonds hanging out with his dad (and godfather Willie Mays) at big league ballparks.

At any rate, this is a fun card to look about and ponder, and I did that a while back right here.

—

Bet your Tuesday plans didn’t include the possibility of Barry Bonds rubbing elbows with Data, huh?

See?

This hobby really can take you places you never dreamed of. That’s the power of cardboard and nostalgia and tenuous connections made by an addled mind clogged with old bubble gum.

You’re welcome.

Thanks for reading.

—Adam