Today’s Lineup…
🦶 Card of the Day - Toeing the Line
👴 A senior milestone
🥊 Who you got?
1975 Topps Mario Mendoza (#457) - Card of the Day
Mario Mendoza has rightly come to represent that prototypical good-glove, no-bat middle infielder who proliferated across the major leagues in the 1970s and 1980s.
After all, Mendoza made 1456 plate appearances in 686 games with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Seattle Mariners, and Texas Rangers from 1974 through 1982 and managed a meager .215 batting average.
Mendoza’s yearly batting marks read .221, .180, .185, .198, .218, .198, .245, .231, .118.
It’s his yearly dalliance with the .200 mark that led to that particular batting average — .200, that is — being dubbed The Mendoza Line across baseball.
And, while the rise of the swing-and-miss-but-take-a-walk slugger has made batting average less important to many observers overall, there’s no doubt that veteran fans still think of Mendoza when, say, Kyle Schwarber draws accolades for his power and patience while falling below .200.
But Mendoza showed neither power (4 career home runs) nor patience (52 walks, .245 OBP). He did pitch two innings for the 1977 Pirates, though, giving up a homer and 3 earned runs, good for a 13.50 ERA.
The anti-Ohtani turns 73 today — and he has a pretty nifty 1975 Topps rookie card to help him celebrate.
Setting Sun (Sox)
In 1989, the Fort Myers Sun Sox became one of eight founding franchises in the new Senior Professional Baseball Association (SPBA), where many recent but aging stars congregated to continue playing.
Among the big names who took the field in the SPBA were Ron Washington, Mickey Rivers, Milt Wilcox, Jon Matlack, George Foster, and many others. It was a blast to read about these guys in box scores again and especially to catch an occasional glimpse of them on TV.
But in December of 1990, the Sun Sox ceased operations in the middle of their second season amid ownership squabbles. It was the first leg of the league to collapse, and the entire SBPA folded on December 26, 1990.
At least the circuit lasted long enough to leave collectors with the 1990 Pacific SPBA set, a 220-card run that featured gems like the Dan Driessen card above (#105). Driessen also appeared on card #102.
There were a few other sets featuring senior league players, too, like the 1990 Topps SPBA issue that harkened back to the iconic 1987 Topps base set. George Foster illustrates that one deftly on card #1:
Have a Super Boxing Day
Yes, I know that Boxing Day is not about pugilism, but it can be if you pick your gifts wisely. As a kid of the '70s and '80s, I have plenty of memories involving boxing, from watching the Leonard-Hagler battles with my dad to playing Bambino Knock-Em Out Boxing ‘til all hours of the morning.
But maybe the most iconic image of the ring from those years — for me, at least — is that time two superheroes squared off…
You can still find this monster-size comic book on eBay and through other outlets, but it will usually cost you a *bit* more than the original cover price if you want to own it. Always fun to leaf through the available pics looking for cameos, though.
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Hope you had a great Christmas. May your milk-and-cookie hangover help you carry glad tidings and sugar-plum dreams into the new year.
—Adam
Im guessing its darn near impossible to put a set together of that Senior Baseball League...