Who is the man: John Strohmayer was embarking on his second season in the major leagues upon the arrival of this card. His rookie year was 1970.
Can ya dig it: Rookie card!
Right on: This underlines the idea that smiling in photos makes you look younger. Maybe Strohmayer is trying to look determined, but he looks a whole lot older than someone who was no more than 24 when this picture was taken.
You see this cat Strohmayer is a bad mother: Strohmayer was a member of the 1973 National League champion Mets. Picked up on waivers in July, he appeared in seven games for New York, But he didn't make the postseason roster.
Shut your mouth: After his major league career, Strohmayer went into teaching and worked his way all the way up to superintendent. In 2009, as superintendent of the Gateway School District in Redding, Calif., he was one of 15 employees to share a $76 million lottery jackpot. No surprise, Strohmayer retired that same year.
No one understands him but his woman: Strohmayer pitched in Puerto Rico during the MLB offseason. He remarked in the book "Baseball Without Borders" how amazed he was that baseball games were not canceled after heavy rains. Instead, after the rain had stopped, fans came out of the stands and joined with team members to get the field in playable shape.
(A word about the back): Strohmayer didn't start a single game for the Expos in 1970. The write-up must be referring to his minor league career.
Strohmayer was drafted by the Expos from the A's in the 1969 Rule 5 draft. You have to wonder what might've been for him had he stayed with the A's during the World Championship runs of the early 70s.
ReplyDelete"Instead, after the rain had stopped, fans came out of the stands and joined with team members to get the field in playable shape." The only thing close to this that I can think of is an incident at PNC Park around 2014, in which a grounds crew member got swallowed by the tarp during a wind storm. Several players ran out on to the field to rescue him. In Jerry Reuss' book, he recounts an incident where he and another Dodger player dressed as crew members and raked the infield between innings. They got in trouble for this. I am not sure why. It must be a union thing.
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