Who is the man: Bob Johnson pitched as a rookie during the 1970 season for the Kansas City Royals, striking out 206 in 214 innings. He impressing the Pirates enough that they traded for him in December of 1970.
Can ya dig it: Pretty sure Johnson is wearing a Royals uniform in this photo. In fact, it's probably from the same session as the photo on this card. This particular picture is cropped so tightly that he can barely squeeze in his signature.
Right on: I'm sure if I was a kid collecting in 1971, this card would have freaked me right out. Me and my friends would have been trying to pass it off on each other.
You see that cat Johnson is a bad mother: Johnson's ability allowed the Royals to acquire outfielder Amos Otis (in a deal with the Mets that set Johnson and Otis to the Royals for Joe Foy) and shortstop Freddie Patek (in the deal with the Pirates).
Shut your mouth: Johnson suffered from a drinking problem during his career. It led to him being waived by the Indians in 1974 after he had several incidents during team flights in which he hassled airline personnel.
No one understands him but his woman: Johnson was a last-minute replacement for Nelson Briles as a starter in Game 3 of the 1971 NLCS. After Briles bowed out with an injured groin, Johnson, who had struggled all year, threw eight innings and allowed one run. He got the win over Juan Marichal as the Pirates won 2-1.
(A word about the back): Here we go again: "An outstanding rookie campaign was 1970 for Bob ..." Someone find a copy editor.
This card is creepy, but the card passed around my group of friends as the proverbial 'throw in' during trading sessions was Chuck Taylor's 1972 Cardinals card. That was the card that creeped all of us out. Bruce Ellingsen's 1975 Indians card was the close 2nd.
ReplyDelete'75 Bruce Ellingsen was one of those cards for me, too.
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