Who is the man: Danny Thompson had just completed his first season in the major leagues when this card arrived. He proved necessary to the Twins after starting second baseman Rod Carew went down for just about the rest of the season after tearing knee ligaments on a play at second base while being upended by a rolling slide from the Brewers' Mike Hegan.
Can ya dig it: Fresh-faced Danny is showing all you youngsters the correct way an infielder prepares when the pitcher throws to the plate.
Right on: Rookie card!
You see this cat Thompson is a bad mother: Cursed throughout his career with injuries, Thompson suffered the most devastating news of all when he was diagnosed with leukemia during the winter of 1973. Yet, he played in at least 97 games each of the next four seasons.
Shut your mouth: The Twins actually traded Thompson, cancer and all, to the Rangers in the Bert Blyleven deal in June of 1976. Thompson died from his disease six months later.
No one understands him but his woman: In a UPI article that revealed Thompson's cancer fight, Thompson's wife, Jo, addressed her husband's obstacle-strewn baseball career, saying, "Danny's just like that character in 'Lil' Abner' -- a rain cloud follows him around."
(A word about the back): I guess I'm going to have to be the one to say it: Going from the .366 that Carew was hitting in 1970 before his injury to the .219 Thompson hit in Carew's place is quite a drop-off.
I always feel sad when I think of Thompson. Even though he was Ranger at the time, Twins fans still thought of him as a Twin for his illness was closely followed by the media. Tough assignment for the kid to replace Carew, Twins probably should of looked for veteran help. Nevertheless he able to forge a career with the Twins, sometimes being one of the better offensive AL shortstops of his time (his stats would not hold up so much today).
ReplyDeleteOne word about the back photo, Topps appeared to have raided Thompson's standard press photo for I've seen the picture in other publications like who's who in baseball.