no. 139 - paul casanova

Who is the man: Paul Casanova's playing time decreased yet again in 1970, and it would be the last time he would play in at least 100 games in a season. He spent the 1970s mostly as a backup catcher.

Can ya dig it: Casanova looks very happy in most of his card photos, especially early in his career.

Right on: Now that the Nationals are around, the novelty of seeing old Senators cards has worn off a little bit for me. Don't get me wrong though, I still think they're cool.

You see this cat Casanova is a bad mother: Casanova caught all 22 innings of a game against the White Sox on June 12, 1967. Washington kept him in the game despite his 1-for-9 performance at the plate. Good thing, because Casanova singled in the winning run in his final at-bat.

Shut your mouth: Casanova runs a baseball hitting academy, along with former major leaguer Jackie Hernandez, in his backyard. Here's a video (there's a brief look at baseball cards in it, too).

No one understands him but his woman: Everyone knows that relief pitcher Tom House caught Hank Aaron's record-setting 715th home run. Not many know Casanova caught Aaron's 716th home run.

(A word about the back): "Paul has increased his average by 33 points over the past two seasons ..."

Not sure if the increase is to .229 that you want to be publicizing that. But, yes, Casanova hit .196 in 1968.