Who is the man: Alan Gallagher broke into the Giants' lineup after five years in the minors and hit .266 in his first 109 major league games in 1970.
Can ya dig it: When I was first learning about players who appeared on cards just before I started collecting, I was fascinated by players like Gallagher, who began their careers just a few years before I started buying cards but were no longer on cards anymore. Who was this Alan Gallagher? And why was his career so short?
Right on: This is the fifth rookie trophy shown so far on the blog. Right now, we have a catcher, pitcher, two outfielders and a third baseman.
You see this cat Gallagher is a bad mother: Gallagher's nickname was "Dirty Al," which he received when he played in college. During a 25-game hitting streak, he refused to change his uniform or even his underwear.
Shut your mouth: Gallagher was a prized draft pick by the Giants, but struggled to meet expectations. Sent to instructional league in 1969, his manager, Hank Sauer told Gallagher that he couldn't take instructions. Gallagher decided to show his manager and appeared at 8 a.m. each day to work with Sauer.
No one understands him but his woman: Gallagher was regarded as flaky during his big-league career (perhaps the not-changing-the-uniform thing may have tipped them off). He wore wildly colorful clothes that didn't necessarily match and sometimes would practice his slide techniques in the airport terminal when the team was waiting for a flight.
(A word about the back): That's the rare profile shot. I should see how many of those are in the set.
One of my favorites when I was growing up. He has one of the longest names ever in baseball. Alan Mitchell Edward George Patrick Henry Gallagher. That's almost up there with Cal McLish.
ReplyDeleteI love those 60s-70s shots where a player is literally standing in the middle of nowhere and all you see behind them are grass/dirt, trees and sky. A handful of cards also had a tilted camera shot (like 1972 Jim Roland), this looks like one of them.
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