Wednesday, February 11, 2015
no. 378 - tito fuentes
Who is the man: Tito Fuentes enjoyed his second straight respectable season in 1970 after being sent down to the minors in 1968. For the man who finished third in Rookie of the Year voting in 1966, he was working his way back.
Can ya dig it: Topps wants to make sure you see that Fuentes is bunting, that's why his signature is squeezed into the corner. Also, he apparently hadn't started dotting the "I" in his name with a star yet.
Right on: Fuentes' position is listed as "infield" because he played second, short and third in 1970.
You see that cat Fuentes is a bad mother: The man wore headbands over his cap with his name written on them. Of course he was bad ass.
Shut your mouth: Fuentes has been known to refer to himself by his uniform number "23," as in "How are you, this is '23'". He legally changed his name when he became a U.S. citizen so that "23" reads like it's his middle name: Tito 23 Fuentes.
No one understands him but his woman: In the famed Dodgers-Giants brawl in which Juan Marichal clubbed John Roseboro with a bat, nobody mentions that Fuentes also brought a bat into the melee. Fortunately, he didn't hit anyone with it.
(A word about the back): I'm not clear on which two Dominican League records Fuentes tied after reading that write-up. I'm assuming most hits in a game (5) and most doubles in a game (3).
Tito and his Headbands were in a League of their Own! Ha!
ReplyDeleteTito now does the Spanish language radio broadcasts for the Giants
ReplyDeleteI think for the picture on the back of the card the just reversed the picture on the front of the card, then airbrushed in the "SF" so it wouldn’t be backwards.
ReplyDelete