Who is the man: Manny Sanguillen was coming off a season in which he finished third in the National League with a .325 batting average. But he was overshadowed by fellow NL catcher Johnny Bench, who had an MVP season in 1970.
Can ya dig it: A one-of-a-kind photo with this card. I don't know what Sanguillen is doing, but it seem like he's taking dinner orders for the entire stadium.
Right on: Love the double-hat look. That's a '70s/'80s staple.
You see that cat Sanguillen is a bad mother: Sanguillen hit .379 in the Pirates' victory in the 1971 World Series. He produced 11 hits and also caught every inning of all seven games.
Shut your mouth: Sanguillen's name was pronounced "San-GHEE-yen" when he played, but the Spanish pronunciation is actually "Sangee-YEN." The accent is over the "e" in his name.
No one understands him but his woman: Sanguillen was a very enthusiastic player, who swung at almost everything. He was sometimes accused of being a "hot dog" for the way he played.
(A word about the back): Sanguillen started his pro career in the New York-Penn League in Batavia, N.Y., a town I know very well. He's talked about not being able to speak English and trying to order in a Batavia restaurant. I'm dying to know which restaurant it is because I'll bet I've been in it.
The front photo is highly reminiscent of Bud Harrelson's in the 1970 set.
ReplyDeleteManny Never Saw a Pitch he Didn't Like...Ha! Manny was A solid Catcher and Hitter.
ReplyDeleteI like to think this is Manny autographing my dads program.
ReplyDeleteManny was one one the reasons I became a Pirates fan. I loved how low he crouched behind the plate and and his go-up-there-hacking approach at the plate. (Alas, as a kid I had no concept of OBP.) This will always be an outstanding card, in my book.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone remember the right field experiment?
ReplyDeleteHow could I forget? 1973, the first season after Clemente's death, the Bucs briefly put Sangy in RF. He misjudged so many flyballs I think they had him wear a batting helmet out there!
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