Who is the man: Roger Nelson had struggled with shoulder problems in 1970 and managed just 9 innings the whole year. He spent most of 1971 rehabilitating.
Can ya dig it: Nelson is 6-feet-3. I can tell in this photo.
Right on: I admit I didn't really know much about Nelson before starting this post. When I looked up his cards, I was surprised he was the same guy airbrushed into a White Sox cap on his 1975 Topps card. "Oh, so you're that guy," I said.
You see that cat Nelson is a bad mother: Nelson was the No. 1 pick of the Kansas City Royals in the 1968 expansion draft. He finished fifth in the A.L. in earned run average in 1972 at 2.08 (that's right, a 2.08 ERA was fifth in 1972).
Shut your mouth: Nelson may have been airbrushed into a White Sox cap in '75, but he never played for Chicago then as he was released before the 1975 season began (he did start out with the White Sox in 1967, appearing in five games).
No one understands him but his woman: Nelson pitched the Royals' final game in Municipal Stadium -- the former home of the Kansas City A's) -- on Oct. 4, 1972. He threw a complete-game, two-hit shutout against the Rangers.
(A word about the back): I'm going to assume that Nelson did not letter in basketball and cross country in the 1968 expansion pool, but that's how it reads.
The whole write up probably meant to say "& was team's MVP and he lettered in track..." Then start a sentence about 1968 expansion draft. The notes must have got crumpled or something.
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