Who is the man: Some would say Luis Aparicio had a career year in 1970. In his 15th year, he set career highs in doubles, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging and OPS. What'd he get for it? A trade from the White Sox to the Red Sox in December 1970.
Can ya dig it: Dig that White Sox uniform that Topps didn't try very hard to hide.
Right on: It was a happy day when I landed this card. I remember going into the coin and collectibles shop downtown when I was first starting to get back into cards. One of the random cards for sale was this '71 Aparicio. I thought about getting it many times even though I had no intent to collect the '71 set at the time.
You see that cat Aparicio is a bad mother: A Rookie of the Year in 1956 and a Hall of Famer in 1984, Aparicio was the heart-and-soul of the Go Go Sox and known as one of the greatest shortstops to ever play the game.
Shut your mouth: Aparicio was released by the Red Sox during spring training in 1974. Yankees owner George Steinbrenner sent him a letter with an open contract and a note that said, "you put in the amount to play for the New York Yankees." Aparicio sent the envelope back with a note that said, "Thank you very much for your offer but I just get released once in my lifetime."
No one understands him but his woman: Aparicio is the first Venezuelan to make the Hall of Fame.
(A word about the back): Oof. That last part should read: "Set record by leading AL in stolen bases 9 consecutive years, 1956 thru 1964."
Hitting wasn't a problem for the 1970 Chisox, it was pitching. Several hitters had career years but the team lost 106 games which is still a club record. With no where to go but up a house cleaning ensued. The Sox greatly improved in next couple of years based on adding Chuck Tanner as manager, shrewd trades, and switching Wilbur Wood to starter.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that before the '70 season, the ChiSox gave up one of their top hurlers to the Red Sox....Gary Peters. That may account for their not-so-good pitching record in '70.
DeleteOdd year for Aparicio on Topps issues. His 71 coin has him on Whitesox, his 71 Super has him in Whitesox uni and lists Redsox as his team on back. His Topps greatest moments card is chased by both Whitesox and Redsox collectors . It could be classified as either. I just ended up collecting all his 71 issues.
ReplyDeleteIn the 1967 set, Topps indicated Aparicio's position as "INFIELD". He played over 22,000 innings at shortstop and never at another position.
ReplyDeleteD'oh!