I confess I never was very good at knowing and recognizing some
national league regulars… growing up in Minnesota I knew American Leagues
players pretty well after 1970…. a time before published rosters or prognostication
books I eventually collected… Two players who toiled in my personal obscurity were Vada Pinson and Julian
Javier (until late 1970 until I got their baseball cards)…last name pronounced hoo-lee-ON
ah-vee-AIR...Javier was the primary regular 2nd baseman for the Cards
for the 60’s...good fielding range but sometimes lead the NL in errors....offensive skills were steady but unspectacular...about average for a regular at the time…hit .346 combined in back to back WS in 1967 and 68…In 1971 his
playing time was cut down by the arrival
of Ted Sizemore…Javier was expendable hence he was dealt to the Reds who used
him sparingly in 1972 for Tony Cloninger…He was able to appear in 4 WS games that year…was
released soon afterwards.....Father to MLB player Stan Javier.
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