#457 Padres Rookies Card

Odd lot here,  two eventual Friar regulars and another player who did not play after 1970...

Darcy Fast  Strange name “Darcy did you know your name is an adverb?”....interesting story given he pitched 10 inning for the Cubs in 1968...called the “missing Cub” of because his role in the 1969 season....he has written a book about himself with that title.....starting in 1967 pitched well in Cub’s low minors and made an adequate jump to upper minors....had a great AAA season in 1969....seemed geared for midseason call up maybe the factor that puts the Cubs over the top....Called up all right, to military service....Something must of happened while in service of his country, lost all effectiveness while being assigned to minors 1970...ballooned ERA and mounting losses (2-13 W-L) and never played again....wound up in SD organization in an unknown transaction later on during season henceforth a Padres prospect....a mysterious baseball career, became an ordained minister which he still does...

Derrel Thomas  Highly touted prospect acquired from the Astros...Anticipation of speed and hitting....Padres traded one of their finer pitchers Dave Roberts for him...Career with San Diego consisted of a three stint 1972-74 and a return in 1978....seemingly hoodwinked when in a Padres uniform ending up with a career .237 BA....did better for Giants and Dodgers....long career spanning 1971 to 1985 with 5000 plus plate appearances....some good seasons here, once reaching .276 BA.....Use speed in his stock and trade but not overwhelming so...a career best stolen bases was 28 in his career year of 1975.... irony:  traded back to SD was for fellow card mate...

Mike Ivie....Mike was overall #1 pick in 1970 draft....initially sought as a catcher, their first home grown non castoff,  turns out it was a position that never suited him....no fast track here, took a while (5 years) to get to the bigs to stay....fair to good hitter....as a whole career did better than most Padres prospects...like Thomas did better outside of SD however...line drive hitter with Padres, paradoxically gains a home run stroke with Giants hitting 11 and 27 in the 1978-79 season despite Candlestick’s winds....cools off in 1980 with drops in BA and power...1981 is hampered by 3 month stint on the DL...released by Houston early 1982 has a slight comeback with Detroit hitting 14 home runs...released in 1983 after poor start.

#458 Aurelio Monteagudo

Long time vagabond pitcher…Cuban born resided in Venusalsla and later Mexico….started career in 1961 in KC A’s system….MLB debut in 1963….Had fair stats for A’s minor league system but could not stay in bigs…..but stayed with club for 6 seasons …..early 1966 starting by being sold to the Houston Astros, Aurelio would change teams 12 times….  Aurelio had play two years in the minors before getting work in his last two big league squads, 1970 Royals and 1973 Angels…..Never played for Brewers, spent 1972 in AAA Hawaii as Padre reclamation project.... had to play 7 years from his first game to getting first major league win…only two more would follow for a career 3-7 win loss….most innings pitched in a season 31…..passed away in 1990

#459 Rick Renick

Reserve career Twin light hitting infielder….Showed a little pop in his bat with 20 home runs in 554 at bats…Called up from AAA Denver in 1968, replacing a faltering Jackie Hernandez at shortstop… showed a weakness by stricking out 42 times in 97 at bats….. highlight was hitting a home run in first at bat, against Mickey Lolich no less ….was able to hang on for 4 more seasons….was able to improve plate discipline but could not achieve starter status….big league time ended in 1972 with a career .221 BA….hung around the Twins AAA clubs for 4 more years, then returned to Denver, Montreal’s farm club for two more years….has made a living out of coaching since then for the Twins, Expos, Marlin, and Royals organizations.

#460 Al Downing

Comeback player of the year for 1971 but when one thinks about it, maybe the most impressive redemption  of the entire 1970’s given the time between his initial effectiveness and eventual comeback…Al’s 20 win 1971 was so unexpected....In 1970 5 wins, 13 loss record for Oakland and Milwaukee, one would think he'd be more of a candidate for outright release….A 400% improvement in wins….Ten years earlier Al was being groomed as Yankee pitcher of the future….entered rotation with 13 wins and a nearly even strikeout to inning ratio in 1963….Became AL strikeout king in 1964….repeated 13 wins as Yankees won their last pennant for over a decade…next three season reached double digit wins but Yankees had losing records…settled into marginal status with an abbreviated 1968 and rehab stint in class A ball…. Was slowly able to regain starter status in 1969…exiled to Oakland then Milwaukee in 1970….pitched well for Brewers lowering his ERA, but poor run support doomed to 2-10 record….following 1971, Al was able to hang on to 4^th and 5^th starter position for 2 season….1974 started out by giving up Hank Aaron's historic record setting home run…also was start of four seasons of mop up work ending with his mid season release in 1977.

#461 Tim Cullen

Holds a dubious distinction of 1971....lowest batting average of all players 250 At Bats and above with .191 mark.... by default a good glove man because he had to be....little power with 9 home runs in 1761 at bats....A bad sign was most of his baseball cards showed Tim either fielding or choking up with a fungo bat....A regular reserve middle infield for the Senator's  later years in Washington DC....holds a special relationship with fellow infielder Ron Hansen for they were trade for each other twice in 1968....Tim a brief respite for 72 game in the Windy City Southside...Was released by Texas/Washington prior to 1972...how low can you go?....picked up by A’s and responded with career high BA of .261 in 142 at bats as Oakland scrambled to replace Dick Green....ended career with his only post season at bat against Detroit.

#462 Rickey Clark

One season wonder in rookie year of 1967....12-11 W-L 2.49 ERA good for 6^th in AL....future looked bright....career start mirrored that of fellow teammate Clyde Wright’s but without Skeeter’s comeback....Sophomore year was a huge sophomore slump going 1-11....1968 ERA as raised to 3.59 was not a disaster, but it was a bad year for offensive support. in the league...had trouble making inroads with minor league assignments to return to big club........pitched well enough in AAA SLC to return to Angels for second half of 1971....his 2.86 ERA was buoyed by his 3^rd game; a shutout of the A’s follow by a handful of strong starts......last year in bigs was 1972 where he did some spot starting and occasional bullpen work....tried out for Phillies in 1973....had no baseball card until 1970 when pitched only 9 inning for Angels in 1969....did not pitch for the big in 1970....strange

#463 Bernie Carbo

Man of many adjectives, flakey, temperamental, controversial, outspoken ....Forever linked to one of World Series’ enduring images Carlton’s Fisk home run in 1975....never would have happened if it wasn’t Bernie’s 3 run pinch hit jack in the 8^th....Career platoon player but sometimes very, very good at it...Rookie season was 1970 replacing a departed Alex Johnson.... was excellent as a member of the first edition of the Big Red Machine...very efficient hitting .310 and 21 home runs in 385 at bats... stats represented career best...voted second in NL rookie of the year... bottom dropped in 1971 with a 91 point drop in hitting....Started 1972 with Reds but had a cold start....traded to Cardinals where he began to regain his stroke, reaching .286 in 1973....trade to Red Sox provided his longest tenure....played there 1974-1978 minus a 69 game island of work with Brewers that took place in mid 1976.....playing time diminished in a downward slide after being sold to Cleveland, and acquired by St Louis again...finished as a MLBer in 1980 with a few at bats for the Pirates....Ending numbers 94 home runs and .264 career BA.

*Going to take a couple week break, but the posts will be back.