Thursday, March 29, 2018

#772 - Johnnie LeMaster


What a card: Johnie LeMaster had completed his 10th and final full season with the Giants when this card was issued. He'd be traded to the Indians early in the 1985 season.

My observation on the front: LeMaster appears to have hitched his uniform pants a bit too high.

More opinion from me: Oh, man, we were merciless with this guy as kids in the late '70s. The name, the look and especially that career .201 batting average at the time. How did he last 10 years with the Giants?

Something you might know: LeMaster famously wore the word "Boo" on the back of his uniform in place of his last name for one game in 1979. It was a response to Giants fans repeatedly showering him with boos.

Something you might not know: LeMaster is the second person in major league history to hit an inside-the-park home run in the first at-bat of his major league career. He hit a liner up the middle against the Dodgers' Don Sutton in a September 1975 game and it hit a seam on the artificial turf at Candlestick Park and bounded over the head of center fielder John Hale.


My observation on the back: LeMaster's connection to Ron Salyer is mentioned on at least three of his Topps cards. Salyer pitched eight years in the Indians organization, never advancing than Double A.

The blog wants to speak now: The News category is updated.

1 comment:

Andy Diver said...

Wow, great blog, just linked to it from Kevin's 1993 Topps blog. I look forward to working my way backwards.