What a card: Rick Rhoden continued to a be a consistent winner for the Pirates in 1984, recording 14 victories with a 2.72 ERA in 33 starts.
My observation on the front: Even though Rhoden wore that mustache throughout the '80s, I still associate him with his Dodger days and that stache was not there then.
More opinion from me: I was rather unhappy when Rhoden was traded to the Pirates in '79. I had been a fan since he went 12-3 in 1976 (with 10 complete games!). Jerry Reuss was a good get for the Dodgers, but it still pains me a little.
Something you might know: Rhoden was a solid starter for the Dodgers, Pirates and Yankees and probably equally well-known for his hitting prowess, winning the Silver Slugger Award for his position three separate years.
Something you might not know: Rhoden was part of trade that fell through between the Yankees and the Giants after the 1988 season. The Yankees would send Rhoden and Don Mattingly to the Giants for Will Clark and pitchers Atlee Hammaker and Craig Lefferts. But the Giants scrapped the deal after learning that another of their pitchers, Dave Dravecky, had a tumor on his pitching arm.
My observation on the back: This is one of those bright green backs that pop up every so often in this set. It's not really a variation (unless you want to make it one).
The blog wants to speak now: The Ballgames category is updated.
I'm replaying the 1984 season using Statis Pro and often bat Rhoden fifth or sixth when he pitches because a) he had awesome hitting stats that year and b) the rest of the team were swinging wet noodles.
ReplyDeleteOMG a Status-Pro reference. None of the pitchers had batting cards in my version.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea about that potential trade. Great info!
ReplyDelete