1984 Topps Rub Down Johnnie LeMaster

• Tom from The Angels in Order posted some cards a couple of months ago that he had acquired. I commented that it was cool that he got a Johnnie LeMaster. Tom e-mailed me and asked if I would like it. A week later the card was in my mailbox. Thanks Tom! :)

Card Tribute: Johnnie LeMaster

In honor of Johnnie LeMaster's 56th birthday, here is a card tribute (thanks to Core Contrarian for the reminder). Johnnie hit an inside-the-park home run in his first major league at bat, but hit only 21 more in his 11-year career. Johnnie had a lifetime .222 batting average. LeMaster was with the Giants from 1975-1985, played for Cleveland and Pittsburgh in 1985, AAA Indianapolis in 1986, and finished his career with Oakland in 1987.

It's interesting to see similarities when all of the cards of a player are shown together. The same "pose" is used in 1981 and 1983. It looks like 1984 and 1985 were from the same set of photos. Vote for your favorite Johnnie LeMaster Giants card in the poll on the right. :)

1976 Topps #596

1977 Topps #151

1978 Topps #538

1979 Topps #284

1980 Topps #434

1981 Topps #84

1982 Topps #304

1983 Topps #154

1984 Topps #663

1985 Topps #772
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1982 Topps Baseball Stickers - Giants

Darrell Evans

Vida Blue

Milt May

Johnnie LeMaster

Greg Minton

Larry Herndon

Enos Cabell

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Jack Clark

The 1982 Topps Stickers. I like the 1981 stickers better, probably because I collected them. By 1982 I had started buying complete sets instead of buying from the packs. The packs were a lot more fun, but they were expensive if I wanted to collect more than 1-2 sets a year.

1983 Topps Giants - Part 2 (infielders)

Joe Morgan (#603) didn't play for the Giants in 1983. He and Al Holland were traded to the Philadelphia Phillies after the '82 season for Mark Davis, Mike Krukow, and a minor leaguer.

Joe Pettini (#143) batted .186 in 86 at bats in 1983. It was his last season in the majors. Joe played three more years in AAA before becoming a coach and minor league manager after the 1986 season.

Reggie Smith (#282) didn't play for the Giants in 1983. He played in Japan in 1983 and 1984. He played well in a part-time role  but had to deal with a lot of racially-fueled nonsense and retired after the 1984 season.

Johnnie LeMaster (#154) batted .240 in 141 games as the starting shortstop.

Tom O'Malley (#663) batted .259 with 5 HR and 40 RBI in 135 games as the starting third baseman.

Guy Sularz (#379) batted .100 in 20 at bats in 1983. He batted .316 in 134 games for AAA Phoenix in '83. This was his last season in the majors. After one more season in Phoenix, Sularz was released and hung 'em up.

Duane Kuiper (#767) batted .250 in 72 games as he shared time at second base with Brad Wellman.

Darrell Evans (#448) batted .277 with 30 home runs and 82 RBI. He played 113 games at first base, 32 at third base, and 9 games at shortstop. Evans was an NL All Star and was 0 for 1 in the game.

Others who played in the infield for the Giants but didn't get a 1983 Topps Giants card:

• Brad Wellman (2B) batted .214 in 82 games.
• Chris Smith (UT) batted .328 in 67 at bats.
• Mike Vail (UT) batted .154 in 26 at bats.
• Rich  Murray (1B) batted .200 in 10 at bats.
• Wallace Johnson (2B) batted .125 in 8 at bats

1982 Topps Giants - Part 2 (infielders)

Joe Morgan (#754) batted .289 with 14 HR and 61 RBI in his last good year. He also had a .400 on base percentage.

Reggie Smith (#110T) batted .284 with 18 HR and 56 RBI in 106 games.

Joe Morgan (#755) in action

Enos Cabell (#627) didn't play for the Giants in 1982. He was traded with cash to the Detroit Tigers before the season for Champ Summers.

Billy Smith (#593) didn't play for the Giants in 1982. He was purchased by the Philadelphia Phillies on March 23, 1982. There is no record of Smith playing for anyone after the 1981 season and no transaction saying that he was released, so perhaps he retired after the deal.

Joe Pettini (#568) batted .205 in 39 AB. He spent most of the year in AAA Phoenix and batted .325 there. Joe usually put up good offensive numbers in the minors but couldn't stick in the majors. He played parts of four seasons (1980-1983) with the Giants and went on to play a few more years in the minors before managing in the minors from 1989-1996.

Dave Bergman (#498) batted .273 with 4 HR in 121 at bats as a backup first baseman.

Johnnie LeMaster (#304) batted .216 in 130 games as the starting shortstop.

Rennie Stennett (#84) didn't play for the Giants in 1982. He was released by the Giants on April 2. Stennett tried a minor league comeback in 1983 but didn't get back to the majors.

Darrell Evans (#17) split time between third base and first base in 1982. He even played a few games at shortstop. Evans batted .256 with 16 HR and 61 RBI. He also walked 77 times for a .360 on base percentage.

Duane Kuiper (#60T) batted .280 in 218 at bats as the backup second baseman.

Others who played infield for the Giants in 1982 but didn't get a 1982 Topps Giants card:

Tom O'Malley (.275 in 92 games) - starting 3B for part of the season

Guy Sularz (.228 in 101 AB as a backup shortstop)

Jose Barrios (1B - .158 in 19 AB)

Brad Wellman (2B - 1 for 4)

1980 Topps Giants - Part 2 (infielders)

Joe Strain (#538) batted .286 in 189 at bats as a backup second baseman. He made most of his starts in May and June. Strain didn't play during the month of August and was only a pinch hitter after July 26.

Johnnie LeMaster (#434) batted .215 in 135 games as the starting shortstop.

Willie McCovey (#335) played in 48 games and batted .204 with 1 HR and 16 RBI in 113 at bats. Willie played his final game on July 6 and retired.

Roger Metzger (#311) batted .074 in 27 at bats. He cut off the tips of four fingers in a table saw accident before the 1980 season. Metzger attempted a comeback but the comeback was unsuccessful and the Giants released him on August 16.

Rob Andrews (#279) didn't play for the Giants in 1980. He was released after the 1979 season. Rob signed with the New York Mets during spring training of 1980 but didn't make the club.

Darrell Evans (#145) batted .264 with 20 HR and 78 RBI in 154 games. He led the Giants in walks (83) and doubles (23)

Mike Ivie (#62) batted .241 with 4 HR and 25 RBI in 79 games.

Others who played infield for the Giants but did not get 1980 Topps Giants cards:

Rennie Stennett (.244 in 120 games as the starting second baseman)

Joe Pettini (.232 in 190 at bats as a backup shortstop)

Rich Murray (.194 with 4 HR in 194 at bats as a backup first baseman)

Guy Sularz (.246 in 65 at bats as a backup second baseman)

1977 Topps Giants Part 2 (infielders)

Willie McCovey (#547) had a great comeback season in 1977 and was named comeback player of the year. It looked like he was finished after a poor 1976 for San Diego and Oakland. Willie became a free agent after the 1976 season and signed with the Giants. He played in 141 games and batted .280 with 28 home runs and 86 RBI. If it weren't for the 1977 season, McCovey may not have accumulated enough lifetime stats to make it to the Hall of Fame. He was a HOF consideration after the 1976 season but became a sure HOFer after his '77 season and the stats he accumulated from 1978-1980.

With the Giants picking up McCovey to play first base and Bill Madlock to play third base, Darrell Evans (#571) was moved to left field for the 1977 season. He played in 81 games at LF, 41 games (11 starts) at 1B, and 35 games at 3B. Darrell wasn't much of a defender in LF -- he had a fielding percentage of .936 vs. a league average of .973. This would be the last year that he would play in the outfield. Evans batted .254 with 17 home runs and 72 RBI.

Chris Speier (#515) played in only six games (.176 in 17 AB) for the Giants in 1977 before being traded to the Montreal Expos for Tim Foli on April 27.

Marty Perez (#438) didn't play for the Giants in 1977. During spring training in 1977 he was traded to the New York Yankees for Terry Whitfield.

Ken Reitz (#297) didn't play for the Giants in 1977. He was traded back to the St. Louis Cardinals (for whom he played from 1972-1975) for Lynn McGlothen.

Derrell Thomas (#266) played six positions for the Giants in 1977, spending most of his time in center field. He batted .267 with 10 triples, 8 HR, and 44 RBI in 148 games. After the 1977 season he was traded to the San Diego Padres for Mike Ivie.

Johnnie LeMaster (#151) was a backup shortstop for the Giants in 1977. He batted .149 in 134 at bats. He batted .314 in 22 games for AAA Phoenix.

Others who played infield for the Giants but who didn't get 1977 Topps Giants cards:

• Bill Madlock (3B - batted .302 with 12 HR and 46 RBI in 140 games)
• Rob Andrews (2B - batted .264 in 436 AB)
• Tim Foli (SS - batted .228 in 368 AB)
• Vic Harris (.261 in 165 AB)
• Skip James (.267 in 15 AB)