WHEN TOPPS HAD (BASE)BALLS!: Bill Buckner

Showing posts with label Bill Buckner. Show all posts

Thursday, November 2, 2023

DEDICATED ROOKIE (#2): 1971 BILL BUCKNER

Today on the blog, we go and give terribly underrated All-Star Bill Buckner a second "Dedicated Rookie", this time a 1971 edition after he had one created for the 1970 earlier:

Buckner was one of those players that received more than one slot in the dreaded multi-player rookie cards Topps would sprinkle in their sets, hence today's creation.

"Billy Buck" made his first appearance in a Major League uniform in 1969 with the Los Angeles Dodgers, getting into a single game and making one plate appearance.

However he would go on to play on the big league level straight on through to 1990, putting in seven .300+ seasons, winning a batting title while with the Cubs in 1980, posting three 100+ RBI years, reaching 200+ hits twice and leading the league in doubles in 1981 and 1983.

By the time he retired he collected over 2700 hits, with just under 500 doubles, 174 homers and 1208 runs batted in with a .289 career average.

What always got me with his career was the fact that in 9397 career at-bats, the man struck out only 453 times! Just awesome.

Some may even consider this career Hall-worthy. At the very least it can be argued, no?

"Billy Buck", a guy who is sadly remembered for one bad play instead of the great 22-year career…

Saturday, August 31, 2019

1975 IN-ACTION: BILL BUCKNER

Time to go and add long-time Major Leaguer and former batting champ Bill Buckner to my 1975 “In-Action” sub-set, as “Billy Buck” was just coming off of his 1st excellent Big League season in 1974, helping the Los Angeles Dodgers reach the World Series:

Buckner, who first came up in 1969 as a 19-year-old, hit .314 in 1974, with 182 hits and 31 stolen bases for the National League champs, even getting a little MVP attention when the year was over.
He would go on to have a borderline Hall of Fame 22-year career which included a batting crown in 1980 when he hit .324 while playing for the Chicago Cubs, as well as three 100-RBI seasons, his last two as a member of the Boston Red Sox.
By the time he retired in 1990, becoming one of those rare four-decade players, Buckner finished with a very nice .289 career average, with 2715 hits, 174 homers and a surprising 183 stolen bases over 2517 games and 9397 at-bats.
Extremely underrated career that has been marred by one play, which sadly seems to be the way it goes in professional sports. Sad.

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

TRADED: 1977 BILL BUCKNER (OR IS IT?)

Here’s a 1977 “Traded” card for former all-star and batting champ Bill Buckner, who found himself in the “Windy City” after starting his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers, although I swear it looks like Tim Blackwell. But the source of this photo swears it is indeed "Billy Buck":

Traded in January, “Billy Buck” went on to have an excellent time as a Cub, topping .300 four of his seven seasons there, even winning the National League batting title in 1980 when he hit .324.
It was a big trade that included Ivan DeJesus going to Chicago with Buckner while Rick Monday went West to L.A.
Now I’m not going to talk about “that moment” in 1986 because I feel it unjustly takes away from a great 22-year career that saw him collect 2715 hits, 498 doubles, over 1000 runs scored and runs batted in with a .289 lifetime average.
He also topped 100 RBI’s in a season three times, each time with LESS than 20 home runs, a rare feat in the modern game, while also collecting 200 hits in both the N.L. and A.L. (1982 with the Cubs, 1985 with the Red Sox).
Not necessarily a borderline Hall of Famer, but if there was such a thing, a “borderline-borderline-HOF’er” at the very least!
For what it’s worth, he is also one of the handful of players whose career spanned four decades: 1960’s-1990’s.
Great player....

Saturday, August 29, 2015

DEDICATED ROOKIE- 1970 BILL BUCKNER

Let's go and give former first baseman Bill Buckner a "Dedicated Rookie Card" in the 1970 set shall we?

Buckner made his first appearance in a Major League uniform in 1969 with the Los Angeles Dodgers, getting into a single game and making one plate appearance.