1976 Topps #466 - Bob Stinson

• Bob Stinson was a major league catcher from 1969-1980. Bob had the nickname "Scrap Iron," but Phil Garner also had the nickname and was remembered more. Stinson was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1966. Bob played a lot in the minors from 1966-1971. He hit pretty well in the minors (.283 lifetime average in six seasons) but it took a while for Stinson to stick in the majors.
• Stinson had a couple of late season looks with the Dodgers. He went 3 for 8 in four games in 1969 and 0 for 3 in four games in 1970. After the 1970 season Bob was traded with Ted Sizemore to the St. Louis Cardinals for Dick Allen.
• Bob was in the minors for the first few months of the 1971 season but was brought up after batting .324 in 87 games. Stinson didn't get much playing time with the Cardinals since they had Ted Simmons as the starting catcher. Bob batted .211 in 19 at bats for the Cardinals in 1971. After the 1971 season Stinson was traded to the Houston Astros for Marty Martinez.
• Stinson was a #3 catcher for the Astros in 1972 and batted .171 in 35 at bats. During spring training in 1973 Bob was purchased by the Montreal Expos.
• Stinson spent two seasons with the Expos as a backup catcher. In 1973 he batted .261 in 111 at bats and in 1974 he batted .172 in 87 at bats. By 1975 the Expos had Gary Carter and Barry Foote. Stinson was traded to the Kansas City Royals for Rodney Scott during the 1975 spring training.
•  Bob got a little bit more playing time with the Royals in his two seasons with the club. He batted .265 in 147 at bats in 1975 and .263 in 209 at bats in 1976. Stinson went 0 for 1 in two games in the 1976 ALCS. After the 1976 season Bob was selected by the Seattle Mariners in the expansion draft.
• Stinson was Seattle's starting catcher in 1977 and 1978. Bob batted .269 in 297 at bats in 1977. He had his best year in 1978 when he batted .269 and hit 11 home runs in 364 at bats.
• Bob's playing time diminished in 1979. He split time with Larry Cox and batted .243 in 247 at bats. In 1980 Stinson batted .215 in 107 at bats. The Mariners gave Stinson his release on August 7, 1980.
• After his playing career Stinson worked for Boeing.
• Keith Olbermann has said that he has a 1975/1976 SSPC set that is autographed by everyone except for Stinson. Apparently Stinson refuses to autograph unlicenced products that didn't pay him.
• Liked to face: Rick Langford (.438 in 16 AB); Ed Figueroa (.385 in 26 AB); Dennis Leonard (.381 in 21 AB)
• Hated to face: Dave Frost/Sid Monge (.000 in 10 AB); Bill Bonham (.091 in 11 AB); Dave Lemanczyk (.111 in 18 AB)