1976 Topps #167 - Freddie Patek

• Freddie Patek was an infielder (mostly shortstop) from 1968-1981. He spent most of his career with the Kansas City Royals. During most of his career he was the smallest player in the league. He is listed at 5'5" and 148 lb.

• He was originally drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1966 and played in their minor league system from 1966-1968. He was brought up in June 1968 for a month, went back down for a month in July/August, and then was with the Pirates to stay. Patek batted .255 in 61 games for the Pirates.

• Fred was the starting shortstop for the Pirates in 1969 and batted .239 in 147 games. He played in only 84 games in 1970 and batted .245-- there are a couple of two-week gaps in his playing time, which may indicate trips to the DL or some sort of military service. After the season Patek was traded to the Royals.

• Patek had his best offensive season in 1971 and finished 6th in AL MVP balloting. He batted .267 and led the league in triples with 11. Fred stole 49 bases and led the AL in caught stealing with 14. He remained the Royals' regular shortstop through the 1978 season. His seasons were virtually interchangeable, with batting averages in the .220-.240 range and at least 30 stolen bases each year. He made three AL All Star teams (1972, 1976, 1978). Patek batted .389 in both the 1976 and 1977 American League Championship Series.

• Fred didn't play as much in 1979. He played in only one game after August 14. Fred batted .252 in 106 games and stole only 11 bases. He was caught stealing 12 times. After the 1979 season Patek became a free agent and signed with the California Angels.

• In 1980 Patek played in 86 games and batted .264. He played very little in 1981 (.234 in 47 at bats) and was released during spring training in 1982.

• After being released by the Angels, Patek had a variety of jobs in and out of baseball. He was a baseball commentator and worked in the Ranger and Brewer organizations. He has also been in the restaurant and roofing business.

• He had to deal with tragedy in 1992 when his 19-year-old daughter Kim was in an auto accident and was paralyzed from the neck down. She passed away four years later.

1976 Topps #166 - Skip Lockwood

• Skip Lockwood started out as a 3B for the Kansas City A's in 1965, then was a pitcher for several teams from 1969-1980. He graduated from MIT in 1983 (one of only three major league baseball players to have done s0).

• Lockwood received a $100,000 bonus to sign with the A's in 1964. After playing in the minors in '64 he was brought to the A's in 1965 and batted .121 in 33 at bats. Skip went back to the minors and struggled for a few years. In 1968 it was decided that he would be converted to a pitcher. Skip pitched a few games in the minors in '68 and then was taken by the Seattle Pilots in the expansion draft. He pitched well for AA Elmira in 1969 and was brought up to Seattle in late August. Lockwood pitched in six games (three starts) and was 0-1 with a 3.52 ERA.

• Skip spent the first month of the 1970 season at AAA Portland, where he started five games and went 4-1 with a 2.65 ERA. The Milwaukee Brewers brought him up in early May. Lockwood was 5-12 with a 4.30 ERA in 26 starts. In 1971 Skip was 10-15 with a 3.33 ERA. He then had seasons of 8-15 and 5-12.

• After the 1973 season Lockwood was traded to the California Angels in a multi-player trade that didn't do a whole lot for either team. Skip was moved to the bullpen and went 2-5 with one save and a 4.32 ERA in 37 appearances for the Angels in 1974.

• After the 1974 season Lockwood was traded to the New York Yankees for Bill Sudakis. He never pitched for the Yankees (he was released on April 7) and he signed as a free agent with the Oakland A's. The A's assigned Lockwood to AAA Tucson, where he spent most of the 1975 season. He was sold to the New York Mets on July 28 and spent a week with AAA Tidewater. Skip got back to the majors on August 5 and went 1-3 with an ERA of 1.49 in 24 appearances during the last two months of the 1975 season.

• The Mets made Lockwood their main guy out of the bullpen. The 1976 season was probably Skip's best season---he was 10-7 with a 2.67 ERA and had 19 saves in 56 appearances. His 1977 season was almost as good (4-8, 3.38 ERA, 20 saves in 63 games). In 1978 Skip dropped off (7-13, 3.57 ERA, 15 saves in 57 games).

• Lockwood had a pretty good start to his 1979 season. He was 2-5 with a 1.49 ERA and had nine saves. He went on the DL in June with tissue tears in his shoulder. It was a bad year to get hurt, as it was his free agent year. After the season Skip signed with the Boston Red Sox. He was 3-1 with two saves and a 5.32 ERA in 24 games with the Red Sox in 1980. Lockwood was released during spring training in 1981. He signed with the Montreal Expos and pitched for AAA Denver in 1981 but was ineffective and retired after the season.

• Skip is currently the CEO of a company called PACE 360, a company involved in sales and marketing (thanks to MMayes at the 1972 baseball blog for the info).

In June 1979 Skip went on the DL with tissue tears in his shoulder. His comeback attempt with the Boston Red Sox in 1980 failed and he retired from baseball.

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1976 Topps #165 - Gene Tenace

• Fury Gene Tenace (born Fiore Geno Tennaci) played from 1969-1983. Gene played catcher and first base and was a great power and on-base guy. He had a lifetime on base percentage of .388. It's interesting that Topps chose to put a cartoon about on-base percentage on Gene's card.

• Tenace was drafted by the Kansas City A's in 1965 and played in the minors from 1965-1968. In 1969 he bounced between the A's and AAA. Gene batted .158 in 40 at bats for the A's in 1969. Tenace started the 1970 season in AAA, played one game for the A's in July, then came back to the majors to stay on August 13. He batted .305 with seven home runs in 105 at bats in 1970.

• Gene was the backup for Dave Duncan in 1971. He batted .274 with seven homers in 65 games. Tenace backed up Duncan again in 1972 and also played some OF, 1B, 2B, and 3B. His offensive numbers were down (.225 with five homers in 82 games). Gene drove in the winning run in game 5 of the 1972 AL Championship series and then hit four homers in the World Series. Gene was the 1972 World Series MVP. Here is a Sports Illustrated article from April 1973 about Gene.

• Tenace was given the regular first baseman's job in 1973 and had a nice year. He batted .259 with 24 homers, 84 RBI, and 101 walks and helped the A's to their second consecutive world championship. It was the first of six seasons in which he would walk over 100 times. Gene split time between 1B and catcher in 1974. His batting average was down (.211), but he hit 26 homers and walked 110 times as the A's won their third consecutive world championship.

• In 1975 Tenace was named to his only AL All Star team (he was the starting catcher). He batted .255 with 29 homers and 106 walks. Gene was out for about five weeks with an injury in 1976. His numbers were down (81 walks, 22 homers) as he again split time between catcher and first base.

• After the 1976 season Gene left the A's and signed with the San Diego Padres as a free agent. His home run numbers dropped (15) due to playing in a larger ballpark, but he had a career high in walks (125) in 1977. He also led the NL in hit by pitch with 13. Gene had similar seasons in 1979, 1979, and 1980.

• After the 1980 season Gene was traded with Rollie Fingers and some other guys to the St. Louis Cardinals for Terry Kennedy and some other guys. He split time behind the plate with Darrell Porter in 1981 and 1982. He didn't play much in those two years (58 games in '81 and 66 games in '82), but his on base percentages in both years were above .400. He appeared in the '82 World Series but was hitless in six at bats.

• Gene singed with the Pittsburgh Pirates as a free agent after the 1982 season and played one year. He batted .177 in 62 at bats and was released during spring training in 1984.

• He became a coach after his playing career. He spent several years as a member of Cito Gaston's staff in Toronto and was the Blue Jays' interim manager for 33 games when Gaston suffered a herniated disc in 1991. After leaving Toronto Gene was a hitting instructor in the Cardinals' organization. When Gaston was rehired in 2008 Tenace was brought back as hitting coach. He's still the hitting coach now. It's interesting that Gene espouses a more aggressive approach at the plate since he was known as a patient hitter in his playing days.

1976 Topps #164 - Pepe Mangual

• Pepe Mangual was an outfielder for the Montreal Expos and the New York Mets from 1972-1977. He started in the Expos' organization in 1970 and got his first shot as a September call-up in 1972. Pepe had 13 at bats in 1972 and batted .273. He started the 1973 season with Montreal but was sent to the minors in early May. Pepe came back in August and ended up batting .177 in 62 at bats.

• Mangual was in the minors for most of 1974 and was called up in September. He batted .311 in 61 at bats in 1974. He spent the entire 1975 season with Montreal as the starting center fielder and batted .245 in 140 games. Pepe also stole 33 bases that year. He tied a major league record on August 11 when he struck out five times in one nine-inning game.

• Pepe started the 1976 season with the Expos and was traded to the Mets with Jim Dwyer for Del Unser and Wayne Garrett on July 21. For the two teams he batted .237 in 107 games.

• In 1977 Mangual was in the minors until September. He batted .143 in eight at bats. He continued to play in the minors through the 1984 season but never made it back to the majors.
  

1976 Topps #163 - Jim Slaton

• Jim Slaton pitched in the American League from 1971-1986. He spent most of his career with the Milwaukee Brewers and is still the club leader in all-time victories with 117.

• Slaton was drafted by the Seattle Pilots in 1969. He pitched at the A level in 1969. He didn't pitch much in 1970 (2 starts), probably due to military service. In 1971 Jim made the team (now the Brewers) in spring training but was sent down in May. After making four starts for AAA Evansville he came back to the Brewers and had a record of 10-8 with a 3.78 ERA in 23 starts.

• Jim got off to a rough start in 1972 (1-6, 5.52 in eight starts) and was sent back to Evansville, where he spent the remainder of the season. Slaton bounced back in 1973 by going 13-15 with a 3.71 ERA in 38 starts for an awful Brewers team. He had a very similar year in 1974 (13-16, 3.92 in 35 starts). The 1975 season wasn't good for Slaton as he went 11-18 with a 4.52 ERA in 33 starts.

• Slaton did better in 1976 (14-15, 3.44 in 38 starts) and then was named to the 1977 All Star game. Jim was 10-14 in 1977 with an ERA of 3.58.

• After the 1977 season Slaton was traded (with Rich Folkers) to the Detroit Tigers for Ben Oglivie. He had one of his best seasons in 1978 as he had a career-high 17 wins in 34 starts. After the season he was granted free agency and came back to the Brewers. Jim had another good season in 1979 (15-9, 3.63 in 31 starts).

• Slaton was the opening day starter for the Brewers in 1980 but he must have had an injury that year. He started only three games and didn't pitch after May 4. Jim came back in 1981 and went 5-7 with a 4.37 ERA in 21 starts. He pitched in four games in the American League Divisional Series but had no decisions.

• In 1982 Jim was a swingman (39 games, 7 starts) and was effective (10-6, 3.29 ERA, 6 saves). He appeared in the American League Championship Series and won game 4 of the World Series in a relief appearance. Slaton was used exclusively as a reliever in 1983 and was 14-6 with a 4.33 ERA in 46 games.

• After the 1983 season Jim was traded to the California Angels for Bobby Clark. He went 7-10 with a 4.97 ERA for the Angels in 1984. Jim was 6-10 with a 4.37 ERA in 1985. He started poorly in 1986 (4-6, 5.65 ERA) and was released by the Angels on June 30. The Tigers picked him up on July 14 and Jim made 22 relief appearances to finish the season. The Tigers released him after the season and he retired.
• After his pitching career Slaton coached for various major and minor league teams. He is now the pitching coach for the LA Dodgers' AAA Albuquerque Isotopes.
  

1976 Topps #162 - Jack Pierce

• By the time this card was produced Jack Pierce's major league career was already over. He played in parts of three major league seasons from 1973-1975. Jack is ranked 9th all-time in home runs in the minor leagues.

• Pierce started in the Atlanta Braves' organization in 1970. He climbed the ladder and made it to the majors in April 1973. He stuck with the Braves for three weeks and batted .050 in 20 at bats before he was sent back to AAA Richmond. In 1974 Pierce was sent to the Mexican League and he led the league with 28 home runs. He was called up to the Braves in September and batted .111 in nine at bats.

• During spring training in 1975 Pierce was traded to the Detroit Tigers for 1B Reggie Sanders. He started the season in AA Evansville and was brought up on June 1 and batted .235 in 53 games for the Tigers.

• Pierce returned to the Mexican League in 1976 and led the league with 36 home runs. He spent the 1977 season playing for Japan's Nankai Hawks. He didn't do very well and was released just before the 1978 season. The Seattle Mariners signed him and sent him to AAA San Jose, where he batted .327 in 77 games. Jack batted .280 for AAA Spokane in 1979 but wasn't brought up. He also played in Mexico in 1979 but wasn't very successful. Pierce continued to play in the Mexican League through the 1987 season. He was a player-manager in 1986.

• Jack did some managing in the Mexican League in 1992, 1993, and 1998 but he never finished above .500.