Baseball Card Memories

Born: August 31, 1954 Los Angeles, California Died: June 10, 2020 (Age 65) San Francisco, California Positions: Outfielder Batted: Left Threw Left Teams: Oakland Athletics (1974-1976) Texas Rangers (1977-1978) Chicago White Sox (1978-1980) New York Mets (1980) Atlanta Braves (1981-1986) New York Yankees (1986-1988, 1990) California Angels (1989-1990) Awards: 2× All-Star (1975, 1984) World Series Champ (1974) Key Notes: Washington did not play high school baseball. Instead, he was discovered by the Oakland Athletics playing sandlot ball in Berkeley, California, and signed with the club as a 17-year-old in 1972. Two years later, in 1974, he reached the majors and hit .285 with the team in 73 games. In that fall's World Series, he went 4-for-7 as Oakland beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games. The next summer, in 1975, he hit .308 with 10 home runs to earn a spot on the American League All-Star sq...

Born: March 7th, 1950 Vienna, Louisiana Died: August 4th, 2021 (Age 71) Houston, Texas Positions: Pitcher Batted: Right Threw Right Teams: Houston Astros (1971-1980) Awards: All Star (1980) NL ERA Leader (1979) 2x NL Strikeout Leader (1978,1979) Key Notes: In his first major league game on September 5, 1971, Richard struck out 15 batters in the second game of a doubleheader against the San Francisco Giants at Candlestick Park, tying the record for most strikeouts in a debut set by Karl Spooner of the Brooklyn Dodgers against the New York Giants on September 22, 1954. Richard got some major league innings each year from 1971 to 1974, but also spent time in the minors each year. He became a major league regular in 1975, going 12-10 on a team which was 64-97, and then in 1976 won 20 games for a sub-.500 team. He was again a big winner in 1977, when the team was 81-81, and continued with 18 wins in 1978, wh...

Born: October 2nd, 1972 Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico Died: August 2nd, 2021 (Age 48) Comerio, Puerto Rico Positions: Pitcher Batted: Left Threw Right Teams: Seattle Mariners (1995-1997, 1999) Awards: Key Notes: Rafael Pitched four years in the major leagues, largely as a reliever, with a record of 11-7.  In 1996, he made his biggest big league mark with an 8-3 record, 4.28 ERA and a save in 53 games with the Seattle Mariners. Cards: Seattle Mariners 1995 Pacific Seattle Mariners #26 1996 Bowman #258 RC 1997 Pacific Crown Collection #183 1998 Pacific #181                                                                                                              ...