It has been a while since we’ve done one of these, but we got a bunch of letters back in the mail this weekend so now seemed like a good time. These cards came back with signatures, but no surveys.

Andy Etchebarren caught for 15 years in the major leagues, mostly for the Baltimore Orioles, from 1962-1978. He was an all star in 1966 and 1967. In fact he finished 17th in the American League MVP vote in 1966 despite hitting .221. He did hit a career-high 11 home runs that season and drove in 50 runs. He was a part of two Orioles’ World Series winning teams, the first in 1966 and the second in 1970.

Jim Mason played for four different teams from 1971-1979, mostly as a reserve infielder. He was the New York Yankees starting shortstop in 1974, posting a .250 average to go with 5 home runs, 37 RBI and 41 runs scored. He played in 152 games that season. It was the only year during his career where he crossed the 100-games-played threshold.

The brother of 214-game winner Rick Reuschel, Paul Reuschel had a five-year run in the majors, going 16-16 with 13 saves for the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians.

Gary Serum pitched parts of three seasons for the Minnesota Twins. He was 9-9 in 1978 with a 4.10 ERA and one save in 184 .1 innings pitched. He went 1-3 the next year before being sent back to the minor leagues.

Bob Sykes went 23-26 while pitching for the Detroit Tigers and St. Louis Cardinals from 1977-1981. He twice won six games, once for Detroit in 1978 and again for the Cardinals in 1980.
Andy Messersmith returned his letter with a note saying he is no longer doing signings.
One thought on “Swings and misses”