Released and Retired?

On this day in 1986 George Foster was released by the White Sox.  He played his last game on the prior day.



Also on this day in 1991 Dave Parker was released by the Angels.  He finished out the season with the Blue Jays.

Although he played for a bunch of teams for 18 years, Jim Dwyer was released by the Cubs on this day in 1977.  He never played for the Cubs but his career continued until 1990.  Whey did I add him?  He was someone from a neighborhood not too far from ours, so kids dreamed of being like him.

That's all I've got for today.  I drove 400 miles today and I just got home.

Off to Indiana Tomorrow

I'm heading to Indiana.  I did a quick search to find out how many Indiana natives found their way onto a Kellogg's baseball card.  I thought that there would be a lot, but it turns out that they're a small bunch of four.  I hope my English teachers appreciate the grammar above even if it isn't great.

Tommy John appeared on three Kellogg's cards.  He was born in Terre Haute which I go to frequently for cross country meets.

Steve Hargan is from Fort Wayne, Indiana.  I drove through there recently and found a great sign with my family's name.



Dick Dietz is from Crawfordsville, home of Wabash College.  I've been there a few times for track meets.



Paul Splittorff is from Evansville.  I think we are headed there at the end of the cross country season.

Players With 3-Letter Names on Kellogg's Baseball Cards

From what I found, there was never a player in MLB with less than three letters in their last name until 2007.  Here are the seven players that appeared on a Kellogg's baseball card with only three letters in their last name.

The response a few days ago from Mark identified the first four of these players.

1.  Ron Cey - four cards (1977, 1978, 1980, 1982)

2.  Carlos May - three cards (1970, 1971, 1973)



3.  Lee May - one card (1972)

That's a nice four-year streak in the May house.  Lee and brother Carlos appeared in the first four Kellogg's sets.  I'll have to see if any other brothers did better than that.

4.  Bill Lee - one card (1976)



5.  Dave May - one card (1974)



6.  Johnny Ray - once card (1983)



7.  Doug Rau - two cards (1977, 1979)

Here are the Five Players With 11 or More Letters in Their Last Name

The following five players have 11 or more letters in their last names on a Kellogg's baseball card.

1.  Carl Yastrzemski

2.  Mel Stottlemyre

3.  Andy Messersmith

4.  Dan Quisenberry

The above four players have 11 letter in their last names.  Notice that Quisenberry's name is spelled incorrectly on the front of the card - Quiesenberry.

5.  Billy Grabarkewitz - the winner with 12 letters in his correctly spelled last name.


A few others were mentioned with misspellings that resulted in 11 letters when there are only 10 letters in the correctly spelled name.

Kellogg's Baseball Cards Featuring Players with Short Last Names

How many players do you think got a Kellogg's baseball card and had only three letters in their last name?  Well, I will give you the answer.  It is seven.  Can you name the players?

Are there any in this 1981 set?

Hint - the players also appear in 11 of the 14 sets.  Another hint - Ed Ott is not one of them.

Kellogg's Baseball Cards Featuring Players with More Than 10 Letters in Their Last Name

How many players do you think got a Kellogg's baseball card and had more than 10 letters in their last name?  Well, I will give you the answer.  It is five.  Can you name the players?

Are there any in this 1981 set?

Hint - the players appear in 11 of the 14 sets.  Another hint - they have long last names.

Here are the Other Two 1974 Proof Sheets

The last one has Nolan Ryan, Reggie Jackson and Pete Rose.  It also has two of my favorite players - Rick Monday and Billy Williams.