Ralph Kiner was a home run hitting machine for the Pirates immediately after WWII. He won the home run title in his first seven years. He didn't get a card in the 1970 - 1983 sets since he retired in 1955 at the age of 32. More on that in a later post.
Kiner did manage to get a card in the 1991 Kellogg's Baseball Greats set. He remains the only player born in New Mexico to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
The player in the 1978 set played third base for the Cubs. He was one of a long list of players who were supposed to replace Ron Santo. Steve Ontiveros didn't turn out to be that guy. He's often confused with the former pitcher of the same name who had a longer career.
In 1977, his first season with the Cubs, Ontiveros batted .299 and had his largest RBI (68) and home run (10) totals. It was a great summer as the Cubs and the White Sox held first place in July. Neither made the playoffs.
In a future post I will discuss his most interesting pre-game activity at Wrigley Field.
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