The card, in brief: It's so weird to see Rhoden without a mustache.
Playing career, in brief: Rhoden was a very good pitcher who won 38 games for the Dodgers from 1976 to 1978. He was traded to the Pirates for Jerry Reuss after the '78 season, and lost almost all of '79 to injury. He bounced back and became one of the most consistent pitchers in the league, while toiling for one of the worst teams in baseball. After an All-Star season in 1986 he became the subject of many trade rumors as the Pirates were in a rebuild. After the season he was traded to the Yankees for Doug Drabek. Drabek became a star for Pittsburgh while Rhoden was only OK for the Yankees (28-22, 4.09 ERA over two seasons). He ended his career with the Astros in 1989. Overall in 16 seasons he went 151-125 with 1,419 strikeouts and a 3.59 ERA.
Post-playing career, in brief: In 1990, after his retirement from baseball, he embarked on a career as a professional golfer. He has won 53 celebrity/athlete tournaments and has also played in US Senior Open and Champion Tour events.
My collection: I have 67 of his cards, from 1975 to 1990. I would be interested in trading for 1988 Sportflics #104.
I think he looks tougher without the mustache.
ReplyDeleteFunny, as a Dodger fan I think of him without a mustache. I stopped paying attention to him once he was traded to the Pirates (I was also disappointed he was leaving but happy Reuss was coming to the Dodgers).
ReplyDeleteI mainly remember Rhoden with his mustache... and with the Pirates. The only reason I knew he pitched on the Dodgers are because of his 70's Topps cards.
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