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Friday, June 15, 2012

Familiar Faces / Strange Places: Jimmy Wynn 1977 Brewers

I've always been a Jimmy Wynn fan. There is no doubt he would have gotten a lot more love and attention if he had played the majority of his games anywhere else but Houston. Of the 291 home runs the man hit... 97 of them where in the cavernous Astrodome.

After spending 1976 and hitting only .208 in Atlanta, he signed with the New York Yankees. The deal was done the day after they signed Reggie Jackson, and went off without much fanfare. The plan for the 1977 Yankees was to put Wynn at designated hitter. He smacked a home run in his Yankee debut, but that turned out to be his final career home run. After falling into a terrible slump (including an 0 for 32 stretch) he lost his job and his stay in the Bronx lasted just 30 games before getting released.

A few days later he signed as a free agent with Milwaukee and finished out the season and his career as a Brewer.

There have been attempts by others to create this 1977 Jimmy Wynn Brewers card, but without a good image... the best photo-chopping in the world doesn't work for me. I have been searching for months for a decent image of the Toy Cannon in a Brewers uniform with no luck, until I ran into this rare gem on eBay.

3 comments:

Vonnoosh said...

Which is the real '77 Jim Wynn card? I've seen an original 1977 Topps card with him in a Yankee uniform and I've seen a 2001 Topps Archives card which is suppose to be a reprint of his '77 Topps card showing him with the Braves. Guessing one was O-Pee-Chee? Or one was a Burger King issue? I don't know.

Rob said...

Jimmy Wynn was a favorite of mine. I'll never forget is 1974 season with the Dodgers and the Grand Slam he hit against Pedro Borbon to finish off the hated Reds and win the division. I was at the game, and the pandemonium after the GS was something I'll never forget. The amazing thing is that Wynn hurt his arm and played the last part of the season with one good arm. He couldn't throw at all, which is why Joe Ferguson cut him off to catch the flyball in the WS and throw out Sal Bando... on a somewhat famous play.

Unknown said...

Great, great card of The Toy Cannon. Here's my question...why hasn't anyone ever made a 1974 Topps Robin Yount???

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