Sunday, January 29, 2012

1977 Topps Baseball #85 - Duane Kuiper




  • Duane Kuiper was the starting second baseman for the Cleveland Indians in the late 1970s. Kuiper had career highs in at bats (610), runs (62), home runs (1) and RBI (50) in 1977.
  • 1977 Stats: .277, 1 HR, 50 RBI in 148 games
  • 1977 Highlights:
    • April 28 - Batted cleanup and went 0 for 4. Manager Frank Robinson was trying to shake things up and let the players choose the batting order. The Indians won the game and broke a seven game losing streak.
    • May 4 - Made a key defensive play in the 9th inning to save the game for the Indians. Duane also had two hits and scored a run.
    • May 26 - Was quoted as saying that the Cleveland players wanted manager Frank Robinson's status cleared up. Robinson was under fire for the team's poor play and other problems. Kuiper (and others) wanted team management to either get rid of Robinson or keep him for the rest of the season. They felt the cloudy situation was hurting the team.
    • Aug 29 - Hit the only home run of his major league career off of Steve Stone in the first inning of a 9-2 Indians victory over the Chicago White Sox. 
  • Other card blogs: 1976, 19821983, 1984, 1985


1 comment:

  1. Two things jump out at me about this card. The back lists Kuiper as throwing left, batting right. It's actually the other way around.
    Also Kuiper is wearing a batting glove on his topp hand. Most batters if they wear only one glove it is usually the bottom.

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