Wednesday, January 2, 2013

1977 Topps Baseball #416 - Chuck Hartenstein


  • There is a six year gap between Chuck Hartenstein's 1970 Topps card and this card. I wonder what the longest gap is.
  • Hartenstein pitched in the Pacific Coast League from 1971-1976, spending two years each with the Tucson Toros (Chi. White Sox), Phoenix Giants (SF Giants), and the Hawaii Islanders (SD Padres). He put up some good numbers during this time, especially for a hitter's league, but Chuck never got called up until he was purchased by the expansion Toronto Blue Jays after the 1976 season.
  • After having a rough season, Chuck went into coaching in September 1977. He was a pitching coach for several years in the minors. Hartenstein was particularly proud of teaching Pittsburgh's Bob Walk how to change speeds (which extended Bob's career by about 6-7 years). Chuck was also the pitching coach for the Cleveland Indians (1979) and for the Milwaukee Brewers (1988-89).
  • 1977 Stats: 0-2, 6.59 ERA in 13 games
  • 1977 Highlights:
    • April 17 - Allowed one run in five innings pitched. It was his longest outing of the year. The Blue Jays lost the game 4-2, but starter Bill Singer allowed the first three runs and took the loss.
  • Other card blogs: 1968, 1969, 1970


1 comment:

  1. Talk about classic 70s sideburns. By '77 I'm pretty sure the sideburn fad was waning so I'm guessing this was a pretty dated photo, especially since Chuck hadn't appeared in the majors in 6 years.

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