1986 ProCards - Jim Maler.

Jim Maler is listed as an infielder on his 1986 ProCards Eighty Niners card. That's a little misleading. Jim played in the infield, he didn't play the whole thing. As his glove indicates, he was a first baseman. I can't find a record of him playing anywhere else in his nine year career other than a few appearances as a designated hitter.

Originally drafted by the Mariners in 1978 Jim made his Big League debut with that team in 1981. He would play parts of the 1981, '82, and '83 seasons with Seattle. On January 15, 1984 he was traded to the Mets. He would play in the Mets and Phillies farm systems in 1984. There is no record of how he moved from New York to Philly.

There is also no record of how the Rangers got him but he played the entire 1985 and 1986 seasons for Oklahoma City. Jim's records are sketchy but there seems to have been a decline that last year.

1986 was the Jim Maler's last season in professional baseball. He had suffered at least two major knee injuries in his career and they finally caught up with him. He did have something to smile about - he had been to the big show.