Senators Saturday - Ed Stroud, 1971.

Ed Stroud appears on card 217 of the 1971 Topps set looking as if he is shopping for a bat. Looks like this photo was probably taken during Spring Training. This would be Stroud's last card in a Senators uniform.

Coming off a rather mixed 1970 season, Ed Stroud appeared to be beginning a defensive decline. The Senators decided to move him. On March 29, 1971 the club traded him back to the White Sox, where Ed began his Major League career. In return Washington received Tom McCraw.

As for Ed, he would split the 1971 season between Chicago and Triple A Tucson. He batted under the Mendoza Line with the White Sox and over .300 with Tucson. At the end of the season he called it a career and hung up the spikes as a player.

Through the mail tales.

Had a great week of through the mail returns this past week. Nine autographs total from five former Rangers players and former Rangers manager Bobby Valentine. All of the returns filled holes in my ongoing quest to get complete Topps Rangers team sets signed

Bobby V graciously signed and returned this 1991 Topps card along with a 1989 Topps card. Also coming back home were signed cards from Danny Patterson, Bobby Witt, Ken Suarez, Cris Carpenter, and Bucky Dent. Many thanks to all these gentlemen for taking the time and sign and return my cards.

The fastest return came from Ken Suarez, I mailed out a 1972 Topps to him on March 3rd and it returned home on March 9th. Mr. Suarez also took the time to jot a quick thank you to me for writing him.

The longest return was Bucky Dent who took from January 20th to March 4th. I sent Mr. Dent two cards, a 1983 Topps and a 1984 Topps. Interestingly, he kept the 1984 Topps but signed and returned the 1983 Topps. Curious. Still, a return is a return and I'm not complaining.

On the really weird front was a return that was not really a return. Earlier in the year I sent former Ranger Dave Moates a request that came back return to sender. I checked the address I used and decided I wrote the city down wrong. On February 24th I sent a second request to what I believed was the correct address. On March 8th I received the request back marked "Return to sender". What I found strange was that the envelope had been opened, the contents taken out, rearranged, put back in, and the envelope taped shut before being sent back. Apparently Mr. Moates either did not like my letter, wants money to sign but does not want to say so, or is simply not signing these days. At least I got my card back I suppose.

1980 Topps - Nelson Norman.

Nelson Norman appears to be preparing to accept a throw from the catcher in an attempt to catch a thieving Yankee on the front of card 518 of the 1980 Topps set. Kind of a unique shot, coming as it does from the first base angle.

Norman came to Texas as a throw in part of the trade that brought Al Oliver to Arlington in December of 1977. In 1979 he was the starting short stop for the Rangers. In 1980 he came out on the short end of the platoon stick as he lost out to Pepe Frias and Bud Harrelson.

After appearing in 17 games and making 34 plate appearances, Norman was hitting .219 with a .242 on-base percentage. He had zero power, with no extra base hits. He walked once, struck out once, and got caught stealing once.

All 17 of the games Nelson played in, he played at short stop. Over the 101.2 innings he played there he committed four errors for a .943 fielding percentage. That was twenty points lower than the league average.

Clearly things were not going Nelson Norman's way in 1980. The Rangers decided it would be best to send the 22-year-old back to Triple A for some more seasoning. They optioned him on May 7, 1980. Just over a month later, on June 14th, he suffered a hyperextended knee. The injury caused nerve damage and ended Norman's 1980 season.

While the injury was a major setback for Nelson, he still had a chance in the Texas ranks. Short stop was rapidly developing into a significant hole in the Texas roster. A young player still had a chance to overcome injury and seize the position, if he was quick enough on the mend.

Minor League Monday - Bobby Reed, 1991 Line Drive.

Pitcher Bobby Reed appears on card 591 of the 1991 Line drive set today. Reed was drafted by the White Sox in 1989 but didn't sign. The Rangers drafted him in the third round of the June, 1990 draft and that time he signed.

Texas started Bobby off at Single A and he turned in impressive performances there and at Double A Tulsa in 1990. Not wanting to rush the young talent, the Rangers left Reed at Double A for the 1991 season.

Primarily a starter, 11 of Bobby's 12 appearances for the Drillers were starts. Over the 67 innings he pitched he put up a decent 2.55 ERA (lower than his Double A stint the previous season) and an 1.254 WHIP (also lower than the year before). He struck out 33 opposing batters but still had some control issues, as attested to by his 22 walks. He ended the season at 4-4.

It seems to me that Bobby Reed had an abbreviated season in 1991. I would have expected to see more appearances and maybe even a mid-season promotion to Triple A. Instead he disappears for the entire 1992 season and resurfaces in 1993 at Single A Charlotte. At that point his numbers are not even comparable to those before the hiatus. That speaks to me of an injury, obviously a serious one. Unfortunately I can't find any information on what happened to make 1991 the high point of Bobby Reed's career.

Senators Saturday - Jim Shellenback, 1971.

Jim Shellenback looks like he is a bit unsure of the situation as he appears on 1971 Topps card 351. Of course, all of the Senators players were likely a little unsure of the situation during that final year in Washington as the winds of change began to build during the season.

Coming off a mediocre 1970 season, Shellenback was looking to either solidify his place in the Senators bull pen or break into the starting rotation. Unfortunately, he was unable to do either and continued in his role as long reliever/spot starter. He did manage to stay in the Majors all season though.

In the 40 games Jim appeared in for Washington in 1971 he pitched 120 innings. Those numbers were only a smidgen higher than the previous season. Shellenback managed to lower his ERA to 3.53 but his WHIP crept up to 1.433. The higher WHIP was probably partially due to his continued control struggles, Jim walked 49 opposing batsmen while striking out just 47. Surprisingly, he did toss a complete game shutout. That was probably a good thing for him - it accounted for one third of his wins as he ended the season 3-11.

Jim Shellenback did not have the break through season he needed in 1971. It was beginning to look like the lefty would be a career journeyman. Now the only thing to see was if the move to Texas would help or hurt his efforts.

Random GU and Recent Signing.

Only one return this past week from my through the mail requests. Former Rangers backstop Mike Stanley signed and returned two cards to fill two holes in team sets I am working on getting signed. I really appreciate Mr. Stanley taking the time to sign and return the cards, I just haven't had the time to get them scanned in for this post.

Since I haven't scanned the latest through the mail returns, I decided to post a game-used card today. Been awhile since a certified autograph or game-used card made an appearance. The random selection from the game-used box today is this 2005 Bowman Sterling card of former Ranger Hank Blalock. The card is number BS-HB in the set and features a bit of one of Hank's bats embedded in it.

Speaking of bats, the Rangers brought a new bat on board on Monday. The club inked former Washington National Ian Desmond to a one-year deal. Desmond has played almost exclusively at short stop during his Major League career but he agreed to move to left field prior to signing with Texas. The signing is projected to give the Rangers a bit more power in the lower half of the batting order. Jon Daniels said he expects Desmond to play left field for the entire season, not just until may when Josh Hamilton is supposed to be back. That presents an interesting situation. It is possible that Desmond will play the first part of the year in left field, then occasionally be spelled by Hamilton and in turn, spell Elvis Andrus at short after Hamilton returns from the disabled list. Unless the Rangers are concerned Josh might not be back at all this season. Either way, the signing gives Texas some depth and options. Should be very interesting to see how it works out.

1980 Topps - Willie Montanez.

It is fitting that Willie Montanez appears on card 224 of the 1980 Topps card 224 with no identifiable uniform on. His time with Texas was so short he almost didn't need a uniform.

Montanez arrived in Texas on August 12, 1979 as the result of a trade with the New York Mets. The Rangers agreed to send New York two players to be named later. Ed Lynch and Mike Jorgensen ended up being those players but neither went to the Mets until after the end of the season.

In the last part of the 1979 season Willie appeared in 38 games for the Rangers. He posted a nice .319 batting average in 154 trips to the plate. His .357 on-base percentage seems a bit at odds with the fact that he struck out 14 times and only worked eight walks. Montanez had limited power: six doubles, no triples, and eight home runs. He put of a .995 fielding percentage with only one error in 170 innings at first base.

Apparently Willie's performance with the Rangers in the latter part of 1979 made him a desirable commodity. On February 15, 1980 Texas traded Montanez to the San Diego Padres. In return the Rangers got Joe Carroll, Tucker Ashford, and Gaylord Perry. Willie Montanez's cameo as a Texas Ranger was over.