Today...

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houbb

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Whitey Herzog 1/1 1 week (1987 Topps)
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Bart Johnson 2/2 7 weeks (1973 & 1976 Topps)
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Before there was Rick Ankiel there was Bart Johnson. Johnson was one of the White Sox top relief pitchers, and an occasional starter in 1971, winning 12 games and saving 14. He also turned in a pretty nice 2.93 ERA. Johnson, as I recall, had a pretty wicked fastball. Lots of movement. However, for some reason unknown to me, the White Sox thought enough of Johnson's bat, and thought he might be able to make the transition to the outfield. So, in 1972 the White Sox sent him to Class A Appleton, where he hit .329 over 50 games, and then .277 in 13 games in AA. He only pitched sparingly in the minors that season, and returned to the Sox pitching staff in '73. Very odd. The White Sox were very much in the hunt in the AL West in 1972, only 5.5 games back of the A's, and could have won it with Johnson in the bullpen. I always wondered what happened there. Was it because of an injury the Sox did not disclose, I wonder?
 
One day I'm invading Jim's town and not only taking a look at his amazing stuff but bringing a scanner with me and scanning it all.
 
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