the kevin pasley 1978 topps burger king dodger/update card that should have been

when the 1977 season ended, kevin pasley had been a mariner for just a couple of weeks.  during that time, however, he played in twice as many games (4) than he had for the dodgers during the previous 5 months of the season.  of course, he wasn't called up to the big club in la until august.  anyway, with the mariners purchasing his contract, that meant that just like john hale, pasley (who got his first card in 1977 sharing space with dale murphy)

was destined to be featured in the 1978 set wearing the trident, if at all.  he did get a card in the 1978 set, once again sharing space with three other guys hoping to make a mark in the big leagues

there's the trident.  at least pasley made it to the top row on his second card.

as you know by now, that's not good enough for me.  every member of the 1977 and/or 1978 dodger team deserves to be recognized as a dodger, in my opinion, so here is the latest installment in the 1978 topps burger king dodgers/update project.  the kevin pasley card that should have been

with a back

due to the dearth of kevin pasley color images, i was reduced to using a 1980 tcma minor league card

i also used a mike scioscia card to get the jersey on pasley, and i am just now realizing that i forgot to change the number.  pasley wore duke snider's number 4 while with the dodgers, as it was not retired until the duke made the hall of fame in 1980.  i did eventually find a black and white photo of pasley wearing a dodger uniform, and took a shot at colorizing it.

at least the number is right.  as a dodger, pasley had mixed success.  his path to the big leagues was blocked by steve yeager and joe ferguson, and then by other veteran backups like ellie rodriguez, johnny oates, and jerry grote.  he did get to play in 23 games during the 1976 season when steve yeager was injured, and wound up hitting .231 with 2 rbi.  behind the dish, he threw out about one-third of the runners attempting to steal against him. he was 1 for 3 in the two games he played as a dodger in 1977, and then went 5 for 13 in seattle to post a .375 average for the season.

in 1978, pasley appeared in 25 games but hit just .241.  he did have 5 doubles and also hit his lone career home run - a two-run blast off of hall of famer fergie jenkins.  that long ball put pasley in the company of ted williams, ken mcmullen, and joe rudi as well as a few others i am sure.  that's because pasley hit his home run in his final big league at bat.

after the season, pasley joined the pirates' organization and then spent 1980 and '81 in the blue jays' system.  his last season in the minors was 1982, which he spent with the tigers' aa and aaa affiliates.

i mentioned john hale earlier in the post.  although i like the 'card that should have been' that i created - or more accurately restored - i did find a color photo of hale that worked well for an alternate 1978 card

here's to you kevin pasley, and your card that should have been!