29 January 2009

gcrl origins, part 2: here comes garvey

steve garvey joined bill russell in the 1971 topps set. listed as a third baseman, steve sported the same black batting glove as russell in a show of solidarity. garvey had made 3 pinch hitting appearances in 1969 (striking out in his first big league at bat), but didn't appear in the field until 1970, where he played in 34 games, mostly at 3rd base (he spent 1 inning at second base). in 82 chances he made 5 errors and at the plate had an ops of .665. but i'm sure he looked good doing it.

russell, meanwhile, is still listed as an outfielder.as mentioned last time, russell played his first game at shortstop in 1970, but spent most of his time in the outfield. he actually had a higher ops than garvey, coming in at .666! russell would spend about half his 1971 season in the infield, but at second rather than short.

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