NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1974 DAVE SCHNECK

Don’t know why it took my so long to create a 1974 “not so missing” card for former New York Mets outfielder Dave Schneck, but here you go:

In 1973 Schneck appeared in 13 games, good for 36 plate appearances, hitting only .194 with seven hits, including two runs scored and a triple while playing out in centerfield.
He’d play three years in the Big Leagues, all for the Mets before he was shipped to the Phillies as part of the Tug McGraw/John Stearns deal in December of 1974.
He would go on to play in the Minors for Philly, Cincinnati and the Chicago Cubs for another three years before hanging them up, leaving us with 143 games played for his career, with a .199 batting average based on 82 hits over 413 at-bats, with eight homers and 35 RBIs.

MISSING IN ACTION- 1973 DAVE SCHNECK

Today we revisit former New York Met outfielder Dave Schneck, who I profiled earlier for his "missing" 1975 Topps card, (click on the label below of his name for that post).

Today we look at my design for a "missing" 1973 Topps card, as he saw some decent playing time in 1972 and should have had a card in the following year's set.

Take a look at the card first:

For the 1972 season Schneck played in 37 games, good for 134 plate appearances and 23 hits in 123 at-bats.

That translates to an anemic .187 average, which he paired up with three doubles, two triples and three homers along with 10 runs batted in.

It was about a third of the playing time he'd see in 1974, which didn't even get him a card in the 1975 season, but again, with some of the guys that DID get a card in the 1973 set, you wonder why Schneck was left out.

For some of you Mets fans out there looking for the complete card representation, I hope this helps!

Seems I get more requests from Mets fans for "missing" player cards than any others.

I'll try coming up with some more missing Mets in the future.

MISSING IN ACTION- 1975 DAVE SCHNECK

Now I'll be honest with you.

With all my nerdy baseball studying over the past 35 years or so, I never knew of former New York Met Dave Schneck, and I promise you, I have studied team rosters, especially from the 1970's and 1980's to the point of embarrassment.

But when I came across that SABR article I cited earlier regarding players with the most at-bats or innings pitched without a Topps card, his was the one name I had no clue about.

Needless to say it was something I needed to "fix" asap, so please let me offer a 1975 Topps Dave Schneck card now:

Actually you can make a case for a "missing" 1973 Topps card for Schneck as well, as he collected 134 plate appearances in 1972 in what was his rookie year.

But for now let's focus on the real omission as far as Topps is concerned: his 1974 season.

That year Schneck appeared in 93 games, good for 272 plate appearances.

Granted he only hit .204 with five homers and 25 runs batted in, but that is definitely substantial playing time for inclusion in a card set.

I wonder of Topps just never had him under contract for a card at the time.

Turns out Schneck's entire career were the three years between 1972 and 1974, as he was shipped by the Mets to the Phillies as part of the Tug McGraw/John Stearns deal in December of 1974 and toiled in the Minors for Philly, Cincinnati and the Chicago Cubs for another three years before hanging them up.

I think I'll still design a 1973 card for him as well, so for you N.Y. Met fans out there keep an eye out for it in the near future.