Saturday, August 6, 2016

#47 Ken McMullen - Washington Senators - A Solid Ballplayer.


This is another card that never made it beyond being noticed from all the rest common cards in the '67 set. Looking at this card now, I find the darkened sky interesting and I can't begin to guess where this photo was taken. That towering sign looks like something you'd see in a big league stadium hawking Roy Rogers chicken or Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. For some reason, I want to say that's Memorial Stadium, home of the Baltimore Orioles because it looks like you can see trees in the distance. The distance looks like beyond the outfield wall.

The time of day this picture looks to be taken makes the image unique for this set. It may just be the moments before an impending spring or summer storm was to strike or just a plain ole cloudy day. But still, unique for this set.

The W logo denoting Washington, for the Washington Senators, was meaningless to me as a boy. It was some years later that I learned that both the Minnesota Twins and the Texas Rangers were both former Washington Major League baseball clubs.

I honestly knew nothing about Ken McMullen's career before reaching his card in this blog. McMullen had a lengthy career,enjoying the bulk of his playing time with Washington.

He had an average .248 batting average and was a rare infield with some power. Eight years of double digit home runs was not the norm for infielders in the 60's. Bobby Richardson, Jim Gilliam never did it. Brooks Robinson managed double digit home runs 11 times in his career.

McMullen showed good power and good fielding enough to hold down a regular job as a starter during his prime with the Senators and Angels. He was a quality bench player for the Dodgers from '73 to '75 before finishing his career with the A;s and Brewers. A solid career in the Majors even if it was overshadowed by the headline grabbing stars.

No comments:

Post a Comment