1975 Topps, Bob Apodaca

#659 Bob Apodaca

Here is the first of the three Bob Apodaca cards. I got them all signed back in May when the Rockies were in Kansas City for the first weekend of interleague play. Bob is the Rockies pitching coach and I was able to get him to sign these cards for me while the '85 Royals were taking on the '85 Cardinals during the '85 Classic softball game. Bob was in the bullpen watching a pitcher's bullpen session and he stopped and signed the cards for me afterwards while on his way to the dugout.

I was surprised to learn that Bob only pitched in the Majors for four seasons (not counting the one year he pitched in one game). I have three different cards of him signed, so I figured I had three-fourths of the cards Topps made of him. Boy, was I wrong. Topps issued cards of Bob in 1979 and 1980 even though he hadn't appeared in a game since 1977. Bob missed all of the '78 and '80 seasons (and only pitched in two minor league games in '79), so I am guessing that he had some kind of major surgery and the Mets kept him on the 60-day disabled list. It just seems strange that Topps would still issue a card of someone that hadn't piched in two seasons.

I will have contest number one coming up here in a bit.