1978 Topps, Bill Atkinson

#43 Bill Atkinson

Here is one of the two '78 Topps cards that I unlocked in the Topps Diamond Giveaway. Coincidentally, it is also the third Expos pitcher that I unlocked in the event. This one features Bill Atkinson, who pitched for the Expos for parts of four seasons.

Bill was mostly used out of the bullpen in his short Major League career and he compiled an 11-4 record with 11 saves and a 3.42 ERA. His best season was in 1977 when he appeared in 55 games and posted a record of 7-2 with 7 saves and a 3.35 ERA. Bill was also a .300 hitter in his career, which isn't too shabby for a relief pitcher.

The one problem with getting Bill's autograph through the mail is that Bill lives in Canada. Luckily, I noticed a lot of successes with him on SCN as everyone just sends him a couple of bucks and Bill provides the return postage. I guess everyone must be overpaying him for the postage because it is common for Bill to include a signed postcard as well. Here is the one that I got.

I sent this card to Bill at the beginning of May last year and I got it back seventeen days later.