Wednesday, November 16, 2016

1972 Topps, Steve Arlin


#78 Steve Arlin

I am all moved and nearly settled in, so I figured it was time to start posting some cards again. Here is a card of Steve Arlin that I got signed through the mail in late 2012. This card took Steve less than two weeks to return to me.

Steve did not have a great Major League career. Playing on the Padres expansion team from 1969-1974, Steve went 32-62 with a 4.19 ERA. He led the league in losses in 1971 and '72 with 19 and 21 losses respectively. He also lead the league in walks (122) and wild pitches (15) in '72.

But, Steve's Major League exploits were not the reason I wrote to him for his autograph. As most of the regular readers know, I am a college baseball fan and have gone to the College World Series each of the past ten years. Most people probably do not know that Steve Arlin is a CWS legend.

Steve pitched for Ohio State and led them to Omaha twice. He made the All Tournament team both times and led his Buckeyes to the 1966 National Championship. He set the record for most strikeouts in a CWS game when he fanned 20 Washington Huskies. It may have took him 15 innings to do so, but that only adds to his status. Over the two tournaments, Steve struck out 57 batters over 47 innings and had a 0.96 ERA.

Sadly, Steve passed away in August.

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