If you followed baseball in the 1970s, you know who Gene Clines was. He showed a lot of promise his first few years in the majors with the Pirates and while he never developed into even a full-time player, he played in the majors for parts of 10 seasons. Not only that, he stayed in the game as a coach and executive. He was a baseball lifer. Clines passed away in late January at the age of 75.
Perhaps his biggest claim to fame is that he was part of baseball’s first all-minority lineup back in 1971. Clines played center field that day, flanked by Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell. That was his second season in the majors, when it looked like great things were in store for him. In his first three years with the Pirates, Clines produced a .327/.371/.411 line in 673 PA.
Knowing what we know now, it’s easy to look back at Clines’ early start and think about a future Mets player – Mike Vail. Late in 1975 Vail came up and made a splash with a .302 AVG at a time where being a .300 hitter was a very big deal. Vail managed the feat thanks to an unsustainable .377 BABIP. While it was a bigger sample size, Clines had a .378 BABIP those first three seasons in Pittsburgh.
Reality set in starting with the 1973 season, when Clines posted a .296 BABIP and a .656 OPS. The following year was even worse, as the numbers were .259 and .557, respectively.
And, of course, that’s when the Mets decided to trade for him, following the 1974 season.
Getting a guy once the shine was off was bad enough but the Mets traded fan-favorite Duffy Dyer to get him. It was a sad day in the Joura household. And to make matters even worse, the deal was done early enough to get both Clines and Dyer into the 1975 Topps set with airbrushed caps showing their new teams.
I don’t recall actively rooting for Clines to fail; my guess is that’s a concept that would have been completely foreign to me at the time. Anyway, Clines didn’t need my help in the slightest. He put up a .555 OPS in his one year on the Mets. The club responded by trading Clines to the Rangers for Joe Lovitto. If you don’t recall Lovitto as a Met, don’t worry – he never played a game for them. He had shoulder injuries and likely retired due to them. Wikipedia says the Mets released Lovitto in Spring Training and he didn’t play professionally after 1975.
If it was sad to see Topps able to get Clines on a Mets card in 1975, it was even more frustrating to see him on a Mets card in 1976. That’s the difference in getting traded in October and getting traded in December.
Anyway, Clines got the most playing time of his career in 1976 with the Rangers, as he amassed 480 PA. He did better than he did with the Mets but let’s not pretend that an 81 OPS+ is anything to write home about. He finished up his career with three seasons with the Cubs.
Meanwhile, Dyer’s career extended to 1981 but he never had anything like his 1972 season. He was the ultimate good-glove, no-bat backup catcher. Like Clines, Dyer stayed in the majors as a coach long after his playing career. He also saw time as a minor league manager.
For the 1975 set, of course, you would have had the pleasure of having a mini-Clines card as well as the regular sized card. I think there is another Gene Clines card where he is wearing hit mitt on his head instead of a baseball cap (always liked that card).
I lament the loss of Dyer almost as much as Brian. One of the all-time great unsung hero Mets.
That would be his SSPC card also on the Mets. Ugh
haha…Yes that’s it!