1974 TOPPS GEORGE STONE
One year after getting the dreaded, “cap raised so you can’t see the logo” baseball card, Stone got this cool in action shot in his 1974 offering. As well he should. After coming over from the Braves in the Danny Frisella & Gary Gentry deal, Stone began the ’73 season in the bullpen, where he was not one of the first choices to appear in a game. But he pitched well when he got the chance and finally, he was moved in the rotation in the beginning of June.
In 20 starts, Stone went 11-3 with a 3.05 ERA and was a big reason why the Mets were able to make it to the postseason. He started Game Four of the NLCS and got a no-decision in a game where he allowed 1 ER in 6.2 IP. But if Stone is remembered for anything today, it’s that he didn’t get to start a game in the World Series. He should have started Game Six but manager Yogi Berra opted to start Tom Seaver on short rest. The Mets were up, 3-2, and could have started Stone and Seaver in the final two games.
Instead, Stone made two relief appearances. He got the save in Game Two and pitched two scoreless innings in Game Seven. In an alternate reality, Stone becomes a Mets hero by pitching the series-clinching game in the 1973 World Series. But it was not to be.
And things quickly got worse.
Stone hurled Quality Starts in two of his first three appearances in 1974 and then the wheels came off. In his next 12 games, Stone was 2-6 with a 5.80 ERA before his season ended with rotator cuff surgery. Back then, rotator cuff was akin to a death sentence for pitchers. Today, the prognosis isn’t a whole lot better but pitchers can do “pre-hab” to strengthen the area and limit the damage. You see many more surgeries on elbows than you do shoulders here in the 21st Century.
In 10 ½ months, Stone returned to action for the Mets in 1975. And his first month back brought back visions of 1973, as he went 2-1 with a 1.84 ERA in four starts, including a complete-game win against the Cubs on the final day of June.
But he struggled in July and things got worse in August with a back injury. After the 1975 season, the Mets traded Stone to the Rangers for Bill Hands. Neither pitcher threw a game for their new clubs, with both choosing to retire instead.
With Topps issuing all cards in one series in 1976, both Hands and Stone received cards with their 1975 teams in the set. It’s always a bit sad to see a card for a guy no longer on the team. The 1976 Stone was even sadder, as he was just 29 when he retired. He should have had five or more years left to pitch in the majors. But the gods didn’t smile on Stone’s MLB career.
Good thing Topps did with this ’74 card.
Clearly, Stone should have started Game 6. We’d be in an alternate universe if that had happened. The Stone/Millan deal was one of the great deals in the team’s history.
73 was a special year. Beat the mighty Reds and almost won the World Series. Millan was one of my favorite players.
Stone was fantastic down the stretch in 1973. But so was everyone else on the Mets in the last seven weeks of that season. Then 1974 happened – and everyone was awful (except Jon Matlack) – even Tom Seaver finished 1974 with a W/L of 11-11.
Yogi Berra stuck by that decision for years. He thought leaving Matlack on the pines would have been a mistake – but neither Seaver nor Matlack pitched great and the A’s were simply too good a team to lose.
On another topic , anyone know why Escobar & Marte have cards in the regular ‘22 Heritage set & the high number set ?